HIB023b Southeastern Europe in the shadow of the Ottoman crescent (15th - 18th centuries)

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Hladký, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Hladký, CSc.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • History (programme FF, B-HI_) (4)
Course objectives
The course provides an introduction to the political and cultural development of the Ottoman Empire and Balkan ethnics from the 15th to the 18th century. It consists of a two-hour lecture and a two-hour seminar, which focuses on the most significant literature and sources on the Ottoman Empire and the cultural development of particular confessions in the Balkans: Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Jews. Historical development of Balkan regions which have not been under the Ottoman rule is also briefly discussed (Croatian parts of the Hapsburg Monarchy, territory of the Venecian Republic, Dubrovnik and Montenegro).
Learning outcomes
The students will expand their knowledge of general (European) history by the less known fact of the influence of the Ottoman Empire on a large part of the European continent in the 15th-18th centuries and also understand the influence of the phenomenon of the Turkish Threat” on European events and the thinking of the people then.
They will understand the internal organization of the Ottoman Empire, the reasons and mechanisms of the Islamization of a significant part of the populations of the Balkans and the relations between the individual confessions inside the Turkish empire.
They will be able to characterise in a qualified way the specifics and cultural differences of the individual confessions in the Balkans and i.a. adopt also a more tolerant approach to the adherents to the Islamic faith.
Syllabus
  • 1. Turkish expansion to the Balkans in the 15th and 16th centuries; • 2. Characterization of the Ottoman power (political, military and administrative system of the Ottoman Empira, relations between confessions); • 3. Islamization of the population of the Balkans (forms of islamization, religious institutions of Muslims, islamic culture); • 4. Large-scale migrations and their influence on the extensive ethnic blending in southern and central parts of the Balkans; • 5. Organization and the role of the Orthodox Church in the Balkans in the 15th-18th centuries; • 6. Catholics and Jews in the Ottoman Empire; • 7. Remainders of a clannish and tribal society in Montenegro and Albania; • 8. Austrian-Turkish and Russian-Turkish wars and their repercussions in the Balkans; • 9. Reformation and recatholization in Croatian parts of the Hapsburg Monarchy; • 10. Specific development of the Dubrovnik Republic and Montenegro; • 11. Surging crisis of the Ottoman Empire, influence of the European Enlightenment and Napoleonic Wars on the population of the Balkans at the end of the 18th century.
Literature
    required literature
  • • KABRDA, Josef. Charakter turecké nadvlády a pokusy vymanit se z ní. In: Žáček, Václav a kolektiv. Dějiny Jugoslávie. Praha: Nakladatelství Svoboda, 1970, s. 125–163.
  • GOMBÁR, Eduard. Moderní dějiny islámských zemí. Vyd. 1. Praha: Karolinum, 1999, 427 s. ISBN 807184599X. info
  • PALMER, Alan. Úpadek a pád Osmanské říše. Translated by Olga Kovářová - Martin Kovář. Vyd. 1. Praha: Panevropa, 1996, 351 s., [8. ISBN 80-85846-05-5. info
    recommended literature
  • • IHSANOGLU, EKMELEDDIN (ed.). Historija osmanske države i civilizacije. Sarajevo: Orijentalni institut, 2004. 1223 s. ISBN 9958-626-05-5
  • ŠÍSTEK, František. Dějiny Černé Hory. Vydání první. Praha: NLN, Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2017, 614 stran. ISBN 9788074224980. info
  • HRADEČNÝ, Pavel, Ladislav HLADKÝ, Virgjil MONARI, František ŠÍSTEK and Pavla HRADEČNÁ. Dějiny Albánie. Vyd. 1. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2008, 716 s. ISBN 9788071069393. info
  • HRADEČNÝ, Pavel. Dějiny Řecka. 2., dopl. a rozš. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2007, 768 s. ISBN 80-7106-192-1. info
  • PELIKÁN, Jan. Dějiny Srbska. Vyd. 1. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2005, 670 s. ISBN 8071066710. info
  • RYCHLÍK, Jan. Dějiny Bulharska. Vyd. 1. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2000, 508 s. ISBN 80-7106-404-1. info
  • ŠESTÁK, Miroslav. Dějiny jihoslovanských zemí. Praha: Lidové noviny, 1998, 756 s. ISBN 80-7106-266-9. info
Teaching methods
Lectures combine analytic interpretation and comparison of selected issues.
Assessment methods
Prerequisites for granting the credit: regular attendance (at least two thirds of classes), handing in an essay and participation in class discussion. Oral exam concentrates on the student’s knowledge of the subject matter as well as the relevant literature.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/HIB023b