Lost or inclusive statehood: Serbia, Vallachia and Moldavia within the Ottoman Empire


Impreuna cu colega mea am scris articolul cu titlul de mai sus pe care l-am prezentat in cadrul Simpozionului organizat de catre colegii de la Facultatea de Filosofie din Nis, Serbia. Atasez mai jos abstractul.  Pentru  programul  Conferintei dati click Program NISUN 2014

Prof. Ema Miljković, Ph.D,

Ionut Cojocaru, Ph.D.

At first Vallachia after the battle of Nicopolis (1396) and half a century later,  during the reign of Mehmed The Conqueror, Moldavia (1455) and Despotate of Serbia (1459) were included into the Ottoman Empire. For the Despotate of Serbia, it had meant the loss of sovereignty and statehood, although the attempts to get it back would had endured throughout the second half of the 15th century. Although some elements of autonomy, as well as some institutions existed in the medieval Serbian state, would had been preserved until the end of the Ottoman dominance in these parts, on its territory would be introduced the Ottoman administrative, military and timar system, including the institution of the miri land, meaning that the ex Despotate of Serbia was the integrative part of the Ottoman state.

            As for Vallachia and Moldavia, they had completely different status in comparison to Serbia, although they nominally were within the borders of the Empire. Since they were far away from the capital, in order to obtain easier control over those provinces, the Ottomans introduced in them the vassal relations (the same happened later in Transylvania) toward the sultan.

            In this study would also be explained the theory of „the three circles“ introduced in historiography by the French historian Gilles Veinstein. Аcording to his opinion the position of the certain provinces of the Empire had depended on its distance from its center, the capital of Constantinople.