Christians judged the inner religious enemy worse than the foreign one

Evidence

The account only falls apart when judgment is applied as to which enemy is worse, the foreign one or the one sharing your religion. — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 59

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Christians obsessed over Jews more only because Jews lived among them; The schism within Christianity was perceived as a greater threat than that of a foreign invasion; the Orthodox were relatively receptive towards having the Ottomans as material rulers in contrast to the Latins.; In regards to the doctrinal differences of the Latins, some Orthodox had particularly staunch views. Patriarch Michael I Cerularius would state that Latin interpolations in the doctrine of the filioque constituted, ‘an evil and even the worst of evils.’ While the Orthodox did see the Muslims as a threat, the danger posed by them could never be enough to require a compromise in doctrine. The Orthodox held so firmly on to their sense and definition of Christianity, despite the presence of a ‘common enemy,’ the Orthodox refused to yield to the conditions of the Latin West for military aid. While some Orthodox clergy did make way for union with the Latin church at the Council of Florence, when they arrived back to Constantinople, most reneged their signatures. (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Orthodox authorities perceived an invasion by the Latins as worse, for they would not afford them autonomy which might be hoped under Muslims. The land might remain under Christian rule, but the… #expands (0.90)
• The essay critically assesses the contemporary scholarship on Christian Islamophobia, arguing that it often overlooks the internal Christian divisions and portrays Christianity as a monolithic… #expands (0.85)
• Medieval Christian infighting outweighed the shared threat of Islam #corroborates (0.85) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 45
• Christians preferred Ottoman tolerance over Catholic persecution #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 75
• Islamophobia scholarship often treats medieval Christianity as a united whole against Muslims #corroborates (0.70) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 25
• Historical scholarship overstates Christianity’s unity against adversaries. #corroborates (0.60) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 62