Minorities, intermediaries and middlemen in the Ottoman empire: an introduction

Melis, Nicola

2013-01-01

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Abstract

The arrticle aims to contribute on how intergroup and individuals relations actually functioned on the ground. The several episodes of apostasy allow us a glimpse of how apostasy, despite the Islamic condemnation, was often considered by middlemen of the time as a necessary procedure in order to move regularly between Eastern and Western shores of the Mediterranean.