How the Underdog Crusaders Defeated the Mighty Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto

Since the 1370s, the Ottoman Turks had been making themselves the dominant power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, rolling back Christian and other Muslim opponents. In 1453 they destroyed the last remnant of the Roman Empire when they smashed in the walls of Constantinople; in 1517 they seized Egypt and Arabia and claimed the Sunni Caliphate; in 1522 they drove the Knights of St. John out of their fortress in Rhodes; in 1527 they reached the gates of Vienna.
Turkish fleets, including those of their North African pirate underlings, threatened every mile of the Christian Mediterranean coastline. From his Topkapi Palace, their emperor ruled territory from the Atlantic to the Euphrates and plotted to take even more land from the infidels; an invasion of southern Italy was being considered.
“On their side is the vast wealth of their empire, unimpaired resources, experience and practice in arms, a veteran soldiery, an uninterrupted series of victories, readiness to endure hardships, union, order, discipline, thrift and watchfulness. On ours are found an empty exchequer, luxurious habits, exhausted resources, broken spirits, a raw and insubordinate soldiery, and greedy quarrels; there is no regard for discipline, license runs riot, the men indulge in drunkenness and debauchery, and worst of all, the enemy are accustomed to victory, we to defeat. Can we doubt what the result must be?”
The Turks would soon rebuild their fleet and continue to dominate the eastern Mediterranean, but their defeat at Lepanto cost them dearly in experienced sailors and fighters. The Holy League would soon dissolve, but the myth of Ottoman invincibility was broken for good. Christian fleets would never face a serious naval threat again in the central or western Mediterranean. The boost to morale was incalculable, and Lepanto still figures prominently in the civic mythology of Venice and Spain.
Prompted by the numerous processions in Rome by the Rosary Confraternity petitioning the aid of Mary, Pope Pius V attributed the triumph at Lepanto to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and created a new festival for Our Lady of Victory. Two years later, Pope Gregory XIII changed the name to the “Feast of the Holy Rosary,” and in 1960 Pope Paul VI renamed it again to the “Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.”
There are numerous churches dedicated to either Our Lady of Victory or Our Lady of the Rosary. Maria del Rosario is a common Spanish girl’s name while Rosario is a popular name for boys in the Catholic world.