The ‘Long Campaign’: When Christians (Finally) Took the Offensive Against Encroaching Islam, by Raymond Ibrahim

By Raymond Ibrahim, The Stream, September 27, 2024

Raymond Ibrahim is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Portions of this article were excerpted from his book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam.

This week in history witnessed the launch of a daringly amazing campaign dedicated to defending and liberating Christian lands from Islam.

The year was 1442. After suffering countless atrocities from the invading Turks, “everyone [in the West] spoke of making war on the infidels and driving them out of Europe.” The turning point was entirely due to the martial exploits of John Hunyadi, the Transylvanian-born hero who had singlehandedly bested the Turks in several recent engagements.

After putting an army of some 25,000 Christians together — mostly from Hungary, Poland, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Serbia — Hunyadi took the initiative by doing the unthinkable: He led them into Turkish-held territories at the end of September 1442, when campaigning season was supposed to end, not begin, due to the start of the usually harsh winter. ….

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