Tervel Popov
Dr. Tervel Popov – Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"
(Summary)
Even though their political formations or estates were over territories
inhabited mainly by Bulgarians, most of the nobles discussed in this
work were from Serbian, Byzantine and Albanian aristocratic families.
This can be explained by the fact that most of those territories did fall
within the borders of the reestablished Bulgarian Tsardom (12th – 14th
c.) for a various periods. It is indicative that said territories were far
away from the Ottoman political centre and/or in mountainous regions
where Ottomans did not exercize full control. Some of them emerged
amidst the chaos in the Ottoman Empire, created by the defeat at
the Battle of Ankara in 1402. Other lands were granted by sultans to
nobles of high social standing within the Christian Balkan states who
retained their positions during the Ottoman rule. In return for retaining
said privileges many of the aforementioned nobles had military duties
delegated to them by the padishah.
Keywords: Christian nobles, Bulgarian lands, Ottoman rule, Macedonia
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