The original manuscript of the proclaimation and other printed proclaimations of Emperor Leopold the first from 1690 with which he takes the Macedonian people under his protection

5 PROCLAMATIONS OF EMPEROR LEOPOLD I (1690) I n such circumstances, in the year 1690, the Proclamations of Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire were issued, calling upon the peoples of the Balkans to rise in armed rebellion against the Ottoman Empire. In fact, most of his proclamations from 1690 referred to the Great Migration of the Serbs from Ottoman territory into that of the Holy Roman Empire. Due to the unbearable conditions of life under Ottoman rule, more than 180,000 Serbs, that is, over 37,000 families, led by the head of the Peć Patriarchate, Arsenije III Crnojević, set out on a long journey with the goal of settling within the Holy Roman Empire. Earlier, during the Austrian campaign in the Balkans against the Ottoman Empire, in 1688 theAustrians had captured Belgrade, and later, accompanied by thousands of Serbian insurgents, they also took Niš, Pirot, Jagodina, and other towns. However, their advance was halted when France declared war on the Holy Roman Empire, forcing the Austrian army to withdraw from the Balkans. Consequently, the Ottomans regained the captured cities, including Belgrade, and the border with the Holy Roman Empire was re-established along the Danube and Sava rivers. Because of his actions against the Ottoman Empire—manifested through his active support for the Austrian army and the Serbian insurgents (who were jointly defeated by the Ottomans in the Battle of Kačanik in January 1690)—Patriarch Arsenije III Crnojević, together with a large number of people who had abandoned their homes, left the region alongside the Austrian army, seeking refuge within the Holy Roman Empire. As a result, in 1690, Emperor Leopold I issued several proclamations in which he promised freedom of religion and education to the newly settled Serbs, while at the same time calling upon the Balkan peoples to rise in armed rebellion against the Ottomans. THE PROCLAMATIONS OF EMPEROR LEOPOLD I RELATING TO MACEDONIA In three proclamations issued in 1690, in which Emperor Leopold I called upon the Balkan peoples to take up arms against the Ottomans, Macedonia is specifically mentioned. These proclamationswere recently obtained from theAustrian StateArchives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv – ÖStA) in Vienna, thanks to the efforts of Mr. John Todorovski. One of these proclamations was issued on April 6, 1690, and its content reads as follows: LEOPOLD, Appointed Emperor of the Romans by the favourable Divine Mercy, ever August, and King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Sclavonia, Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria etc., Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant,