Christianity in the Ottoman Empire

Christian liturgical procession from the Ottoman Empire, depicted by Lambert de Vos in 1574

Under the Ottoman Empire's millet system, Christians and Jews were considered dhimmi (meaning "protected") under Ottoman law in exchange for loyalty to the state and payment of the jizya tax.[1][2]

Orthodox Christians were the largest non-Muslim group. With the rise of Imperial Russia, the Russians became a kind of protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire.[3]

Conversion to Islam in the Ottoman Empire involved a combination of individual, family, communal and institutional initiatives and motives. The process was also influenced by the balance of power between the Ottomans and the neighboring Christian states.[4] However, most Ottoman subjects in Eastern Europe remained Orthodox Christian, such as Greeks, Serbs, Romanians, Bulgarians, while present-day Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo had larger Muslim populations as a result of Ottoman influence.

Ottoman official registering Christian boys for the devşirme. Ottoman miniature painting from the Süleymanname, 1558
  1. ^ Cane, Peter; Conaghan, Joanne (2008). Millet system - Oxford Reference. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199290543.001.0001. ISBN 9780199290543.
  2. ^ Kieser, Hans-Lukas (2006-10-27). Turkey Beyond Nationalism: Towards Post-Nationalist Identities. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85771-757-3.
  3. ^ Peace Treaties and International Law in European History: from the late Middle Ages to World War One, Randall. Lesaffer, 2004, p.357
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference krstic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).