THE CHURCHES AND EARLY OTTOMAN GOVERNANCE . IN BOSNIA: THE REALITY AND HISTORIOGRAPHIC GENERALISATIONS IN 20th CENTURY
ABSTRACT THE CHURCHES AND EARLY OTTOMAN GOVERNANCE IN BOSNIA: THE REALITY AND HISTORIOGRAPHICGENERALISATIONS IN 20TH CENTURY Biased approaches to Bosnian historiography in general, strong nationalist sentiments and excessive interpretations of certain phenomena have produced a number of disagreements berween scholars. This refers especially to the Bosnian religious history.The purpose of my paper is twofold. It examines modem hisroriography of the early Ottoman Bosnia, and attempts to open some new venues to the study of the encounters berween different religious communities and their representatives. In the first two centuries of Ottoman rule, the attitude of Ottoman center towards confessional structure of Bosnian society, is a result of political, economic and social circumstances an one hand, and the result of the Ottoman strategy of accepring some local in stitutions and including some non -Muslim elements into the military class 0n the other. My paper consists of an overview of the confessional structure in Bosnia, and an analysis of the relationship between the two churches (Catholic and Orthodox) in the Balkans, focusing on the encounter between Ottoman State, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians. Key Words: Bosnia, ottoman period, religious communities