George of Hungary ( 1422–1502) was an
Ottoman slave that escaped and reverted from
Islam to
Christianity, writing afterwards about his experiences. As per his own description, when George was 15 or 16, he was taken prisoner and sold into slavery when the Ottoman Turks invaded the town of Mühlbach (now
Sebeș
Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania.
Geography
The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the ri ...
) in 1438. George had arrived to the city a year earlier, probably to go to a school in the local Dominican monastery.
He would spend 20 years being a slave before he could escape, later becoming a
monk in
Rome. Here, he wrote ''Tractatus de moribus, condicionibus et nequitia Turcorum'' ("Treatise on the morals, customs
and treachery of the Turks"), published in 1481 in
Latin. In 1539 it was translated in German language along with a preface by
Martin Luther.
The
ethnicity of George is not known, possibly being either a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
or a
Hungarian. It is thought that he grew up in a bilingual environment and did not have a clear concept of his national identity.
After his escape, George began to radically condemn and reject Islam.
See also
*
Konstantin Mihailović
Konstantin Mihailović, also known as Constantine of Ostrovica, born in 1430, was a Serbian soldier and author of a memoir of his time as a Jannissary in the army of the Ottoman Empire. Mihailović was born in the village of Ostrovica, near Rudn ...
(born in 1430) Escapee slave of the Ottoman Empire who wrote slave narratives
*
Johann (Hans) Schiltberger (1380 –
c. 1440) Escapee slave of the Ottoman Empire who wrote slave narratives
*
Emily Ruete
Emily Ruete (30 August 1844 – 29 February 1924), born in Zanzibar as Sayyida Salama bint Said (), also called Salme, was a Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was the youngest of the 36 children of Said bin Sultan, Sultan of the Omani Empire. She ...
, author who wrote narrative about slave mother's captivity.
*
Ex-Muslims
*
List of former Muslims
*
List of converts to Christianity from Islam
History
:''Section contains alphabetical listing of converts from earlier times until the end of the 19th century''
A
* Abo of Tiflis – Christian activist and the patron saint of the city of Tbilisi, Georgia''Collected Papers in Greek And ...
*
Margaret Himfi
*
Lovisa von Burghausen
Lovisa von Burghausen (1698 – 20 January 1733) was a Swedish memoirist who became famous for her story about her time in captivity as a slave in Russia after being taken prisoner by the Russians during the Great Northern War. She was so ...
*
Bibliography
An English Translation of Georgius de Hungaria's Treatise on the Customs, Living Conditions, and Wickedness of the Turks (1481) ~ Stevenson, David Ryan (2016)etd.library.emory.edu
* Christian Slaves of the Ottoman Empire: An analysis of the fifteenth-century captive lives and writings of Konstantin Mihailović, Johan Schiltberger and Brother George of Mühlenbach ~ Patrick Smith (BA Honours) La Trobe University Victoria, Australia August 2020
Williams, Stephen Christopher (1991)''"Cronica der Turckey" Sebastian Franck's Translation of the "Tractatus de Moribus, Condicionibus et Nequitia Turcorum" by Georgius de Hungaria.'' PhD thesis, University of Leeds.
* Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 7 Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America (1500-1600): Volume 7. Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America (1500-1600). Netherlands, Brill, 2015.
References
Slaves from the Ottoman Empire
People who wrote slave narratives
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Islam
Turkish escapees
15th-century Hungarian people
15th-century German people
Year of birth uncertain
1502 deaths
{{Hungary-bio-stub