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Thread: Karl Topia, the Albanian Prince with '' french'' blood. a short history of the 14th century Albania.

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    Default Karl Topia, the Albanian Prince with '' french'' blood. a short history of the 14th century Albania.

    On August 17, 1386, Karl Topia, the so called ''prince of the Kingdom of Albania'', with the capital of Durres, established an alliance with the Republic of Venice - he agrees to participate in all the wars of the Republic (or to pay for auxiliary funds and supply of grain) in exchange for coastal protection against the Ottomans. In addition, Topia promised Venetian merchants security in its territory. The Topia family ruled the regions of Durrės, Krujė, Peqin, Elbasan, Mokėr and Gora, to Lake Ohrid. In 1381, Karl Topia built the Church of St. John near Elbasan; it also appears on the icon of St. John, painted by Onouphrios Protopapas (known as "Onufri"), worn with a crown standing beside the Holy One. A Greek calligraphic inscription on the walls of this Church proves: "Karlas Theopias, grandson of the king of France ... built this holy church of St. John Vladimir ..."

    Karl_Topia, _by_Kostandin_Shpataraku, _Ardenica_Monastery



    PERSONAGE / Karl Topia, the Albanian prince with French blood

    Luan Rama

    One of the most interesting stories, as apparently legendary, that links the Ancien with the Albanians is that of Tanush Topia, "Comte de Durrės" and his connection to French Helen, the daughter of the royal family d'Anjou.

    This story is also mentioned by the well-known albonologist, Byzantineologist Alain Ducellier, who seems to believe it to be true and that I should believe, as Topia's emblem proves this. Tanushi had seen Helen for the first time in the Durres Castle when she had come with a ship, just to spend an evening while the storm in the sea stopped and then to the coast of Greece where she was waiting her fiancé fiancé, prince of the islands of Mores. It is said that she was a blond and a rough peasant from Anjou province.

    Ignited by her love for her, that evening, he snatched France out of his passion. She soon liked the handsome Albanian prince and refused to continue the journey to Peloponnese. A striking, but true decision. So this real story is also described in the Memory or Memories of John the Deacon, written in 1510, in the year of the death of this well-known and contemporary Scanderbeg prince.

    In this "memory" found by Hopf and published in his Greek-Romanesque chronicle (Chroniques Gréco-Romanes) in 1873, describes the genealogy of the old Muzakaj family as well as family ties through the heads of some of the most princes known for this centuries-old age that fought together against the Ottoman invasions, or the Slav invasions coming from the north. In this Memory, it is written that: "King Robert, who was king of Naples, sent his bastard daughter, Helena, the prince of More, to marry him, but in the sea a great storm caused him the ship to Durrės, where they stayed a few days and thus, Andrea (or Tanushi on some other historical data) fell in love with the lady we mentioned and she joined her. Both agreed to live together.

    So they gave birth to two sons: the first was called Lord Karl and the second, Mr. Gjergj ... "

    The king's envoy of the Anzhuine dynasty in Durrės, the French governor, in vain threatened that the king in Naples would send the army and burn up all the properties. But the couple already lived the days of great happiness.

    Tanush Topia announced the wedding and summoned all Albanian princes. A year later a boy was born who Helena called Karl (Charles) in memory of her great-grandfather.

    The king did not dare to attack Durrės with his fleet. He knew that the Albanian prince would find the support of other Albanian princes and the battle would loose him, and possibly with the kingdom as well. Many years would pass and finally, the king of Antiochus would send friendly messages and invited them to go to his palace in Naples. One day, Tanush Topia and the beautiful Helena would jump on the ship and head for the Adriatic to Naples.

    Tanush Topia
    Tanush Topia

    King Robert had sent word that he had forgiven and that in Naples were preparing the reception ceremonies of the Albanian prince. Helena tried to imagine how this meeting would be with her father. She knew his anger well and hoped that after so many years, his anger had vanished, and probably now he certainly would have had the pleasure not only to see him, but also to the little Karlin, who remembered the name of the great Charles.

    But little Karl, this sucker born in the history of an abduction, or of a beloved love, with Albanian blood and French blood, would not follow his parents. Some say he was left in the castle. In his memoir, John Muzaka also writes that "You must know that at that time, King Robert rocks his daughter and son-in-law in his home in Naples and killed both of them for the work they had done, and the boys we said , escaped and came to their place. Then, this boy named Karl Topia married Mrs. Vojsava, daughter of Balsha Albanian Prince, who made a son named Gjergj and he was the one who left Durrės hostage the Venetians and died without inheritance ... "As we can conclude, another story says they left their children in Durres and did not take them in Naples. An unquestionably extraordinary event that gives the imagination power, as in the tragic songs of Antiquity ... In Naples, Topia and his wife Helena were received with great honors and the ceremony continued until late at night. They did not know they were spending the last night of their life. The bride ordered them to kill both in the morning and their bodies disappeared. Helen's abduction, as in classical Greek theaters, ended with a terrible tragedy. In vain Little Karel waited for his parents for a week waiting for his parents, tapping the sea and the horizon.Principata mourned for the prince and the princess killed. An enmity was created for Anjou's king. But as the little prince grew, the more he was proud of his Albanian and French ancestry. When he became the lord of Durres and the surrounding province, on his emblem he continued to hold heraldic lilies, adding the lion of the earliest anthrax emblem. Carl Topia is mentioned for the first time around the 1350s, at a time when the anchovians still owned Durrės. For a long time, Albania continued to be called "Regnum Albaniae" with the capital Durrės. Only in 1359, Karl Topia had been able to create a separate and independent principality, with lands stretching from Kruja to Mat. But he always looked at the Adriatic, which one day the city-port of Durrės became his capital. He attacked Durrės in 1362, as Balshay did in turn, but unsuccessfully. Two years later he fought against Balsha and captured his brother-in-law Gjergj Balshaj. Chronicles write that he began to prepare his own fleet to fight against the Venetians, who Durrės gave much importance to the control of the Adriatic. And this battle was made, but none of the forces went missing. So Topia finally managed to conquer Durrės, creating a separate principality, where Durrės joined and Kruja and Petrela. Topia created long-term alliances with Ragusa and Hungary, and finally, in 1366, the Senate of Venice agreed to call it in his memoirs as "Dominus Albaniae in partibus versus Marittimam Durachio", ie "Lord of Arberia in the coastal areas of Durres". In 1374, when he saw the strength of Prince Karl Topia, Pope Gregoire XI gave him the title "Grande Comte d'Albaniae" (Great Contest of Albania). He was also called "Princeps Albaniae" and "Primus de domo Franciae". From the Vatican, the Pope sent two letters, in which he highly appreciates his devotion to Catholicism, calling it "Dux Dalmatie". In one of the letters he begs to force the bishop of Sardis to pay the tax owed to the Holy See. According to Gjon Muzaka's memoir, "the second son, Mr. Gjergj, brother of the mentioned Karl Topia, married and made children, from which are those who are called Topia. Karl Topia ruled in two Skuriet (Scurie), in Fisine (Flisina), Blevish (Blevisti), in Little Tirana (Taransa Minor), Krraba (Carrabi) and Farkha (Fuorcha). Medieval chronicles also tell us about an expedition of Jean Gravina's grandmother, Jeanne de Duras (Zhana of Durres), who had attempted to conquer Durrės, while Topia owned it. But her husband, Louis d'Evreux, led by a thousand Spanish Navarre fighters, was killed at the city gates on August 14, 1376. (Another chronicler of the time wrote that Louis d'Evreux was King Charles II's brother Navarrete, or Charles of "Bad." It was he who charged a mercenary captain, Ingeram de Coincy, to form an army of one thousand soldiers, archers, and archers, for three years, so they rode in Tortosa and in By the end of 1375, Durrės was headed to Durres, Durres was captured for a while, but Louis d'Evreux was killed, and Karl Topia redefined the city, but 140 years later, they would be Albanian mercenaries who would protect the Navarras against In his remembrance of his family and his ancestry, Karl Topia built the church of St. Vladimir in Elbasan, where up until recently the emblem, a "bas-relief" and a manuscript of his teachings written in Latin, Greek and Slavic, according to the order of the Albanian-French nobleman himself ... "... when the prince and the splendid Lord Charles I of the house of France reigned in Arberia ...". It is in this church and the Albanian prince will be buried. The first was researcher George von Hahn, who identified this emblem, describing it as an emblem of "a lion crowned with lilies of France". In fact, in the emblem worked as a sculpture by the then Albanian Dhimitėr Spada, the heraldic specialists have pointed out that it consists of two parts, on the right being the emblem of Charles, inherited by his predecessors and by left is Anjou's emblem, separated by a diagonal line. Topia and Durres history is particularly related to the end of the 14th century when the Venetians wanted to place their power in Durres to end the influence and the connection with Francėn.itfrewdsrvoj558vfqdwGjergj Topia was then the ruler of Durrės. In 1391, he was severely ill and except Venice, and other princes covet his throne. "Venetian sent his fleet to Durrės," writes historian Schmitt, "with a similar instruction as two years ago: if Topia died or escaped, the city should have been" in bona gratia "with the consent of the citizens. As Gjergj Topia was lying on the bed, his many cousins, the Ottoman vassal Gjergji II Strazimirović Balsha, suddenly attacked Durrės. This was explained by the old animosity between the two families, Balshaj and Topiaj. Indeed it was the echo of the great storms in Italy and the West: in Naples, King Ladislas had the bad job of friar Louis II d'Anjou, cousin of King Charles VI. Topiaj, proud of the anthology of blood, had taken the arm of Louis and of Pope Clement VII who supported him, thus drawing to the great skis the hostility of Pope Boniface IX, Clement's adversary. "This year, Durrės attacked and Gjergj Strazimir Balshaj, Zeta's ban, prompted by the support given by Pope Boniface IX. In Albanian history, competition and wars between these two great families are known. The well-known Balkan historian, N. Iorga, in his study, "The History of the Balkan States" reminds us of how "to protect its own lands against Balshay's attacks, Topians called for help to the Ottomans, "which was condemned by all the other Albanian princes who were struggling with the fury of Ottoman invasions as they developed on the banks of Vjosa in 1385 or in Fushe- Kosovo, where Serbs, Albanians, Hungarians or Romanians, this Balkan Christian alliance, faced Ottoman fury. "But Albanians," writes Iorga, "preserved the coastal areas as well as Shkodra, Kruja, Parga (under Zebenisht), Dania of Zakaria, Ohrid where were Gropajt, Lepanton belonging to Pal Sword and Montenegro, where were Cernovici who were Slavic Albanians and who for no reason felt Slavic. "" Topia's rule before the double Ottoman rule and Balsha, "writes Schmit," was on the verge of disintegration. And Venice was concerned that its trade would be damaged. The Senate did not want to overthrow the prince but he could not believe in resistance to the Ottomans. The Senate wanted the protectorate and fortification enhancement. If Topia would not be open but "stubborn and hard", he should be lured with 500 ducats, and only in case of complete opposition, the Venetians would use violence. In 1392, two dozen Venetian mushrooms landed in Durres. Consul Pietropizzoli kept all the strands in his hands and acted on those crucial days as a representative of Venetian interests. Gjergj Topia, with one foot in the tomb, agreed to leave the town in the protectorate of Venice. For this, on August 18, in Venice, his representative Johan of Vigo, bishop and pro-Venetian, signed it.

    "As is well known, the years 1370-1380 are filled with all the battles and dramatic events between Albanian, Serb and Ottoman princes. Even Albanians fought against each other: Gjergj Balsha II invaded Vlora and Kanina. Then along with his father-in-law Pal Gropa and his brother-in-law, Andrea Muzaka, fight against Marko Krajleviē, retrieving him to Kostur, Ohrid, Prizren and Peja. Then, Marko called for help to the Ottomans and in 1375 attacked Albanians, but without reaching the goal. In 1385, there were the Ottomans of Hajredin Pasha, with about 40,000 troops who defeated Myzeqe in Second Balsha, who was killed in this battle. But Gjin Bua Shpata would still resist Albanian lands in the south. In the book "History of Albania" related to this historical moment, it is also written that "When the Turks were pushing towards Regnum Albania, he asked the Venetians for help, sending them to Venice bishop of Scampa. In 1388, Grande Comte d'Albaniae, Karl Topia became ill and died. The Venice Agreement took place in the fortress of Durres in August 1392 and was followed by a lot of talks between Gjergj Topia and the commander of the Adriatic Fleet, Saracen Dandulo. The particularity of this agreement lies in the fact that Gjergj Topia acknowledged that Durrės would be in the hands of the Venetian Republic but after his death. The defense of the city passed into the hands of Venice and therefore both sides agreed to erect the flag of the Venetian Republic in the castle of Durres, so that the Ottoman Turks would stop the attacks on the occupation of the city. Gjergj Topia would continue to take before all the city's revenue and would continue to exercise control over the officers and the army his arcs. Both sides undertook to abide by the statutes and rules of the city. The agreement was ratified by the Republic of Venice on August 18, 1392. After the signing of the agreement, Gjergj Topia did not live long. Sources say that in October 1392, he did not live anymore. Following his death, on November 14, 1392, the Republic of Venice launched two senior officials, Michele Contareno and Pjetėr Kurino, in Albania to take all necessary measures to take over the city of Durres and to govern his future. The officials in question were tasked with taking the castle of Kruja ... "After the death of Gjergj Topius in 1392, who handed over Venetians to the town halls, the citizens of Durrės rose to numerous revolts to oppose the power of the witches, but this the war was desperate for that great force. St. Mark's Flag would have been rolling over the castle for a long time ... In January 1393, the Grand Council of Venice chose a rector and an administrator captain for the city. Thus Durres entered the Venetian area called Stato da Mar. They progressed to their possessions along the Albanian coast, then introduced Lezha and Shkodra into their hands.

    The Geneva Bua Shpata family sent the first streaks to Italy and Europe, who would enter the most glorious chronicles of European history! ...


    Karl Topia was half '' french'' as his father kidnapped the daughter of the king of Naples ( who was french) and later on defeated his army.

    However the king of Naples back stabbed him when he invited his daughter and the Albanian ruler in south Italy and killed them in ambush.

    His son, Karl Topia , together with other Albanian Princes such as Gjin Bue Shpata, Gjergj Balsha, Teodor Muzaka, Gjon Kastrioti were the strongest rulers in western and southern Balkans in the 2nd half of the 14th century.

    These principalities that stretched from Cotor Bay up to Corinth Channel would fight the Ottoman invaders for 100 years culminating with the '' League of Lezhe'' in 1443 whoich was a unification of these states. This Albanian League would defeated Ottomans in 28 battles culminating with Skanderbeg between 1443-1470 that would win 24 battles himself.

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    Theopia which was was surname means eye of god. Thopia is albanification of Theopia.

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    The French bastard was the one who invited Ottomans in Albania cause of conflicts with other Albanian lords.

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    What a amazing person, I knew about Karl Thopia vaguely from researching into pre-Ottoman Albanian history. But this gave a new perspective on the Prince. It's bittersweet though, since he was the one who invited the Turks to Albania in the first place.

    Thanks for posting this anyways!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Div1 View Post
    What a amazing person, I knew about Karl Thopia vaguely from researching into pre-Ottoman Albanian history. But this gave a new perspective on the Prince. It's bittersweet though, since he was the one who invited the Turks to Albania in the first place.

    Thanks for posting this anyways!
    He invited the Ottomans and not "turks".

    Let's use the right historical terms and definitions because we destroy history like this.

    Thousands of albanian Pashas, generals, governors and the imperial guard and the most fierce mercenaries in the Ottoman empires who were all albanian in blood were Ottoman citizens and identified as such. So did the Sultan and most of anatolians from where the Ottomans empire started.

    Karl Thopia was undefeated.

    He invited some Ottoman soldiers for his battle but Ottomans started their big attacks on Albanians in 1416-1418 and they created for the first time and administration unit in central Albania IN Kruja by 1431.

    They failed to reach their rule further south and north of Kruja because they were defeated by Gjergj Arianitit in 5 battles between 1431-1435.

    So basically all these things happened like 30-40 years later of the years 1385.

    The descendants of the Topiaj family converted and became rulers in the balkans under the Ottoman umbrella and were known later as Toptani family

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arjana View Post
    He invited the Ottomans and not "turks".

    Let's use the right historical terms and definitions because we destroy history like this.

    Thousands of albanian Pashas, generals, governors and the imperial guard and the most fierce mercenaries in the Ottoman empires who were all albanian in blood were Ottoman citizens and identified as such. So did the Sultan and most of anatolians from where the Ottomans empire started.

    Karl Thopia was undefeated.

    He invited some Ottoman soldiers for his battle but Ottomans started their big attacks on Albanians in 1416-1418 and they created for the first time and administration unit in central Albania IN Kruja by 1431.

    They failed to reach their rule further south and north of Kruja because they were defeated by Gjergj Arianitit in 5 battles between 1431-1435.

    So basically all these things happened like 30-40 years later of the years 1385.

    The descendants of the Topiaj family converted and became rulers in the balkans under the Ottoman umbrella and were known later as Toptani family
    I was just using the terms interchangeably, don't be pedantic.
    Every day is a good day!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arjana View Post
    He invited the Ottomans and not "turks".

    Let's use the right historical terms and definitions because we destroy history like this.

    Thousands of albanian Pashas, generals, governors and the imperial guard and the most fierce mercenaries in the Ottoman empires who were all albanian in blood were Ottoman citizens and identified as such. So did the Sultan and most of anatolians from where the Ottomans empire started.

    Karl Thopia was undefeated.

    He invited some Ottoman soldiers for his battle but Ottomans started their big attacks on Albanians in 1416-1418 and they created for the first time and administration unit in central Albania IN Kruja by 1431.

    They failed to reach their rule further south and north of Kruja because they were defeated by Gjergj Arianitit in 5 battles between 1431-1435.

    So basically all these things happened like 30-40 years later of the years 1385.

    The descendants of the Topiaj family converted and became rulers in the balkans under the Ottoman umbrella and were known later as Toptani family
    His descendants shouldn't have "invited" them in the first place. But that's exactly what these balkanites did with the Turks, they invited them as a powerful ally only for them to overstay their welcome.

    You were right about Karl Thopia not inviting the Turks, that was my mistake.
    Every day is a good day!

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