The Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War of Independence

Runciman is probably the ranking master of Eastern Orthodox history, and his insights shed light on all religious traditions of the world. As the Eastern churches passed under many political masters, Runciman traces how they adjusted and survived. Often they were treated as subject communities, under threat of collective punishments for any disobedience from groups or individuals in their midst. For example, under Ottoman rule Greek Orthodox Patriarch Gregory V felt constrained, both by his Turkish rulers and his own religious tradition, to condemn the rising movement for Greek national freedom. In his "Paternal Exhortation" of 1790, Gregory called Greek Christians to remember that God had placed them under the Ottoman Sultan. Therefore their cry for political freedom was "an enticement of the Devil and a murderous poison destined to push the people into disorder and destruction". Later, Patriarch Gregory threatened to excommunicate any local priests who aided or sheltered Greek freedom-fighters. No doubt the patriarch knew his own life depended on giving such orders, and on his church obeying them. The Ottoman rulers had already killed, enslaved, or exiled seven Orthodox patriarchs for failing to control their subordinates. And when Gregory failed to halt the movement for Greek independence, the Ottomans killed him too. These accounts highlight the injustice of collective punishment as we still see it in the modern world. And the whole book gives tremendously valuable background on the whole cultural life of modern East Europe.

This gifted British historian captures you with his prose and holds on to you with his glorious tale and historiography which is second to none. A must read for anyone interested in the Orthodox Church or Christianity. He deals with his subject with a sense of empathy without losing his objectivity. A must buy!!!!!

The dilemma facing English speakers of Greek decent is that there are so few books written in English on Greek medieval history, and I can think of none written specifically on the Orthodox Church during the turkocratia, except of course Runciman's "The Great Church in Captivity". At first, I was skeptical. After all, Runciman is an Englishman and I was leery about potential ignorance or bias which could seep its way into his book. No need to be concerned. Runcimen's book is a well researched and a thorough history on the subject. I could hardly put it down. Generally, the book was easy to read and very informative. One chapter deals heavily with theology, and finding the subject brain numbing, I must admit, I skipped over most it. No matter, the balance of the book, which deals with Church history, was very enlightening. I do have one issue with Runcimen's account, however. Greek history teaches that during the captivity, Greek children were taught Greek by the clergy, under covert conditions, usually at night in underground caves, so as to not alert the Turks. By doing this, the Greek people were able to maintain their identity through language and religion, and resist turkification. This is a fact of paramount significance to the Greek people, a legend of heroism passed down from generation to generation, yet there is no mention of it by Runciman. Even though this account was omitted, there is so much content in this book, that I highly recommend it to those interested in the history of the Orthodox Church.To Greeks: A bit of warning to the wide-eyed and uninitiated: You were not taught this history at home or in Sunday school, so you may be shocked by some of this. I was.

The Great Church in Captivity is indispensable for anyone interested in the tragedy of Byzantium's demise. Sir Steven Runciman provides an excellent overview on the Patriarchate before the abomination of Ottoman domination and provides a unique glimpse into the fate of the Greek people and their Great Church under centuries of Turkish occupation. A definite must-read indeed.

The book discusses in detail the many adventures that the Orthodox Church has been through during its long reign. Very few historians have covered the Great Church in such a detailed fashioned. Runciman is a very good historian and it's a shame that some of his other books are out-of-print.