After the fall of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom in 1393, Bulgaria came under Ottoman Turkish rule, which lasted nearly five centuries. The Ottoman Sultan, Bayazid, took strict measures to suppress the Bulgarian national spirit. The Bulgarian national church was almost completely destroyed, and many Bulgarian priests were either killed or forced to flee Russo-Turkish War and the Treaty of San Stefano.
Under Ottoman rule, Byzantium—now Constantinople—had already influenced Bulgarian church life, and the Turks found it politically useful to continue this influence. The Greek Orthodox Church in Constantinople became the main religious authority for the Orthodox Christians under Ottoman control. As a result, Bulgarians were politically under the Turks and spiritually under the Greeks.
This period is often called a dark age for Bulgaria. Bulgarian books were burned, and the Bulgarian language was no longer used in churches or official documents. In public, Bulgarians spoke Turkish with the Turks and Greek with the Greeks, while their own language was pushed aside. The national identity of Bulgarians was under constant threat.
The National Revival
Despite this oppression, the Bulgarian spirit survived, and a national revival began in the 18th century. One key figure was Father Paisi, a monk from the monastery of Mount Athos. Disturbed by the loss of Bulgarian culture and identity, he decided to write the first Bulgarian history. His goal was to remind Bulgarians of their glorious past when Bulgarian kings had defeated Byzantium.
Father Paisi completed his history, written in Sloveno-Bulgarian, in 1762. Because literacy in Bulgarian was rare at the time, his work was secretly copied by priests who could still read and write. The book began with an appeal to Bulgarian pride:
“O thou foolish and fallen man, why art thou ashamed to call thyself a Bulgarian…”
This work became a symbol of national awakening, encouraging Bulgarians to reclaim both their church independence and political freedom Private Guide Turkey.
Steps Toward Church Independence
Initially, the demands of the Bulgarians were modest. They asked for bishops who could speak Bulgarian, so the language could return to religious life. Later, they requested Bulgarian bishops, independent from Greek control. Eventually, the goal expanded to the creation of a completely independent Bulgarian Church. These efforts were essential to preserving the Bulgarian language, culture, and national identity.
The National Revival laid the foundation for the 19th-century struggle for political independence, showing that even under foreign domination, the Bulgarian spirit could survive and grow stronger.
