Revelation 12:13 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And when the dragon saw — That be could no longer accuse the saints in heaven, he turned his wrath to do all possible mischief on earth. He persecuted the woman — The ancient persecutions of the church were mentioned, Revelation 1:9, Revelation 2:10, Revelation 7:14; but this persecution came after her flight, Revelation 12:6, just at the beginning of the third woe. Accordingly, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the church was furiously persecuted by several heathen powers. In Prussia, king Adelbert was killed in the year 997, king Brunus in 1008; and when king Stephen encouraged Christianity in Hungary, he met with violent opposition. After his death, the heathens in Hungary set themselves to root it out, and prevailed for several years. About the same time, the army of the emperor, Henry the Third, was totally overthrown by the Vandals. These, and all the accounts of those times, show with what fury the dragon then persecuted the woman.