178 honored by the glory of islam
feared the Muslim battle cry used to intimidate them.^60 Many were starving,
wounded, surrounded by corpses, missing arms and legs, witnessing their
churches attacked and burned to the ground or blown sky high from explo-
sive mines dug beneath them on the pretext that soldiers hid in them. More
frequently, Christians saw their churches being made into mosques and the
graves of their comrades and saints destroyed. Some saw conversion as their
only chance of redemption, such as during the campaign to the central Euro-
pean citadel of Uyvar and elsewhere in central Europe.^61 But they did not have
to convert. They could refuse surrender and fi ght to the death. As a result, they
faced death, slavery, or imprisonment. Or they could surrender, accept status
as protected Christians and Jews and Ottoman sovereignty, and usually remain
in place. Or they could convert to Islam to be released from the siege.^62 Overall,
Christian soldiers were more likely to starve in a siege, drown in a moat or
river while fl eeing a citadel, or battle to the death. When captured, they would
usually face the tip of the sword, not an offer to put on a turban. When the Otto-
mans captured massive numbers of prisoners, they “would run their enemies
through with the tips of well-tempered swords.”^63 It was better to kill enemy
combatants and convert civilians. The Ottoman army did not have a policy
of converting Christian soldiers on the frontier. As will be seen in the next
chapter, Mehmed IV was often the instigator of the conversion of civilians.