Battles that Advanced and Spread Christendom

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I’m not saying physical battle is prescribed in the New Testament.

However, had these battles not gone the way they had, much of what we hold dear as Reformed and Evangelical Christians would not have existed in its current format.

No Catholic church or much reduced
No Christian England
No Reformation
No Evangelicalism
No United States of America

Did God use or allow these battles to project Christian Europe in its dark and convoluted history in times of weakness or near termination?

SELA

General “Christian Battles”

Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312 AD): Fought near Rome between Roman Emperors Constantine and Maxentius. Constantine’s victory, inspired by a vision of the Christian cross (leading to his famous “In hoc signo vinces” motto), paved the way for his conversion to Christianity. This battle was pivotal in establishing Christianity as a favored religion in the Roman Empire , culminating in the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, which granted religious tolerance and ended persecutions.
Battle of the Frigidus (394 AD): Fought between Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I and the Western usurper Eugenius. Theodosius’s victory led to the reunification of the Roman Empire under a Christian emperor and the banning of pagan practices, solidifying Christianity as the official religion.
First Arab Siege of Constantinople (674–678 AD): Byzantine forces under Constantine IV repelled the Umayyad Caliphate’s assault using Greek fire. This defense preserved the Byzantine Empire, a stronghold of Eastern Christianity, from Muslim conquest.
Battle of Covadonga (722 AD): Asturian Christian leader Pelagius defeated a Muslim force in northern Spain, marking the start of the Reconquista and ensuring a Christian foothold on the Iberian Peninsula.
Battle of Tours (732 AD): Also known as the Battle of Poitiers, this saw Frankish leader Charles Martel (grandfather of Charlemagne) decisively defeat the invading Umayyad Muslim forces under Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. The victory halted the northward expansion of Islam into Western Europe, preserving Christian dominance in the region and allowing the Carolingian dynasty to consolidate power under a Christian banner.
Saxon Wars (772–804 AD): A series of campaigns led by Charlemagne (Charles the Great), Holy Roman Emperor, against the pagan Saxons in what is now Germany. Key battles included the Massacre of Verden (782 AD) and various sieges, resulting in the forced conversion of the Saxons to Christianity. These victories expanded the Frankish Empire and solidified Christianity’s spread across Central Europe, earning Charlemagne the title “Father of Europe” for his role in Christian unification.
Battle of Pavia (774 AD): Part of Charlemagne’s Lombard campaign in Italy. Charlemagne besieged and captured Pavia, defeating the Lombard King Desiderius. This victory integrated the Lombard Kingdom into the Frankish Empire, strengthened ties with the Papacy, and further entrenched Christianity in Italy by aligning imperial power with the Church.
Battle of Edington (878 AD): Alfred the Great of Wessex defeated the Viking Great Heathen Army, leading to the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity and protecting Anglo-Saxon Christian kingdoms.
Siege of Paris (885–886 AD): Frankish defenders under Count Odo repelled a massive Viking siege, safeguarding the Christian heartland of Francia from pagan raiders.
Battle of Lechfeld (955 AD): Holy Roman Emperor Otto I crushed the invading pagan Magyars (Hungarians), leading to their eventual conversion to Christianity and securing Central Europe for Christian rule.
Siege of Nicaea (1097 AD): During the First Crusade, Crusader forces captured the city from the Seljuk Turks, opening the path to Anatolia and advancing Christian efforts to reclaim the Holy Land.
Battle of Dorylaeum (1097 AD): Crusaders defeated a Seljuk ambush, ensuring the continuation of the First Crusade and demonstrating Christian military resilience in Muslim territories.
Siege of Antioch (1098 AD): Crusaders captured the strategic city after a prolonged siege, a major victory in the First Crusade that bolstered Christian control in the Levant.
Siege of Jerusalem (1099 AD): The culmination of the First Crusade, where Christian knights stormed and captured Jerusalem, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and fulfilling the Crusade’s primary goal.
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212 AD): A coalition of Christian Spanish kingdoms decisively defeated the Almohad Caliphate, accelerating the Reconquista and weakening Muslim power in Iberia.
Night Attack at Târgoviște (1462 AD): Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia ambushed Ottoman forces, delaying their invasion and defending Christian Eastern Europe from Ottoman expansion.
Battle of Lepanto (1571 AD): The Catholic Holy League’s naval victory over the Ottoman Empire halted Ottoman naval dominance in the Mediterranean, protecting Christian Europe from further incursions.
Battle of Arnay-le-Duc (1570 AD): During the French Wars of Religion, Protestant Huguenot forces defeated Catholic royal troops, strengthening the Protestant position and leading to a favorable peace treaty.
Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588): A naval engagement off the coast of England where the Protestant English fleet, under commanders like Sir Francis Drake, repelled the massive Catholic Spanish Armada sent by King Philip II to invade England and restore Catholicism. The English victory preserved Protestantism in England, weakened Spanish Catholic hegemony in Europe, and boosted the Protestant cause during the Reformation era.
Battle of Breitenfeld (1631): During the Thirty Years’ War, Protestant Swedish forces under King Gustavus Adolphus defeated the Catholic Imperial army led by Count Tilly. This victory revitalized the Protestant side, preventing Catholic dominance in the Holy Roman Empire and shifting the balance toward religious pluralism in Europe.
Battle of Naseby (1645 AD): In the English Civil War, Parliamentarian forces (largely Protestant Puritans) routed the Royalist army, paving the way for Protestant dominance in England and influencing the spread of Protestantism.
Battle of the Boyne (1690): In Ireland, Protestant forces of William III (William of Orange) defeated the Catholic army of James II. This secured Protestant ascendancy in Britain and Ireland, reinforcing the Glorious Revolution and Protestant rule, which had lasting impacts on the Christian world’s divisions.

Mongol Battles the Benefited Christianity

Siege of Alamut (1256 AD): Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan besieged and destroyed the fortress of Alamut, the headquarters of the Nizari Ismaili Assassins, a Shia Muslim sect notorious for assassinating political and religious leaders, including Christians. This victory eliminated a major threat to Christian states and Crusaders in the Levant, allowing greater security for Christian interests in the region.
Siege of Baghdad (1258 AD): Hulagu Khan’s Ilkhanate Mongols captured and sacked Baghdad, ending the Abbasid Caliphate, the symbolic center of Sunni Islam. Christians in the city were spared due to the influence of Hulagu’s Christian wife, Doquz Khatun, and the destruction severely weakened Islamic political and cultural power, indirectly benefiting Christian Europe by reducing the strength of a unified Muslim threat.
Siege of Aleppo (1260 AD): Mongol armies under Hulagu conquered the Ayyubid-held city of Aleppo in Syria after a brief siege, massacring much of the Muslim population but sparing Christians and Jews. This victory opened the way for Mongol advances into the Levant and fostered temporary alliances with local Christian kingdoms like Armenia and Antioch, aiding the Crusader cause against Muslim forces.
Sack of Damascus (1260 AD): Following Aleppo, Mongols entered Damascus unopposed, with Hulagu’s forces treating Christians favorably and even allowing them to ring church bells, which had been forbidden under Muslim rule. The conquest disrupted Ayyubid control in Syria, creating opportunities for Christian-Crusader diplomacy and weakening Muslim defenses in the Holy Land.
Battle of Homs (1260 AD): A minor engagement where Mongol forces defeated a Muslim army near Homs, consolidating their hold on Syria before the setback at Ain Jalut. This further demonstrated Mongol dominance over Muslim territories, providing a brief window for Christian states to negotiate alliances against common Islamic enemies.
Siege of Nishapur (1221 AD): Following the Khwarezmian victory at Parwan, Mongol forces under Tolui Khan besieged and captured the city of Nishapur in Persia, slaughtering most of the population in retaliation. This brutal conquest further fragmented the Khwarezmian Empire, eroding Muslim military capabilities in the region and facilitating Mongol dominance, which allowed for the protection and expansion of Nestorian Christian communities within the empire and opened avenues for European Christian diplomacy.
Siege of Merv (1221 AD): Mongol armies led by Tolui besieged Merv, one of the greatest cities in the Islamic world, for about a week before it surrendered, only to be massacred almost entirely. The destruction of this key cultural and economic center crippled Islamic scholarship and power in Central Asia, indirectly benefiting Christianity by diminishing a major Muslim hub and enabling Mongol policies that tolerated and sometimes favored Christian missionaries and traders along the Silk Road.
Siege of Herat (1221–1222 AD): After an initial surrender, Herat rebelled against Mongol rule, leading to a prolonged siege and eventual sack by Tolui’s forces, with massive casualties. This victory solidified Mongol control over western Khwarezmian territories, weakening overall Muslim resistance and creating a power vacuum that allowed Christian-influenced Mongol leaders to extend their reach, fostering alliances that protected Christian enclaves in the East from Islamic threats.
Battle of Vâliyân (1221 AD): During the pursuit of Khwarezmian Shah Jalal ad-Din, Mongol forces engaged and defeated his army at Vâliyân (also known as the Battle of the Kafir Valley), contributing to the empire’s collapse. This engagement helped dismantle the last organized Muslim forces in the region, promoting Mongol hegemony that included religious tolerance for Christians, thus aiding the survival and spread of Christianity in Asia amid the decline of Islamic states.

Roman Catholic Battles against Barbarians

Battle of Edington (878 AD): Alfred the Great of Wessex defeated the Viking Great Heathen Army led by Guthrum near Chippenham, England, after a surprise attack. The Vikings were starved into submission, leading to Guthrum’s baptism and conversion to Christianity along with 29 of his men. This victory secured Wessex, divided England via the Treaty of Wedmore, and facilitated the integration of converted Vikings into Christian society, advancing Christianity’s dominance in southern England.
Battle of Cynwit (878 AD): Odda, Ealdorman of Devon, under Alfred’s command, defeated a Viking force in Devon, England, killing their leader Ubba. This weakened Viking momentum during their invasion of Wessex, contributing to the overall Christian resistance that culminated in Guthrum’s defeat at Edington and his subsequent conversion, bolstering Christianity’s hold in Anglo-Saxon England.
Battle of Hjörungavágr (986 AD): Christian Danish forces under Harold Bluetooth were defeated by pagan Norwegian Vikings led by Haakon Jarl, but the conflict underscored the spiritual divide. Although a pagan victory, it set the stage for later Christian kings like Olaf Tryggvason to use military force for conversions in Norway, indirectly aiding the eventual Christianization of Scandinavia through heightened efforts against pagan strongholds.
Conflict at Old Uppsala (1087 AD): Swedish Christian King Inge the Elder ambushed and killed pagan King Blot-Sweyn by burning his hall during a sacrifice ritual, overthrowing pagan leadership. This violent suppression ended organized pagan resistance in central Sweden, allowing Inge to enforce Christianity, establish bishoprics, and complete the Christianization of the Swedes.
Sigurd the Crusader’s Crusade Against Småland (early 12th century AD): Norwegian Christian King Sigurd led a crusade into pagan-leaning Småland in southeastern Sweden. The campaign enforced conversions in resistant areas, consolidating Christianity across Scandinavia by targeting lingering pagan elements and supporting the establishment of Catholic institutions.
Wendish Crusade (1147 AD): A coalition of Saxon, Danish, and Polish Catholic forces campaigned against pagan Slavic Wends (Obotrites and Lutici) in northern Germany, including sieges at Dobin and Demmin. The crusaders forced tribute and subjugation, affirming German control over Wagria and Polabia, leading to the Christianization of the Slavs through missionary work and integration into Catholic territories.
First Battle of the Livonian Crusade (1198 AD): German crusaders under Bishop Berthold landed in Livonia (Latvia) and defeated pagan Livonians. This initial victory established a foothold for the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, leading to the gradual conquest and forced conversion of Baltic tribes to Roman Catholicism.
Conquest of Turaida (1206 AD): German Catholic crusaders captured the pagan Livonian stronghold at Turaida along the Gauja River. The victory secured trade routes and led to the baptism of local leader Caupo, who allied with crusaders, accelerating the Christianization of Livonia.
Siege of Satezele Hillfort (1212 AD): Crusaders besieged and captured the last major pagan Livonian hillfort near Sigulda. This ended Livonian resistance, enabling full subjugation and formal conversions to Catholicism in the region.
Attack on Jersika (1209 AD): Catholic crusaders defeated the Orthodox Principality of Jersika, allied with pagan Lithuanians. The principality’s king became a vassal of the Bishop of Livonia, integrating Latgale into Catholic control and promoting conversions.
Battle near Viljandi (1217 AD): Also called the Battle of St. Matthew’s Day; crusaders and allied converts defeated Estonian pagans, killing leader Lembitu. This crushed Estonian resistance, allowing Catholic control and Christianization in northern Estonia.
Battle of Lindanise (1219 AD): Danish Catholic crusaders under Valdemar II defeated Estonian pagans at Tallinn. The victory established a Danish fortress, promoting Catholicism in Estonia despite later sieges.
Conquest of Muhu and Valjala (1227 AD): A large Catholic army under Papal legate William of Modena crossed frozen seas to defeat pagan Oeselians on Saaremaa. The Oeselians accepted Christianity, ending raids and establishing bishoprics.
Battle on the Dzierzgoń River (1234 AD): Polish and Teutonic Knights defeated pagan Old Prussians. This stabilized borders and advanced the Teutonic Order’s Christianization of Prussia.
Conquest of Kaarma (1261 AD): United Livonian Order, bishopric, and Danish forces defeated rebellious pagan Oeselians on Saaremaa. The victory secured permanent Catholic control and enforced conversions.