Taking the head of a Muslim 218

 More on the new President of the EU, Karel Schwarzenberg:

The Schwarzenbergs were Austrian princes. There is an equestrian statue of Prince Karl Philipp (1771-1820) in the Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna. But more interesting to us is the Schwarzenberg who was one of the leaders of the troops against the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Although outnumbered, the Austrians beat the Ottomans, and by doing so stopped the advance of Islam into Europe. The victory marked the start of the Habsburg dynasty. It was also (so legend has it) the occasion for which the delicate croissant bread roll was invented to commemorate the defeat of the Muslim armies with the crescent on their flag. And ever since then, the Schwarzenbergs have had the head of a Muslim on their coat of arms. 

During the Second World War, a Schwarzenberg duchess in Czechoslovakia, ancestress of Karel, refused to speak German to the Nazi occupiers although it was her native tongue, always using an interpreter to make communication as difficult as possible.  

Now that Islam is conquering Europe by stealth, it may be a hopeful sign that once again a Schwarzenberg is in a position of authority and speaking out against the renewed advance of militant Islam.