Oracle wrote:Greek women would throw themselves off cliffs rather than have Ottoman babies
R u sure, dear? in 1571, were the simple, peasant GC women aware of Hellenism or Greekness, had ur priests any chance to preach them abt it under the heavy oppression of catholic crusaders?
Crusader era
After the establishment of Kingdom of Cyprus the Catholic kings gradually reduced the number of Orthodox bishops from 14 to 4 and forced those away from their towns. The archbishop was moved from Nicosia to the region of Solia, near Morphou, the bishop of Larnaca was moved to the village of Lefkara etc. Each orthodox bishop was under the Catholic bishop of the area. The Catholic church tried on occasion to force the Orthodox bishops to make concessions on the differences in doctrine and practices between the two churches, sometimes with threats and sometimes using violence and torture, as in the case of the 13 monks in Kantara. Moreover the properties of many monasteries were confiscated. The persecutions, especially during the Frankish period, did not succeed in uprooting the faith of the Orthodox Greek Cypriots.
The Franks were succeeded by the Venetians in 1489 without any significant change to the status of the Orthodox Church.
Ottoman era
Kykkos Monastery in Troodos Mountains, District of Nicosia.The conquest of Cyprus by the Ottoman Empire in 1571 led to the recognition of the Orthodox church as the only legal Christian church. The church was considered by the Ottomans to be the political leadership of the Christian population (Rum millet) and was responsible for collecting taxes. Because of the different policies of the Ottoman empire towards Muslim and non Muslim citizens, especially regarding taxation, some Christians converted to Islam. These are known in Cyprus with the name "Linopampakoi".
I'm not trying to say that Ottomans were like angels to GCs but was far better than that what crusaders were. Under the then circumstances, most probably most of the women of GC peasantry even had great sympathy towards Ottoman men.
This is not something to feel ashamed, in the end we r all incorrigible children of Adam and Eve or if u like, let's say the apes of the same planet.
