The integrity of the Orthodox milesus was guaranteed by the new rights granted to the patriarch. As a result of the Muslim conquest, the Church did not lose its position. On the contrary, it gained a stronger position as a result of the rights of jurisdiction granted to it, which it never had in Byzantine times. After the conquest of the capital and the subsequent annexation of the rest of the districts, almost the entire territory of the patriarchate was reunited, and although it was headed by a heterodox government, it was their own master. Byzantine thinkers who rejected the help of the West, which in fact could save only a small part of the Orthodox territory and involved the Church in a union with Rome and the subsequent deepening of disagreements within the Church, were satisfied. The integrity of the Church was preserved, and with it the integrity of the Greek people.

But the increased rights of patriarchy brought with it new challenges. The Byzantine Church had previously dealt essentially only with religious questions. Could its organization and spiritual life resist the flood that broke in with the introduction of civil government? There were even deeper questions. Could the Church sincerely accept the Turkish government as permanent? In the depths of the consciousness of every Greek, however faithfully he cooperated with the new Turkish masters, there was a glimmer of hope that one day the power of the Antichrist would be shattered, and then the united Greek people would rise and restore their Holy Empire. How could the Patriarch, who was a high dignitary in Ottoman politics and swore allegiance to the Sultan, encourage such aspirations? Perhaps it would be wiser to leave to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; but was not his supreme duty to God? Could he ever have been wholeheartedly devoted to the Sultan? And could the Sultan ever be sure of such loyalty? Moreover, his aspirations brought another problem. The Byzantine Empire, at least in theory, was a universal, Holy Empire of all Christians, regardless of their nationality. As a result of its decline, it was reduced to the Empire of the Greeks, and the Orthodox Miletus, organized by the new constitution, was essentially the Greek Miletus. His task in the eyes of the Greeks was to preserve Hellenism. But could Hellenism be combined with universality? Could the patriarch be the patriarch of the Slavs and Orthodox Arabs as well as the Greeks? Will this not inevitably lead to a narrowing of his horizons? The events of the following centuries showed how complex these problems were.

At that time, however, after the first horror of the conquest had subsided, the prospects for the Orthodox population seemed less bleak than feared. It was well known with what honor the Sultan treated Patriarch Gennadius, with whom he had friendly conversations on religious questions; at his request, Gennadius compiled a brief objective note on the Orthodox faith for translation into Turkish. News of his interest reached Italy. Philhellene Francesco Filelfo, whose mother-in-law, the Italian widow of the Greek philosopher John Chrysolorus, was held captive in Constantinople, wrote a flattering letter to the Sultan asking for her release, and suggested that His Majesty would have been even more admirable if he had accepted the Catholic faith. [273] Soon Pope Pius II, fearing that Mehmet might be seduced by the "schismatic" Greek doctrine, sent him a remarkably eloquent letter, exposing the truth and wisdom of the Holy Catholic Church. [274] In Constantinople, the Greek philosopher George Amirotsis went so far as to suggest that Christianity and Islam could be combined into one religion. He presented the Sultan with a treatise in which he showed that they had much in common: it was possible to work out a synthesis; or at least each religion could recognize the other as a sister. The differences between the Bible and the Koran were always exaggerated by poor translation, he emphasized; The Jews are guilty of encouraging these misunderstandings. Unfortunately, his enlightened arguments were unfounded. The Muslims showed no interest in them; the Greeks pointed to the double-mindedness of Amirutsis, which he displayed during the Turkish conquest of Trebizond; His behavior did not further convince them of the opposite. [275] But although such optimism was doomed to disappointment, the atmosphere at the Sultan's court was not intolerant. Among his ministers were fanatics such as Zagan Pasha and Mahmud Pasha, both converted Christians to Islam; but their influence was counterbalanced by such men as Admiral Ham-za-bey, a friend of the Greek historian Critobulus. The Sultan had a deep respect for his Christian stepmother, Maria, daughter of George Branković, Despot of Serbia, and for his Greek wife, Irene Kantakouzene, and for the widow of Murad II. Not all Christians who converted to Islam were fanatics. Many of them, whose conversion was for political rather than religious reasons, were willing to help their former fellow believers. Even among the Janissary officers there were many who remembered their Christian homes and families and willingly rendered services to them. If the Sultan had not been tolerant, such converts to Islam would not have given reason to doubt their sincerity. But it seems that Mehmet encouraged cooperation.

Still, clouds were gathering on the horizon. Gennady himself was the first to feel them. A few months after his installation, he asked the Sultan for permission to move the patriarchal residence from the Church of St. Apostles. The area in which it was located was inhabited by Turks, who resented the presence of a large Orthodox cathedral. One morning, the body of a Turk was found in the courtyard of the church. Obviously, he was planted there, but this gave the Turkish neighbors a reason to oppose the Christians. If the church building had been in better condition, Gennady could have tried to avert the storm, but it was thoroughly rotten. Its restoration was expensive; And there could be objections on the part of the Turks if he asked for permission to repair. He collected all the treasures and shrines from the church and moved to the Phanar region, inhabited by Greeks. There he settled in the monastery of Pammakaristos, moving the nuns to the nearby monastery of St. John in Trull; and the small but exquisite church of Pammakaristos became the patriarchal church. It was in its side chapel that the sultan came when he wanted to visit the patriarch and discuss political or theological issues with him. He refused to enter the temple itself, fearing that his successors would consider this as an excuse to turn the church building into a mosque. His precautions were in vain. [276]

Despite the fact that Gennady was held in high esteem, his task was not easy. His actions were condemned by religious purists for the fact that, contrary to the canons, he used oikonomia in cases of marriage or dissolution of Christians who had been captured during the conquest of Constantinople. He was especially reproached for marrying boys of the age of twelve years earlier; He allowed these marriages because a married boy could not be taken into the Janissary corps and converted to Islam according to a system known as devshirm among the Turks and παιδομάζωμα among the Greeks. Tired of such intolerant opposition, Gennadius abdicated in 1457 and retired to Mount Athos, and then to the monastery of St. John in Serres under the protection of the Serbian Maria, the widow of Murad II. Twice he was again elected to the patriarchal throne. The date of his death is unknown. It is to be hoped that he did not have time to witness the disorders that broke out later. [277]

Chapter 2. The Church and the State of Other Faiths

The agreement concluded between the conquering sultan and Patriarch Gennadius regarding the Orthodox miletus, as soon turned out, was more valid on paper than in reality. The Turks could not forget that they were a ruling people, conquerors of Christians; They were irritated that the Greeks had received privileges that none of the conquered peoples possessed. Mehmet himself and his advisers grew up at a time when Constantinople was a great cultural center, and the fame of the learning of the Greeks spread throughout the world. They could not help but feel a certain respect for the Greeks. Mehmet was proud that he was the heir of the Caesars, not only sultan, but also Roman emperor; And he wanted his Christian subjects to perceive him in this way. The next generations of Turks no longer shared these feelings. Mehmet's son, Bayazit II, was five years old when his father conquered Constantinople. By the time he became a young man, all the Greek scholars who made up the glory of Constantinople were scattered: some had gone to Italy and the West, others lived in the safety of a monastic cell. All the Greeks he encountered were either merchants, clerks and craftsmen, or priests chosen for their tactful but often servile behavior. Unlike his father, he had no special intellectual interests; Greek culture meant nothing to him. [278] His son, Selim I, actively disliked Christians. The triumph of his reign was the completion of the conquest of Syria, Egypt and Arabia; His highest dream came true when he assumed the title of caliph, i.e., commander of the faithful. [279] Suleiman the Magnificent was another sultan who was interested in the intellectual trends in the world; But the Greeks, his subjects, were no longer in a position to make a significant contribution to them. He himself tried to be fair to them, but for him and for the average Turk they had become a servile people, who could sometimes be used as financiers, secretaries or even diplomats, but, of course, without any trust, with intrigues, and they did not deserve respect. [280] With the accession to the throne of Suleiman's son, Selim II, a drunkard, the top of the Ottoman administration was gripped by a crisis. The Sublime Porte was at the mercy of ministers who, with a few exceptions, were greedy and unscrupulous; at the same time, usually Sultana Valide, the sultan's mother, secretly managed affairs from behind the curtain of the harem. [281]

The fate of the Ottoman Sultanate can serve as an example of the corruption of absolute power. But the system of bribery began to affect the Greeks as well. As it turned out that they could no longer count on good treatment from the authorities, and their specific rights were less and less respected, they inevitably had to resort to intrigues. In their hopelessness, they began to forget about each other's mutual support. Each of them began to look after his own benefit. It was in the interests of the Turks to encourage envy, intrigue and demoralization of the Miletus.

An outward symptom of the deterioration of the situation of the Greeks was the constant confiscation of their churches and their conversion into mosques. The conquering sultan was surprisingly lenient in this regard. The only church that was officially taken away from Christians was Hagia Sophia. This was natural: after all, the Great Church was more than a church; it was a symbol of the old Christian Empire. Its transformation into a mosque became the seal of the new order. Over the years, however, there have been few attempts to alter the old Christian decoration, except to cover up or destroy the mosaic images of Christ and the saints. [282] Other churches, such as the New Basilica and Our Lady of Light in the area of the old imperial palace, were so damaged during the assault on the city that they were abandoned, demolished altogether, or collapsed on their own. Other temples, such as the monasteries of Pantocrator or the Savior Horus, were plundered and desecrated; The Greeks made no attempt to restore them. Since they were basically solid, it is not surprising that they were soon converted into mosques. Some churches were occupied by the Turks immediately and were used for secular purposes. Hagia Irene, next to Hagia Sophia, became an arsenal. In the church of St. John in the Dippion, not far from the hippodrome, a menagerie was placed. [283] In these cases, churches were located in areas inhabited by Turks, and Christians were prudent enough not to protest. The church of the Holy Apostles, although preserved by Christians at the time of the fall of the city, as we have seen, was abandoned by them after a few months; In view of its dilapidated condition, the Sultan had no objection to its destruction and the construction of a large mosque bearing his name in its place. But many other churches were left in the hands of Christians. [284]

These churches were not encroached upon during the lifetime of Mehmet II, and his son Bayazit II held different views. In 1490, he demanded the transfer of the patriarchal church of the Virgin Mary to Pammakaristos. But Patriarch Dionysius I was able to prove that Mehmet II definitely granted this church to the patriarchate. The Sultan agreed, demanding only the removal of the cross from the dome. At the same time, he forbade his dignitaries to occupy other churches, as they proposed. [285] His prohibition, however, was soon violated, no doubt with his connivance. Before 1494, the church of Panachrantos was captured and around 1500 the church of St. John in Studion. It was at this time that Turkish officials converted the abandoned churches of Chorus and Pantocrator into mosques; Undoubtedly, they wanted to extend their actions to the churches that are still in operation. [286]

Around 1520, Sultan Selim I, who did not like Christianity, to the horror of his grand vizier, proposed to forcibly convert all Christians to Islam. When he was told that this was impossible, he demanded that at least all of their churches be taken away. The vizier warned Patriarch Theoleptus I, who brought in a learned lawyer named Xenakis. Theoleptus understood that he did not have a firman in defense of the churches. It burned down in a fire in the patriarchate, the patriarch said. But Xenakis was able to imagine three elderly janissaries who were present at the capture of Constantinople by the conquering sultan. They swore on the Koran that they had seen several noble citizens who had come to the sultan preparing to enter the city and presented him with the keys to their districts. In return, he promised them the preservation of the temples. Sultan Selim accepted this testimony and even allowed Christians to reopen some of their churches that had been closed by his officials. At the same time, even more churches were captured during his reign. [287] In 1537, under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the question was raised again. Patriarch Jeremiah I referred to the decision of Sultan Selim. Then Suleiman consulted with Shaykh ul-Islam, the highest Muslim authority in the field of jurisprudence. After examining the subject, the sheikh announced that "as is known, Constantinople was taken by force; But the fact that many churches have survived must mean that the city has surrendered." Suleiman made this decision. [288] Until the end of his reign, churches were no longer closed. Subsequent sultans were less tolerant. Under Selim II, even more churches were converted into mosques. In 1586, after returning from a successful campaign against Azerbaijan, Murad III proclaimed that he intended to transform the patriarchal church of Pammakaristos into a mosque of victory - Fethiye Jami. If Patriarch Jeremiah II, whom Murad loved, had still been on the throne, the closure of the church could have been prevented. But Jeremiah had recently been removed from power as a result of the intrigue of the Holy Synod; and Theoleptus II, who had been erected at the moment, was a nonentity. Murad was no doubt happy to present the confiscation as a punishment for the schemers. The Patriarch of Alexandria temporarily placed the small church of St. Demetrius Kanav, which belonged to him, at the disposal of Jeremias II when he returned to the patriarchate a few months later. Finally, the Patriarchate was allowed to restore the Church of St. George, located in the center of the Phanar quarter. A new church was built in the following century, as were the buildings around it for the patriarchal residence and offices. Like all churches that the Greeks were allowed to build in place of those that had been lost, the new temple was completely intact from the outside, and the construction of a dome visible from the outside was prohibited. [289]

By the eighteenth century, there were about forty Greek churches in Constantinople; but only three of them were built before the conquest of the city: St. George of Cyprus in Psamathia, destroyed by an earthquake at the beginning of the century; St. Demetrius Kanav, destroyed by fire a few years later; and St. Mary of Mongolia. This church survived because Mehmet II called a Greek architect to build a mosque on the site of the Church of the Holy Apostles; this architect, Christodoulos, received as a gift a street on which stood a church deeply revered by the mother of the Sultan. He distributed acts that guaranteed both the integrity of the church and the church building itself. At the end of the XVII century, Muslims tried to confiscate the building. Dimitri Cantemir, who was the Patriarch's legal adviser, was able to show them the Sultan's original firman to vizier Ali Küprül, who reverently kissed it and ordered that the church remain intact. It is still a functioning church, although it was badly damaged during the anti-Greek uprising of 1955.[290]

The fourth church, Peribleptos, was in the hands of Christians, though not Greeks. It was given to the Armenians by Sultan Ibrahim at the request of his favorite, a lady of immense charms known as Shekerparche, i.e., "a piece of sugar," who was said to weigh more than 300 pounds. [291]