In the Dominican convent in La Valletta there is an Arabic version of the Bible (published by the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide), which was once owned by a certain Fr. Dominic, also known as Osman. It is claimed that he was the firstborn son of Sultan Ibrahim (r. 1640-48). 
The inscriptions on the books read: “Ex Libris fratris Dominici a S. Thoma Othomano, ordinis Predicatorum. Est Conventus S. Mariae Portus Salutis Ordinis Praedicatorum.”
The convent library also keeps a fifteenth-century Greek Tetraevangelion which was also apparently in the posession of “Osmanus Otthomanus, the firstborn son of Ibrahim, Emperor of the Turks, who was coopted into the Order of Preachers and assumed the name of Fr. Dominicus”.
According to Dominican tradition, the child was captured with his mother by the Knights of St. John who intercepted an Ottoman ship travelling from Istanbul to Egypt. They took the prisoners to Malta, where the boy converted to Christianity and became a Dominican monk.
You can read more about the story in an article by Albert Ganado which is available here:
timesofmalta.com/articles/view/…
timesofmalta.com/articles/view/…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
