rators--was the Greek Orthodox
Church. By 1394, before the final conquest, the See of Turnovo had been
subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, where it remained
until 1870. Greek bishops replaced Bulgarians, as Greek liturgy replaced
the Slavic. The patriarchate, in turn, was totally subordinate to the
sultan. The Greek clergy destroyed Bulgarian books and banned Slavic
liturgy. The Bulgarian language and all Slavic literature were
forbidden. Greek became the language in all schools.

The hellenization of the Bulgarian church was used by the Turks as a
means to negate the nationalism of the people and thus dominate them.
The Turks attempted to some extent to convert the Bulgarians to Islam in
order to assimilate them more fully. Although many Bulgarians fled to
the mountains with the coming of the Turks, others stayed on and
accepted the Muslim faith, often for purely opportunistic purposes.
Those who did were generally placed in strategically significant
positions; frequently, as a reward for their conversion, they paid no
taxes to the state. The Bulgarian converts to Islam were called Pomaks
(see ch. 4).

The plight of the peasants grew worse. Agricultural production dropped
as their exploitation continued. Although landowners were not persecuted
to the same degree as the peasantry, they were frequently displaced from
the land. Turkish cattle breeders entered the country to settle on their
lands. Lands were also taken to reward army commanders, provincial
governors, and knights in the service of the sultan. Still other lands
were given to immigrant Turkish peasants. The only food that was not
subject to requisition by the conquerors was pork, which was not allowed
in the Muslim diet.

As the life of the Bulgarian countryside declined, so too did urban
life. Bulgarians were expelled from most urban centers and replaced by
Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Turks. By the end of the sixteenth century
two-thirds of Sofia's population was Turkish. Trade was virtually halted
for a time, and, when resumed, it also was dominated by Greeks,
Armenians, and Jews rather than Bulgarians. The towns themselves were in
a state of deterioration. The crafts had declined, economic life was
stagnant, and the Black Sea was closed to all foreign ships.

As life within Bulgaria declined, the Turks began to perceive the
country as a springboard for further aggression against other
territories. Although Bulgarian hopes rose briefly