CosmoKing
Chieftain
I dont know if it is too late, but I can tell you a lot about the Ottoman presence in Europe as I am from one of the places in Europe they conquered: Bosnia&Herzegovina
I must first outline that although the Ottomans left cultures intact, they had a big influence and tried to somewhat change them. In a lot of countries they conquered, lives of a lot of ordinary people, especially among Non-Muslims, became very poor. Although officially tolerant of other religions, they still tried to subjugate them, especially Roman Catholicism, as it was the state religion of the Austrians, the main enemy of the Ottomans. For example, they banned church bells from ringing and in 1462, over 50% of the population was Roman Catholic, and all the King's also Roman Catholic. Today there are 16% of Catholics in Bosnia&Herzegovina and just 10% of those practice their religion. Francisian Monasteries also suffered hardship, and on a few occasions were ordered to be razed.
This is a very famous translation of a Bosnian poem that highlights people's suffering:
Three Hajduks
by Jovan Jovanovic-Zmaj
In a middle of a stormy night,
Feruz-Pasha jumped out of his sleep
The lantern rattled, like it reads
The horrors of his dreams, on a pale face.
Feruz-Pasha asks his wife:
Where are the keys to the dungeons?...
For three years theyve been rotting away,
Damn Hajduks!
But still I have no peace
They come to haunt me in my dreams.
Aga, dont go down in the dark
We shall send a servant tomorrow
To bury their bones!
Ha, ha, ha, my wife!
I wasnt scared of them when they were alive
While they were horrible
Im not going to be scared now
Like dead dogs!
I have to go and see them,
How they lay on a rotten bed
And ask them why they are calling me
What they want from me!
He took a lantern the wind blows
Pashas pale face
Rusty handle creaks
As he descends into the dungeon.
It is icy cold down there
Scorpios cannot breathe
And cold adders cannot live.
Three skeletons sit there
Three skeletons that used to be hajduks.
Are they sitting or
Is Pasha imagining it.
In front of them
On a stone
Like a table
Three pitchers
The first hajduk speaks:
Here, Pasha, pitcher full of blood!
I used to have a wife.
She was left all alone
But not alone . Sword in her hand
She screamed: Where are you, wolves?
Came to your castle,
She was shot
Bullet through her heart-
Here is a pitcher of her blood!
Wonderful wine, full glass
Salute me, Feruz-Pasha!
He steps closer
He drinks the wine. Screams.
Pasha screams
And the bones
Laughed .. God forbid!
The second hajduk speaks:
When I ended up in this grave
My Mother asked you
How much for the slave?
And you said: three sacks!
Poor old mother
Worked day and night
Havent eaten or slept
Until blood and sweat run
And she gave you three sacks of gold.
When she gave you all the gold
You laughed: Oh, thats only for food
Your son was a hero
He eats stone now!
Thats what killed her.
This pitcher is full of wine,
Her sweat and blood!
Wonderful wine, full glass
Salute me, Feruz-Pasha!
He steps closer
He drinks the wine. Screams.
Pasha screams
And the bones
Laughed .. God forbid!
The third hajduk speaks:
When I ended up in this darkness
I had a son, young and weak
He wanted a gun
Too heavy for his little arms
He cried and cried
He could not become one of us
He cried. Hungry and thirsty.
His father is rotting away
He cried and died!
Here is a pitcher, full of tears!
Wonderful wine, full glass
Salute me, Feruz-Pasha!
He steps closer
He drinks the wine. Screams.
Pasha screams
Dead Pasha fell on a floor
Next to Hajduks
And those bones
Laughed . God Forbid!
Wikipidia: In Balkan folkloric tradition, the hajduk (hajduci or haiduci in the plural) is a romanticised hero figure who steals from, and leads his fighters into battle against, the Ottoman oppressors. In reality, the hajduci of the 18th and 19th centuries were guerilla fighters cum bandits who preyed not only on Ottomans but also on local merchants and travellers. However, the hajduci did follow a moral code which forbade robbing of the poor and motiveless murder.
Hope this helped
I must first outline that although the Ottomans left cultures intact, they had a big influence and tried to somewhat change them. In a lot of countries they conquered, lives of a lot of ordinary people, especially among Non-Muslims, became very poor. Although officially tolerant of other religions, they still tried to subjugate them, especially Roman Catholicism, as it was the state religion of the Austrians, the main enemy of the Ottomans. For example, they banned church bells from ringing and in 1462, over 50% of the population was Roman Catholic, and all the King's also Roman Catholic. Today there are 16% of Catholics in Bosnia&Herzegovina and just 10% of those practice their religion. Francisian Monasteries also suffered hardship, and on a few occasions were ordered to be razed.
This is a very famous translation of a Bosnian poem that highlights people's suffering:
Three Hajduks
by Jovan Jovanovic-Zmaj
In a middle of a stormy night,
Feruz-Pasha jumped out of his sleep
The lantern rattled, like it reads
The horrors of his dreams, on a pale face.
Feruz-Pasha asks his wife:
Where are the keys to the dungeons?...
For three years theyve been rotting away,
Damn Hajduks!
But still I have no peace
They come to haunt me in my dreams.
Aga, dont go down in the dark
We shall send a servant tomorrow
To bury their bones!
Ha, ha, ha, my wife!
I wasnt scared of them when they were alive
While they were horrible
Im not going to be scared now
Like dead dogs!
I have to go and see them,
How they lay on a rotten bed
And ask them why they are calling me
What they want from me!
He took a lantern the wind blows
Pashas pale face
Rusty handle creaks
As he descends into the dungeon.
It is icy cold down there
Scorpios cannot breathe
And cold adders cannot live.
Three skeletons sit there
Three skeletons that used to be hajduks.
Are they sitting or
Is Pasha imagining it.
In front of them
On a stone
Like a table
Three pitchers
The first hajduk speaks:
Here, Pasha, pitcher full of blood!
I used to have a wife.
She was left all alone
But not alone . Sword in her hand
She screamed: Where are you, wolves?
Came to your castle,
She was shot
Bullet through her heart-
Here is a pitcher of her blood!
Wonderful wine, full glass
Salute me, Feruz-Pasha!
He steps closer
He drinks the wine. Screams.
Pasha screams
And the bones
Laughed .. God forbid!
The second hajduk speaks:
When I ended up in this grave
My Mother asked you
How much for the slave?
And you said: three sacks!
Poor old mother
Worked day and night
Havent eaten or slept
Until blood and sweat run
And she gave you three sacks of gold.
When she gave you all the gold
You laughed: Oh, thats only for food
Your son was a hero
He eats stone now!
Thats what killed her.
This pitcher is full of wine,
Her sweat and blood!
Wonderful wine, full glass
Salute me, Feruz-Pasha!
He steps closer
He drinks the wine. Screams.
Pasha screams
And the bones
Laughed .. God forbid!
The third hajduk speaks:
When I ended up in this darkness
I had a son, young and weak
He wanted a gun
Too heavy for his little arms
He cried and cried
He could not become one of us
He cried. Hungry and thirsty.
His father is rotting away
He cried and died!
Here is a pitcher, full of tears!
Wonderful wine, full glass
Salute me, Feruz-Pasha!
He steps closer
He drinks the wine. Screams.
Pasha screams
Dead Pasha fell on a floor
Next to Hajduks
And those bones
Laughed . God Forbid!
Wikipidia: In Balkan folkloric tradition, the hajduk (hajduci or haiduci in the plural) is a romanticised hero figure who steals from, and leads his fighters into battle against, the Ottoman oppressors. In reality, the hajduci of the 18th and 19th centuries were guerilla fighters cum bandits who preyed not only on Ottomans but also on local merchants and travellers. However, the hajduci did follow a moral code which forbade robbing of the poor and motiveless murder.
Hope this helped
