The Siege of Vienna (Blessed Marco D'Aviano)

The Ottoman Empire, under the encouragement of the Protestants of Hungary and Louis XIV of France, re-invaded Austria in 1683. In July 1683, the Ottoman troops arrived at Vienna and started to lay siege to the city. Their strength was more than 10 times of the Austrian defenders.
Seeing the desperate situation, the Emperor of Austria, Leopold I, fled from Vienna. He took his family and his court. His action demoralised the defenders further. The siege had also cut off the food supply to the city, starving thousands of soldiers and civilians left in the city.
Fearing the fall of Vienna, Pope Innocent XI sent a Franciscan friar, Marco D'Aviano, to restore the Holy League and save the city. Friar Marco was an excellent preacher. He converted many people through his preaching. He was also known as a miracle worker. He healed a nun who had been bedridden for 13 years. People were also known to be healed from their infirmity when he was preaching.
Fr Marco was also the spiritual director of Emperor Leopold I. He met the emperor in Linz, three years before the siege. Leopold, a pious Catholic, immediately felt a strong connection to the zealous Capuchin. He trusted him with everything. So, when the Emperor heard that Fr Marco was the legate from the pope, he was very happy to accept it.
Fr Marco's main task was to restore the holy league. Due to the politicking of that era, the leaders of the league were squabbling among themselves. One of their contention was who should lead the relief army that was on the way to Vienna. King Jan Sobieski III wanted to lead the troops, but many disagreed because he was not "Royal" enough and he was too old. They were also unable to decide what strategy should they employ to free Vienna. Fr Marco stepped in and using his diplomatic skills, the problems were resolved and Sobieski had command of the army.
Suffice it to say, The Ottoman Empire was defeated on 11 September 1683. Legend has it that after the battle, the bakers made bread in the form of a crescent as a symbol of the Christians' victory. This is known now as croissant. Legend also said that when the Christian army pillaged the Ottoman's encampment, they found lots of coffee. Due to its bitter taste, almost no one cares about it. Fr Marco had the idea to process the coffee into a drink that is now known as Cappucino (from the word Capuchin). So the next time you have your croissant and cappuccino, do not forget to thank Bl Marco D'Aviano!
The video clip was taken from a Polish-Italian movie called "The Day of the Siege: September Eleven 1683".
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Lyrics: Milites Ecclesiae
Music made in: www.udio.com/
Video made in: Veed.io
Tags: #powermetal , #catholic, #CatholicMetal, #AI-generated, #christianmetal, #melodicmetal, #vienna, #marcod'aviano, #siegeofvienna, #history, #1683, #september11, #christianvictory.