In 1683 Muslim forces laid siege to the city of Vienna for almost two months. Their objective was far larger than a city. It was in fact the defeat of Europe and an end to the Christian world. On September 11 the Moslem Turks and Tartars repeatedly skirmished with the far-inferior Christian forces. It was the culmination of a regional siege in which Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa executed 30,000 Christians who would not convert. His thoughts of victory would not be realized. On the following day the army of the Holy Roman Empire and the commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania defeated the much larger Army of the Ottoman Empire in what we know as the Battle of Vienna, You can read more about this complex battle at the link. With their defeat the 300 year-long Muslim effort to conquer Europe, one that included a first siege by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1529, came to an end.
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| Battle of Vienna Franz Geffels (fl, 1635-1671) |
Wikipedia's Siege of Vienna entry has more on this event as well as others involving the history of this pivotal city over the past thousand years.
By coincidence or intention the date of September 11 witnessed two significant events in the thousand year long history of religious conflict between Christians and Muslims. I doubt we have seen the last conflict as such history demands remembrance and constant vigilance for revenge.
Sources
Text:
The Deline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, Alan Palmer, Barned and Noble Publishing, 1992
"The Historical Significance of the Date September 11," agapebiblestudy.com
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