King Richard the Lion-Hearted insulted Duke Leopard during the Third Crusade by not allowing the duke’s banner to fly at the same level as Richard’s (who was of course a King and not a mere Duke). Later, on Richard’s journey home, he was captured and held for ransom, which totaled thirty tons of silver. After the ransom was paid, the duke received one-third of the ransom which he used to build walls around Vienna as protection against Ottoman raids.
Those walls were still there in 1529 when the Ottoman’s decided to besiege Vienna after capturing Hungary and most of the Balkans. The Ottoman’s defied the terrible rains and brought their siege cannons all the way from Istanbul to the walls of Vienna but were exhausted by the effort. The Ottomans needed a quick and easy siege, but the walls were too strong and after a final attempt, the Ottomans retreated, defeated by those walls. The Ottomans were to return in 1683 and were again defeated by those walls and the relieving Polish army led by King John Sobieski.
That ransom paid for the walls and if there had not been the walls, Vienna would have fallen to the Turks. If it had fallen, Vienna would have been a Muslim city and Back, Mozart, Beethoven, Hegel, Nietzsche, and others would not have created the music, philosophy and science that they did.
When you throw a stone into a lake, the ripples move out and so it is with life; you never know what the results of your actions will be so act wisely.
