Why does nobody ever talk about this? One of my favorite Marian miracles is directly connected, tragically, to the bombings of September 11th. This is a critical part of the story ... so why does nobody know about this?
Here's the short of it: September 11, 1683 marked the farthest extent of the Muslim push into Europe from the east. On September 12, the largest cavalry charge in human history took place, utterly routing and demolishing the massive Muslim army besieging Vienna.
The cavalry charge was so heroic, it inspired a Marian Feast Day.
The cavalry charge was so heroic, it also inspired one of western civilization’s greatest works of fiction.
In one of the most pivotal moments in history, Christendom stands on the brink. Vienna is the last major stronghold preventing a full-scale Muslim invasion of Western Europe.
The Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I has fled. His calls for aid have been unanswered.
Europe Stands on the Brink: The Siege of Vienna, 1683
Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg leads a small garrison of 15,000 men in Vienna, the capital of the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman Empire. He is outnumbered 10 to 1. Vienna is surrounded by the army of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha -- an army of roughly 120,000 to 150,000 men.
The Muslim grand vizier can take the city whenever he pleases, but he is waiting for Count von Starhemberg to surrender. Why? If the Muslims invade the city, every solider can take his own plunder. If the city surrenders, the Muslim leader gets all the loot for himself.
Polish King Jan III Sobieski had allied himself with Emperor Leopold, promising to give each other aid when called upon.
King Sobieski gathers his army about him, including possibly the greatest cavalry unit in human history: the long-undefeated Winged Hussars. They would remain undefeated until they rode out against Hitler's Wehrmacht, the army of tanks.
The Hussars rode into battle wearing metal wings, like avenging angels. The wings would scream as the air rushing past. This time, the Hussars would scream something more when riding into battle. Something much more powerful.
Consecration to the Virgin Mary: Our Lady of Czestochowa
King Sobieski led his army first to the Shrine of Jasna Gora, the home of the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. There, he consecrated his army to the Virgin Mary.
Because of this, when the Polish Hussars would later lead the greatest cavalry charge in human history, one of the greatest routs of all time, they did so screaming the Holy Name of Mary.
They did this on September 12, now the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary.
The day which followed September 11, the end of Muslim expansion into Western civilization and marked the final (possibly) decline of the Muslim Empire.
That's why Muslim terrorists chose September 11th to attack perhaps the greatest symbol of Western economic power, the World Trade Center of New York City.
That's not all ...
The Winged Hussars returned miraculously to stop another anti-Christian army from spreading to the West: the Communist army of Russia. More on this below ...
The Communists' bullets actually began bouncing back at them when a massive apparition appeared in the sky ... as reported by the fleeing Russians themselves in newspaper reports.
The Siege of Vienna Painting in the Vatican
There is an amazing, massive painting depicting this victory in the Vatican Museums (which we saw recently on our family pilgrimage, YouTube video link coming soon).
There is also a replica tapestry of this painting in Czestochowa at the greatest Pope Saint John Paul II Museum in the world (again, YouTube video link coming soon). It took thousands of man-hours to create.
East vs. West: The Siege of Vienna by the Numbers
The First Siege of Vienna (1529)
The Attacker: Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent led over 100,000 Ottoman troops.
The Defense: Count Niklas Graf Salm defended the city with roughly 21,000 men.
The Outcome: Heavy autumn rains delayed Ottoman siege guns and caused supply shortages. The defenders held firm, forcing Suleiman to retreat into the winter snow.
The Second Siege and Battle of Vienna (1683)
The Attacker: Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha led an army of roughly 120,000 to 150,000 men to besiege the Habsburg capital. [1][2]
The Defense: Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg led a small garrison of 15,000 men after Emperor Leopold I fled. [1]
The Relief and Victory: A massive coalition relief army of 80,000 men, organized by Pope Innocent XI and led by Polish King John III Sobieski, arrived in September. [1][2]
The Turning Point: On September 12, 1683, Sobieski led a massive cavalry charge down the Kahlenberg Mountain, shattering the Ottoman forces and ending the siege. [1][2]
The Impact: The defeat halted Ottoman expansion into Europe and began the empire's long territorial decline. [1]
The Winged Hussars Actually Returned for Another Marian Miracle Almost 250 Years Later
The Miracle of the Vistula or The Battle of Warsaw
A Miracle Appears in the Sky
How do Tolkien & The Lord of the Rings Connect to September 11th?
That cavalry charge of the Winged Hussars was the largest cavalry charge in world history. It relieved the Siege of Vienna
Does that remind you of anything from The Lord of the Rings?
The Ride of the Rohirrim, the massive cavalry charge of Rohan, relieved the Siege of Minas Tirith in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
The hordes of the East had surrounded the last bastion of the West. Should Minas Tirith or Vienna fall, all of the lands of the West would be wide open to attack.
I have never found an explicit reference connecting the Rohirrim charge with the 1683 Siege of Vienna and the charge of the Polish Winged Hussars. However, I am not alone in making this connection.[1][2][3]
Want more connections between Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, and Christianity? Here's my bestselling book, The Lord of the Rings & The Eucharist, also now an audiobook:
Recap of all the Parallels: The Polish Winged Hussars and the Rohirrim relieving the Siege of Vienna and Minas Tirith, respectively
Last Hope: Just as Vienna called for aid and, initially, nobody answered, Gondor's call for aid also went unheeded, as King-Steward Denethor lamented so dramatically ... until the Hobbits lit the beacons of Minas Tirith. King Sobieski had allied himself Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. Both sides promised to come to one's another aid if their capitals were threatened.
The Relief Force: Just as the Rohirrim arrive unexpectedly to lift the siege of Minas Tirith, the allied relief army led by King Jan III Sobieski arrived to break the Ottoman siege of Vienna.
The Good Leaders: Just as King Jan III Sobieski led the charge himself, King Theoden leads the charge of the Rohirrim.
The Cowardly Leaders: Just as Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I had fled before the battle, so also King Denethor despairs and commits suicide before the battle.
Turn of the Tide: Both events feature a massive, morale-shattering cavalry intervention arriving to turn the tide against an overwhelming besieging force.
Tolkien's Other Possible Sources
Tolkien's primary literary and academic inspirations are the Bible, as well as Germanic, Norse, and Anglo-Saxon myth and history.
Scholars generally agree that his battle scenes and culture for the Rohirrim drew heavily from sources like Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon.
There is also the the 5th-century Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. This battle includes a king named Theodoric (resembling Théoden) who fought alongside his allies.
With all the Marian figures in The Lord of the Rings, and as Catholic as Tolkien was, it is hard to imagine that the largest cavalry charge in human history, the origin of an entire Marian feast, was not the origin of the cavalry charge of the Rohirrim.
Conclusion: I hope this adds to our understanding of 9/11
I hope this adds to our understanding of 9/11 as part of a much larger, much longer-waged war between the Christianity and the besiegers of the Church.
I also really hope that more people will see 9/11 as more than just a number, but a date pointing to September 12th and the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary.
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