What Naval Battle Happened on This Day Over 400 Years Ago That Buck Sexton Says 'Cannot' Be Forgotten?

You may not know about the Battle of Lepanto, but TheBlaze Radio's Buck Sexton believes it "belongs in the pantheon of great victories alongside Marathon, Actium, Waterloo [and] Yorktown."

On Tuesday, Sexton aired a two-hour special on the naval battle, saying Americans cannot allow it to be forgotten.

Buck Sexton (Image credit: Sonja Georgevich)

"Some have said it is the most important naval battle in history," he said. "And yet it has faded away in our modern memories like an ancient shipwreck, slowly breaking apart and disintegrating beneath the endless rhythmic pull of the warm Mediterranean sea above."

"We cannot allow it to be forgotten. We will not," he said. "Gather around, for I wish to tell you a tale. Today, October 7th, is the anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto -- a gargantuan struggle on the sea that changed the course of events in the 16th century."

Sexton explained that at the Battle of Lepanto, Christendom was saved "from extinction at the hands of the Islamic conquest."

On Oct. 7, 1571, the united fleet of Christendom "risked all against the vast military hordes of the Ottoman Empire" off the coast of Greece, he said.

"The victor-take-all struggle -- cross against crescent, jihad against crusade -- was a fight for domination of the Mediterranean," Sexton continued. "And with it, the naval and commercial power that would come to define the world for centuries."

"Lepanto -- a day when the fate of the West, and thus the world -- was decided," Sexton remarked. "And it all rested on the shoulders of the dashing, illegitimate son of the Holy Roman Emperor -- one of the central heroes of our tale -- Don Juan of Austria."

Sexton told TheBlaze he chose to do a special on the naval battle because of its historical significance, but also because it "raises troubling questions that are still very relevant today given the growth of the so-called Islamic State and violence across the Middle East."

"That the forces of the Christian West banded together to defeat the largest caliphate in history is a story everyone should know," he said. "And now with our special presentation of the Buck Sexton Show on October 7th -- they will."

Listen to the complete special, below:

This post has been updated.