Macedonia in the XIX century

Macedonia was still in the Rumeliski eyalet, with a center in Bitola (Monastery). Until the thirties, the Pashas altered the regions given to them by the sultan in hereditary pashalatsi (the Skopje, Tetovo, Thessaloniki, Bitola and Seres Pashalak). In the beginning of the 40-ties, the sultans annulled the hereditary pashalaks and confided the power to their clerks. Sandjaks were formed: the sandjak of Skopje, Thessaloniki, Ohrid, Kjustendil, Bitola and Seres. According to French sources, 968.500 inhabitants (724.500 Orthodox and 204.000 Moslems) lived in Macedonia in 1807.

The wars with Austria and Russia, the robberies of the krdjalii, The First Serbian Uprising and the Greek Uprising made the weakened the Turkish central power, so the provincial administrators could take the power in their own hands. In that period, independent feudals dominated in Macedonia. Such were: Ismail-bey Serski in Southern Macedonia, Ali-pasha Janinski in the Western part and Redzjep-pasha in the Skopski pashalak. They even owned an army of 15-20.000 people. The population of the villages was classified in three groups: chifliksaybii (consisted of Moslems and some Ermenians), wholesale dealers and and small politicians. Even the cattle breeding, as a main economic branch in the villages, were divided into major cattle-breeders, minor cattle-breeders and argats (day-pay worker). From the beginning of 1839, an agrarian reform was applied in the Turkish Empire - the Timar-Spahi system was annihilated. All the Timars and Ziyamets were taken from the Spahi, they were given pension as a compensation and all the land was taken without compensation. A part of the taken land was given to the peasants to cultivate and the other part was sold very cheaply to the rich people and to the extortionists. The administration was reorganized according to the French system by founding ministries and one ministerial council. The population lived an even more laborious life: the taxes were increased and the military service lasted 15 years. Mustafa-pasha from Scadar did not approve of this. Neither did the Bosnian bey Husein Kapetan Gradashchevich, Ohrid bey Dzjeladin, Tetovo Abdurahman, Havzi-pasha from Skopje and others. The sultan Mahmud II sent the great vezir Reshid-pasha to negotiate. He started negotiating in Bitola, but, after the killing of the Albanian leaders in Bitola in l830, armed conflicts flamed up between the Albanian feudals and the central power, which destructed the regions around Bitola and Prilep and finished with barbarous devastation of the armies of Mustafa-pasha, who surrendered to the Sultan. The new sultan Abdul Medzit (1839-1861) is known for the Gjilhanski hatisherif announced on November 3, 1839. The hatisherif proclaimed equality of all citizens in front of the law, regardless of religion, nationality and position and full security of life, dignity and property as well as reformation of the administration. The military service lowered to 5 years, but the Moslem pashi were not satisfied and refused to send young men to the army. Soon after, they occupied the hall northern Macedonia, executing great violence. In 1845, close to Katlanovo, the rebels were defeated by the sultan army and the leaders were captured. The sultan put his own clerks in the pashalaks of Skopje and Tetovo. He sent about 200 beys in internment and Havzi-pasha and Abdurahman-pasha were sent to Consantinople. In 1853, the Turkish-Russian (Crimerian War) began. England, France and Sardinia allied with the Turks. Macedonia was devastated by the additional taxes she had to pay. The Christian population was also called upon to serve in the army.

The sultan Abdul Azis (1861-1876), accelerated the reforms with an act called Hatihumajun (1856). The act promised a religious and national security of all people in the Turkish Empire, a right to complete state duties for the Christians, a right to serve in the Turkish army, to have their representatives in the state council, church reforms, reorganization of the state administration, building of modern roads and so on. In 1873 the railway-track Salonica-Skopje was opened, which contributed in increasing foreign investments and trade, more foreign goods and export of the agrarian products. More fairs, especially in Prilep, Seres, Nevrokop, v.of Trlis and Sklave. The handcraft began to blossom in the towns, especially the leather industry, the textile industry, the industry for silk, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, and so on.

The Freedom Fighters against Turkish Rule (Ayduk)

The eldest and the most known resent leader was Iliya Markov (Dedo Iljo Maleshevski) who succeeded the Maleshevo region in 1849. Rumena Vojvoda from the Kriva Palanka region and Sirma Vojvoda from the mountains in the region of Debar and Kichevo were also well known.

The Beginning of the Renaissance

The Macedonian religious clerks from the monasteries of Mt. Athos opened schools in Macedonian language, particularly by the Zograph Monastery. The archimandryt Anatholiy, born in Lazaropole, did not succeed in establishing a printing house in the Monastery Zograph.There were schools by the monasteries used for educating the priests. But, public schools were established in the thirties of the 19th century in the towns and in the private houses in Skopje (1835) ,Veles (1837), Bansko (1838), Shtip and Nevrikop (1840), Prilep (1843), Kumanovo and Tetovo (1852). The teacher Yordan Hadzji Constantinov - Dzjinot (1820 -1882) was the founder who, slandered by the Greek Mitropolitan, Venedict, was exilled to Minor Asia by the Turkish power. The first handboks were chasoslov, psaltir and octroit, rewritten by the priests and pupils. Some of them were printed in the printing - house of Hadzji Teodosiy of Thessaloniki, such as Nachalna uchenie, Kniga za nauchenie tri jazikov)(Book for learning of three languages),Tablitsa pervaya by the Dzyin. The books of Yovan Dimitrovich were used as books . The first library, sponsored by Angelko Palashev, is mentioned in 1832, in Veles.

The first medical objects (hospitals) are in Thessaloniki, Bitola and Ohrid and the first pharmacies, in Thessaloniki,Seres and Bitola. Religious-schools communities were founded by respected citizens who took care of the churches and the schools, finding teachers, their settlement and their existance, helping the Macedonian prisoners. They had their seals for verification of the documents for marital matter, inheritance, agreements, and so on. The first auhors are Yoakim Krchovski and Cyril Peychinovich, priests who printed the books in colloquial Macedonian language in Budim. In 1814,Yoakim Krchovski publiahed the book Povest radi strashnoga and vtoroga prishestvia Hristova.In 1816, Cyril Pejchinovich, born in Teartse, near Tetovo, publishes the book "Ogledalo" (Mirror) in Budim and, in the printing-house of Teodosij Sinaitski from Thessaloniki publishes the book Uteshenie greshnim.The Prilep teacher Constantin Dinkov published the book Vracheskiya molitva in 1849 in Belgrade and Yovan Dimitrievich published Pravonachalna nauka za dolzjnostite na chaloveka science and Gramatika za slavyanski jazik (Grammar for the Slavonic langage) in Constantinople in 1844.

The opening of the first Macedonian printing house of the religious-Slavonic shrift in 1838 was a great cultural acquisition, but was destroyed in a fire in 1842. Hadzji Teodosijy Sinaitski from Doyran managed it. There are only six books that are known to have been printed there: 1. Nachalnoe uchenie s molitvi utrenia by Anatoliy Zographski, 2.Sluzhenie evrejsko, 3. Kniga glagolaema uteshenie greshnim, 4. Kniga za nauchenie tri jezikov, 5. Kratko opisanie dvadesjyat manastirey obretyushtestya v Svetoy Gori Atonskoy and Tablitsa pervaya by Yordan Costantin -Dzjinot. In 1850, a printing house of Kiryak Drzhilovich was open in Thessaloniki, which worked until 1870.

Architecture

Higher and larger churches were built with the strenghtening of the economical capacity of the Macedonian population. Churches were built in Bansko, Nevrokop, Bitola, Krushevo, Skopje, Struga, Kratovo, Veles, Prilep, Shtip, Gorna Dzjumaya and other.The well-known one, is the monastery church St. Yoakim Osogovski with 12 cupolas, built between 1847 to 1851, by Andreya Damyanov. The fraternities (professional groups) of the famous builders Andreya Damyanov and his sons from Veles, Stoyan Vezenko and Timche with the zographs Nicola Mihaylovich and Costa Anastasievich from Krushevo, were a renowned fraternity. So was the fraternity of the builder Gjorgi Dzjongar,Costa Zograph and Petrush, all of them from Veles, the fraternity of the builder Petre Lauts from Prilep and other unknown fraternities from Debar, Bansko and Kostur who built important church buildings on the territory of Macedonia, but also in Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosna and Herzegovina.

Andreya Damjanov (1813-1878) from the village of Papradishte,was from the family Renzovski which gave a great number of artisans-builders,carvers and zographs.He built a great number of church objects(over 15,from which well-known ones, are:Church St. Bogoroditsa in Skopje, in 1835,church in the monastery St. Yoakim Osogovski in Kriva Palanka in 1845,church St.Panteymon in Veles, in 184O.He built and profaned objects too,and,for the built of the barracks in Saraevo, he got a medal and sabre,from the sultan.

Visual correlations - Painting

The numerous of churches were ornamented with frescos and icons. Micheal and his son Dimitrie (friar Danail) from the village of Samarino (Epirus) made the frescos and icons of the iconostasis in the church and the men's dinning room of the monastery St. Yovan Bigorski. Other renowned artista of this time are Dicho the Zograph- Krstevich (1817-1872 from the village of Tresonche, Krste Nikolov from Lazaropole, Hadzji Koste from Veles (he was the first photographer in Macedonia in 1855),Yovan Prilepchanets, Krste Mirchevski and others. They followed the medieval tradition using the erminija but the northern influence with elements of baroque style is still felt.