page_title: Kingdom of Albania (medieval)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Albania (medieval) / History / Background
caption_attribution_description: Map, The Byzantine Empire, 1265.
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Albania was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territories with the help of the local Albanian nobility he conquered from the Byzantine Empire in 1271. The Kingdom of Albania was declared in late February 1272. The kingdom extended from the region of Durazzo south along the coast to Butrint. A major attempt to advance further in direction of Constantinople failed at the Siege of Berat. A Byzantine counteroffensive soon ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1281. The Sicilian Vespers further weakened the position of Charles, and the Kingdom was soon reduced by the Byzantines to a small area around Durazzo. The Angevins held out here, however, until 1368, when the city was captured by Karl Thopia. In 1392 Karl Thopia's son surrendered the city to the Republic of Venice.
context_section_description: During the conflict between the Despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Nicaea in 1253, lord Golem of Kruja was initially allied with Epirus. Golem's troops had occupied the Kostur area trying to prevent the Nicaean forces of John Vatatzes from entering Devoll. Vatatzes managed to convince Golem to switch sides and a new treaty was signed between the parties where Vatatzes promised to guarantee Golem's autonomy. The same year Despot of Epirus Michael II signed a peace treaty with Nicaea acknowledging their authority over west Macedonia and Albania. The fortress of Krujë was surrendered to Nicaea, while the Nicean emperor acknowledged the old privileges and also granted new ones. The same privileges were confirmed later by his successor Theodore II Laskaris.
  The Nicaeans took control of Durrës from Michael II in 1256. During the winter of 1256–57, George Akropolites tried to reinstall Byzantine authority in the area of Arbanon. Autonomy was thus banished and a new administration was imposed. This was in contrast to what the Nicaeans had promised before. The local Albanian leaders revolted and on hearing the news, Michael II also denounced the peace treaty with the Nicaea. With the support of Albanian forces he attacked the cities of Dibra, Ohrid and Prilep. In the meantime Manfred of Sicily profited from the situation and launched an invasion into Albania. His forces, led by Philip Chinard, captured Durrës, Berat, Vlorë, Spinarizza and their surroundings and the southern coastline of Albania from Vlorë to Butrint. Facing a war in two fronts, despot Michael II came to terms with Manfred and became his ally. He recognized Manfred's authority over the captured regions which were ceded as a dowry gift following the marriage of his daughter Helena to Manfred.
  Following the defeat of Michael II's and Manfred's forces in the Battle of Pelagonia, the new Nicaean forces continued their advance by capturing all of Manfred's domains in Albania, with the exception of Durrës. However, in September 1261, Manfred organized a new expedition and managed to capture all his dominions in Albania and he kept them until his death in 1266. Manfred respected the old autonomy and privileges of the local nobility and their regions. He also integrated Albanian nobles into his administration, as was the case with Andrea Vrana who was the general captain and governor of Durrës and the neighboring region of Arbanon. Albanian troops were also used by Manfred in his campaigns in Italy. Manfred appointed Philippe Chinard as the general-governor of his dominions in Albania. Initially based in Corfu, Chinard moved his headquarters to Kanina, the dominant center of the Vlorë region. There he married a relative of Michael II.
caption: Map depicting Southeastern Europe in 1265.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "200", "Image YResolution": "200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2016:05:18 20:18:21", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9915", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1144", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "900"}