Greece and the Balkans 1648 CE

What is happening in Greece and the Balkans in 1648CE

After their capture of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Turks progressively swallowed up all the Balkan lands and much of central Europe. The Christian population is allowed to practice its own religion in peace – except that, periodically, selected children are taken away to be converted to Islam and trained as Janissaries, the elite corps of the Ottoman army.

Two areas are different from the rest. In Bosnia, a large part of the population has converted to Islam. This is probably due to the presence of the cities of Sarajevo and Mostar, which soon become virtually Muslim colonies, though both Catholic and Orthodox Christians continue to have a strong presence there. In Albania, fierce resistance to Ottoman rule led to the Ottomans settling thousands of Turkish soldiers, and their families, there.

Next map, Greece and the Balkans in 1789