The following animated video tells the true story of how the poor common folk of Europe—those who had suffered most under Islamic invasion, particularly at the hands of the Ottoman Turks—finally rose up, took charge, and fought back. Abandoned by their nobles, ignored by their king, these everyday Europeans (the forgotten “deplorables” of their time) delivered a crushing blow to a massive Muslim army at the Siege of Belgrade on July 22, 1456. They were led by the great Hungarian hero John Hunyadi, who gave voice to their righteous anger:
We have had enough of our men enslaved, our women raped, wagons loaded with severed heads of our people, the sale of chained captives, the mockery of our religion… We shall not stop until we succeed in expelling the enemy from Europe.
This was the battle that saved Europe—and it wasn’t won by kings or elites, but by common men of faith who finally looked to themselves for deliverance.
For more on John Hunyadi (and similar Christian heroes and battles against Islam), see my Defenders of the West.
For a print version of the following video, click here.