Regnum Albaniae, the Papal Curia, and the Western Visions of a Borderline Nobility by Etleva Lala Submitted to Central European University Department of Medieval Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Professor Gerhard Jaritz CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2008 Table of Contents Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................................ iii List of abbreviations ..............................................................................................................................................v List of maps.......................................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Concepts, sources and methodology ..................................................................................................................... 3 I. Regnum Albaniae as a political structure (1267-1373) .....................................................................................10 I.1. The emergence of the Regnum Albaniae....................................................................................................11 I.2. The zenith of the Regnum Albaniae ...........................................................................................................18 I. 3. The decline and end of the Regnum Albaniae...........................................................................................23 II. Political and ecclesiastical power centers in the Southwestern Balkans ........................................................29 II. 1. The political power centers in the Balkans .............................................................................................30 II. 2. Church organization in the Southwestern Balkans ................................................................................52 III. The establishment of papal authority in the Southwestern Balkans.............................................................65 III. 1. Papal representatives in the region........................................................................................................65 III. 1. 1. Archiepiscopal and episcopal election and confirmation.....................................................................66 III. 1. 2. Papal legates.....................................................................................................................................79 III. 2. Papal influence through rulers’ authority.............................................................................................90 IV. The Regnum Albaniae and the recognition of the Papal Curia as a central authority in the region ..........107 IV. 1. Military strategies ................................................................................................................................108 IV. 2. Diplomatic activities.............................................................................................................................116 V. The Papal Curia, the Regnum Albaniae and the strengthening of identities................................................130 V. 1. Local identities.......................................................................................................................................134 V. 2. Catholic identity ....................................................................................................................................143 Conclusions: The pope, visions of a region and the Western Church...............................................................159 Bibiliography .....................................................................................................................................................164 CEU eTD Collection ii Acknowledgments At this stage of my professional life as a medievalist, I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Gerhard Jaritz, who assisted me in every step of my studies with advice and selfless assistance. His trust in me was my greatest encouragement to carry out work which at times seemed impossible to me. The Central European University, especially the Department of Medieval Studies, provided me with a wonderful image of how the scholarly life can look; such easy access to resources (human and material) is not to be found that easily elsewhere. There are many people in the department who directly or indirectly have contributed greatly to this stage of my professional life, and I am very grateful to every one of them for being what they were to me. I like to give special thanks to Prof. János Bak, Neven Budak, József Laszlovszky, Gábor Klaniczay, Alice Choyke, Csilla Dobos, Dorottya Domanovszky, Annabella Pál and many others. Parker Snyder and Judith Rasson read parts of my manuscript and corrected my English, for which I am very grateful. During the time I spent in Rome, where I became a full-fledged medievalist through long research in the Vatican archives and libraries and through contacts with prominent scholars I owe many thanks to many people. My guest institution, Institutum Romanorum Finlandiae presso Santa Sede provided me with the significant status of its membership, which opened many doors to me. I owe special thanks to its former director, Christian Krötzl, for his support at the early stage of my work. I also thank the prefect of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Msgr. Sergio Pagano, for granting me access to ASV, Luciano Cipriano, for helping me decode the Schedario Garampi and the other old catalogues of the ASV, and all the other archivists of the ASV for their willingness to serve and to help. I owe special thanks to Sergio, Sandro, Antonio, Giovanni, Hugo, Angelo, and Mario. Talking to and frequently consulting prominent scholars like Andreas Meyer, Kirsi Salonen, Christine Grafinger, Tomasso Mrkonjiü, Jadranka Neraliü, Patrick Zuschi, Ludwig CEU eTD Collection Schmugge, Andreas Kiesewetter, Ana Marinkoviü, and Lucie Doležalova, etc. made my scholarly life in Vatican City easy and enjoyable. I also thank the director of the Albanian section of the Radio Vaticana, Don David Xhuxha, for his hospitality and moral support. My research and study was fully supported with advice by Albanian and Kosovar scholars such as Willy iii Kamsi, Aleksandër Meksi, Shaban Sinani, Aurel Plasari, Bardhyl Demiraj, Anila Omari, Mojkom Zeqo, Kolec Çefa, Rexhep Ismajli, Bahtije Gërbeshi, Sali Bashota, and Nehat Krasniqi. My university, “A. Xhuvani” Elbasan, stood behind me all the time, at home and abroad. A special “thank you” for their advice goes also to the prominent scholars of Albanian studies, Robert Elsie, Noel Malcolm, Aleksandar Stipþeviü, and Lucia Nadin. I express my deepest gratitude to David Abulafia for reading my manuscript, correcting, commenting, and placing it positively into a Mediterranean context. I will certainly not forget to express my warmest gratitude to my external readers, Alain Ducellier and Pëllumb Xhufi, who dedicated time and energy to evaluating my work. About the financial support which enabled my study in Budapest, my long research period in Italy, and also my participation in international conferences I express my gratitude to the Central European University, Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, the minister of MASH (Ministry of Science and Education), Genc Pollo, the deceased president of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, the MABETEX company and its director Selim Pacolli, the former editor-in-chief of Eksluzive, Skënder Blakaj. A special thank you goes also to Avni Hafuzi and his daughter Hajnalka Avnijéta Hafuzi. Last, but not least, I thank my beloved husband, Musa Ahmeti, for all his patience, encouragement and support and my beautiful babies Jerina, Argi and Hana for being what they are. CEU eTD Collection iv List of abbreviations ASPN = Archivio storico per le province napoletane ASV = Archivio Segreto Vaticano BAV = Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana Cam. Ap., Intr. et Ex. = Camera Apostolica, Introitus et Exitus HC = Hierarchia Catholica HDA = Hrvastki Državni Arhiv, Zagreb HDAD = Hrvatski Državni Arhiv, Dubrovnik HAZU = Hrvatska Akademija Znanosti i Umjetnosti, Zagreb Reg. Aven. = Registra Avenionensia Reg. Suppl. = Registra Supplicationum Reg. Vat. = Registra Vaticana C. = Codex Iuris Canonicis ep. = epistola fol. = folio CEU eTD Collection v List of maps Map. 1 Geographical map of the Balkans (p. 14) Map. 2 Archeological sites in Albania (p. 22) Map 3 The Despotate of Epiros and other states carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (p. 34) Map 4 The Bulgarian Empire (p. 40) Map 5 Ragusan influence in the Southwestern Balkans (p. 51) Map 6 Medieval Albania according to Milan von Šufflay (p. 132) CEU eTD Collection vi Introduction During the fourteenth century, the spread of Catholicism reached its peak in the Southwestern Balkans, particularly in the area lying within the borders of present-day Albania. If we bear in mind that Albania sat on the borderline between the Eastern and Western Churches, a frontier par excellence, that the majority of its territories had been Byzantine and that the Eastern rite was practiced there until the late thirteenth century, the spread of Catholicism in Albania should not be considered self-evident. The reasons it began to flourish