As Turkish power has continued to decline…

As Turkish power has continued to decline in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the living conditions of the Macedonian Christians have deteriorated.

Greek influence has increased, the Slavic liturgy has been banned, and schools and monasteries teach Greek language and culture.

The Ottoman Empire eliminates the autocephalous Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the archbishopric of Ohrid in 1777; because of such actions, the Slavic Macedonians begin to despise Greek ecclesiastical domination as much as they loathe Turkish political oppression.