Urban Economy. Crafts

In this study, based on published and unpublished documents stored in the collections of the National Library „St. Cyril and Methodius“ – Sofia, the Central Archives – Sofia and the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi), and the achievements of modern historiography, the issue of the development of urban economy and crafts in the Bulgarian lands in the period 15th – 18th centuries is investigated. Based on a number of studies and documents, the degree of continuity and changes that occurred in the urban economy, the location of individual religious communities, their neighborhoods and mahalles, workshops and places of worship in the old and „new“ cities have been studied. Despite the confusing chronology of the capture of some cities in Thrace in the 14th century, it has been established that the Christian population continued to live in the medieval Bulgarian or Byzantine fortresses, and the Muslims settled outside the fortress walls, where they created their neighborhoods. The changes that occurred in the demographic picture of the settlements, as a result of the processes of colonization, Islamization or population migration, have been analyzed. It has been established that the place where daily contacts between people from the same settlement or between those from different settlements take place and where ideas, crafts and information are exchanged are the bazaar (çarşı) and the market in the urban space. The bazaar is the economic center of the cities for production and trade, where Muslims and non-Muslims work. By its very nature, it is a place for production and trade, where craft workshops and commercial stores are located. In the cities, part of the Bulgarian territory, a number of crafts are practiced, characteristic of both the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and the age of Ottoman rule. The studied city of Edirne presents the development of crafts, trade, agriculture and animal husbandry among the Muslim and non-Muslim population in the 16th century. Typical for this urban center are crafts related to weaving, clothing production, leather and leather goods processing and the preparation of various types of food and drinks. The preferences of the Muslim population are mainly oriented towards trade and the aforementioned crafts, while the preferences of the non-Muslim population are oriented towards professions belonging to the public sector and services, weaving, tailoring, construction and woodworking. There is also an integration of the newly converted Christians into the low levels of education and Muslim cult. The economic activity of the merchants is determined by the location of the city, the physiographic features of the region, the presence of large consumer centers nearby, fairs and markets.