Lessons from Lepanto: confronting Islamism, authoritarianism, and the crisis of Western resolve.
On October 7th 1571, two great fleets collided off the coast of western Greece in one of history’s greatest naval battles –and one of the most consequential for the history of what we once were pleased to call “Western Civilization.” As part of its ongoing campaign to claim Europe for Islam, the Ottoman Empire assembled a huge fleet of war galleys, intending to wrest control of the Adriatic Sea — and ultimately, the entire Mediterranean — from the several Christian powers, notably Venice and Spain.
To counter this threat, Pope Pius V called into existence the “Holy League,” a coalition based upon the combined naval resources of Venice and Spain. Under the leadership of Don John of Austria, the illegitimate half-brother of King Phillip II of Spain, the fleet of the Holy League won a resounding victory, known to history as the Battle of Lepanto.
