The Creation of the Ottoman Landscape in Southeastern Europe: Fourteenth to Nineteenth Centuries

Few modern histories attempt to measure the impact of Ottoman rule on its territory. The purpose of this work was to use primary, secondary, and archaeological sources to reconstruct a physical interpretation of Ottoman Europe. Focused around landscape theory, the work primarily examined human settlement patterns and land use. The confines of the study were limited to territories that were at one time centrally controlled by the Ottomans in Europe. An Ottoman Europe was reconstructed by examining demographic changes, rural land patterns and use, urban settlement, and borderland realities. Ultimately the study finds that under Ottoman occupation: the ethnic makeup of Southeastern Europe became more mixed and matches many of the realities of modern times; that the rural landscape became less dominated by a Christian population over time while Muslims tended to migrate to urban centers; and that Ottoman borders were the site of ever changing settlement patterns