ABSTRACT
Various historical documents verify that Bosnia enjoyed its own medieval state. For example, the famous charter for the people of Dubrovnik from 1189 AD confirmed Bosnia as an independent state. 1 The medieval Bosnian state functioned in accordance with the standards of customary law and state protocols typical of the time. 2 A plethora of arguments and counterarguments surrounds the circumstances of medieval religious practice in Bosnia. According to Fine, an independent Bosnian Church had been established in the 11th century, outside the jurisdiction of either the Catholic or Orthodox Churches. 3 What all historians seem to agree on is the point that no strong Catholic, Orthodox, or the so-called Bogumil (Bosnian) Church organisations existed in medieval Bosnia. 4 When the Ottomans conquered Bosnia in the mid-15th century, the Bosnian peasants dropped their allegiance to the weak and disorganised Christian churches and adopted the faith of their conquerors. 5 Thus, a native Slavic-speaking Muslim community emerged and gradually became the largest of the ethno-religious groups in the country. During the four centuries of Turkish rule (1463-1878), Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 experienced a prolonged period of general welfare and prosperity.
