Из Честертона. Битва при Лепанто

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Султан доволен, а Папа взывает к королям Европы

В садах византийских белеет фонтанов каскад,
С весёлой улыбкой взирает Султан на свой сад,
С улыбкой стоит и взирает трепещущий люд,
Блестя как фонтаны на лицах улыбки снуют.

Улыбка сверкает как солнце в его бороде,
Кривится зловеще на губ его красном кресте,
Он рад, что на глади блестящей почти всех морей
Победно сверкают стандарты его кораблей.

И там, где царила республик Италии власть,
И там в Адриатике, где распростёрт Лев Морей,
Готов уж сам Папа святых королей призывать,
На помощь скорее придти ради веры своей.

Владычица Англии смотрит спокойно в окно,
Заглушены пушки, на суднах испанцев покой,
А Тень Валуа тихо дремлет на мессе давно,
И только смеётся правитель, где Рог Золотой.

Только дон Джон Австрийский, "последний рыцарь" готов...

Но бьют барабаны в дальних горах,
Дон Джон Австрийский, тарах-тах-тарах!
Дон Джон Австрийский – сомнительный трон,
Сэр Джон бывалый – из принцев без корон...

Это воин славный, легко его увлечь,
Этот рыцарь державный берёт в руки меч
Он не только рыцарь – ещё и трубадур -
Последний в Европе, он весел, а не хмур!

Ему пела птичка, как много лет назад
Когда святой дорогой шёл крестоносцев отряд,
А ныне поют гонги на всю его страну –
«Дон Джон Австрийский должен идти на войну!»

В золоте старом, в этом пурпуре тёмном,
Реют знамёна в ночном полумраке холодном.
Факелов пламя сияет как и медь барабанов,
Пушка едет, замена могучих таранов,
На коне боевом за ней выступает во след,
Рыцарь, в броню боевую одет.

Улыбка сияет сквозь кудри его бороды,
Седло и шпоры – вот трон для лихой езды
Гордо держит главу, не замечая помех,
Любовь и свет Испании, ура!
Свет и смерть Африки, Ура!
К морю спешит, этот первый из рыцарей всех

Голос МухАмеда

МухАмед в раю, он выше вечерних звёзд,
(А Джон Австрийский весь полон рыцарских грёз).
Тюрбан на коленях Мухамеда, он его шевелит,
Вечно-волшебный тюрбан, из морей и закатов он сшит.

Мухамед встаёт, потрясая павлиньи сады,
Шагает, велик он, деревья ниже его высоты,
Он выше макушек, как гром его голос могуч,
Крылатые слуги спешат прилететь из-за туч.

Вот ангел смерти – чёрный как ночь Азраил,
Затем Ариэль львоподобный за ним воспарил,
АммОн величавый машет могучим крылом,
Их ожидает Мухамед при входе в свой царственный дом.

Гиганты, гении, сплетенье крыльев и глаз –
Все прилетели на грозный Мухамеда глас,
Со времён Соломона никто ещё не узрел,
Такого скопления странных чудовищных тел.

Эти монстры поднялись на утренних облаках,
В красных одеждах и пурпурных колпаках,
Из языческих храмов, где жёлтые боги царят,
Был укоризны исполнен богов этих сумрачный взгляд.

В тине, робах зелённых, на облаках
Чудища мчатся морские, внушая мучительный страх,
С рёвом вылетев из глубины безмятежной морей,
Где безглазые твари снуют средь былых кораблей.

Водовороты и вихри над ними бурлят,
Клочья пены морской словно пятна больные висят,
Стон и грохот морской их обычная песнь,
Но в глубине зреет жемчуг бесценный, (другая «болезнь»).

Странные сгустки несутся туда и сюда,
Их извергает из трещин донных земная среда,
Они распухают как сапфировый яркий дымок,
Сам МухАмед могучий сдержать восхищенья не смог,

Когда всё это пришло к МухАмеду на поклон,
Речь такую всем призванным вымолвил он;
Он сказал:

Разбейте горы те, отшельников приют,
(Останки же святых пусть сохранят уют),
Обшарьте каждую песчинку, проследите,
Где прячется гяур, гоните и ловите!

Проклятье им! Задание такое -
Ни ночью, и не днём им не давать покоя!
Четыре сотни лет как наша власть у трона,
Печать у нас в руках, наследье Соломона,

Источник знания о сути всех явлений,
Печалях и страстях и судьбах поколений.
Но шум в тех горах такой же враждебный,
Как если бы шёл старый враг неизменный.

Он шёл со смехом на опасность любую
Чтоб дней возмутить безмятежность святую.
То был Ричард, Львиное Сердце, громоподобный,
С ним и Годфри, и Реймонд, шайтану угодный,
Нет их теперь, но такая же рать
К нашим вратам устремилась опять.

Смело на них! Раздавите их в прах,
Чтоб навсегда позабыть  о врагах...

Дон Джон Австрийский в мечтах
о военных делах,
Дон Джон из Алкалара
вышел на военных судах.
Как взрыв громовое раздАлось ура!
Выбрались из Иберии, теперь в море пора.

Продолжение придёт...
 

Biography: Don Juan de Austria Don Juan (b. Feb. 24, 1547, Regensburg [Germany] d. Oct. 1, 1578, Bouges, near Namur, Spanish Netherlands [now in Belgium]) was the illegitimate son of the Spanish King and Holy Roman Emperor Carlos I (Charles V) and half brother of King Felipe (Philip) II of Spain. As a Spanish military commander, he achieved victory over the Turks in the historic naval Battle of Lepanto. Removed from his mother, a burgher's daughter, at an early age, Juan was brought up in concealment in Spain. After the death of his father Carlos, Felipe II of Spain recognized him as his half brother, provided him with a substantial household, and gave him the name Don Juan de Austria (1559).Though it was hoped that he would enter the church, the handsome and spirited Don Juan expressed a desire to embark on a military career, and Felipe acceded to his wishes. In the summer of 1568 Don Juan had his first brief experience in warfare, fighting Moorish pirates in the Mediterranean, and he was then appointed in March 1569 commander in chief of Spanish forces attempting to subdue the rebellious Moriscos, or Christians of Moorish ancestry, in Granada. Felipe then appointed him in 1571 to head the naval forces of the Holy League of Spain, Venice, and the pope against the Ottoman Turks in the eastern Mediterranean.By the prestige of his royal name, and by his enthusiasm, Don Juan was able to impose a temporary unity of purpose on the quarreling admirals of the league and to form the several fleets into an effective fighting unit. In the Battle of Lepanto (Oct. 7, 1571) the allies virtually annihilated the Turkish forces, thereby destroying the myth of Turkish invincibility. The victory of Lepanto also fired Don Juan's personal ambitions for further campaigns against the Turks, but Felipe would only allow him to conquer Tunis (1573). The city was, however, reconquered again by the Turks the following year.For several years Don Juan continued to chafe under the restraints his prudent brother imposed upon him, but in 1576 he was appointed governor-general of the Netherlands, then in open revolt against Spanish authority. Don Juan was at first reluctant to accept this difficult post and took it only on condition that he would be allowed to invade England and wed Mary Stuart, the Scottish queen then in captivity in England. In the Netherlands he signed the Perpetual Edict with the rebels (February 1577), by which, in exchange for rebel recognition of Don Juan as governor and restoration of the Roman Catholic religion, Spanish troops were to be removed. The provinces of Holland and Zeeland did not accept the return to Catholicism and refused to recognize Don Juan's authority. Don Juan then assumed the more congenial role of soldier and resumed the Don Juan's last months were marred by the murder of his secretary, Juan de Escobedo, who had aroused Felipe's enmity. The monarch's complicity in the crime was strongly suspected. Don Juan felt that he had lost his brother's confidence and was also hampered in his war in the Netherlands by lack of adequate financial and military backing. His death in 1578 released him from an increasingly intolerable position.Georgios RigasThe famous Naval Battle of Lepanto took place on Oct 7 , 1571 .The Gulf of Lepanto is a long arm of the Ionian Sea running from east to west and separating the Pelloponnesian peninsula to the south from the Greek mainland to the north.Jutting headlands divide the Gulf into two portions: the inner one, called the Gulf of Corinth today , ends with the isthmus of the same name , and the outer one is an irregular , funnel-shaped inlet now called the Gulf of Patras. For six weeks Ali Pasha's ships had been anchored inside the fortified harbor of Lepanto located in the gulf's inner portion, and on October 5 they began to move slowly westward past the dividing headlands into the outer Gulf of Patras. Still unsure of the enemy's position , Ali Pasha ordered his fleet to drop anchor for the night in a sheltered bay fifteen miles from the entrance to the inlet, where it remained all the next day anxiously awaiting the return of the scouting vessels. Around midnight Kara Kosh reached the anchorage with the news that the Christian fleet was then at Cephalonia , an Ionian island almost directly opposite and parallel to the mouth of the Gulf of Lepanto. With the first light of dawn the following morning , October 7 , 1571 , lookouts stationed high on a peak guarding the northern shore of the gulf's entrance signaled to Kara Kosh that the enemy was heading south along the coast and would soon round the headland into the gulf itself. The signal was relayed to Ali Pasha , who gave the order to weigh anchor. Everyone scrambled to battle stations and , as the fleet advanced , strained for the first sight of the enemy force.The Christian fleet had started to move southward toward the Gulf of Lepanto. Now only fiteen miles of open water separated the forces of Islam and those of Christendom. The Turkish fleet , which numbered over two hundred and thirty galleys and one hundred auxiliary vessels , Ali Pasha commanded the center squadron , which faced the one commanded by Don Juan of Austria.According to naval practice in those days , the moment two rival fleets finally assumed their respective battle formations , the leader of one would fire a piece of artillery as a challenge to fight , and the opponent would answer by firing two cannon to signify that he was ready to give battle. This day it was the Turks who made the challenge , and the sharp report from Ali Pasha's flagship was quickly followed by double round from Don Juan's artillery. At this time a large green silk banner , decorated with the Moslem crescent and holy inscriptions in Arabic , was hoisted on the Turkish flagship.Now the setting was complete. The cross and the crescent fluttered aloft , symbolizing the two religions and the two hostile Civilizations of Christendom and Islam , whose forces were about to meet in the decisive battle of their long and bitter holy war. With the very first barrage many Turkish galleys were sunk and over a score badly damaged. After an hour of heavy fighting it was captured , the first Christian prize of the battle. The Christians were more than a match for them. In fact , they fought with such incredible ferocity that the battle soon became a slaughter. The defeat of the Turk's right wing was complete. Not one galley escaped. Those that were not sunk , burned , or grounded ashore were captured by their Christian opponents. The whole battle was over by four o'clock that afternoon , even though many of the Christian galleys were still giving chase to the Turkish ships and other solitary escaping Turkish vessels. The waters of the gulf for miles around were stained red from the great amount of blood shed that day and the sea was strewn with the bodies of both victors and vanquished. At sunset there were signs of approaching bad weather , Don Juan ordered the fleet to regroup quickly and head for a sheltered bay near the northwestern limits of the gulf. Around midnight they anchored in the bay and immediately all the fleet's leaders , with the exception of those badly wounded , came on board.Don Juan's galley gatherd to congratulate him and celebrate the victory. The losses suffered by the Holy League fleet were between seven and eight thousand killed and about twice that number wounded , and only ten or fifteen ships had been sunk during the battle. These losses were comparatively light. Of the three hundred and thirty Turkish ships , fewer than fifty managed to escape and most of them were burned because they could not be made sufficiently seaworthy for further use; one hundred and seventeen Moslem galleys were captured intact and the rest were sunk or destroyed after they had been run ashore by the fleeing Turks. A large majority of the seventy-five thousand men who had entered the battle on the Moslem side were killed , five thousand were taken prisoner (with at least teice that number of Christian galley slaves liberated) , and only a few were able to escape either by ship or by swimming ashore.Turkey , for the first time in several centuries , was left without a navy.Word of the fleet's splendid victory at Lepanto preceded Don Juan's return and quickly spread throughout Europe. The Republic of Venice was the first allied state to receive the happy news. The Doge quickly ordered a week of public celebrations and the seventh of October was declared a perpetual holiday in memory of the Battle of Lepanto. Hundreds of poems , songs , and paintings were produced all over Christendom in commemoration of the victory. All of Christendom took heart.The famous Spanish writer , Miguel de Cervantes , who himself was wounded in the Battle of Lepanto , serving in the Spanish infantry , and who had also been a captive of the Barbary pirates until ransomed , recounted many of his experiences in the novel Don Quixote. The Battle of Lepanto marked the end of Turkish naval supremacy and the beginning of the Ottoman Empire's decline on both land and sea. Perhaps the most important result of the battle was its effect on men's minds: the victory had ended the myth that the Turks could not be beaten. The Turkish fleet had 208 Galleys, 66 small ships; The Christian fleet about the same number. The crusaders lost 17 ships and 7,500 men; 15 Turkish ships were sunk and 177 taken, from 20,000 to 30,000 men disabled , and from 12,000 to 15,000 Christian rowers, slaves on the Turkish Gaileys, were delivered. Though this Victory did not accomplish all that was hoped for, since the Turks appeared the very next year with a fleet of 250 ships before Modon and Cape Matapan, and in vain offered battle to the Christians, it was of great importance as being the first great defeat of the infidels on the sea.Held by the Venetians from 1687 to 1689, and thence by the Turks until 1827, it became in the latter year part of the new Greek realm. Today Nafpaktos (Naupactus,) chief town of the district in the province of Arcarnania Aetolia, has (12,000 inhabitants), all Orthodox Greeks. Georgios Rigas 9/23/99