| Alasya |
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| Joined: 18 Nov 2004 |
| Posts: 136 |
| Location: Quebec City, CANADA |
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The Linobamvaki.
Following the Ottoman conquest, many Latins, a term which included Italians, Spaniards, and Catalans, in order to escape heavy taxation converted to Islam. Many Maronites and some Greek Cypriots also converted to Islam
Many who had been converted to Islam remained actually Christians in secret. They were normally called "linobambaki". According to a view expressed for the first time in 1863 AD, and then adopted in the following years, this word was taken metaphorically from a cloth woven with linen and cotton and which had two different sides corresponding thus to the two aspects of their faith. The "linobambaki" turned up during daytime as Moslems, and in the evenings they appeared as Christians, keeping to the Christian religion, its customs and its habits.
According to Marc Dubin, who wrote the Cyprus Guide, names such as "Mehmet Valentino" appear on old archives. |
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