FROM TRIBAL TO A COMMON ALBANIAN IDENTITY

By Kristo Frasheri
There were two principal components of the nationality for writers and chancellors of the early
Middle Ages: the political and the religious community. The linguistic, ethnographic, historical and
anthropological distinctions of different populations living in the same political and religious community
carried no weight for them. All those subject to the Byzantine Empire which ruled by means of its state
power and the authority of ecumenical church of Constantinople were neither Hellenes, nor Illyrians nor
Thracians but only Romans (Romanaioi) for the Byzantines, and Greeks (Graeci) for the Latins. Likewise, the
Slavs and non-Slavs subjects of the Bulgarian Empire and, as Christians under the Patriarchy of Oher were
considered Bulgarians (Bulgari) by the Easterners and Westerners alike. This means in fact that behind the
names “Romans” and “Bulgarians” which are mentioned in historical sources of the early Middle Ages as
participants in the political and military events in the territory of Albanian in the VIII-XI, in addition the
Medieval Hellenes and Bulgarians, are also included Illyrians or Medieval Albanians (not mentioned by their
ethnic name since they had no independent community of their own, either political or religious)…
The Albanians are mentioned for the first time by their ethnic name of Albanoi and Arbanitai in the
work of the Byzantine historian of the XIth century, M. Attaleiates (mhb-as of the present, what is possibly
the earliest written reference to the Albanians is to be found in an old Bulgarian text compiled around the
beginning of the eleventh century*), as participants in the uprising of Georgios Maniakes, which broke out
1043 and spread partially to the territory of Albania. 1 The reason why the Albanians are mentioned for the
first time in 1043 and not earlier must be sought mainly on the practice by the Byzantine writers and
chancellors of identifying people on the bases of their church the affiliation. M. Attaleiates indirectly
indicates this when, describing uprising of 1043, he says that the Albanians and the Latins had been equal
subjects of the Empire and had the same religion as the Byzantines but then had become fierce enemies 2.
This would mean that in 1043 the Albanians, the inhabitants of the region of Albanon, Arbanon, were neither
subjects of Byzantine nor Orthodox Christians…
According to information provided by A. Attaleiates, in 1043 the Albanians had a leader who
emerged from among their ranks and military units separate from those of Byzantines. This is not accidental.
In 1078 we find again Albanian military units 3. In 1078 we find again Albanian military units, as we find them
in 1081.4 According to Anna Comnena, in 1081 the leader of the Albanians held the title of “comeskortes” and
it appears that he wielded political power independent from Constantinople since the Byzantine emperor
Comnenus entered an agreement with him in the same way he did with the autonomous princes of Duklja
and Dalamtia to fight jointly as allies against the Norman armies. 5 If we take into consideration, the fact that
during these decades the Byzantine Empire was undergoing a deep political crisis and that the religious
dioceses of the northwestern Albania were one after another lining up with the Catholic Rome, then the
information provided by M. Attaleiates brings us to a new conclusion, namely, that feudal lords of Arbanon
had become independent from the Byzantine rule and the Eastern Church prior to 1043 and set up like the
neighboring feudal lords of Duklja an independent entity… This reality gave rise to a particular ethnic
identification. This is how the appellation Albanoi with a historical background…and appellation arbanitai
with an ethnographic character derived from the name of the region they lived in emerged in the historical
sources. This appellation was attributed only to the members of the political and religious community in the
region of Arbanon, while the other inhabitants of the Albanian speaking territories continued to be called
according to the political-religious community of which they were a part…
Arbanon was initially the name of a very narrow region –the territory around Kruja, which up to
recent times preserved the historical name of Arbeni. This territory was one of the Albanian regions…and
was also a religious diocese under the name bishopric of Kruja, set-up, according to tradition, at the turn of
the VII century6. It bordered on the bishopric of Lissus which extended to Mat and Mirdita, and on the
bishopric of Stefaniaka which included the regions of Tamadhea and Benda. 7 When these regions passed
over to the jurisdiction of Rome the three bishoprics merged into a single Catholic diocese ubder the name
of Arbanon, diocesis arbanensis.8 In 1166 Arbanon had a prior (Andreas prior Arbanensis and a bishop
(Lazarus episcopus Arbanensis)9. The title “prior” of the governor would correspond to an autonomous
region, and the title of the head of the diocese assumes defined borders. Together they show that the
extension of the name Arbanon for the territory and the name Arbanites for the people originated from the
consolidated political and religious community of Arbanon that took shape during the preceding century.
This is apparent especially during the existence of the Principality of Arbenia as reflected in
historical sources at the end of the XII Century. During the rule of Archon Progon the name of Arbanon
extended to the northern region of Pulti. 10 Likewise during the rule of the Great Archon Demetrius it extended
to Kanavia and Cernik in the south down to the Shkumbin Valley. 11 The extension of the name beyond the
historical borders of Arbanon most likely was due to inclusion of these regions in the state of the Arbanites.
 The phenomenon continues to be noted also during the second half of the XIII Century when Charles
I Anjou set up a unified political entity with all the conquered lands in Albania –the Kingdom of Albania,
(Regnum Albaniae) on territory that extended beyond the Great Archon Demitrius’ Principality of Arbanon.
The Anjou King forced the religious dioceses of the conqured territories to accept the supremacy of the
Catholic Church… In conformity with Medeival practices, the Catholic inhabitants of this political community
were considered members of the Arbanite Albanite people. As a result, the name of Albanum Albania
extended from the Mat River in the north to Kanina in the south, and from the Adriatic shore in the west to
Black Drin River in the east. The non-catholic inhabitants of the kingdom were not included under this
designation…due to a centuries old practice of being identified as Romaios by the Byzantines and Craecus
bt the Anjous. When Charles I Anjou wrote our “Greek enemies”12 he meant the Byzantines. But when in1274
he wrote that Durres had been besieged by the “Albanians and the Greeks” (albanenses et greci) 13 by these
appellations he meant the Catholic and Orthodox Albanians since there is no historic proof of the existence
of a Greek speaking community in the Durres region. In the beginning of the XIV century appellation
Arbanite, Albanite referred only to the catholic Albanians. 14
By the XIII, learned circles of began to focus also on language as a criteria to identify peoples, and
as a result, the Hellenes, the Greek-speaking15 Byzantine Orthodox element began to be identified separately
from Romaio. This concept allowed to destinguish the Orthodox Albanians as belonging to a different
language speaking community. But he still, being that they were by religiously Orthodox, they were still not
lumped under the same identity as the Catholic Albanians. But the distinction began to disintegrate. For
example, when the Byzantine writer of the XIV century, G. Pachymeres uses in on occasion the name
Albanite16 an on another Illyrian17 was used to describe the inhabitants of New Epirus. Later on, the name
Epiriotes came to be used for the Albanians. On occasion, instead of the name Epiriotes…the name
Macedonian was used to identify the Albanians, and with this, Macedonia became the second name for
Albania (Macedoniam sive Albaniam)…18
During XIV century, the tendency to identify the Albanians with the same name was not universal. N.
Gregoross referred to them as Illyrians. 19 However, his contemporary, J. Kantakuenos called them Albanites
because, according to him, the Tribals (Serbs) 20 were the descendents of the Illyrians. In XV century they
were called Albanites by Chalcocondylas 21, Dukas22 and Strantzes23, while Christoboulos called them
Illyrians.24
But for the Albanians, these denominations had the same meaning. They called themselves both
Arbanites and Epiriotes. Skanderbeg provides the first testimony to this. In his correspondence with the
foreign chancelleries he signed as: “Lord of Arbenia” Dominus Albaniae 25; he calls his compatriots “arber”
albanenses, albanesi,26 while in a letter on 31 December 1460 to the Prince of Taranto, J.A. de Orsino, he
writes, “If our chronicles do not lie, we call ourselves Epiriotes” (se le nostre croniche non mention, noy in
chiamamo Epirioti).27 Marin Barleti provides the second testimony. The humanist from Shkodra mentions the
two ethnic denominations and makes no distinction between them. He calls Arber (albanenses) Albanians
both inhabitants of Arberia and Epirus, and also those situated in Peloponnesus. 28 He includes under the
name of Epiriots the people of Kruja and Diber 29 but also feudal lords of northern highlands like Leka
Dushmani and Pjeter Spani.30 He calls Skanderbeg Epiriotes, 31 but on some other occasions Albanian, 32 but
more often refers to him as the Prince of the Epiriotes (Epirotarum Princeps). Sometime M. Barleti speaks of
Albanians and Epiriotes as two different ethnic groups, 33 but this must be considered to be traces of the old
concepts that lingered on. The third testimony is provided by Gjon Muzaka who also refers to the Albanians
undiscriminantly as Albanesi34 and their language as lingua Albanese,35 while never mentioning the name
Epiriotes.
The use of a single name for the entire Albanian speaking population called for a unified geographic
denomination. The process of realizing a unified name had to cope with four existing geographic
denominations, two of which, Illyria and Macedonia, trace of archaic tendency, were eventually abandoned,
while the other two, Arberia (Albanum, Albania) and Epir (Epirus, Epiro) vied for a long time with each other
as two theoretically sanctioned geographic denominations: one through the existence of Albanian political
formations, the other through its incessant use for nearly two millennia.
What did these two geographic denominations represent in the XV century from the point of view of
their nature and territorial extension? In, the XV century the denomination Arbenia (Albanum, Albania) had
existed on a larger geographic area than at the time of the “Kingdom of Albania” formed by the Anjous. In
1429 Podgorica (town in Montenegro)…was considered a town of Arbenia, de Albania. 36 In the south, Vlora
was considered a town in Arbenia. 37 In northeast, Has was regarded as a province in Epirus, Provincia Az in
Epiro,38 while according to a Ragusine act of 1390, Kosturi in the south in the south east was part of Albenia,
Castoria de partibus Albaniae. 39 This information would describe Albania as laying within quadrangle Tivar-
Prizren-Oher-Vlora, as L. Thalloszy, K. Jirecek and M. Shufflay indicated. 40
In light of this quadrangle, a question arises regarding the problem of the Albanian territories during
the XV century: whether the habitat of the Albanians extended beyond the quadrangle. The answer would
require a discussion as to why the denomination Albanum, Albania was limited to the quadrant, and what
other regions had were ethnically Albanian in the XV century.
 The same factors that determined the Albanian extension from the narrow area during the mid XI
century explain the borders reflected by the above quadrant in XIV century. The latter border directly related
to the state of the Balshas which came into existence during the second half of the XIV century. At first
Balsha’s state included Slav as well as Albanian territories, with Albanian population providing the main
political support. With their affiliation with the Western Church in 1369, links with the Orthodox Slavs were
further weakened, while their political and religious orientation with Catholic Albanians strengthened. As a
result of these links in the 70’s the Balshas began to extend their state to the South,…reaching the line Vlora-
Berat-Kostur while retreating within Tivar-Podgorica-Prizren line 41. In this manner his state assumed
gradually the character of a Catholic Albanian community. Consequently the title of the Balsha rulers
changed from Lord of Zeta, Dei Gratia dominus Zetae, to rulers of Albenia-Gjergj II Balsha “Lord of Albania”
Arbanskim Gospodinum “Prince of Arbenia” Princeps Albaniea. 42 Thus, the name Albanum, Albania applied
only to the Albanian and Catholic regions, and not to the territories inahabited by Albanians and Orthodox
Serbs included in their state.
All this would indicate that beginning with XI century, the name Albania, Albanum gained in territory,
pushing the name Epir, and Romania further to the south and the names Dioklea and Sklavonia further to the
north, determined by the political factor, and not expansion of Albanians, as many historians, among whom
J.G. Hahn and G, Stadtmuller wrongly assume.43
As concerns the Albanians outside the quadrant, an important aspect to this theme would be to
clarify the ethnic character of the Ancient Epirus. It is not necessary to repeat that in XV the name Epiriots
referred at times to Albanians regardless of their religion, at times only to the Orthodox Albanians, and in all
cases to the Albanians who lived in Epirus. To clarify the ethnicity of inhabitants of Ancient Epirus, we will
refer directly to the Greek-Byzantine writers and chroniclers, who incidentally never used the name Epiriotes.
While describing the events happening in the territory of Epirus in the first half of the XIV century, J.
Kantakuzenos, calls the inhabitants of the regions of Berat, Kanina, Kolonja, Pogoni, and Libisda Albanites 44.
From the Chronicle of Ioannina we learn that the Mazaraki were the inhabitants of the territory of Permet, the
Zenevisi the inhabitants of Dropull and Delvina, the Malakasi the inhabitants of Malakia, in the vicinity of
Ioannina45, and according to the general opinion of the historians they were all Albanians. That the coastal
regions of the Ionian Sea were inhabited by Albanians is made clear by Christoboulos 46 and is implied by
Chalcocondylas.47 The presence of Albanians in the eastern regions of Ancient Epirus is proved by the fact
that in 1330 they defeated a detachment of Catalans who had passed the Pindus mountains and plundered
Epirus48 in Kardhiq of Ioannina. From information provided by J. Kantakuzenos 49 and Chronicle of Ioannina50
it could be concluded that the inhabitants of Ancient Epirus were Albanian in a overwhelming majority, as G.
Hahn was right to notice.51 Additional support for this is provided by the fact that the Albanian state
formations which were set up in the territory of Epirus during the second half of the XIV century and
especially, the existence for a long time of Albanian Despotate of Gjin Bua Shpata which was dismantled
only by the Ottoman invaders. This proves, in one hand, that the Albanians, who were the ethnic
representatives of the state formations in the struggle against the Greek and Serb invaders, constituted the
bulk of the population of Ancient Epirus; and on the other hand, the political-linguistic community formed by
these state formations explains why the Albanians of Epirus come out under their ethnic name in historic
sources of this period and not previously. This ethnic composition explains why the geographic name Epirus
was to have an ethnic Albanian connotation for most writers and chancellors.
As was indicated, two ethnic-geographical denominations were being used for the Albanian
inhabited areas: Arbenia and Epirus… the phenomenon was reflected in four tendencies. The first was the
tendency to generalize the name Epirus for the entire Albanian inhabited areas, as indicated by Barleti’s
works52. The second tendency was to use Arbenia for the northern section and Epirus for the southern part
with Shkumbini River as separating line, as is seen in Gjon Muzaka 53. The third tendency was to identify
Arberia with Epirus in order to give the two names the same geographic extension, presenting thus, the
Albenian territories with a double name: Arbenia or Epirus, Albania sive Epiro in Theodor Spandugino 54. The
latter tendency was an attempt at extending the name of Arbenia beyond its historical (not ethnic) borders by
gradually eliminating the name Epirus. This tendency is discernable as early as XV among the Ottoman
Turks who included the territories from Cameria to the Mat River in the “Arbanite Sandjak”, Sancak I Arvanid
or Sancaki Arvanud, which they formed in 1431 55, and later more clearly in an anonymous description of the
XVI century which says that “the country which is called Arbenia today and which was called Macedonia and
Epirus in former times extends from the Kotor Straits to the south”. This tendency basically took hold with
the foreigners, while Albanians themselves took on another name, Shqiptar, and their territories they called
Shqiperi.
During the course of the Middle Ages, Albanian settlements existed also outside the borders of
areas referred as Arbenia and Epirus. The territories of Kosova, the Dukagjin Plateau (Metohia) and Western
Macedonia, the former habitat of Dardanians, Paeons and Illyrian Lynkests, come to mind. The fact that the
Albanians are not mentioned, or are only occasionally mentioned, in Medieval sources earlier than the XIV
century can be explained on the basis of the same objective factors as for other parts of Albania, not that
they did not inhabit these regions, but the religious based Medieval thinking did not see people on the bases
of ethnicity, but on the affiliation with the dominating religion… So it is not accidental that for the first time in
the Medieval sources of the XIV century we find the Arbanas precisely in those zones (the district of Prizren
and Shkup) where Catholicism is known to have spread on a limited scale –as customers of the market of
Saint George’s Monastery in the vicinity of Shkup, 56 as peasants and soldiers in the regions of Tetova, 57 as
peasants in the lands of the Archangels’ Monastery of Prizren, 58 or as farmers in the annals of the great
monastery of Decan.59 The view expressed by L. Thalloczy, K. Jiricek and M. Shufflay that the Slavs of
Dalmatia and Montenegro referred only to Catholic Albanians as “Arbanas” 60 would indicate that the
Orthodox Albanians within the borders of the Serb or Bulgarian states were considered simply Serbs or
Bulgarian…

---

*A legend from time of Tsar Samuel relating to the origin of peoples and languages classifies
Albanian under the language of half-believers, a grouping which most likely refers to peoples oriented
towards The Roman Church. (Radoslav Grujic: Legenda iz vremena Cara Samuila o poreklu naroda. in:
Glasnik skopskog naucnog drustva, Skopje, 13 (1934), p. 198 200. Translated from the Old Church Slavonic
by Robert Elsie. First published in R. Elsie: Early Albania, a Reader of Historical Texts, 11th – 17th Centuries,
Wiesbaden 2003, p. 3.)
 
 
1 M. Attaleiates (ed Bonn 1853, p. 9.9; 18, 17; 297, 21.
2 M. Attaleiates, p. 9.9.
3 M. Attaleiates, p. 297, 21, J. Skylitzes (in G. Kedrenos, es. Bonn 1839), II, p. 739.9.
4 Anna Comnena (ed. Leipzig 1884 IV, p.8; VI, p. 7.
5 Anna Comnena, IV, p. 8; VI, p. 7.
6 AAIB, I, p. 48.
7H. Gelzer, Ungedruckte und wenig bekannte Bistumer der Orientalische Kirche, in Byzantinische Zeitschrift,
Erster Bandf, II Heit, Leipzig 1892.
7 AAlb, I, p. 116.
8 AAlb, I, p. 93.
9 S. Novakovic, Zakonski Spomenici, Beograd, 1912, p. 384.
10 G. Akropolites (ed. Leipzig 1903), XIV, p. 28.
11 AAlb, I, p. 349.
12 AAlb, I, p. 330, 332, 334.
13 Ch. Kohler, Recueil des historiens des Croiades, Paris 1906, vol. II, p. 487.
14 V. Tapkova-Zaimova, L’idee byzantine de l’unite du monde et l’Etat Bulgare, in “Resumes des
Communications Ier CongresInt. Et. Du S.E. Europeen”, Sofia 1966, p. 228.
15 G. Pachymeres (ed. Bonn), vol. 7.
16 G. Pachymeres VI, p. 32.
17 J. Radonic, Gjuragj Kastrioti-Skanderbeg, Beograd 1942, p. 129.
18 M. Shufflay, Die Kirchenzustande im vorturkischen Albanien, in “Illyr. – Alb. Forschunen”, p. 190.
19 N. Gregoras (ed. Bonn) V, 6; XI, 6.
20 J. Kantakuzenos (ed. Bonn) IV, 43.
21 L. Chalcocondylas (in K. Bozhori, The Albanian-Turkish War in the XV Century – Byzantine sources, Tirane
1967, I, pp. 23, 24, 196-198, II, pp. 16, 123, 277, 278.
22 Dukas (in K. Bozhori) XV, 2, XXIII, 8, XLV, 2.
23 G. Sfrantzes (in K. Bozhori) I, 27, 31, IV, 14, 22.
24 Christoboulos of Imbros (in K. Bozhori), I, 14, 74, III, 1, 16.
25 J. Radonic, p. 122.
26 Ibidem, p. 121.
27 Ibidem, p. 121.
28 M. Barleti, History of the Life and Deeds of Skanderbeg, Tirana 19, 1964, p. 92.
29 M. Barleti, p. 65, 73.
30 Ibidem, p. 142, 153.
31 Ibidem, p. 55, 56, 60, 75, 77, etc.
32 Ibidem, p. 100, 105
33 M. Barleti, p. 468.
34 G. Musachio (in Ch. Hopf, Chroniques greco-romaines, Berlin, 1873), pp. 273-274, 280.
35 G. Musachio, p. 278, 279.
36 L. Thalloczy – K. Jirecek, Zwei Urkunden, 129; M. Shufflay, Serbs, 40.
37 J. Radovic, p. 227.
38 F. Fermendin (in F. Noli, George Castriot Scanderbeg, New York 1947), p. 153.
39 B. Krekic, Dubrovnik (Raguse) et le Levant au Moyen Age, Paris 1961, p. 229. Gjon Muzaka provides us with
almost the same information according to which the mountains of perister in the vicinity of Kostur formed the
frontier between Arberia and Bulgaria: un loco nomine la montagna de peristeri…la se devide l’Albania della
Bulgaria (G. Musachio; p. 281).
40 L. Thaloczy – K. Jirecek, Zwei Urkunden aus Nordalbanien; M. Shufflay, Die Grenzen Albaniens im Mittelalter.
41 G. Gelcich, La Zedda e la dinastia dei Balsidi, Spalato 1899, pp. 81-84, 108-135.
42 Jugoslovenska Enciklopedia vol. 1, p. 154.
43 J. G. Hahn, p. 212, 311; Stadmuller, pp. 29-30, 173.
44 J. Kantakuzenos, I, 55; II, 20, 32, III, 1, 12.
45 Chronicle of Ioannina (in K. Bozhori) p. 23, 25.
46 Chrisobulls of Imbros III, 16, 1.
47 L. Chalcocondylas, II, 95.
48 J. Ph. Fallmerayer, Das Albanesische Element in Griechenland, I, Munchen 1860, p. 254.
49 J. Kantakuzenos, IV, 43.
50 Chronicle of Ioannina, p. 4, 23, 25, 35, 38.
51 J. G. Hahn: Albanesche Studien, p. 318.
52 M. Barleti, History: Danja and Zhabja in Epirus (p. 91), Kruja – the heart of Albania (p. 96), Kruja in Epirus (p.
475), while Berat only in Epirus (p. 302).
53 G. Musacchio, p. 278. According to him, Epirus in Albanian was “Pylloria”, Epiro che in lingua Albanese se
dice Pylloria (p. 278).
54 C. N. Sathas, Documents inedits relatives a l’histoire de la Grece au Moyen Age, vol. IX (Paris 1890), p. 363.
55 H. Inalcik, Hicri 835 Tarihli Suret-I Defteri-I Sancak-I Arvanid, Ankara 1954.
56 S. Novakovic, p. 620.
57 Ibidem, p. 660.
58 M. Shufflay, Die Kirchenzustande, p. 233; S. Novakovic; pp. 682-701.
59 AAlb. I, p. 746, 798.
60 L. Thalloczy, K. Jirecek, Zwei Urkunden, p. 126; M. Shufflay, Serbs, p. 35, Biologie, p. 3.