Croatian - administration, which was left in the hands of the people. Every village was administered by its judge and overseer (seoski-knes and kmet) who settled the affairs of the village and explained the traditional principles of justice, though only to those who had need of them and submitted to their decisions. They had no power to enforce execution, and dissatisfied litigants applied to the Turkish authorities. A district was also governed by the obor knes (upper knes), originally appointed by the Sultan. Local administration went no further than this. For the most part the people submitted to the decisions of their own judges and rarely appealed to the Osman authorities; at the same time the kneses and upper kneses, acting as intermediaries between the nation and the Turkish authorities, protected the multitude. At a later period, however, the upper kneses became hereditary, and enjoyed such high prestige that even the Turks were forced to respect them. Apart from this the Servian Church remained independent under the patriarch of Ipek. It should be observed that the higher clergy at that time were chiefly of Greek origin, and the patriarch of Constantinople hoped to bring the Slavs over to the Greek Church by their means. In the seventeenth century the independence of the Servian patriarchate was abolished, and the church was placed under the patriarchate of Constantinople, as it had been before 1346. In the year 1766 the patriarchate was abolished altogether, as also was the Bulgarian patriarchate of Ochrida in 1767; bishops were now sent out from Stamboul. Only the lower clergy remained purely national and shared the sufferings of the people. Such were the powers which determined the existence of the subjugated people. The life of the rayahs, as subjugated nations were known, was one without law or rights, and in every respect miserable. Particularly oppressive was the weight of taxation. First of all came the Sultan's or the state tax. Next the male population were obliged to pay a poll tax of three piastres and two paras to the state chest for every person between the age of seven and sixty; this was known as the haraj. Even the priests in monasteries were not exempt from this tax. Three times a year the Turkish officials appeared in the villages, pitched their tents, and levied the haraj. The better to control the tax, a register of boys and men was kept. Besides this, married men paid an undefined tax known as pores, twice every year, on St. George's day and St. Demeter's day, to cover the costs of administration. The kneses held a meeting in the central town of the nahia and estimated the yearly expenses of administration, which they then distributed among the individual inhabitants; naturally the estimate varied from year to year. Besides this the imperial exchequer collected taxes from the merchants for their shops and also from the tobacco planters; then there were customs duties, duties upon fishing, upon river traffic, etc. Besides the state taxes the rayahs had also to satisfy their territorial masters, the spahis. Every married man paid one piastre for poll tax, two piastres married tax, two piastres grazing tax (kotar) for the use of pasturage, one piastre meal tax per head, two piastres kettle tax for every brandy still, from four to ten paras acorn tax for every head of swine, and finally a tenth of a field or garden produce; they were also liable to forced labour. Even the secular clergy were obliged to pay these taxes to the spahis. Naturally the population were also obliged to provide for the support of their kneses, upper kneses, and clergy. In Servia, for instance, a bishop exacted twelve piastres from every house, and on a journey through his diocese an additional five piastres as well as his maintenance; as they were obliged to buy their office at Constantinople, they were forced to recoup themselves in this way. The priests received tithes of agricultural produce, and occasionally payments for church services. More oppressive even than these various taxes was the administration of justice. In every nahia a kadi was the judge, who was also assisted by a musselim, as the executor of the judicial power. Above the kadi stood the chief judge (or mollah) of the whole province. All these officials supported themselves entirely upon court fees and fines. As they were able to obtain office, according to Benjamin Kallay, only by bribery, the manner in which they exercised their powers may easily be imagined. Turkish law knew no other punishment than the monetary fine, except in the case of political misdeeds; even for murder the punishment was only the price of blood. Usually the officials pursued their own interests alone, and innocent people often suffered. The musselims were especially dreaded, as they continually came into contact with the people, were acquainted with their circumstances, and consequently could easily satisfy their desires or their vengeance upon any object. Beyond all this, the evidence of a Christian was not admitted by the courts, and the Osman administration of justice thus became a system of torture which could only be escaped by flight. A further torment for the Christian rayah was the presence of the regular Turkish foot soldiers, the Janissaries; these forces were originally in possession of no landed property and only obtained pay. When, however, they were sent out from Constantinople, distributed among the provinces, and secured the imperial power for themselves, they were anxious to become landowners, like the spahis, and seized with the strong hand all that pleased them. The poor rayahs had no protection against their greed; they might console themselves with the words of Vergil," Not for yourselves, ye birds, did ye build your nests; not for yourselves, ye sheep, did ye wear your wool; not for yourselves, ye bees, did ye gather honey; not for yourselves, ye oxen, did ye draw the plough." Especially cruel was the levy of youths, which took place every five years, to supply men for the Janissaries, who then became Mohammedans. Only towns were able to secure immunity by the payment of large sums. Far more humiliating and intolerable was the treatment of the rayah at the hands of the Mohammedans. It was at this point that the differences between conquerors and conquered first became plainly obvious. It was a difference, according to Kallay, expressed in outward form. The clothing of the rayahs was to be simple. They were not allowed to wear the kaftan or gold or silver embroidery on their clothes. They were not to inhabit beautiful houses or to keep good horses. They were forbidden to wear swords. In the town the rayah might only go on foot. If a Christian appeared before Turks, he must hide his pistols; if he met them on the road, he must alight from his horse, and stand before them if they sat. Apart from this the Turk might call any Christian from the street and force him to bring water, look after his horse, or perform any other duty. Christian women were handed over to Mohammedans without reserve if they found favour in their eyes; at marriages the bride was concealed in a cellar with her head veiled in cloths. The result was that the Christians fled into the inaccessible mountains and forests, and from thence defended themselves against their oppressors. Their numbers steadily increased. In the Slav provinces they were known as hayduks, EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE OVERLEAF 1. Tattooings in use among the Catholics of Central Bosnia: simple and composite crosses, circles (the "Kolo"), semicircle (the "Ograda": fence or paling, on the palm of the hand); bands (the "Narukvica": arm-bracelet, on the wrist); twigs ("Jelica," serving as a crown to the Kolo), ears of corn (the "Klas," on the lower side of the forearm), moon ("Mjesec "), and sun ("Sunce," on the back of the hand). 2 and 3. Bosnian cursive script (Bosančica), eighteenth century. 4. The stone seat (seat of judgment) of Ivaniš Pavlović, son of Paul Radinović of Bukovica in Bosnia; first half of the fifteenth century. On the back of the chair in bas-relief is a tree with flowers and fruit; on the right side of the chair a male figure with a hat on his head, grasping the hilt of a sword in both hands; on the left side of the chair a female figure with crowned head, holding a round object in her hands. On the right-hand slant of the back at the top are the arms of the Pavloviće; on the left hand slant is the inscription: Silje sto Pavlovića Ivana (that is, this is the chair of the Pavlović Ivan). 5. The Roga (horned cap), a horn-shaped object resembling a Phrygian cap, a head-dress only occasionally worn by women in the Bosnian district of Srebrnica. The horn is woven of dried shoots of flax and the curled point is made of a pad of dried basilicum stalks. This Phrygian cap is accompanied by a pad as thick as the arm, made of twisted cloths and covered with a dark material which encircles the forehead, and by a band of red silk or cotton about ten centimetres broad and forty centimetres long, decorated at the ends with embroidery of glass beads and with long thick fringes: this band is drawn over the carved peak of the cap and hangs down over the shoulders of the wearer. 6 and 7. A bronze coin of the Servian emperor Stefan Uroš IV (1355–1367). Obverse: the emperor standing with crown, sceptre, and orb; on the left a walking lion (the right-hand lion has been obliterated). Inscription: VRO[S]IVS. Reverse: the Madonna with hands lifted in prayer (coin perhaps was struck at Dulcigno, where the Madonna was the patron saint). Inscription: S[AN]C[TA MAJRIA. 8. Pictures of the Kolo and of a stag-hunt on a grave-stone in Gacko. A mounted hunter pursues a stag with a lance; above are youths arranged in pairs for the dance, and near them the leader. About 1400. 9. Kolo depicted on a grave-stone in Nekuk near Stolac. A family of three men, five women, and two little children (at the edge of the carving) in order of dance, led by the dance-leader. About 1400. (From Vols. II, III, and IV of Wissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen from Bosnia and Herzgovina, published by the Bosnian-Herzgovinian National Museum in Sarajevo, edited by Dr. Moritz Hoernes. Vienna, 1894-1896.) Croatian and in Greece as klephts. They were robbers who also robbed the Christians upon occasion. But the spirit of freedom remained alive among their numbers, and they were respected by the population as avengers of the people and champions of freedom, were protected from the pursuing Turks and were celebrated in song as heroes. As the Christians were incapable of bearing arms, these robbers became the only people able to defend themselves. In their misery the people found consolation in their kneses and upper kneses, in the spahis, who generally treated them mildly, and particularly in the church. It was the monks who were popular, rather than the secular clergy. The monasteries were at that time the centres of national life. They enjoyed privileges from the state, and were less dependent upon the Osman authorities. The monks alone were allowed to hear confessions and to celebrate the communion. They were the only educated class, and preserved the remnants of Slav literature. The people swarmed to the monasteries from the remotest districts, and on dedication festivals lively scenes took place. Merchants then sold their wares; lambs and pigs were roasted; and to the sound of the shepherd's pipe or bagpipe the Servian youths danced their national dance, the kolo, which was also known in Bulgaria (see Figs. 8 and 9 of the plate facing this page," Servian and Bosnian Civilization"); at the same time the old men sang songs of the national heroes. 9. CROATIA, DALMATIA, AND RAGUSA; THE CROATIAN A. CROATIA AND DALMATIA TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY WHILE the Servian state succeeded in maintaining its independence until 1389, the excitable, military, and highly gifted Croatian people had been made tributary to their neighbours as early as the end of the eleventh century; while Servia had been able easily to enrich herself at the expense of the declining power of Byzantium and Bulgaria, Croatia had to deal with the rising state of Hungary and with Venice, at that time the first commercial power in Europe. Notwithstanding these differences, Croatia would probably have emerged victoriously from the struggle, had she not been weakened by internal dissensions. The interior of Croatia remained united to Hungary. Venice and Hungary struggled for a long time and with varying success to secure the mastery of the Croatian seaboard which was known as Dalmatia. In the fourteenth century the Bosnian king Tvrtko (p. 296) had secured a temporary supremacy over Dalmatia and assumed the title of "Rex Croatia et Dalmatiæ; even after his death in 1391 Bosnia retained her hold of part of Southern Dalmatia, which henceforward bore the name of Herzegovina. In the fourteenth century other claimants for the possession of Dalmatia appeared in the Angevin dynasty of Naples, until King Ladislaus sold the province of Zadar to Venice for one hundred thousand ducats, and thus decided the struggle for Dalmatia in favour of Venice; after that period many states voluntarily submitted to the Venetian rule, while Hungarian influence steadily decreased. The consequence was that these two related tribes entered upon divergent careers. While the Serbs came under Byzantine influence and accepted the Greek |