The Battle of Lepanto and Our Lady of Victory is captured in a contemporaneous painting by Paolo Veronese. Allegoria della battaglia di Lepanto (The Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto) presents a ...

off the port of Lepanto, on October 7, 1571. The pope had ordered that all the men aboard should be shriven before battle, and should pray the rosary. Strict discipline must be maintained.

It did indeed. That was the crucial bigger picture. Between the Christian victories at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and the Siege of Malta in 1565, Europe was spared. Had the Christian defenders ...