Principality of Arbanon

Principality of Arbanon
Principality of Arbanon; Principata e Arbërit
	1190–1215/16[1][2][3] (annexed ca. 1256/57)[4]
	The region of Arbanon, 1210, as part of the Despotate of Epirus[6]
Status	Autonomous principality within the Byzantine Empire (1190–1204) and the Despotate of Epirus (from ca. 1205)[7]
Capital	Krujë
Common languages	Albanian
Religion	Eastern Orthodoxy; Roman Catholicism[8]
Government	Principality
Prince
• 1190–98	Progon (first)
• 1198–1208	Gjin
• 1208–16	Demetrius
• 1216–?	Gregory Kamonas
• fl. 1252–56	Golem (last)
Historical era	Medieval
• Established	1190
• Disestablished	1215/16[1][2][3] (annexed ca. 1256/57)[4]
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Byzantine Empire
Kingdom of Albania (medieval)
Today part of	Albania

Arbanon (Albanian: Arbër or Arbëria, Gheg Albanian: Arban or Arbania,[9] Greek: Ἄρβανον, Árbanon; Latin: Arbanum), or Albanon (Greek: Ἄλβανον, Álbanon), was an autonomous principality ruled by the native Progon family,[10] and the first Albanian proto-state to emerge in recorded history.[2]

The principality of Arbanon was established in 1190 by the native archon Progon in the region surrounding Kruja, to the east and northeast of Venetian territories.[11] Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin and then Demetrius (Dhimitër), who managed to retain a considerable degree of autonomy within the Byzantine Empire.[10] In 1204, Arbanon attained full, though temporary, political independence, taking advantage of the weakening of Constantinople following its pillage during the Fourth Crusade.[12] However, Arbanon lost its large autonomy following the death of Demetrius ca. 1216, after which it was successively controlled by the Despotate of Epirus, the Bulgarian Empire and, from 1235, by the Empire of Nicaea.[1][2]

During this period, the area was ruled by the Greco-Albanian lord Gregorios Kamonas, the new spouse of Demetrius' former Serbian wife Komnena Nemanjić, and by Golem (Gulam), a local magnate who had married Kamonas' and Komnena's daughter.[13] The exact date of the dissolution of Arbanon is unknown, although it certainly happened during the conflict between Epirus and Nicaea in the 1250s.[14] Arbanon was eventually annexed in the winter of 1256–57 by the Byzantine statesman George Akropolites. Golem subsequently disappeared from historical records.[4]

Name

The principality was known as Árbanon (Ἄρβανον) in Greek, as Arbanum in Latin, and as Raban in the early 13th-century Serbian document Life of Stefan Nemanja.[15][16]

Status

Scholars generally note that the Principaly of Arbanon was the first Albanian state or proto-state to emerge during the Middle Ages.[17][18][19][2] Pipa and Repishti conclude that it was the first sketch of an "Albanian state", and that it retained semi-autonomous status as the western extremity of an empire (under the Doukai of Epirus or the Laskarids of Nicaea).[20]

Between 1190 and 1204, Arbanon was a principality of the Byzantine Empire and possessed a considerable degree of autonomy, although the titles 'archon' (held by Progon) and 'panhypersebastos' (held by Dhimitër) are evident signs of Byzantine dependence.[10] In the context of a weakening of Byzantine power in the region following the sack of Constantinople in 1204, Arbanon attained full autonomy under the Despotate of Epirus for 12 years until the death of Demetrios in 1215 or 1216.[11][21]

The Gëziq inscription mentions the Progon family as judices, and notes their dependence on Vladin and Đorđe Nemanjić (r. 1208–1216), the princes of Zeta.[16] The rulers were also connected to the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty, through marriage and alliances.[22][23] In 1252, Golem submitted to the Empire of Nicaea.[21]

History

Background and early history

In the 11th century AD, the name Arbanon was applied to a region in the mountainous area to the west of Ohrid Lake and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin.[24] There are scarce sources about Arbanon. In 1166, prior Arbanensis Andrea and episcopis Arbanensis Lazarus participated in a ceremony held in Kotor[25][26] (then under the Serbian Grand Principality). A year later in 1167, Pope Alexander III, in a letter directed to Lazarus, congratulates him for returning his bishopric to Catholic faith and invites him to acknowledge the archbishop of Ragusa as his superior. After some resistance from local officials, the bishopric of Arbanon was put under the direct dependence of the Pope, as documented in a Papal letter dated in 1188.[8]

Little is known about archon Progon who was the first ruler of Kruja and its surroundings,[27] between 1190 and 1198.[28] The Kruja fortress stayed in the possession of the Progon family, and Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin and later Dhimitër.[8] Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–96) conquered Pilot from the "Arbanas"[29] during his southern campaign, after takin,g over Zeta (Duklja).[30]

Reign of Demetrius Progoni

Demetrius was the third and last lord of the Progon family, ruling between 1208 (or 1207) and 1216 (or 1215).[24][3][31] He succeeded his brother Gjin and brought the principality to its climax.[32] Demetrius styled himself 'panhypersebastos' and 'megas archon' (Dei gratia panhypersevastos et magnus archon),[33] and he maintained international relations with the Republic of Ragusa, the Republic of Venice, and Serbia.[34] He issued significant commercial benefits in his territory to the Republic of Ragusa, as is found in a Ragusan document (from where his titles are known).[35]

In 1208, Demetrius married Komnena Nemanjić, the daughter of Serbian Grand Prince, later King Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228).[36][37][38] A brief alliance was established between the two countries amidst conflicts with the Republic of Venice. Demetrius' marriage with Komnena did not rule out the risk of Serbian expansion toward the Albanian domains. However, in 1204, the most serious threat came from the Venetian Duchy of Dyrrhachium, a Latin entity formed after the Fourth Crusade in the former territories of the Byzantine Empire. In search for allies, Demetrius signed a treaty with the Republic of Ragusa in 1209 and began negotiations with Pope Innocent III regarding his and his subjects' conversion to Catholicism. This is considered a tactful move, which Demetrius undertook to establish ties with Western Europe against Venice. The friendship with the pope was of short duration, and soon turned into ill-feeling.[36]

Reign of Gregory Kamonas and Gulem

After the death of Demetrius in 1215 or 1216,[3][31] the power was left to his wife Komnena.[39] She soon married the Greco-Albanian lord Gregorios Kamonas, who himself had earlier been married to Gjin’s daughter.[37] Kamonas strengthened relations with Serbia, which had been weakened after a Slavic assault on Scutari followed the collapse of Venetian Durazzo.[37] According to Kristo Frashëri, Kamonas was elected.[36]

Demetrius had no son to succeed him. His ex-wife Komnena had a daughter with Gregory Kamonas, who married a local magnate named Golem (Gulam).[40] During the conflicts between Michael II Komnenos Doukas of Epirus and the Emperor of Nicaea John III Doukas Vatatzes, Golem and Theodore Petraliphas, who were initially Michael's allies, eventually defected to John III in 1252.[41][21][42] By 1256, Vatatzes appointed Constantine Kavaron as the governor of Arbanon.[14]

Golem is last mentioned in the historical records among other 'notables' of Arbanon, in a meeting with George Akropolites in Durrës that occurred in the winter of 1256–1257. Akropolites annexed the statelet and installed a Byzantine civil, military and fiscal administration.[4] However, the initial Nicaean conquest proved short-lived. A pro-Epirote revolt erupted in the region in 1257, and the Capetian ruler Charles of Anjou, having landed in Vlora in 1269, proclaimed himself king of the Regnum Albaniae ("Kingdom of Albania") in 1272.[43]

Possessions

Arbanon extended over the modern districts of central Albania, with the capital at Kruja.[36][44][16]

It was a small territory in the 11th and 12th centuries, stretching from rivers Devoll to Shkumbin.[45] Arbanon did not have direct access to the sea.[16] Robert Elsie notes that the coastal cities of modern Albania did not have noticeable Albanian communities throughout the Middle Ages,[46] whereas the coasts of Epiros further south, despite their control by Serbs and Greeks, were primarily inhabited by Albanians according to Alain Ducellier.[16]

The Kruja fortress, founded by the Byzantines, was the seat of Progon. Progon gained possession of the surroundings of the fortress which became hereditary. With the marriage of Komnena with Kamonas, Elbasan becomes the second important possession.

Economy

Arbanon was a beneficiary of the Via Egnatia trade road, which brought wealth and benefits from the more economically developed Byzantine civilization.[21]

Rulers

Progon (between 1190–1198)
Gjin Progoni (1198–1208)
Demetrius Progoni (ca. 1208–ca. 1216)
Gregory Kamonas (1216–?)
Golem (fl. 1252– ca. 1256)

References

Winnifrith 1992, p. 54: "From about 1190 to 1216 there was a semi-autonomous principality of Arbanon, which initially included most of the mountainous zones of Albania. After 1216 Arbanon was controlled successively by the Despotate of Epirus, by the Bulgarians, and from 1235 by the Byzantines in Nicaea."
Elsie 2010, p. iv: "To the east and northeast of Venetian territory in Albania arose the first autonomous Albanian state under Prince Progon, Arbanon, which lasted from 1190 to 1216."
Ducellier 1999, p. 786: "...when Dhimitër died, probably in 1215..."
Ducellier 1999, p. 791: "In the winter of 1256–1257, George Akropolites, exercising authority over the newly acquired provinces, felt free to travel around the region, after bringing together at Durazzo the ‘notables’ of Arbanon, among them, no doubt, Prince Gulam (of whom subsequently no more would be heard); he thus annexed without a murmur the statelet in which he was able to install a civil, military and fiscal administration which was thoroughly Byzantine."
Canepari, Eleonora (2017). La ville et le plat pays (in French). Presses universitaires de Perpignan. ISBN 978-2-35412-288-1.
Canepari, Eleonora (2017). La ville et le plat pays (in French). Presses universitaires de Perpignan. ISBN 978-2-35412-288-1.
Ducellier 1999, pp. 780–781, 786.
Anamali & Prifti 2002, p. 215.
Fialuur i voghel Sccyp e ltinisct (Small Dictionary of Albanian and Latin), page 4, 1895, Shkodër
Ducellier 1999, p. 780: "As for Albania, its separate identity was real enough, even though it had not truly broken with Constantinople; all the same, the rulers of Arbanon around ἄρχον, Progon and his sons Dhimitër and Gjin, based at Kruja, retained a considerable degree of autonomy, even though Progon bore no title grander than ἄρχων (archon); and the title of πανὑπερσεβαστός (panhypersebastos), borne by Dhimitër at the start of the thirteenth century, can only be seen as a sign of his dependence on the Byzantines."
Elsie 2010, pp. iv, xxviii.
Elsie 2010, p. xxviii.
Ducellier 1999, p. 786: "...when Dhimitër died, probably in 1215, his successor, the Greco-Albanian lord Gregorios Kamonas,..." p. 791: "As for Arbanon proper, its own prince, Gulam, had abandoned Michael II to join the Nicaean camp..."
Angelidi, Christine (2016). ΕΥΨΥΧΙΑ. Mélanges offerts à Hélène Ahrweiler (in French). Publications de la Sorbonne. ISBN 978-2-85944-830-1.
Melčić, Dunja (2007). Der Jugoslawien-Krieg: Handbuch zu Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Konsequenzen (in German). Springer-Verlag. p. 25. ISBN 978-3-531-33219-2.
Ducellier 1999, p. 780.
Clements 1992, p. 31: "By 1190, Byzantium's power had so receded that the archon Progon succeeded in establishing the first Albanian state of the Middle Ages, a principality."
Pickard-Çeliku 2008, p. 16
Norris 1993, p. 35.
Arshi Pipa; Sami Repishti (1984). Studies on Kosova. East European Monographs. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-88033-047-3.
Ellis & Klusáková 2007, p. 134.
Nicol 1986, p. 161
Ducellier 1999, p. 786: "However, owing to the proximity of a Serbia in full expansion and of the Epirote princes, little Arbanon, shut away in the hinterland, with its main political center in Kruja, opted for a continuing attachment to the Orthodox tradition and for subjection to Epiros, as well as alliance to Serbia."
Nicol 1986, p. 160.
Thalóczy-Jireček-Sufflay 1913, p. 31
Anamali & Prifti 2002, p. 197.
Fine 1994, p. 51.
Frashëri 1964, p. 42 "The territories of this principality extended over the present- day districts of central Albania. Its capital was at Kruja. The first ruler of the Principality of Arberia was Archon Progon (1190-1198) about whose life and doings we know."
Prilozi za književnost, jezik, istoriju i folklor. 5–6. Rad. 1926. p. 83.
Istorija srpskog naroda: knj. Od najstarijih vremena do Maričke bitke (1371). Srpska književna zadruga. 1982. p. 258.
Elsie 2010, p. 371: "Progon’s son, Demetrios (r. 1208–1216), married the daughter of the King of Serbia and maintained relations with Dubrovnik and the pope."
Anamali & Prifti 2002, p. 198.
Nicol 1957, p. 26.
Dimitrije Bogdanović, Radovan Samardžić (1990). Knjiga o Kosovu: razgovori o Kosovu. Književne novine. p. 37. Retrieved 18 April 2012. Димитрије Прогон се назива "архонтом Арбанаса" и ступа у међународне везе - са Дубровником, Венецијом и, најзад немањићком Србијом; ожењен је Комнином, кћерком Стефана Првовенчаног.
Зборник радова Византолошког института. Научно дело. 1987. p. 112.
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Elsie 2010, p. 371.
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Nicol 1986, p. 14.
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George Akropolites: the history, page 73: " Goulamos defected to the Emperor"
Elsie 2003, p. xxviii.
Winnifrith 1992, p. 54
Ellis & Klusáková 2007, p. 133.
Elsie 2010, p. iv.

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