1. OTTOMAN SHIPS GUSHED THROUGH THE SEA...

Constantinople has fallen.
A massive Ottoman fleet, led by Gedik Ahmed Pasha,
Undisturbed crossed the Strait of Otranto.
A big attack on Italy was about to begin.


2. LANDING IN OTRANTO, 1480

The landing was smooth,
There were only sporadic clashes among the soldiers
Of the surprised Aragonese garrison
And the massive enemy forces that landed.

Soon Italians, intimidated by the steady increase
Of the Ottoman strength, abandoned the hamlet
And retreated behind the citadel's walls.
The defendants, in the vain waiting for rescue,
Bravely repulsed the surrender request made by Ahmed.

"The infidels fled and entered into the castle and closing the door
Of the castle they opened the gate of the war.

The guns were breathing like mouths of giants
And when some infidel soldiers wanted to be seen as devils,
Stone balls took away their heads and their bodies clung next to the walls.
The plain next to the city was transformed into a sea of iron waves.
With the shimmer of the ramparts and the splendor
Of the helmets of steel the moon and the sun got frozen in the sky."

The walls, devoid of guns and poorly defended,
Were repeatedly hit by powerful artillery.


3. TURKISH INVASION

When the walls of the citadel ceded
The Turks broke through the doors of the Cathedral,
Where they committed a terrible massacre.

The clergy and many citizens found praying
Were cut to pieces with their scimitars.

"The heroes were furious as the Nile
And attacked with drawn swords that burned like fire,
Blowing out with swords the fire of the vile bodies
Of those infidels dogs from Hell,
And knocked down those arrogants with the tips of the spears.

Those evil, those villains went out as shrubs taken from the fire.
The battlefield was full with the corpses of the soldiers of the West.
Defeated the evil enemy, the winners, soldiers fighting
For the victory of Islam, sold some of the prisoners and killed some others."

Otranto fell after two weeks of heroic resistance.


4. MARTYRIUM, TERROR AND DEATH

Conquistata Otranto i Turchi iniziarono a seminare terrore e morte.

The Italian Christian world was aghast.
Ferdinand I King of Naples, turned to the Pope
Exposing the danger looming over the lands of the Church
If the Turks had invaded the Kingdom of Naples.

The fall and the martyrdom of Otranto
Aroused great emotion among Christians and fears
Of a possible invasion of the Vatican woke up Sixtus IV.
The Pope decreed a truce among the various Italian States
And proclaimed an anti-Muslin crusade,
Inviting all Christian Princes to join against
A unique and formidable enemy.

Otranto was besieged, and the Turks
Felt for the first time threatened by land and by sea.
To resolve the situation, however, was the death of Sultan Mehmed II.
A new crisis arove within the Turkish Empire and Gedik Ahmed was called home.

In Otranto the Ottoman army got deprived of reinforcements
And pressed by the armies and the Christian militias,
Suffered a violent attack which caused considerable loss of life.

On September 10, 1481 the Islamic army handed over the city
Reduced to a pile of rubble, in which only 300 inhabitants had survived.


5. HOLY LEAGUE

The crescent moon symbol was waving
Threateningly on the Christian world.
From the conquest of Constantinople on the Ottoman advance
Into Europe became increasingly unstoppable.
But the crucial event which woke up the whole West
Was the breaking of the truce between the Serenissima and the Ottomans,
And the subsequent attack on the island of Cyprus,
Crucial base for Venice and the last Christendom's frontier in the Mediterranean.

Pope Pius V reacted immediately to resolve the tension among the Christian
Mediterranean powers and push them into a common effort.
In May 1571, after many difficulties, the Holy League was signed.
The Christian world had the strength to lay all the internal rivalries
And united into a single, robust force capable of fighting
The immense and dangerous wave that Islam threatened
To slam with ferocity on the entire Christian land.

The Holy See was joined by the Spain led by King Philip II,
The eternal rivals of Venice and Genoa, the order of Malta,
Besides many other Italian dukedoms such as Savoy, Urbino, Parma
And the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo de' Medici.

The Holy League's men knew that the impending battle was decisive
For the whole Christendom, and that in case of defeat Italian
And Spanish lands would fall into the hands of the Turks.

Islam seemed ready to strike Rome and the heart of the West.
But now that the era of Ottoman predominance was over,
Giving way to the impressive and compact Christian counter-offensive.


6. WARSHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

(Instrumental)


7. BATTLE OF LEPANTO

L'armata christiana stava ferma sulla sua linea.
Il solo movimento riguardò le galeazze, che si andarono a schierare
Un miglio davanti a noi, come isole avanzate.

Si aprì una specie di varco sulla parte destra del nostro schieramento
E le due galeazze che dovevano andare a proteggere
Il como dei genovesi si trovarono un po' sperdute nel mezzo del mare.

Ma le altre furono pronte a scatenare tutto l'inferno dei cannoni di cui erano strapiene.

Sui turchi che avanzavano a tutta voga,
Senza più vele ai trinchetti per la caduta del vento,
Piovvero i colpi ed il fuoco in una terribile tempesta
D'improvviso infuriante sul mare tranquillo.

Vidi le palle lanciate dal Duodo sfracassare il fanale più grande della Reale dei Turchi,
Che per altezza dominava il gruppo dei legni nemici avventati all'assalto.

Un secondo colpo frantumò la spalla d'una galera vicina,
Un terzo mandò in pezzi il fasciame di un'altra,
Che si mise ad imbarcare acqua a fiotti sprofondando nel mare come in una sabbia.

Uomini con i turbanti in capo si buttarono a nuoto dagli spalti divelti.

Tra remi spezzati, frammenti di chiglia, tronconi d'alberi dimezzati
Che cadevano da altre galere colpite travolgendo soldati e rematori,
Mentre il fuoco prendeva a divampare su questo e quel bordo
Illuminando le acque di inverosimili bagliori.


8. THE NORMAN ASCENT

The Normans led by d'Altavilla brothers,
Ruggero and Roberto also known as Guiscardo,
Were outnumbered by the Arab army,
But they had never counted the number of enemies,
They were brave men, adventurous and skilful strategists.

The two brothers, to carry a modest army,
Assembled as many ships as possible and crossed the strait.
The Saracens sent, from Balarm, reinforcements
And a large naval fleet to intercept them along Messina's coasts.

Ruggero, with his small part of the army,
Headed straight to the Sicilian city, attracting all the Arab force
Towards himself, thus allowing Roberto to land further north.

Ruggero, deployed his few soldiers,
Waited without fear the arrival of the Saracens.
The Arabs assaulted immediately, but were caught behind
by Guiscardo and the rest of the Norman army.

Panicked Muslins began fleeing.
The few Saracen soldiers within the city, when they saw their fleet deceived
And their army defeated, surrendered.

Ruggero gave Roberto the keys of the city of Messina,
Conquered almost without fighting and thanked God for an easy victory.