Ottoman society was relatively tolerant toward Jews and Christians

Evidence

If we define toleration as the absence, not of discrimination, but of persecution, then the Ottoman record until the late nineteenth century is excellent. The well-known preference of the fifteenthcentury Greeks for Muslim rather than Frankish rule was not without its reasons. The confrontation of Christendom and Islam has sometimes been compared with the Cold War. The comparison is valid at many points, but we must remember in making it that the main movement of refugees in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was from Europe to Turkey and not the other way. When Ottoman rule in the Balkans ended, the Balkan peoples resumed their national existence, with their own religions and languages and national cultures intact. After the Christian conquest, no Muslims remained in Spain or Sicily, and no speakers of Arabic. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 641 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ottoman Armenians faced legalized second-class status through discriminatory laws — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 18; Ottoman rule was relatively non-persecuting compared with Christian reconquests; Christians preferred Ottoman tolerance over Catholic persecution — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 75 (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• The Ottoman Empire offered Jews refuge from European Christian persecution. #expands (0.93)
• Ottoman rule was relatively non-persecuting compared with Christian reconquests #corroborates (0.92)
• Ottoman treatment of subject peoples compared favorably with Christian reconquest practices #corroborates (0.92) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 641
• Ottoman rule tolerated minorities while Christian reconquests erased entire populations #corroborates (0.90)
• The Ottoman Empire sheltered religious refugees persecuted in Europe #expands (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 79
• Christians preferred Ottoman tolerance over Catholic persecution #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 75
• Ottoman rule did not eradicate or even shrink Balkan Christianity #corroborates (0.82) — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 131
• The Ottoman millet system organized society by religious community rather than territory #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3469
• Jews enjoyed milder treatment under Islam than under Christianity #expands (0.78)
• Orthodox Christians preferred Ottoman rule because it shielded them from Latin interference. #exemplifies (0.75) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 42
• Some Orthodox Christians preferred Ottoman rule to papal supremacy #exemplifies (0.75) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 23
• Muslims tolerated Jews speaking against their faith more than Christians tolerated dissent #expands (0.72)