“Talk” on Albanian Territories (1392–1402)
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Doctoral Dissertation A Model to Decode Venetian Senate Deliberations: Pregadi “Talk” on Albanian Territories (1392–1402) By: Grabiela Rojas Molina Supervisors: Gerhard Jaritz and Katalin Szende Submitted to the Medieval Studies Department Central European University, Budapest In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Medieval Studies, Budapest, Hungary 2020 CEU eTD Collection To my parents CEU eTD Collection Table of Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. 1 List of Maps, Charts and Tables .......................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 A Survey of the Scholarship ........................................................................................................................... 8 a) The Myth of Venice ........................................................................................................................... 8 b) The Humanistic Outlook .................................................................................................................. 11 c) Chronicles, Histories and Diaries ..................................................................................................... 14 d) Albania as a Field of Study .............................................................................................................. 16 Sources ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 The Council’s “Deliberazioni” ................................................................................................................. 21 Antonio Morosini’s “Diario” ................................................................................................................... 23 Note on Names, Transcriptions and Dates .................................................................................................. 24 Chapter 1. Talking and “Talk” ........................................................................................................... 26 Theoretical Approach and Methodology ..................................................................................................... 27 From “Talk” to Entry .................................................................................................................................. 32 Proposed Model ........................................................................................................................................... 34 Selection Criteria ...................................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2. The Languages of the Pregadi: The Languages of Venice ............................................ 40 Elitism and Privilege .................................................................................................................................... 40 Sea Riches .................................................................................................................................................... 49 Past and Present .......................................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3. Outline on Venice and Albania ........................................................................................ 57 Power Units “alla veneziana” ..................................................................................................................... 59 Albanian Cities ............................................................................................................................................. 63 Albanian Protagonists .................................................................................................................................. 68 Chapter 4. Newsworthiness ................................................................................................................. 72 Uneven Impact: N-entries and other Nouitates (1392-1394) ...................................................................... 77 Alternative Formulations of N-Entries (1394-1395) .................................................................................... 85 The Ottoman Victory: A Change of Perspective (1396-1397) ..................................................................... 91 Albania Rebels (1398-1400) ........................................................................................................................ 98 News Heard and Expectation (1400-1401) ................................................................................................ 106 Latest News: All Enemies Defeated (1402) ................................................................................................ 114 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................................. 118 Chapter 5. “What the Signoria Says” .............................................................................................. 120 CEU eTD Collection First Responses to Durrës, Shkodra and Lezhë (1392-1394) .................................................................... 125 New Threats: Many Responses (1395-1396) ............................................................................................. 140 Venice’s Silence and Its Consequence (1397-1400) .................................................................................. 150 Venice’s Say in a Changing World (1401-1402) ....................................................................................... 160 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................................. 167 Chapter 6. Antonio Morosini, the Witness ...................................................................................... 169 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 182 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 186 Acknowledgments I must begin by thanking my supervisors, Gerhard Jaritz and Katalin Szende. Without their unabating support, I would not have been able to bring this project to completion. I began my doctorate studies caught up in a refugee crisis, continued it as my university was being expelled from its home by Hungary’s authoritarian regime, and finished it amidst a global pandemic. During all of this, Gerhard and Kati granted me the freedom to pursue my personal intellectual interest while offering me their unconditional advice, understanding and encouragement, in academic as much as in personal matters. My deepest thanks to Csilla Dobos at the Medieval Studies Department for turning every bureaucratic hurdle into an opportunity because, well, that’s the kind of person she is! I also owe my gratitude to Monique O’Connell and Andrea Nanetti, who so graciously answered my questions and offered me their views and insight. Their suggestions were inspiring and illuminating. I am in debt to Julia Benavent, who offered me a wonderful working space at the University of Valencia, and shared with me her expertise in Italian literary and manuscript culture. Marco Ortiz Palanques, who has encouraged my pursuits ever since my teenage days of learning Greek and Latin, had once more the kindness to revise with me some Latin passages. I would also like to express my gratitude to Johann Petitjean and Nada Zečević for reading my work and pointing out the ways by which I could make my case stronger. And to my colleagues at CEU Ivona Vargek, Yuri Rudnev, Josip Banić, Leslie Carr-Riegel, and Sanja Miljan, who took the time to read bits and pieces of my dissertation and offer their comments: grazie mille! The motivation to undertake a project that was, at times, as nerve-racking as it was intellectually rewarding came from my family: my parents, sisters, and my US family. My parents’ love crosses oceans to push me forward, and I stayed on track to graduate at roughly the same time as my sister Rossana! Of course, I do not pretend to equate my humble study with the genius that allows her to rewrite mathematical formalisms. Judi and Barry’s unconditional support always inspired me to keep going. Most importantly, I owe everything to my loving husband John. With his acute intelligence and impeccable logic, he believed in my project even when I did not, and thus convinced me that there was definitely something “there.” Plus, I will be the first to acknowledge that this study would CEU eTD Collection be much more enjoyable if I had given him carte blanche to squeeze in more than just one joke. Although he begrudgingly agreed to make my Latinized English coherent and readable, rather than funny, his kindness does not really leave room for grudges. He was my source of strength from beginning to end. 1 List of Maps, Charts and Tables Map 1. Venice’s commercial emporium, the Ottoman Empire, and Albania in the late fourteenth- century, p. 5 Chart 1. Codification