9/11 has historically been of great importance to the Moslem world.  Many of their battles have been fought on that date.

On 9/11/1683 the Battle of Vienna took place.  It was over in a fragment of a day.

A Moslem goal was to take the Vienna, the Imperial seat of the Holy Roman Empire.  Having failed in their horrendous Siege of Vienna 1529  the Islamic forces  turned to the Mediterranean only to be defeated at  the naval battle of Lepanto 10/7/1571  by Don Juan of Austria whose flag-ship had an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Preceding the battle, Sultan Mehmed IV had sent this message to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold: “We order you to await us in your city of residence, Vienna, so that we can decapitate you.  We will eliminate you and your followers. Children and adults will equally be exposed to the most atrocious tortures before being finished off in the most ignominious way imaginable.”

Leopold had minimal forces, but Jan Sobieski of Poland came to his aid.  Sobieski’s  horsemen wore huge wings that made frightening sounds as they galloped.  Thinking them avenging angels, the Moslems fled in terror, leaving everything behind.  The battle was over in 3 hours!

Emperor Leopold adapted Julius Caesar’s  “I came, I saw, I conquered”  to “Veni, Vidi, Dei Vinci”  “I came, I saw, God conquered.”

See Category: Historical Tid-Bits for entry: Bagels, Croissants, Capuchino and Shish-Kebobs.