Principality of Valona

The Principality of Valona & Kanina or Despotate of Valona & Kanina or just Principality of Valona (Albanian: Principata e Vlorës; Serbian Валонска кнежевина; Bulgarian Валонско княжество)[1][2][3](1346–1417) was a medieval principality in Albania, roughly encompassing the territories of the modern counties of Vlorë (Valona), Fier, and Berat. Initially a vassal of the Serbian Empire, it became an independent lordship after 1355, although de facto under Venetian influence, and remained as such until it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1417.

Principality of Valona and Kanina Principata e Vlorës
1346–1417
Status	Principality, vassal of the Serbian Empire (1346–1355)
Capital	Valona (Vlorë, Albania)
Common languages	Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian
Religion	Eastern Orthodoxy Roman Catholicism
Government	Principality
Despot, later simply Lord
• 1346–1363	John Komnenos Asen
• 1363–1372	Alexander Komnenos Asen
• 1372–1385	Balša II
• 1385–1396	Komnina Balšić
• 1396–1414	Mrkša Žarković
• 1414–1417	Ruđina Balšić
Historical era	Medieval
• Serbian conquest	1346
• De facto independence	1355
• Ottoman conquest	1417
Preceded by Succeeded by Byzantine Empire Sanjak of Avlona

History

The strategically important city of Valona, on the coast of modern Albania, had been fought over repeatedly between the Byzantines and various Italian powers in the 13th century. Finally conquered by Byzantium in ca. 1290, it was one of the chief imperial holdings in the Balkans.[4] Byzantine rule lasted until the 1340s, when the Serbian ruler Stefan Dušan, taking advantage of a Byzantine civil war, took Albania. Valona fell in late 1345 or early 1346, and Dušan placed his brother-in-law, John Asen, brother of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander, in charge of Valona as his capital, and with Kanina and Berat as his main fortresses.[5][6] According to some scholars, however, Dušan had captured Valona and Kanina already in 1337.[7] The extent of John's authority over this territory is unclear; it is not known whether he was limited to the rule of these fortified cities, or whether his authority was more extensive, with the various local chieftains of central Albania reporting to him as a representative of Dušan.[8][9]

John was granted the rank of Despot by Dušan, and went on to solidify his control over his new territory by portraying himself as the heir to the Despots of Epirus. To that end, he married Anna Palaiologina, the widow of Despot John II Orsini, adopted the trappings of the Byzantine court, took on the surname "Komnenos" that was traditionally borne by the Epirote rulers, and signed his documents in Greek.[5][10] After Dušan's death in 1355, John established himself as an independent lord. He maintained close relations with Venice (whose citizen he became) and with Simeon Uroš, ruler of Epirus in the south. Under his rule, Valona prospered through trade with Venice and the Republic of Ragusa (mod. Dubrovnik).[5][11]

John died in 1363 from the plague, and was succeeded by Alexander, possibly his son, who ruled until ca. 1368. He continued his father's policies, maintaining close ties with Ragusa, whose citizenship he acquired.[11][12][13] In 1372, John's unnamed daughter was married to Balša II of the Serbian Balšić noble family, who received Valona, Kanina, Berat and Himara as a dowry. Many of Valona's citizens fled to the island of Saseno and asked for Venetian protection.[14][15][16] Balša continued to expand his territory in the western Balkans, inheriting Zeta in 1378 and conquering Dyrrhachium from Karl Topia soon after, whereupon he assumed the title "Duke of Albania", probably after the former Venetian province of the same name.[16] Thopia called on the Ottomans for help however, and Balša was killed in the Battle of Savra near Berat in 1385. His widow Komnina recovered control of her patrimonial territory, and ruled it thereafter jointly with her daughter Ruđina. Berat however had already fallen to the Muzaka, and their lordship was now confined to the area around Valona, with Kanina, Himara and the fort of Pyrgos.[16][17]

Map of the Balkans ca. 1400

The principality was now faced with the ever-increasing Ottoman threat; in 1386, Balša's widow offered to cede Valona to Venice in exchange for aid, but the Republic refused, since Valona alone without her hinterland was indefensible. Following the decisive Ottoman victory at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the situation became yet more precarious. A similar offer in 1393 was also rejected by a Venice anxious not to antagonize the Ottomans, but another, more comprehensive proposal, followed two years later. Through the bishop of Albania, the widow offered to the handover of the entire principality in exchange for a lifelong pension for her and her family of some 7,000 ducats drawn, from the principality's revenue (estimated at 9,000 ducats). Negotiations faltered after the widow's death in 1396.[18] She was succeeded by Ruđina, who in 1391 had married Mrkša Žarković. According to Italian sources, the principality was called the Kingdom of Serbia during Mrksa'a period. Threatened by Ottoman expansion, both Balša's widow and Mrkša repeatedly offered to surrender Valona and their principality to the Venetians, but they refused or procrastinated. After Mrkša's death in 1415, he was briefly succeeded by his widow Ruđina, until the Ottomans took the city in 1417.[19][20][21]

The Venetian bailo at Constantinople tried to obtain the return of the territory to Ruđina, who was a Venetian citizen, or alternatively purchase it for the Republic with up to 8,000 ducats, but nothing came of it.[22] With the exception of a brief Venetian occupation in 1690–91, the region remained under Ottoman rule until the First Balkan War and the establishment of an independent Albanian state.[23]

Rulers

• John Komnenos Asen (1346–1363), Despot
• Alexander Komnenos Asen (1363–1372), Lord of Valona and Kanina[24]
• Balša II Balšić (1372–1385), Lord of Kanina and Valona, and eventually Duke of Albania[16] (Latin: magnificus dominus Balsa Balsich, Gente, Canine et Avlone dominus)[25]
• Komnina Balšić (1385–1396), with
• Mrkša Žarković (1396–1414), variously styled dominus Avlonae (Latin: "lord of Valona"), ἡγεμὼν Κανίνων (Greek: "lord of Kanina") or Ré di Serbia (Italian: "King of Serbia")[26]
• Ruđina Balšić (1414–1417)

See also

• Albanian principalities
• History of Albania

References

1. Fine, John V. A.; Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
2. "Valonska kneževina — Vikipedija, slobodna enciklopedija". sr.m.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
3. "Hr. Matanov – Jugozap. bylg. zemi prez XIV vek – 5.1". www.promacedonia.org. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
4. Miller (1921), pp. 432–434
5. Miller 1921, p. 434
6. Fine 1994, p. 320
7. Fine 1994, p. 290
8. Fine (1994), pp. 320, 347, 357
9. Soulis 1984, p. 136
10. Fine (1994), pp. 320, 347
11. Fine 1994, p. 357
12. Soulis (1984), pp. 137–138
13. Miller (1921), pp. 434–435
14. Fine (1994), pp. 372, 383
15. Soulis 1984, p. 138
16. Miller 1921, p. 435
17. Fine (1994), pp. 390–391
18. Miller (1921), pp. 435–436
19. Fine 1994, p. 391
20. Soulis (1984), pp. 140–141
21. Miller (1921), pp. 436–437
22. Miller 1921, p. 437
23. Miller (1921), pp. 437–442
24. Soulis 1984, p. 137
25. Srpsko učeno društvo (1881), p. 207
26. Soulis 1984, p. 140

Sources

• Ducellier, Alain (1981). La façade maritime de l'Albanie au Moyen Age. Durazzo et Valona du ΧIe au XVe siècle [The Albanian Seaboard in the Middle Ages. Durazzo and Valona from the 11th to the 15th Century] (in French). Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
• Miller, William (1921). "Miscellanea from the Near East: I. Valona". Essays on the Latin Orient. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 429–441. OCLC 457893641.
• Nikolov-Zikov, Petar (2012), Dinastiyata na Sracimirovci, New Bulgarian University, ISBN 978-954-535-702-2
• Soulis, George Christos (1984), The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors, Dumbarton Oaks, ISBN 0-88402-137-8
• Srpsko učeno društvo (1881). Glasnik Srpskoga učenog društva ..., Volume 49.