The division of the Albanian-populated lands into…
1396 CE to 1539 CE
In 1385 the Albanian ruler of Durrës, Karl Thopia, had appealed to the sultan for support against his rivals, the Balsha family.
An Ottoman force had quickly marched into Albania along the Via Egnatia and routed the Balshas.
The principal Albanian clans soon swore fealty to the Turks.
Sultan Murad II launches the major Ottoman onslaught in the Balkans in 1423, and the Turks take Janina in 1431 and Arta, on the Ionian coast, in 1449.
The Turks allow conquered Albanian clan chiefs to maintain their positions and property, but they have to pay tribute, send their sons to the Turkish court as hostages, and provide the Ottoman army with auxiliary troops.
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Southeast Europe
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