A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages, Volume 1 · Part 3 · Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
A Common Account of ſeveral ſorts of Chriſtians, but chiefly of them that are always to be found in the Temple of Mount Calvaria: And alſo how theſe, and many other Strangers, are treated by the Turkiſh Emperor (as by their chief Head, to whom they generally are ſubjected) and his Officers.
IN the Temple of Mount Calvaria live Chriſtians of ſeveral Nations; as Latins, or Italians, Abyſſins, Graecians, Armenians, Georgians, Neſtorians, Syrians, Jacobites, &c. which for the moſt part are Prieſts and Friers, which are of ſo different Opinions in many Articles of Faith, that many of them might ſooner be reckon'd amongſt the Superſtitious and Hereticks than Chriſtians; wherefore each of them have their peculiar Habitation and Chapel, that they may perform their Devotion undiſturbed by one another. The Turkiſh Emperor alſo lets them alone, and doth not at all trouble them for their Religion, nor endeavour to bring them over to the Mahumetan Religion and Alcoran; and is very well contented to receive his Yearly Tribute, which is exactly demanded as it cometh to be due. I have ſeen many of them in the Temple, to go up and down in their peculiar Habit, and once I did attend at their Devotion, ſo that I eaſily paſſed away the time, that the Turks kept us Locked up in it.
Their Pilgrims reſort thither Yearly, chiefly againſt the great Feaſts or Holy Days, in great Numbers, to ſee the holy Places, not only from the Eaſtern, but alſo from the Weſtern Countries: Theſe that are under the ſubjection of the Sultan, which they are almoſt all of them (except the Latins and Abyſſins) muſt pay him Yearly the fourth part of all their Revenues: He that hath four Olive, Almond, or Quince-Trees, muſt yield one of them to be the Emperors. So in their Harveſt, every fourth Sheaf is alſo his; their Harveſt beginneth in the beginning of April, and endeth in May, as you may ſee, Deut. chap. 16. verſ. 9. Seven weeks (that is from Eaſter to Whitſonday) ſhalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the ſeven weeks from ſuch time as thou beginneſt to put the ſickle to the corn. Beſides this Impoſition, they have another; that is, They muſt pay Yearly for every Head that is Male, the Poor as well as the Rich, one Ducat, and ſometimes two, chiefly when the Sultan intendeth to go to War with the Chriſtians; then he beginneth to lay theſe Taxes upon them a Year before-hand, and hath it Gathered in. He that hath not wherewithal to pay it, is forced either to ſell one or the other of his Children to perpetual Slavery, or elſe to give one of them to the Grand Turk, according to his liking to be his own for ever: And what is more, he ſendeth every 4th or 5th Year through all his Dominions his Emiſſaries, viz. Wallachia, Servia, Boſnia, Albania, Colchid, &c. to fetch away every third Son of his Chriſtian Subjects, and they always chuſe that which they like beſt; and ſo they bring together a great Number, and call them Azanoglans, and give them to the Janizaries to be their Servants. Theſe have in ſome chief places their Exerciſes from their Infancy, that in time they may be fit to be made Officers and Commanders in time of War. In this the Turks exerciſe great Cruelty and Pride, they ſpare no Body, for if a Chriſtian doth poſſeſs ſome ſmall matter of Riches, he muſt either keep it very privately, or elſe with a great deal of diſcretion ſay, That it is all belonging to his Emperor and him. So if the Grand Signior hath occaſion for any thing of theirs whatſoever, it muſt be granted him without any refuſal: But what a trouble and heart-breaking this muſt be to the poor Parents, not only to have their Children that are free by Nature, forced to ſuch a Brutal way of Life and Education, but, what is more, taken away from Baptiſm to Circumciſion, from the Chriſtian Congregation and Faith, into a ſevere Slavery and Superſtition, wherein they are brought from their Duty to their Parents, into a mortal enmity againſt them and their other Relations, every Chriſtian may with himſelf conſider.
The Turks, where there is choice, take them that are ſingle and young, becauſe, they being ſtill infirm, and but ſlightly grounded in their Faith, they are the ſooner ſeduced, chiefly if they are Inſtructed in their Mahumetan Laws, and Educated therein for a while, for then they ſoon forget their own Faith, and grow in theirs, and ſo as they grow up in Years, they alſo grow in their Malice, and become to be worſe than they themſelves, as daily Experience doth ſufficiently teſtifie.
Of the ſame ſtamp are alſo theſe Chriſtians, that after they have been taken Priſoners in the War, turn Mamalucks (which they call in their Language Haracs) and are Circumciſed. Theſe are free from all Impoſition as well as the Turks, ſave only the Tenth, but dare not go away without their Maſters leave, upon pain of Death; if they are taken, they are according to their Law, without any Tryal, Sentenced and Condemned to be burnt. And theſe alſo are confirm'd and obdurated in their impious and baſe Life, that they forget God and themſelves, never think of coming home again to hear the Goſpel Preached, or to ſee their Friends and Relations again. Yet the Priſoners are not ſo very much preſſed by the Turks to deny their Faith and turn, except there ſhould be found one or more great Perſons among them, for ſuch they always uſe to preſs more, and endeavour to turn them one way or other, and promiſe them great Preferment if they will declare for their Religion; for they are in hopes, that if they could perſwade them, a great many more of the little ones would alſo come over with them. If ſuch are perſwaded by them and turn, they are entertained by the Turks very Honorably, and called Tſcheleby, that is, Gentlemen, and endued with great Revenues, but yet they do not eaſily confide in them, or put any Truſt into their hands, and do not eſteem ſuch inconſtant and faltering Men in their Heart, although they carry themſelves very friendly before their faces, for they make account, That he that will eaſily deny his Religion, will alſo betray his Prince and Country if occaſion ſhould ſerve. I have known in theſe Countries ſome Slaves, whom their Maſters that bought them as their Servants, did very much preſs to be Circumciſed, but when they did mightily reſiſt, and excuſe themſelves, and ſay, That they could not admit thereof with a ſafe Conſcience, and if by force they ſhould take away their Prepuce and Circumciſe them, that notwithſtanding all that, they could not Circumciſe their Hearts, and therefore they deſired them not to trouble themſelves any further with them, they were for all that ready and willing to ſerve them honeſtly and faithfully to the utmoſt of their power: So their Maſters have been ſatisfied with this Anſwer, and have preſſed them no more. But if it ſhould happen that a Chriſtian ſhould be taken in one of their Moſques (for they as unclean Men are forbid to come there) or ſhould diſpute with them, or ſpeak ill of their Prophet Mahomet and his Laws, or ſhould pronounce theſe words, which are almoſt written every where in their Churches, and underneath their Gates, in their Arabian Language: Leila hillalla Mahammet raſur alla; that is to ſay, O God only God, and Mahomet a Prophet of God, he muſt (becauſe they are an Epitome of their Religion, Confeſſion, Belief and Laws) ſuffer himſelf to be Circumciſed, or elſe loſe his Life. For being that Mahomet did defend his falſe Doctrine deſcribed in the Alcoran, rather with the Sword than with Reaſon and true Grounds, that it might not be diſcovered, and ſo his Adherents leave him. Mahomet to prevent this, by the Devils Inſpiration, hath ſtrengthen'd it with ſtrong Points and Articles, viz. That no body ſhall diſcourſe or diſpute with any Sectaries whatſoever, much leſs believe them, or read their Books, as ſuch wherein is no ground to be found, becauſe all that is good and true in the Old Teſtament, teſtified by the Jews, and in the New one, by the Chriſtians, is by him taken out and Tranſcribed into his Alcoran, and therefore it muſt be believed and kept as the Word of God, without any ſcruple or ſearch; and he that ſpeaketh or writeth againſt it, muſt fall by the Sword, and beſides be Damned for ever.
Who doth not ſee that this ſubtile Mahomet did this, that any Body that he gets once into his Snares, or that falls into his Net, might be ſo intangled, that he muſt be forced to keep there, to periſh and to be damned for ever; notwithſtanding all his ſweet Promiſes of great Priviledges, Salaries, and Permiſſion of Sodomitiſh Sins, Robbing, Burning, Perjury, &c. which Tranſgreſſions they regard but very little, ſeeing that according to their Prophets promiſe, if they Pray but often, and Waſh themſelves often, they do not only not hurt them, but by continual uſage of the before-mentioned means, they become to be cleaner than we Chriſtians from our Sins, in the Bath of Regeneration. To theſe Traditions of Mahomet, the Turks and Moors ſtick ſo cloſe, and believe them implicitly, according to the Commands of Mahomet; ſo that one, although he be of another Opinion, becauſe they will hear no Contradiction nor Objection, is forced to hold his Tongue and ſay nothing. And in caſe you ſhould ask them, why they are forbid to Eat Pork, or Drink Wine? they anſwer and ſay, That their Parents did ſo before them, partly becauſe they are unclean, and partly becauſe they are forbid it in their Alcoran; or elſe that if they ſhould over-fill themſelves with it, ſo that they ſhould bring it up again, it might contaminate their Cloaths, and ſo they ſhould commit a great Ruſticity; ſo that they know not how to give any reaſon concerning their Religion. Wherefore their Law ought to be called or reputed Cruel, and a Tyrannical one, that is rather upheld by the Sword than by Reaſon and Juſtice; which alſo appeareth from thence, that they carry a Naked Scymiter before the Noble-mens Sons, when they carry them about the Streets in order to be Circumciſed; and alſo their Prieſts, chiefly thoſe that are called Antippi, after Prayers and Sermon, ſhew unto the People from a high place, a burning Torch in one Hand, and a Naked Scymiter in the other, to encourage their own Adherents, and to frighten thoſe that are of a contrary Opinion; and ſo Mahomet pretends to his Adherents, that God hath bidden him to Conquer all other Nations by the Sword, until they confeſs that there is no other God beſides God, and Mahomet his Prophet; or elſe agree to pay him Yearly Tribute, and to be his obedient Subjects; if they follow his directions, his Laws will endure ſo long as they defend them by the Sword. Now how ſtrictly they have hitherto proſecuted theſe his Commandments, the Inhabitants of the Eaſtern Countries have formerly, to their grief, ſufficiently Experienced, viz. Aſia, Syria, the Land of Promiſe, Aegypt, Thracia, Greece, &c. which they have not only Conquered, and to their own great Improvement ſubdued, but have alſo infected them with their Poiſonous Doctrine to ſuch a degree, that in theſe our times there are but very few to be found in theſe parts, that do adhere unto the true Religion.
It being ſo then, that God Almighty hath viſited them with theſe great puniſhments, by reaſon of their manifold Sins and Ingratitude, for his Holy and Sacred Word, and that we alſo are guilty of theſe and the like Sins and Vices, we cannot wonder that the Almighty and Juſt God, ſhould, according to our Demerits, ſend alſo ſuch a horrid Tyrant againſt us, to terrifie us very much, and come ſo near to us, that we muſt expect every moment (except we amend) the like Puniſhments and Execution. And ſo we hear daily, to our grief, that this potent Tyrant is continually at Work, and taketh one ſtrong Town after another; and what is more, they take often in their Excurſions a great number of our Brethren and Siſters, part whereof they Murder Barbarouſly, others they carry away into perpetual Slavery. When they have obtained a Victory, and have got Booty, there is ready, and at hand, ſeveral Sutlers, that drive a great Trade with Buying and Selling poor Priſoners; theſe buy them of the Soldiers, Chain them (after they have given the Grand Turk the Tenths thereof, according to his Choice and Pleaſure) together with long Chains, and ſo drive them away miſerably, as if they were Beaſts, to the chief Trading Towns, to ſell them with profit again to other… that come thither from Foreign Countries. There you find Weekly, in their Betzars or Exchanges, many Priſoners of ſeveral Nations, viz. Chriſtians, Moors, Arabians, Indians, Abyſſins, and amongſt them Young and Old, Men and Women, ſome whereof are White, and others Black; thither come the Chapmen and cheapen them; they have liberty to look upon their Naked Bodies, as if they were Beaſts, and to feel them, whether they are ſound in their Limbs, or whether they have any defect, which they always fear. If they like their Bargain, the Buyers take them home with them into their ſmall Habitations or Tents, and put them (chiefly thoſe that were given to Idleneſs, and have Learned no Trade) to any ſort of hard Labour, and all that they get ſo belongeth to their Maſter, who diſpoſeth of it as he pleaſeth. Wherefore thoſe that keep many Men and Maids, eſteem themſelves richer for it; and ſometimes they Marry them together, and when they beget Children, they are Slaves as well as themſelves, and he hath power to Educate them, and to diſpoſe of them as he pleaſeth. Wherefore the Chriſtians (that to their Temporal Puniſhment, they may not alſo acquire Eternal ones, for their Childrens ſake) in theſe Countries do ſeldom Marry, but rather ſtudy how to make their eſcape (if they are not hindered for want of that Language, and by Unskilfulneſs of the Roads); or elſe they go with their Maſter before a Juſtice, in their Language called Cadi, and there buy their Liberty for a Sum of Money, or elſe agree with him for a certain time, and ſo make a Contract with him concerning their Liberty, which commonly theſe do that intend to perſevere in their Chriſtian Religion, or undertake to get ſomething by their Handy-work, that when the time is paſt, or the Money paid, the Juſtice may, according to the Inſtrument before made by him at their Requeſt, declare him Free, and give him a Paſs, to ſhew upon the Road, that he may not be moleſted. Other ways to get their Liberty there are but very few, except their Maſter ſhould happen to Dye, which commonly in their laſt Will, declare that their bought Servants, after the opening of it, ſhall have their Liberty. Sometimes it happens, that from others they buy falſe Letters (which are ſoon found out in theſe Countries) and ſo by the help of them get away Clandeſtinely.
But yet that but a few Slaves come from thence to us again, the chief reaſon is not, as many think, Becauſe the Turks preſs them to change their Religion; for although they ſometimes threaten them, as they uſe to do or treat them ſomewhat more hardly than is uſual in their Servitude, as Chriſtians alſo do very often, but rather their Secure and Impenitent Life which they lead, forgetting God and his holy Word to that degree, that they know not how to give an Account of their Chriſtian Faith and Religion; nay (what is more) they know not the difference between theſe two Religions, which are ſo vaſtly differing, although they would, if they did know it, rather ſuffer Death than be ſeduced from the true Religion, and precipitate the Soul, together with the Body, into Damnation. When then the knowledge of the Truth is gone, and Faith almoſt, if not quite Extinguiſhed, ſo that there is but little hope left of their Salvation, they daily forſake their Religion as faſt as Worm-eaten Fruit falls from the Tree; begin to think how to compenſate their bodily ſuffering, they may lay up and get Money by Robbing and Burning, and ſo get Privileges, to live according to their own Will and Pleaſure, like Beaſts in daily Uncleanneſs; and when they are harden'd in it, they come at laſt to ſuch a degree of Sottiſhneſs and Brutality, that (as St. Peter ſaith) they believe the chief good of this World to conſiſt in Voluptuouſneſs, wherein they periſh at length, and muſt expect the Wages of Unrighteouſneſs with the reſt.
When the Turks have Conquered one or more (which they diſcern at firſt by their Fore-finger, which theſe that have a mind to turn uſe to ſhew to them firſt, as a Token by lifting of it up over their Heads, chiefly in their Moſques) they rejoyce in them mightily, and are clearly of Opinion, That this their Work is precious and good before God, and that their Religion is confirmed and upheld by the aſſenting of many; wherefore they ſoon meet together, to confirm theſe Turn-coats with their uſual Ceremonies, and ſo to make them true Turks. Firſt they lay before them a Croſs, whereon they muſt trample three times, ſpit upon it, and repeat every time ſome words after them taken out of the Alcoran; ſo the Chriſtians that will be made Turks pronounce them after them. When this is done, three of them are ready with their Bows, and ſhoot together up, and give them before the Arrows fall down again Turkiſh Names: Then (if they be Men) they ſet them up upon high Horſes, put them on their beſt Clothes, and Dreſs them neatly, and ſo lead them for two days together through all the Streets, that every body may ſee them, and know them to be ſuch as do adhere to their Religion, and ſo to be free to walk and deal among them without any hinderance. If they are of an higher degree, and of great Authority, ſometimes Ride along with them ſome Turkiſh Gentlemen of Quality, in their beſt Dreſs, accompanied by many Janizaries, who fire here and there in the Streets for Joy, but chiefly in thoſe places where they ſpy Chriſtians. They have with them all ſorts of Muſical Inſtruments, viz. The Drums, great Drums, and little Drums, (which they beat at that ſame time both above and below) Hautboys, and others: They alſo carry in this their Proceſſion long Streamers upon long Poles, almoſt like unto them that we ſee in the Croſs-walks in our Frieries; and beſides, the Rabble that run before and behind make ſuch a noiſe, that one cannot hear the other. When all this is over, they Circumciſe them at laſt on the third Day, and then they reckon ſuch an one to be a true Muſulman, that is, A Circumciſed one, who hath leave to go to their Moſques without being hindered, to buy their Books and Writings, and to Read them, which muſt not be ſold to others that are not of their Religion, upon pain of great puniſhment, that they may not come into unclean hands, or to be trod upon as Writings of no Worth.
Their Jewes, whereof there are a great many among them, and are called by them Choifut or Chifoutler, excel ours in Cheating and Cozening by far, and there is no doubt but they would oftentimes renounce their Religion to make profit: But the Turks envy them more than we Chriſtians, they do not Truſt them, they reckon them not worthy to Eat with them as they do with us Chriſtians, nor Marry with them; much leſs will they receive them as any thing related to their Religion, except it be, that before for ſome days they have frequented the Chriſtian Churches, and there are Baptized, and have often Eaten Pork, that unclean Meat that is alſo forbidden unto them. When they have done thus, they proceed with them after the ſame manner as is before ſaid.
Concerning the Chriſtians that live among the Turks, as the Surians, Armenians, &c. they have here and there in great Trading Cities, their peculiar Streets which they Inhabit, and they are commonly without in the Suburbs; and thereabout alſo ſmall and low Churches, where they perform their Devotions. When they begin to be decayed of Age, or are burnt by Fire, or deſtroyed in War time, if they will have them built up again, they muſt have leave firſt of the Turkiſh Magiſtrate, and lay down a good Sum of Money, which grants nothing except you greaſe them well.
The Turks (to ſave Charges) ſuffer no Bells nor Clocks, neither in their own nor other Temples, nor will they give leave to the Chriſtians to Ring to Church with them, ſo that all day long you neither hear a Bell Toll, nor a Clock Strike. Inſtead thereof, the Turks have, according to their Alcoran, their Five Hours ſet, which their Prieſts call out from the high Steeples, and in the Exchanges, with a loud Voice, and with ſtopped Ears, and cry, Alla Haickbar, that is, God is true; and then, Leila hillalla, Mahammet raſur alla; each of them he repeats twice, to call the people to their Devotions. But the Chriſtians have a Servant, that at the Hours of Prayers and Sermon goeth about with a ſtrong Cudgel, and ſtriketh, in every Street, on one or more Doors made ſtrong for that purpoſe, as if it were upon an Anvil, ſeveral times, which reſounds through all the Street.
When the Chriſtians pray, they obſerve almoſt the ſame Ceremonies with the Turks, Perſians and Arabians, &c. they turn themſelves towards the South, they ſpeak low in the beginning, lift up their Hands, bend their Heads and whole Bodies downwards; then they fall down upon their Knees, kiſs the Earth ſeveral times, and pray with great Devotion, which Cuſtom the Jews keep alſo, and that without doubt, becauſe the Patriarchs uſed the ſame in their Prayers, as we read in the Seventeenth Chapter of Geneſis, Verſe 3. and 17. And Abraham fell on his face: Exod. xvii. 11. When Moſes held up his hands Iſrael prevailed: and in 1 Kings xviii. 42. is ſaid▪ And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he caſt himſelf down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees: and alſo Nehemiah viii. 6. And all the people anſwered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worſhipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So did Chriſt himſelf, lying on his Face, vehemently pray the Third Time. If we Chriſtians did but mind the Fervency and Zeal of the Heathens and Superſtitious in their Prayers, we ſhould ſee what reaſon we have to awake from our Lazineſs and Coldneſs in our Prayers, and to pray with earneſtneſs. There live in Turkey ſo many Christians, that they inhabit the greateſt part of that Country; wherefore conſidering their great number (to ſpeak according to all human probability) it would be an eaſie matter to ſubdue the Turks without the aſſiſtance of any outlandiſh Power, and to drive them out of their own Countries, did not God Almighty, who viſiteth us for our manifold Sins, ſet them over us as a Puniſhment: For although the Turkiſh Emperor ſets his B…glerby's and Baſhaws, as great and mighty Lords here and there over great Provinces and Countries, to rule them with great Zeal and Severity, and and to order all Buſineſs according to his pleaſure, ſo that among ſo great a number of People, and conſidering their ſevere Reign and Government (where ſmall Tranſgreſſions are vigorouſly puniſhed) there is not eaſily to be feared an Inſurrection: yet he could not be half ſo ſtrong, without the help of the Chriſtians that live amongſt his People, nor be able to bring together ſuch mighty and numerous Armies of good and experienced Soldiers.
The Chriſtians, for the moſt part, wear as well as the Turks long Cloaths, and gird their Loins with fine and ſoft Rollers, ſome of Silk, and others made of Cotton; in them they keep ſtill to this day their Money, chiefly the poor, as ſome with us, that have no Pockets, do in their Handkerchiefs, tied up in a ſtrong knot; the ſame without doubt did the Ancients wear, as the Words of Chriſt our Saviour, Matth. x. 9. give us to underſtand; where he ſpeaketh to his Diſciples, and ſends them into the whole world, ſaying, Provide neither gold, nor ſilver, nor braſs in your purſes. (In the German Bible we read Girdles.) With ſuch a one, without doubt, the Prophet Agabus, did tie the Hands and of the Apoſtle Paul in Ceſarea in the Houſe of Philip, when he would make him to underſtand, that the Jews at Jeruſalem would take and tie him, and at length deliver him up into the hands of the Heathens, as you may read in the 21ſt. of the Acts. Now altho the Chriſtians go as well as the Turks in long Cloaths, ſo that that way they are hardly to be diſtinguiſhed from one another; yet they are diſtinguiſhed by the peculiar Colours of their Turbants, which they wear; for the Turks wear white ones, as alſo do the Arabians, and Perſians, only theſe put behind to it a red coloured Cloth, and the others make it up in another form, and let one of the ends hang down behind, to defend their naked Necks from the exceſſive heat of the Sun. But the uncircumciſed that have a differing Religion are not allowed to wear a white one, unleſs another Colour be mixed with it, much leſs a green one; which Colour being their Mahomets, and eſteemed to be holy, is not allowed to be worn by any Body, neither Turks nor Chriſtians, (except to their Prieſts and ſome Pilgrims that have been on Pilgrimage to Mecha) neither in Turbants nor other Cloaths. So the Armenians have blue; the Neſtorians fleſh colored: the Grecians, Maronites, Surians, and others have white ones with blue Liſts wrought into them. But the Jews have yellow ones, as they have in our Country yellow Bonnets: yet when they have a mind to travel afar off, as into Meſopotamia, Aſſyria, Perſia, or into the Indies, &c. (ſeeing that the Turks hate them, that ſo they may travel the ſecurer, and with little Charges) they put on white ones by the way, and pretend to be Tſchelebys, or Noble Men, nay ſometimes Meſſengers of the Cambre, which they may eaſily do, becauſe they underſtand the Languages, yet not without great danger. But they ſtay not long in a place, that they may not come to be known.
There are alſo ſome Jewiſh Phyſicians, which inſtead of the yellow Turbants, wear red high Hats, of Scarlet, they exceed in number the Turkiſh ones, that go cloathed like the common people. They are commonly more Able and Learned, becauſe they can read the Phyſical Books of Galen and Avicen, &c. in their original Languages Greek and Arabick; which they generally underſtand. But for the Latin Tongue, very few of them underſtand that, neither have they any good Books in it, but what they have received in the taking the Iſland Cyprus.
So much of the Chriſtians in general. But becauſe I have made mention of Chriſtians of ſeveral Nations, that inhabit the Temple of Mount Calvaria, what places in and without the Town of Jeruſalem, each of them are poſſeſſed of, and with what Errors in Religion they are contaminated, I cannot but relate in particular of each of them, as much as I could underſtand and learn in that little time.