The Bulgarians had drawn Nicaea’s rulers and churchmen into Thrace and
both Epiros and Arbanon gained some freedom of manoeuvre from this,
especially after the death of Ivan Asen.Under the despotMichael II Angelos
Doukas (1230–67), who gained control of all Thessaly,71 Epiros acquired
Dyrrachium once more,72 although in 1250Michael II had to sootheNicaea
by allowing John Vatatzes’ ambassadors free passage to Italy. Dyrrachium
had not lost its traditional role as a key transit point between the Balkans
and western Europe.73
Albania enjoyed an economic upswing during this period. The number
of Italian visitors increased, and these included manyVenetians, with whom
Epiros’ rulers were not on good terms. The inhabitants of Dubrovnik were
active traders in grain, wood and animal products, making the inhabitants
of the Albanian coast less economically dependent on the hinterland, and
weakening their traditional ties. A local Slav-dominated merchant class was
also developing,74 assisted by the privileges granted by Michael I Angelos
and Dhimit¨er of Arbanon, and renewed under Michael II in 1237 and
1251.75 Around 1230, Demetrios Chomatenos noted a degree of acculturation
between Italians and Dalmatians, not merely in language and law,
but also in the easy co-existence of the Latin and orthodox faithful.76 In
northern Albania, however, relations were less cordial. Around 1250 Giovanni
da Pian Carpini, the celebrated archbishop of Antivari, succeeded
in profiting from the failure of the Slavs and Epirots to halt the Nicaean
conquests; these had resulted in Michael II Angelos ceding Prilep, Veles
and even Kruja, the capital of Arbanon, to Vatatzes. With the support of
the friars, Carpini sought to secure the loyalty of the people of Arbanon,
but this brought him up against the formidable orthodox archbishop of
Ohrid. Carpini was therefore unable to gain influence over the border bishoprics
of Chounavia and Polatum (Shkod¨er) and (in admittedly obscure
circumstances) these joined the orthodox camp.77 Even so, the catholic
church’s activities in the region were proceeding apace, prompting Prince
Gulam of Arbanon to abandon Michael II Angelos and join the Nicaean
side. PresumablyNicaea looked to him a more effective bulwark against the
catholic church.78 At the same time, Nicaea’s ruler John Vatatzes renewed
the privileges that Kruja had received fromManuel I Komnenos (1143–80),
although it is uncertain who controlled the town at this point.79
The Nicaean advances threatened the interests of the Bulgarians and
Serbs alike. Despite his own weakness, and thanks to the death of John III
Vatatzes, the Bulgarian tsarMichael I Asen (1246–56) managed to seize control
of western Macedonia all the way to Dibra in 1254, occupying Skopje
among other places, although the Nicaeans recovered it two years later. A
close entente was established between Michael II Angelos and the Serbian
ruler StefanUroˇs I (1243–76), who was also interested in dominatingMacedonia.
It was only in 1256 that Theodore II Laskaris regained control of the
route to the Adriatic,80 recapturing strongholds in Macedonia, including
Dyrrachium.81 Not without reason did Theodore boast of controlling Sofia,
Philippopolis, Veles, Skopje and even Serbia, thanks to his latest acquisitions.
82 In the winter of 1256–7, Akropolites reportedly felt free to travel
around the region, making his authority felt. He convened the notables
(ekkritoi) of Arbanon at Dyrrachium, doubtless including Prince Gulam
(who subsequently vanishes from sight), and he managed to take control of
their polity (such as it was) without protest, installing a thoroughly Byzantine
civil, military and fiscal administration.83 The ekkritoi referred to by
Akropolites later came to be known as princes, and they would dominate
the lands of Albania into modern times. Still loyal toMichael II Angelos of
Epiros, these ekkritoi proceeded to lead their fellow Albanians in a massive
revolt and Michael himself laid siege to Nicaean-occupied Dibra, Ohrid
and Prilep,84 regions which would later become centres of Albanian settlement.
85 However, the revolt did not involve Albania proper or Epiros itself,
and Michael’s ally, Stefan Uroˇs, turned the situation to his own advantage:
he advanced into central Macedonia, seizing Skopje and pushing south as
far as Kicava and Prilep.86
Manfred of Hohenstaufen also exploited the troubles in the region, following
in theNormans’ footsteps. Probably around the end of 1257 he seized
part of central Albania, including Dyrrachium, Berat, Avlona, Spinarizza
and surrounding areas. This was the background to his marriage alliance
with Helena, daughter of Michael II Angelos of Epiros. Staring defeat in
the face, Michael had to recognise Manfred’s right to these lands as dowry,
adding for good measure Corfu and the southern Albanian coast, including
Himara, Sopot and Butrint.87 After successful campaigning by John
Palaiologos in the spring of 1259, the Nicaeans regained control of western
Macedonia,88 and this success was reinforced by Michael VIII Palaiologos’
(1258–82) victory at the battle of Pelagonia that summer.89 However, Skopje
seems to have remained in Serbian hands until the offensive launched by
the Bulgarian tsar Constantine Tich (1257–77). Somehow or other, the city
ended up in the Byzantine sphere of influence90 and in 1303 the Serbian
ruler, Stefan Uroˇs II Milutin (1282–1321), would write of the Serbs’ loss of
the city, although quite what he meant by this is unclear.91 In any case, Bulgaria
no longer posed a serious threat to its neighbours after 1241. In 1262
Michael VIII succeeded in occupying the coastal towns of Anchialos and
Mesembria, promising them as a dowry to his niece Maria, and with the
stated intention of never giving them back to the Bulgarians. A Bulgarian
counter-attack in 1272 was easily beaten off, showing up the limitations of
what was now a divided kingdom.
Bulgaria was riven by political instability for a hundred years, and also
menaced externally by the Greeks’ formidable allies, the Cuman auxiliaries
of the Mongols (see below, p. 805).92 Yet for all its troubles, Bulgaria was
no cultural vacuum. In the mid-fourteenth century, the Bulgarian archbishop
Iakov was still capable of writing passably good Greek poetry in
hexameters, something onlyMaximos Planoudes could rival.93 As in Serbia,
there were lively manuscript workshops which carried on the Slav–Hellenic
tradition; the psalters of Radomir (fig. 55) and Karadimov, the chronicle
of Constantine Manasses and the Tomiˇc psalter (fig. 54) are among their
products, and they help us understand the fourteenth-century flowering.94
New forms emerged, such as the ‘teratological’ (monstrous) letter designs
that adorn thirteenth-century manuscripts.95 However, two dangers still
loomed on the fringes of the restored Byzantine empire: the alliance forged
between the Angevin kingdom of Naples and Epiros, prompting Charles
of Anjou’s later intervention, and the Serbs’ ambitions of conquest in
Macedonia.
Charles of Anjou had taken care to include in the Treaty of Viterbo
in 1267 (see above, p. 768) his right to succeed Manfred in Albania.96
However, it was some time before he staked his claim: partly because of
his involvement in the Tunis Crusade of his brother, Louis IX (1226–70),
and partly from uncertainty as to how Michael II Angelos would react to
such a bold move. It was only after Michael’s death that Charles took over
Dyrrachium, which had recently been devastated by a terrible earthquake;97
he had himself proclaimed king of Albania there on 21 February 1272.98
Charles also gained Avlona, although supporters of the Hohenstaufen were
only expelled from the town in 1274.99 Michael VIII Palaiologos was well
aware of the danger posed by this Latin coup on his western approaches,
and this made him all the more enthusiastic for union of the two churches
at the council of Lyons (see also pp. 755–6, 803–4). This effectively tied
Charles of Anjou’s hands; he would now be attacking a true Christian,
whatever the terms of the Viterbo treaty, and Michael VIII could justify
his own resistance in Albania. This became the theatre for Graeco-Latin
conflict from 1272 to 1284,100 culminating in the Angevin defeat at Berat in
the spring of 1281; local enthusiasm for the Byzantine initiatives probably
contributed to this.101 As a result, by 1284 the Angevins had lost virtually all
their conquests, Dyrrachium and Avlona among them. They retained only
a fraction of the Albanian coastline far to the south, including Butrint and
Sopot, which had been ceded to them in 1279 by the despot Nikephoros
I Angelos Doukas of Epiros (1267–96).102 Michael VIII’s recovery of the
region is symbolised by the fresco found on the outer vestibule of the
church of Santa Maria of Apollonia, probably painted around this time.
Michael appears with the future emperors Andronikos II (1282–1328) and
Michael IX (1294/5–1320).103 The Angevins continued their vain attempts to
regain control of Albania into the mid-fourteenth century, even proposing
to exchange it for Aragonese-controlled Sicily: an offer which was, not
surprisingly, declined.
The Angevins’ conquest of Albania does, however, show the ability of
the local elites to assert themselves. The archontes took on Byzantine or
Slav titles, either coming to terms with their new master or staying true
to the traditional Greek alliance, sometimes at the price of being deported
to Apulia.104 On the coasts, the Angevins’ heavy-handed taxation smothered
a lively local trade, in which Dubrovnik had shown signs of starting
to rival Venice. Albania’s major ports underwent serious decline, turning
into small staging-posts where the princes only traded in grain, wood, salt,
skins and dried fish.105 Ethnic Albanians became the majority in the area,
although important Greek and Slav minorities remained;106 Pachymeres
even describes the repopulation by Albanians after the Dyrrachium earthquake.
107 The divide between coast and hinterland deepened, and trans-
Balkan relations would remain disrupted until the coming of theOttomans’
new order.108 The area became socially and politically unstable. Clan
ties unravelled and there was migration inland towards Macedonia and
Thessaly, a precursor of the migrations to Italy at the end of the middle
ages.109 Such outflows would long delay Albania’s formation as a coherent
polity.
hard-pressed Andronikos II had no option but to acknowledge the fait
accompli. As part of the peace treaty he agreed to his small daughter Simonis’
marriage toMilutin, with the Serbian territorial acquisitions serving as
her dowry.118 A chrysobull of Milutin in 1303 for the Athonite monastery
of Hilandar and the newly founded house of Pyrgos boasts of his achievement.
119
Preoccupied by Serbia’s apparently unstoppable expansion, the inhabitants
of the Balkans would pay all too little heed to the new threat from the
Turks in the fourteenth century. And, as so often in the past, Byzantium
was caught between foes on two fronts.
World History
