Albania, Kingdom of

The king of Naples, Charles I of Anjou, occupies Durrës in 1272 and forms an Albanian kingdom that will last for a century.

Internal power struggles further weaken the East Roman Empire in the fourteenth century, enabling the Serbs' most powerful medieval ruler, Stefan Dusan, to establish a short-lived empire that includes all of Albania except Durrës.

The Treaty of Viterbo of 1267 had been signed after the Angevin forces in 1266 defeated the Hohenstaufen forces of Manfred of Sicily in the Battle of Benevento, with Charles of Anjou acquiring rights on Manfred's dominions in Albania, together with rights he gained in the Latin dominions in the Despotate of Epirus and in the Morea.

Michael II, upon hearing the news of Manfred's death in the battle of Benevento, had conspired and managed to kill Manfred's governor Philippe Chinard, with the help of Chinard's wife, but he could not capture Manfred's domains.

Local noblemen and commanders had refused to surrender Manfred's domains in Albania to Michael II.

They had given the same negative response to Charles' envoy, Gazo Chinard, in 1267, when following the articles of the Treaty of Viterbo, he had asked for them to surrender Manfred's dominions in Albania.

Charles had returned his attention to Albania after the failure of the Eighth Crusade He began contacting local Albanian leaders through local catholic clergy.

Two local catholic priests, namely John from Durrës and Nicola from Arbanon, had acted as negotiators between Charles of Anjou and the local noblemen, making several trips between Albania and Italy in 1271 and eventually succeeding in their mission.

A delegation of Albanian noblemen and citizens from Durrës had made their way to Charles' court on February 21, 1272.

Charles had signed a treaty with them and was proclaimed King of Albania "by common consent of the bishops, counts, barons, soldiers and citizens" promising to protect them and to honor the privileges they had from Constantinople.

The treaty declared the union between the Kingdom of Albania (Latin: Regnum Albanie) with the Kingdom of Sicily under King Charles of Anjou (Carolus I, dei gratia rex Siciliae et Albaniae).

He had appointed Gazzo Chinardo as his Vicar-General and hopes to take up his expedition against Constantinople again.

He sends huge provisions throughout 1272 and 1273 to the towns of Durrës and Vlorë.

This alarms the Eastern Emperor, who begins sending letters to local Albanian nobles, trying to convince them to stop their support for Charles of Anjou and to switch sides.

The Albanian nobles send those letter to Charles who praises them for their loyalty.

Now, Michael VIII's hopes of stopping the advance of Charles are laid on the influence of Pope Gregory X. Gregory has high hopes of reconciling Europe, unifying the Greek and Latin churches, and launching a new crusade: to that end, he announces the Council of Lyon, to be held in 1274, and works to arrange the election of an Emperor, so he orders Charles to stop his operations.

Charles imposes a military rule on Kingdom of Albania.

The autonomy and privileges promised in the treaty are de facto abolished and new taxes are imposed.

Lands are confiscated in favor of Angevin nobles and Albanian nobles are excluded from their governmental tasks.

Charles I takes as hostages the sons of local noblemen in an attempt to enforce his rule and local loyalty.

This creates a general discontent in the country and several Albanian noblemen begin contacting Emperor Michael VII, who promises to acknowledge their former privileges.

As Charles’s intentions for a new offensive have been stopped by the Pope and there is a general discontent within Albania, Michael VIII seizes the moment and begins a campaign in Albania in late 1274.

Imperial forces helped by local Albanian noblemen capture the important city of Berat and later on Butrint.

The local governor reports to Charles in November that the Albanian and imperial forces have besieged Durrës.

The imperial offensive continues and captures the port-city of Spinarizza.

Thus, Durrës, alongside the Krujë and Vlora regions, become the only domains in mainland Albania which are still under Charles I's control, but they are landlocked and isolated from each other.

They can communicate with each other only by sea but the imperial fleet based in Spinarizza and Butrint keeps them under constant pressure.

Charles also manages to keep the island of Corfu.

Charles d'Anjou, with papal approval, buys the rights of the nearest claimant in 1277 and sends his representative.

Charles's principal interests, however, currently lie in Constantinople.

The vast network of alliances erected by the expansionist Charles of Anjou to conquer the Greek East include not only Sicily, parts of Italy, Greek Laskarid dissidents, various Slavs of the Balkans, Philip of Courtenay of the former Latin Empire, France, and Venice, but also the papacy.

Charles invades imperial territory in 1281, launching an attack across the Adriatic on Berat in Albania under the French general Hugh “the Red” of Sully, a Burgundian a knight of fiery and haughty temperament.

According to the chroniclers, Hugh had been named Vicar-General of Charles' Kingdom of Albania in August 1279, and leads the Sicilian forces in their unsuccessful attempt to take Berat from the Empire in 1280–1281.

Sully is taken prisoner in an ambush in spring 1281, whereupon his army scatters and suffers many losses to the pursuing imperial forces.

He is then taken to Constantinople where he is paraded in the streets along with the other captives.

Sully will eventually be released after years in Greek captivity and return to Italy.

Charles is no more successful in Achaea, where by the Treaty of Viterbo he had in 1278 become Prince of Achaea on the death of William II Villehardouin.

In the sole attempt by his bailli Galeran of Ivry to engage the imperial forces, he is defeated at Skorta; recalled in 1280, he has been replaced by Philip of Lagonesse.

Charles at once prepares a new invasion by sea, supported by Venice, Serbia, Bulgaria, and the separatist rulers of northern Greece.

The diplomatic duel between Charles and Michael intensifies, with Charles striving unceasingly to prepare his troops and navy.

A few officials notable for their good conduct are spared, and the city of Messina still holds for Charles, who had been preparing to launch the body of his Crusade (four hundred ships carrying twenty-seven thousand mounted knights) against Constantinople in the spring of 1282.

However, through the diplomatic errors of Charles' vicar, Herbert of Orléans, Messina, too, revolts on April 28, 1282.

Herbert retreats to the castle of Mategriffon, but is forced to abandon the Crusader fleet, which is burnt.

The news surprises Peter of Aragon, who had expected to intervene only after Charles had left for Constantinople.

But the conspirators, aided by Emperor Michael (who wished to see Charles balked in his expedition), had set the revolt in motion early.

Peter does not immediately intervene; he sails with the fleet to Tunis, where he discovered that the would-be convert on whose behalf the Crusade had ostensibly been undertaken had been caught and executed.

While he bides his time, the Sicilians make an appeal to Pope Martin to take the Communes of their cities under his protection.

But Martin is far too deeply committed to Charles and French interests to heed them; instead, he excommunicates the rebels, Emperor Michael, and the Ghibellines in north Italy.

Charles gathers his forces in Calabria, lands near Messina, and begins a siege.

Several attempts to assault the city are unsuccessful.

Rejected by the Pope, the Sicilians now appeal to King Peter and Queen Constance; he duly accepts, and landed at Trapani on August 30, 1282.

He is proclaimed king in Palermo on September 4, but as the archibishopric of Palermo is vacant, he cannot immediately be crowned.

In the face of the Aragonese landing, Charles is compelled to withdraw across the Straits of Messina into Calabria in September, but the Aragonese move swiftly enough to destroy part of his army and most of his baggage.

The Angevin house is forever ousted from Sicily.

The Sicilians, after electing Peter III of Aragon as their king, seek papal confirmation in vain, though they are willing to reconfirm Sicily as a vassal state of the papacy.

Martin IV uses all the spiritual and material resources at his command against the Aragonese in order to preserve Sicily for the House of Anjou.

The Pope excommunicates Peter and declares that he has forfeited the kingdom of Aragon, which has been a papal fief since the eleventh century, and orders a crusade against him.

Martin invites Philip to take control of Aragon and offers him the vacant throne for one of his sons.

The Angevins are supported by the papacy, the Italian Guelphs, and Philip III of France, Charles's nephew, while the Aragonese are helped by the Italian Ghibellines.

The ensuing War of the Sicilian Vespers will sharply diminish Angevin power in the Mediterranean.

The former Norman domains on the mainland remain under Angevin rule as the Kingdom of Naples.

Peter III obtains the support of Nasrid Granada in preparation for the incoming Aragonese Crusade led by Philip of France.