While the Orthodox clergy preferred the rule of the Sultan to that of the Pope, some of the laity under the fear of threat uttered, "Would that the City were delivered into the hands of the Latins who call upon Christ and the Theotokos, and not thrown into the clutches of the infidel." 12 This attitude shows the Orthodox reception to the Ottomans was not universally well received. Some still preferred the rulership of another Christian even if it meant slightly changing their doctrine of belief. Perhaps to laity who did not devote their lives to studying and defending the orthodox creed, a small change of words in one's doctrine was seen as insignificant The Ottomans were therefore not universally seen as a positive change, rather they might be a worse consequence for some Christians.

XREF: Connects to the broader historical tension between Orthodox and Catholic churches, and adds nuance to the common narrative of Christian populations welcoming Ottoman rule.

Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, loc. 33