alternatehistory.com

As every Byzantine nut knows, the Byzantine Empire had a habit of sending the leaders of failed coups, etc., into exile to monasteries to become monks (as far away as the Crimea if they were considered particularly dangerous).

Now I believe the form of Sunni Islam followed by the Byzantines' successors, the Ottomans, did not have anything analogous to similar monasteries. (Muslim) coup plotters under the Ottomans were typically just executed, probably contributing to the European impression that the Ottomans were more rough-hewn and bloodthirsty than their predecessors. But what if such a system had existed? It might not have to be monasteries as such, but perhaps some sort of madrassa system?
Top