I'll Have to Think About That

Metal Makes You Smarter: The Siege and Battle of Vienna, 1683

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In this episode, Lee and I talk about the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, and the battle that decided the question in September of that year. I was led to this event by the Sabaton song, "Winged Hussars," about the Polish heavy cavalry, led by King John Sobieski of Poland, credited with being the essential element for European victory in the last great invasion of Europe by the Ottoman Turks.

Suggested Readings:

  • Turning the Ottoman Tide, John III Sobieski at Vienna 1683 - HistoryNet article
  • Sabaton, Winged Hussars - lyric video (with a strange hodge-podge of imagery...no idea why there's a samurai and a guy with an American WW2 helmet)
  • Sabaton, Winged Hussars - song put to video clips from the 2012 movie
  • The Siege of Vienna - John Stoye's history of the siege and battle
  • Vienna 1683: Christian Europe Repels the Ottomans - Osprey Publishing's short, map-laden account of the battle
  • Polish Winged Hussars - Wikipedia article
  • Winged Hussar image - re-enactor
  • The Janissaries - European Christian children taken to serve as elite soldiers and administrators for their government; Wikipedia article
  • Possibly Apocryphal Story of Viennese Bakers During the Battle - website
  • Day of the Siege - the (reportedly awful) movie mentioned, available on Amazon Prime
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    I'll Have to Think About ThatBy Jeremy Gypton