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<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/A22.jpg'> 
King John III Sobieski and 
The Battle of Vienna 
Vatican City Aerogramme, 1984</center>
 
On June 18, 1984, Vatican City issued its annual aerogramme, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. The left-hand side of the aerogramme features an image of King John III Sobieski, the commander of the Christian forces in that battle, and includes the statement "Venimus, Vidimus, Deus vicit" ("We came, we saw, God conquered"). He died on June 17, 1696. 
 
The Battle of Vienna, fought on September 12, 1683, was a pivotal clash between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition of European forces. Taking place after a grueling two-month siege of the Austrian capital, the battle is widely recognized as the event that changed European history in the 17th century.
 
Ottoman forces had proceeded from the east towards Vienna in the first half of 1683. The city was defended by a garrison of about 11,000 men commanded by Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg. The Ottoman army, consisting of approximately 150,000 soldiers and led by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha, had as its objective the seizure of Vienna to gain control of the Danube River. The Ottomans inflicted a pitched campaign against the Viennese, including heavy artillery bombardment and attempts to tunnel into the city. As these efforts ground on, the Austrian capital came under siege from July to September of 1683, resulting in famine and disease among the populace of the city as the Ottomans attempted to sap the strength of the city and breach its heavily fortified walls.
 
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<img height='375' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Pauwel_Casteels_-_Battle_of_Vienna_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg'> 
"The Battle of Vienna" by Gonzales Franciscus Casteels (circa 1685) 
From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain</center>
 
As the situation in Vienna continued to deteriorate, and with the army on the brink of surrender, a coalition of allied relief forces, totaling roughly 70,000 to 80,000 men consisting of troops from Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, and German states arrived and were placed under the overall command of the King of Poland, John III Sobieski. This alliance marked the first time the Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans.
 
On September 12, 1683, as allied infantry steadily pushed back Ottoman positions, Sobieski ordered a massive cavalry charge down the slopes of Kahlenberg Mountain. The charge, consisting of close to 18,000 cavalrymen, was the largest cavalry charge in recorded history and was spearheaded by the heavily armored “Polish Winged Hussars”. The charge completely shattered the Ottoman lines and routed their army. Once defeated at the Battle of Vienna and during the ensuing war which lasted until 1699, the Ottomans ceased to be a menace to the Christian world and ended their westward expansion into Central and Eastern Europe. It is viewed as a turning point in history.
 
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<img height='375' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/King_John_III_Sobieski_sending_Message_of_Victory_to_the_Pope%2C_after_the_Battle_of_Vienna_111.png'> 
Jan Sobieski at Vienna by Jan Matejko (1883) 
Vatican Museums 
From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain</center>
 
The painting above depicts King John III Sobieski sending a message of victory to Pope Innocent XI after his victory at the Battle of Vienna. The pope labeled the king “the savior of Western Christendom”. As noted in the Vatican Philatelic Office release document for the aerogramme, the pope "in a token of gratitude to the Polish Sovereign John Sobieski, replaced the black eagle in his coat of arms with the crowned white eagle of the Polish monarchy." That change is represented in the postal indicia in the upper right hand corner of the aerogramme.
 
 REFERENCES: 
<li>Governatorato Vatican City, Philatelic Office, June 18, 1984, <a href = 'https://vaticanstamps.org/UFN/images/1984-3-01-1.jpg'>Aerogramme 1984</a> 
<li>Wikipedia, <a href = 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna'>Battle of Vienna</a> 
<li>Wikipedia, <a href = 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_III_Sobieski'>John III Sobieski</a> 
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search

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