KING JAN III SOBIESKI, shown in the uniform of his famous heavy cavalry (right), led his Winged Hussars, armed with the lances depicted in the monument, and defeated the Ottoman Turks, lifting the siege of Vienna in 1683. This is one of the most important battles of European history because it halted the expansion of the Ottoman Empire for all time. Because of his exploits, Sobieski was called The Lion of the North.