Rum Millet
Social structure |
Court and aristocracy |
---|
Ethnoreligious communities |
Rise of nationalism |
Classes |
Rūm millet (millet-i Rûm), or "Roman nation", was the name of the Eastern Orthodox Christian community in the Ottoman Empire. Despite being subordinated within the Ottoman political system, the community maintained a certain internal autonomy.[1]
Establishment and development
After the
Christians were guaranteed some limited freedoms, but they were not considered equal to
During Ottoman rule, those in the millet were provided with certain protections and privileges, and were treated with preference over Catholic Christians. In some areas such as Crete, both Muslims and Orthodox Christians were permitted to attempt to convert the local Catholic population. This bias towards the Orthodox worked to secure the loyalty of those within the millet. It worked to make newly conquered citizens focus less on internal divisions and more on the conflict between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Further encouragement of Orthodox artisans who made ecclesiastical silverware, robes, and chalices made Constantinople, although under Ottoman rule, a still-vibrant hub of Orthodoxy.[6]
Rise of nationalism and decline
The roots of Greek success in the Ottoman Empire can be traced to the Greek tradition of education and commerce exemplified in the
In the early 19th century, the Greek Orthodox intellectuals tried to reconceptualize the Rum millet. They argued for a new, ethnic "Romaic" national identity and new Byzantine state, but their visions of a future state included all Balkan Orthodox Christians. This
The 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War dealt a decisive blow to Ottoman power in the Balkan Peninsula. The Serbian Orthodox Church also became autocephalous in 1879. The Albanians' fear that the lands they inhabited would be partitioned among neighbouring Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece fueled the rise of Albanian nationalism and the League of Prizren was founded. The recognition of the Aromanians as a distinct millet (the Ullah millet) in the Ottoman Empire in 1905 was the final straw in this Balkan nationalistic competition. As a result, intense ethnic and national rivalries among the Balkan peoples emerged at the eve of the 20th century in Macedonia. That was followed by a series of conflicts among Greeks (Grecomans), Serbs (Serbomans), Bulgarians (Bulgarophiles) and Aromanians (Rumanophiles) in the region. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restored the Parliament, which had been suspended by the Sultan in 1878. However, the process of supplanting the monarchic institutions was unsuccessful and the European periphery of the Empire continued to splinter under the pressures of local revolts.
Subsequently, with the
See also
- Rûm
- Millet (Ottoman Empire)
- Rumelia
- Phanariotes
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
- Antiochian Greek Christians
- Bulgarian Millet
References
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica online, Eastern Orthodoxy (Christianity)
- ^ Detrez 2008, p. 36.
- ^ Karpat 2002, p. 17.
- ^ Roudometof 2001, pp. 68–71.
- ^ История на българите 2004, p. 23.
- )
- ^ "Phanariote". Encyclopædia Britannica. United States: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2016. Online Edition.
- ^ a b "History of Greece, Ottoman Empire, The merchant middle class". Encyclopædia Britannica. United States: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2008. Online Edition.
- ISBN 1850655723, pp. 49–60.
- ISBN 1441183183, p. 129.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-90-5201-374-9.
- ISBN 90-04-12101-3.
- Roudometof, Victor (2001). Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans. Forward by ISBN 978-0-313-31949-5.
- Mарков, Георги, ed. (2004). История на българите: Късно средновековие и Възраждане [History of the Bulgarians: Late Middle Ages and Renaissance]. TRUD Publishers. ISBN 978-954-528-467-0.
Further reading
- Greek Millet Constitution: Γενικοί Κανονισμοί περί της διευθετήσεως των εκκλησιαστικών καί εθνικών πραγμάτων των υπό του Οικονομικού Θρόνου διατελούντων ορθοδόξων χριστιανών υπηκόων Της Αυτού Μεγαλειότητος του Σουλτάνου. Constantinople. 1862.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Young, George (1905–1906), Clarendon Press - The French translation of the Greek Millet Constitution is in Volume 2 of 7, pages 21-34.