The city of Vienna has kind of an odd but prominent place in Ottoman history. It was never part of the empire, but two Ottoman attempts to conquer it bookend the period of the empire’s greatest territorial reach and military power. The second of those attempts, the 1683 Battle of Vienna, serves as the empire’s high water … Continue reading Today in European history: the Siege of Vienna ends (1529)
Category: history
Today in European history: the Knights Templar order is purged (1307)
The Knights Templar are the more famous of the two major Christian military orders that were founded during the Crusades. We talked about the other, the Knights Hospitaller, when we looked at the failed Ottoman siege of Malta in 1565. Ironically, while the Templars get more press it’s the Hospitallers who have survived to the present … Continue reading Today in European history: the Knights Templar order is purged (1307)
Today in European history: the Battle of Lepanto (1571)
The Battle of Lepanto is the mother lode of historical turning points. It broke the Ottoman Empire’s domination of the eastern Mediterranean and marked a turning of the tide in the long-simmering conflict between the European powers (particularly the Habsburgs) and the Ottomans. It gave European Christians the confidence that they could stand up to … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Lepanto (1571)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Yom Kippur War begins (1973)
On October 6, 1973, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal in a surprise attack against Israeli positions in the Sinai Peninsula (which was then under Israeli occupation), while Syrian forces attacked Israeli positions in the Golan Heights (which is still under Israeli occupation). Thus began the Yom Kippur War, or the 1973 War if you … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Yom Kippur War begins (1973)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Heraclius becomes Byzantine emperor (610)
Islamic historians didn't get into the habit of discussing Roman or Byzantine emperors at any length, with the exception of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (d. 641). And that makes sense, because Heraclius is actually a pretty important figure in early Islamic history. Without Heraclius, the world in which Muhammad began preaching might have looked considerably different … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Heraclius becomes Byzantine emperor (610)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Saladin takes Jerusalem (1187)
There are plenty of things wrong with Ridley Scott’s 2005 Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven. It completely rewrites the history of the court at Jerusalem, for one thing. In Scott’s story, Princess (later queen) Sybilla (d. 1190) is trapped in an unhappy marriage to malicious idiot (and later king) Guy of Lusignon (d. 1194), leading her … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Saladin takes Jerusalem (1187)
Today in Mediterranean history: the Battle of Preveza (1538)
There are a couple of anniversaries we could commemorate today. For example, if you’re a fan of lost causes, on this date in 1995 Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo II accord, which was supposed to provide for Palestinian autonomy leading to future (HA!) talks on an independent Palestinian state. Five years later … Continue reading Today in Mediterranean history: the Battle of Preveza (1538)
Today in European history: the Crusade of Nicopolis (1396)
Although we think of “the Crusades” as the numbered (anachronistically) series of Christian military expeditions in the Middle East (and North Africa, and Greece that one time) that took place in the 11th-13th centuries, the Crusading movement actually encompassed much more than that. The Reconquista in Iberia was, for a time, treated as a Crusade, … Continue reading Today in European history: the Crusade of Nicopolis (1396)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Iran-Iraq War begins (1980)
Apart from the Israel-Palestine conflict and possibly the US invasion of Iraq, it would be difficult to find anything that has defined the course of recent Middle Eastern history as much as the Iran-Iraq War. You could add the 1979 Iranian Revolution to that list, but since this war followed almost immediately on the heels … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Iran-Iraq War begins (1980)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Siege of Damascus ends (634)
Nearly two years before the Battle of Yarmouk broke Byzantine military power south of Anatolia pretty much for good, Arab forces captured the jewel of Roman Syria, Damascus. Looking at how they did so offers some important clues as to how they were able to take the rest of the Levant from the Byzantines so easily. … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Siege of Damascus ends (634)
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