The warrior monks of Kalavryta, by Greek painter and iconographer, Maria Sideri
Before the battle in the Mega Spileo Monastery (1827) during the Holy Greek War of Independence, Ibrahim Pasha, the Islamic ruler of Egypt and ally (at the time) to the Ottomans, sent his army to terrorize Peloponnese and force the Greek Orthodox populace to submit to Islam. As the danger was getting closer and closer, the monks of the Mega Spileo Monastery started preparing to fight back. Ibrahim Pasha sent a warning to the monks, trying to persuade them to surrender their weapons and submit peacefully. Here’s their response:
“We salute you, great Islamic ruler.
We received your letter and your warning, we know that you are in Kalavryta and that your army is a mighty one. However, we cannot submit to you, for we have sworn to fight to the death for our Holy Faith and our Nation and we have to uphold this oath. We suggest that you take your army elsewhere. Because, if you fight here and win, you will just murder a bunch of priests, which is really no big deal for us. If you lose, however, it will be extremely humiliating for you and the morale of the Greeks will be boosted tremendously. And you will lose, because God is on our side. This is our advice, you are a smart man, do whatever you want with it. We are more than ready to die.”
-Greek forces: 800 men
-Ottoman forces: 6000 men (4000 Ottomans and 2000 Greek islamized traitors)
-Greek casualties: 1 dead, a few injured
-Ottoman casualties: >300 dead
Result: total Greek victory
#Greece_is_Holy_Europe #Christianity #Christianity_is_not_pacifist
