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Christians under the Ottoman Turks

French and English Travellers in Greece and Anatolia (1615-1694)


In the 17th century Britons left their country in vast numbers - explorers, diplomats, ecclesiastics, merchants, or simply “tourists.” Only the most intrepid ventured into the faraway lands of the Ottoman Empire. Their travel narratives, best-sellers in their day, provide an entertaining but also valuable testimony on the everyday life of Orthodox Christians and their coexistence with the Turks. Greek Christians, though living under the Ottoman yoke, enjoyed greater religious freedom than many of their brothers in Christian Europe. The travelers’ intellectual curiosity about Greece opened a window on the Orthodox Church, and paved the way for future dialogue.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-0591-1
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Mar 30,2016
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 318
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-0591-1
$106.00
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In the 17th century Britons left their country in vast numbers - explorers, young aristocrats, diplomats, ecclesiastics, soldiers, botanists, merchants, pirates or simply “tourists”. Among them only the most intrepid or passionate ventured into the faraway lands of the Ottoman Empire and wrote travel narratives. These accounts, which were best-sellers in their day, provide a valuable but also entertaining testimony on the everyday life of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire and their coexistence with the Turks.

Greek Christians, though politically enslaved and living under the Ottoman yoke, enjoyed greater religious freedom than many of their brothers in Christian Europe who were persecuted for their faith. At a time when such a small country as England struggled to impose religious uniformity on its people, even to the point of causing civil war, a huge Empire like that of the Ottomans, spreading across three continents, permitted diversity and tolerated all religions.

French and English travellers, amazed by the exuberance and cheerfulness of the Greeks especially during religious festivals, give us a vivid account of their cultural and religious otherness. Their intellectual curiosity about Greece and the faith of the Greeks, at times somewhat tainted by misunderstanding, opened a window on the Orthodox Church, and thus paved the way for future and deeper dialogue.

In the 17th century Britons left their country in vast numbers - explorers, young aristocrats, diplomats, ecclesiastics, soldiers, botanists, merchants, pirates or simply “tourists”. Among them only the most intrepid or passionate ventured into the faraway lands of the Ottoman Empire and wrote travel narratives. These accounts, which were best-sellers in their day, provide a valuable but also entertaining testimony on the everyday life of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire and their coexistence with the Turks.

Greek Christians, though politically enslaved and living under the Ottoman yoke, enjoyed greater religious freedom than many of their brothers in Christian Europe who were persecuted for their faith. At a time when such a small country as England struggled to impose religious uniformity on its people, even to the point of causing civil war, a huge Empire like that of the Ottomans, spreading across three continents, permitted diversity and tolerated all religions.

French and English travellers, amazed by the exuberance and cheerfulness of the Greeks especially during religious festivals, give us a vivid account of their cultural and religious otherness. Their intellectual curiosity about Greece and the faith of the Greeks, at times somewhat tainted by misunderstanding, opened a window on the Orthodox Church, and thus paved the way for future and deeper dialogue.

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ContributorBiography

HélènePignot

Hélène Pignot is senior lecturer in English at the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). She is a former student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Lyons and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle). She has published translations and articles on travel literature and natural language processing.

  • Titled Page (page 3)
  • Table of Contents (page 7)
  • Table of Illustrations (page 9)
  • Introduction (page 11)
  • French Travellers (page 25)
    • Louis Deshayes de Courmenin (1600?-1632) (page 27)
    • Philippe de la Sainte Trinite (1603-1671) (page 37)
    • Francois LaBoullaye-Le Gouz (1610?-1664) (page 43)
    • Georges Guillet de Saint Georges (1625?-1705) (page 51)
    • Guillaume-Joseph Grelot (1630-16--) (page 79)
    • Jean Thevenot (1633-1667) (page 97)
    • Jean Dumont (1667-1727) (page 123)
  • English Travellers (page 139)
    • George Sandys (1578-1644) (page 143)
    • Henry Blount (1602-1682) (page 159)
    • John Ray (1627-1705) (page 165)
    • Paul Rycaut (1629-1700) (page 171)
    • Thomas Smith (1638-1710) (page 209)
    • George Wheler (1650-1723) (page 275)
    • Annex: Joseph Georgirenes (page 289)
  • Afterword (page 293)
  • Bibliography (page 303)
  • Index (page 313)
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