Through Bulgarian and Ottoman documents, marginalia, travelers' accounts, art, and numerous secondary documents, the seventeenth century--considered by historians as the nadir of Bulgarian national history--is examined as to the question of the Slavic society's continued existence despite centuries of foreign political, social and spiritual domination by the Ottoman Empire. The first part outlines the consequences for Bulgarian history of the Muslim Ottoman conquest. The second details the nature of the culture and the forms of expression. The third part consists of an overview of documented seventeenth century Bulgarian Orthodox expression.