The Battle of Lepanto

The Muslims in general, and eventually the Turks and the Ottomans, had run roughshod over the Mediterranean for centuries. Their conquests were many; their raids were uncountable. Slaves were stolen from Christian countries not only in the hateful devşirme, in which young boys were stolen from their Christian families and forced to become the feared Janissaries, but in slave raids that ranged throughout the Mediterranean, and even as far north as Ireland. The great fleet they had assembled in the wake of their brutal conquest of Cyprus could give them control of the entire sea for generations. Only Pope St. Pius V stood in their way. The Holy League, taking the assembled forces of Spain, Venice, Genoa, and many other nations put together the greatest fleet of galleys Christendom had ever mustered—the greatest, and all too likely, the last. St. Pius asked all Christendom to pray the rosary for their victory. Still smaller than the Ottoman fleet, they nevertheless sailed to battle, with only the united prayers of Christendom, and the prayers of Our Lady of Victory, behind them. They lived one of the greatest tales of courage and victory in history. Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!