“
Whisper it softly, but many Greeks, including clergy, welcomed the Ottomans. On the whole Muslim rulers have been much more tolerant of infidels than their Christian counterparts have. As long as their subjects paid taxes and provided recruits to the harems and armies of the Sultan, they could have whatever religion they liked. Only when they joined religion with revolt did scimitars and stakes come out. Orthodox Christianity was under far greater threat from the Roman variety imposed by Venetia
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― It's All Greek to Me!: A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, Retsina--and Real Greeks
― It's All Greek to Me!: A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, Retsina--and Real Greeks
“
What makes us and them, self and other, East and West, Muslim, Christian, and Jew any different? By narrating history to establish a connection to the past and to ourselves, we find the answer. […] Because our lives have been shaped by their actions, their entangled histories are worth discovering and placing in the right context, especially if such histories are unfamiliar yet closer to us than we realised.
”
― The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs
― The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs
