The orthodox schools of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Ottoman Empire through the perspectives of pre-modernity and modernity.

The present study is part of the framework delimited by the scientific discipline of "History of Education". The aim of this paper is to describe and interpret the institutional context of the “secret schools” of the “Rum Millet” under Ottoman rule and to identify the origins of the legend of these schools being illegal and secret, as it is obvious that, although the construction and the diffusion of the legend of the “secret school” started in the beginning of the 19th century, the academic dialogue continues to be active in the present day.