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

2 THE WAR BETWEEN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE KARPOSH UPRISING T o understand the significance of the proclamations of Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire that refer to Macedonia and the Macedonians, first we need to provide some introductory explanations. The end of the seventeenth century was a turbulent period in the European — including the Macedonian — history. The main reason for this was the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the Habsburg dynasty. To explain this briefly, we will outline the circumstances that led to this war. It is well known that the Ottoman Empire, during a certain period of its existence, was one of the most powerful states in the world. Like other great empires of the past, it gradually expanded its territory since its foundation in the late 13th century. For example, in the 14th century, the founder of this empire, Osman, began conquering the Asia Minor territories of the Byzantine Empire. In 1354, for the first time the Ottomans crossed into Europe, seizing Gallipoli on the Dardanelles. In 1362, they captured Adrianople (Edirne), and in 1371, after the Battle of Maritsa, they conquered a significant part of Macedonia. In 1389, following the Battle of Kosovo Field, the Ottomans took control of much of Serbia, although Belgrade fell under their rule in 1521. Earlier, Sofia had been conquered in 1385, Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 1453, and Athens in 1458. By 1463, they had seized Bosnia, and about twenty years later Herzegovina as well. By the end of the 15th century, Albania had also been subdued. In 1493, at Krbava Field, the Ottomans clashed with the Croatian army, which was also defeated, and by the first half of the 16th century, significant parts of Croatia had fallen under Ottoman rule. Advancing further, the Ottomans reached Slovenia, where they conducted occasional raids. In 1526, at the Battle of Mohács, the Hungarian army was defeated, and a large part of Hungary came under Ottoman domination. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire expanded in Asia and Africa, so at its largest extent, its territories included the lands of present-day: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, all the Balkan states, parts of Russia, and Ukraine. In the same time one of the most powerful European states of the Middle Ages and the early modern period was the Holy Roman Empire. It had been founded in 800 AD, largely through the efforts of Pope Leo III, who sought to restore the Western Roman Empire, which had fallen in 476