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Under the Ottoman Empire, Christians and Jews were, in principle, tolerated, but polytheists were not, in accordance with Sharia law. In practice, the degree of tolerance varied by time and place. Orthodox Christians were the largest non-Muslim group. With the rise of Imperial Russia, they came to have an external advocate.〔Peace Treaties and International Law in European History: from the late Middle Ages to World War One, Randall. Lesaffer, 2004, p.357〕 Forced conversion of those raised by a non-Muslim father is counter to Sharia law, and was not a standard practice (except for Christian boys collected for military service as Janissaries). ==Civil status== Ottoman religious tolerance was notable for being a bit better than that which existed elsewhere in other great past or contemporary empires, such as Spain or England. By the Byzantine Empire, apart from during the time of Theodosius, generally did not condemn other religious groups either, there being a mosque built in Constantinople, a Latin Quarter filled with Roman Catholic Churches and even a synagogue. Of course, there were isolated instances of gaps between established policy and its actual practical application, but still, it was the mode of operation of the Empire.〔G. Georgiades Arnakis, "The Greek Church of Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire", ''The Journal of Modern History'' 24:3. (Sep., 1952), p. 235 (JSTOR ), archived (here )〕 Lewis and Cohen point out that until relatively modern times, tolerance in the treatment of non-believers, at least as it is understood in the West after John Locke, was neither valued, nor its absence condemned by both Muslims and Christians.〔Lewis (1995) p. 211, Cohen (1995) p.xix〕 Under Ottoman rule, dhimmis (non-Muslim subjects) were allowed to "practice their religion, subject to certain conditions, and to enjoy a measure of communal autonomy" (see: Millet) and guaranteed their personal safety and security of property, in return for paying tribute to Muslims and acknowledging Muslim supremacy.〔Lewis (1984) pp. 10, 20〕 While recognizing the inferior status of dhimmis under Islamic rule, Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, states that, in most respects, their position was "very much easier than that of non-Christians or even of heretical Christians in medieval (Catholic) Europe."〔Lewis (1984) p. 62, Cohen (1995) p. xvii〕 For example, dhimmis rarely faced martyrdom or exile, or forced compulsion to change their religion, and with certain exceptions, they were free in their choice of residence and profession.〔Lewis (1999) p.131〕 But they could not have high up positions like the Muslims, and received smaller pay. But the Russian Empire was even more tolerant, since a whole district was made for Lutherans in Saint Petersburg by Emperor Peter the Great. Negative attitudes towards dhimmis harbored by the Ottoman governors were partly due to the "normal" feelings of a dominant group towards subject groups, to the contempt Muslims had for those whom they perceived to have willfully chosen to refuse to accept the truth and convert to Islam, and to certain specific prejudices and humiliations. The negative attitudes, however, rarely had any ethnic or racial components.〔Lewis (1984) p. 32–33〕 In the early years, the Ottoman Empire decreed that people of different millets should wear specific colors of, for instance, turbans and shoes — a policy that was not, however, always followed by Ottoman citizens.〔Mansel, 20–21 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christianity in the Ottoman Empire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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