<P> Negative attitudes towards dhimmis harbored by the Ottoman governors were partly due to the "normal" feelings of a dominant group towards subject groups, to the contempt Muslims had for those whom they perceived to have willfully chosen to refuse to accept the truth and convert to Islam, and to certain specific prejudices and humiliations . The negative attitudes, however, rarely had any ethnic or racial components . </P> <P> In the early years, the Ottoman Empire decreed that people of different millets should wear specific colors of, for instance, turbans and shoes--a policy that was not, however, always followed by Ottoman citizens . </P> <P> The Ottoman Empire constantly formulated policies balancing its religious problems . The Ottomans recognized the concept of clergy and its associated extension of religion as an institution . They brought established policies (regulations) over religious institutions through the idea of "legally valid" organizations . But all had to accept Islam as dominant, and could not criticize Islam or the Sultan . This could be punishable by death . </P> <P> The state's relationship with the Greek Orthodox Church was mixed, since the Orthodox were not generally killed, but they were encouraged through bribes to convert to Islam and they could not proselytize Muslims . The church's structure was kept intact and largely left alone (but under close control and scrutiny) until the Greek War of Independence of 1821--1831 and, later in the 19th and early 20th centuries, during the rise of the Ottoman constitutional monarchy, which was driven to some extent by nationalistic currents . But the Church was greatly affected by the corruption brought in by the Ottoman system of choosing the Patriarch of Constantinople, and putting up the position of Patriarch for bribes . Other churches, like the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church and others were dissolved and placed under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church . Churches had to be placed in inconspicuous areas, where the everyday populace would not see them . </P>

Who was the most significant ruler the ottomans had