Abstract:

Biased approaches to Bos11ia11 historiography in general, strong 11atio11alist sentiments and excessive i11terpretatio11s of certain phenomena have produced a number of disagreements berween scholars. This refers especially to the Bosnian religious histOIJ'· 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 difl'erent religious co1111111111ities and their representatives. /11 the first two centuries of Ottoman rule, the attitude of Ouoma11 center towards co1fessio11al structure of Bosnian society, is a result of political, economic and social circ11111 sra11ces 011 one hand, and the result of the Ottoman strategy of accepring some local i11 stit11tio11s and including some 11011- Muslim elements into the milita1J1 class 011 the other. My paper consists of an overview of the co11fessio11al structure in Bosnia, and an analysis of the relationship be/ween !he two churches (Catholic and Orthodo:>.) in the Balkans, focusing on the encounter between Ottoman State, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians. 

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