The year of the Battle of Lepanto
A clash between the Turks and the Christians
At sea, just off the Greek coast, that's thought so
Significant because the shifting sands
Of fortune would now tilt westwards, to lands
Under the cross. The Virgin Mary led
The Spanish commander, the famed Don Juan
To victory, with the Pope's blessing, which led
To a day in her name celebrated
Still by the Church. The deadly Muslim foe
Had lost so many highly-skilled bowmen
That their force was crippled; disunited
However, the West never got to go
Back to Constantinople as they'd planned
I didn't know about this battle, or the Virgin Mary's role in the combat. I have to say I get a confused in this area of Mediaeval history... where everything is, who everyone is ... it's called ignorance, Tony ...
ReplyDeleteWell to be honest, Jude, I'm simply reading most of this - no, all of it - on Wikipedia, year by year. I have heard of the basics of all of this, but can never retain the detail, so rather like song lyrics I Have to re-read again and again as I go through life, before anyhting actually sticks!
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