DISCOVER. ORIGINS
The Arvanites
In the beginning was Arvanon
The origin of the migration and expansion of the Albanian tribes to the South in the 13th century is considered to be Arvanon, a region in the hinterland of Dyrrachium whose boundaries are not precisely defined. According to French historian and professor of Byzantine studies Alain Ducellier, this mountainous region extended as far as Kruja and the surroundings of Lake Ohrid.
It is not certain whether the Albanian ethnic group, which first appears in Byzantine sources in the 11th century under the term “Arvanites”, was formed exclusively in this region or whether it existed before the group settled there. It is believed that this group may have settled in the area for the strategic guarding of the Via Egnatia, at a time when this important road axis of the Roman World, which connected Dyrrachium with Thessaloniki and Constantinople, was still in use.
In the Middle Ages, Arvanon was a region integrated into the Byzantine Empire and the Arvanites were a people well known to the Byzantines. They were a “pastoral-warrior people”, as Chalkokondylis describes them, who followed a semi-nomadic life dominated by the social organization in clans, pastoralism and the military function of the group.
The members of the clan were relatives by blood, by marriage and by fraternization (vlamides) and had a common ancestor, who was the clans namesake. Their kinship-based society was regulated by customary law, the “kanun”.
The preservation of pastoral production determined their way of life. Being experienced warriors, they defended the group in case of danger, led it to safer areas, carried out negotiations with the dominant people of a region or subjected them, living parasitically upon them, taking away vital space for the clan, while ensuring its survival. Sometimes members of the clan became independent, seeking employers and resources to supplement their income. They thus entered the service of different lords, returned to their families with wages and booty, or were assimilated, promoted to other areas or vanished from the group.
It seems that the Arvanites have always bred horses and specialized in light cavalry.
In Byzantine sources of the 12th century, the Arvanites appear as mercenaries in the service of the Byzantines in the defense of Dyrrachium against the Norman invaders. For their services, Byzantium rewarded the local clan leaders with privileges, court titles and placed them in charge of many regions.
The internal crisis of the Byzantine Empire that occurred after the death of Emperor Manuel Komnenos in 1180, led in 1190 to the creation of the Principality of Arvanon, a fragile hegemony that became the subject of competition between the Despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Nicaea after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In order to strengthen the borders with the Frankish-occupied country, the Despotate of Epirus proceeded to selectively settle groups of Arvanites in areas of Thessaly “by Golden Bull and royal decree”.
In 1271-1272, after the death of Despot Michael II Komnenos, the Frankish Angevins occupied the lands around the city of Dyrrachium and founded the kingdom “Regnum Albaniae”, using the terms Albanenses, Albanesi, Albanois, etc. for the people, that were later generalized in the West. The establishment by Charles of Angevin of a feudal system transformed some Albanian clans that converted from Orthodoxy to Catholicism into noble houses, with the most powerful being the houses of Topia (Thopia) and Mouzaka. In 1368, the Albanian ruler Charles Thopia expelled the Angevins from Dyrrachium and proclaimed himself “Princeps Albaniae” (ruler of all Albanian land).
The Albanian Migration
The beginning of the mass Albanian migration to the South is placed by most historians in the 13th century, while it continued throughout the 14th century. Its causes are attributed to internal and external factors. The gentrification of some of the Arvanite leaders and their transformation into landowners who monopolized the lands often by force, combined with the demographic growth of the Albanian tribes, led to civil strife between the tribes and the forced displacement of some of the clans in search of new lands that would serve their ancestral life and their economic and social organization.
The Arvanites left Arvanon and took the road to the South, following the valleys and rivers. They moved gradually and could stay for many years, even decades, in the places of their temporary settlement. Through the road of Kastoria they reached the eastern slopes of the Pindos mountain range in Thessaly which, combined with some living space in the lowlands, offered ideal conditions for the development of seasonal pastoralism, providing the necessary pastures for their herds and horses, and for the operation of the group’s pastoral economic system.
Sources report that in the early years of their descent, the Arvanites of Thessaly numbered 12,000, organized into clans, three of which are known to us by the name of their leaders: Bouai, Malakasai and Messarites. However, local populations and rulers of Thessaly reacted to the spread of the Albanian element which “completely destroyed everything outside the walls of the castles”. With the Pindos Mountains as their base, they raided the plains of Thessaly. In 1333, Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos was forced to campaign against the “kingless” Arvanites of Thessaly and forced them into submission.
In the first half of the 14th century, the expansion of the Serbian Empire under Stefan Dušan throughout present-day Albania, North Macedonia, Epirus, Macedonia and Thessaly facilitated the descent of the Arvanites who served as mercenaries for the Serbs. With their help, Dušan extended his territory to the borders of the Catalan Duchy of Athens and to the coasts of the Gulf of Corinth.
Joly Alexis V. from his work “Vues de la Grèce moderne, Lithographiées” (1824)
The Black Death
The first cases of plague emerged in the Peloponnese in the autumn of 1347. The disease spread through the bustling ports of Methoni (Modon) and Koroni, Venetian possessions, and other smaller ports that were in the hands of the Byzantines and the Franks. Through these ports, the Peloponnese was linked to all the areas of the world that had been affected by the epidemic, from Constantinople and the cities of Western Italy to the Venetian possessions in the East. Thus, the peninsula, which had already suffered demographic shrinkage due to civil and non-civil conflicts between the Byzantines, Franks and Venetians, as well as frequent Turkish raids, was decimated by the epidemic.
Approximately one-quarter to one-third of its total population was wiped out by the Black Death. Successive outbreaks of the epidemic throughout the 14th century worsened the situation. Entire regions were deserted, creating a local demographic vacuum. The Byzantines and Franks, and later the Venetians, tried to solve the problem of the lack of inhabitants and farmers by implementing policies of attracting immigrants.
Meanwhile, the Bubonic Plague spared both Arvanon and the eastern slopes of Pindos in Thessaly. The Arvanites were thus able to maintain their reproductive rate and found themselves in a more advantageous position compared to their neighboring populations. They crossed into Southern Epirus and Acarnania and achieved significant military successes that allowed some parts of the group to form small autonomous principalities in Angelokastro under Ginis Bouas and in Arta under Petros Liosa. Other clans managed, without the use of force, to obtain substantial concessions from the Frankish and Venetian authorities, who were seeking additional military forces, and settled en masse in Attica and Euboea.
Breydenbach B. v., The port of Modon (1502)
Migration to the Peloponnese
The first settlement of Albanian tribes in the Peloponnese has not been precisely determined. During the reign of the first Despot of Mystras Manuel Kantakouzenos (1348-1380), the presence of Albanian mercenaries in the Peloponnese was noted for the first time in the area of Veligosti in Arcadia. However, the sources do not speak clearly about settlement, so we do not know if the mercenaries who entered the service of the Despotate, were accompanied by a group of settlers.
The fundamental migration of Albanians to the Peloponnese for the history of the Byzantine Despotate took place in 1404-1405 when ten thousand Albanians (we do not know whether we are talking about 10,000 soldiers or 10,000 souls) arrived at the Isthmus of Corinth, without prior agreement with the authorities, with the intention and the forces to cross into the Peloponnese. It was only in 1404 that Corinth and with it the control of the entrance to the Peloponnese had definitively fallen into the hands of Despot Theodore I Palaiologos, who from the beginning of his reign faced significant difficulties due to civil conflicts but mainly the spread of the Ottoman Turks who plagued the Peloponnese with continuous raids, plundering and mass population displacements. Despite the contrary advice of some people in his circle who viewed the foreigners with suspicion, the Despot – after negotiations with the tribe leaders – allowed the entry of the Arvanites in exchange for their military services.
We do not know precisely the origin of the 10,000 Arvanites who gathered at the Isthmus of Corinth. However, it is considered very likely that they belonged to the tribes of the Thessalian group who took the road via Boeotia to reach the Peloponnese. The Arvanites abandoned Thessaly, leaving only a few traces. One explanation that is put forward is the destruction of the Serbian principality of Thessaly by the Ottoman Turks in 1393 and the intense pressures they exerted on the Arvanites with whom they were particularly competitive. It is therefore possible that a migration stream from Thessaly began at the end of the 14th century and, due to the slow nature of its movement, ended up in the Peloponnese at the beginning of the following century.
Another view that has been expressed is that these Albanian tribes came from Western Greece after the dissolution of Albanian power in Angelokastro by Carlo I Tocco in 1405. However, it would make more sense geographically for the Arvanites from Angelokastro to migrate to the Northwestern Peloponnese than through the Isthmus of Corinth, as was indeed the case later.
In 1418, a second smaller wave of migration of Albanian tribes to the Peloponnese occurred. These groups most likely came from Aetolia, Acarnania, Arta, but also from areas of Epirus, who after the Ottoman invasion in 1417 crossed over to the Morea and penetrated Achaia.
Coronelli Vincenzo, View of Mystras (1687)
The “Katun”
The Arvanites were scattered throughout almost the entire Peloponnese. The largest number seems to have ended up in areas of Arcadia, mainly in Karytaina and Tegea.
In the first decades they moved at a slow and steady pace, seeking the best conditions for themselves and their flocks. Without any obvious conflicts with the local populations, they occupied vital spaces that consisted mainly of free lands, suitable for seasonal pastoralism through which they secured the necessary pastures for their sheep and horses.
At the time, the Greek population was still concentrated in fortified towns and large villages. The great majority were farmers who had estates far from their homes, but at night they returned home to sleep safely. There were only few Greek families who lived isolated in the countryside.
The Arvanites initially lived in small, temporary settlements, semi-nomadic facilities, the so-called “katun” which were associated with their pastoralist activities. Most settlements bore the name of the clan or the name of the most important family, when many families with different names lived together in one village.
Although some historians argue that the Arvanites were “capable farmers”, the sources testify that the agricultural production of the Arvanites could not feed their families all year round. Their survival was ensured by pastoralism and the extra-productive activities of the group, such as their participation in mercenary troops.
Some individual (extended) families were granted land in the plains or on the outskirts of urban areas, in which the Arvanites settled as permanent cultivators, enjoying certain privileges, such as tax exemptions, which were bought with the service of the men in the Byzantine army.
The Byzantines thus had at their disposal fighting forces that could defend the countryside in the name of the official administration against any invader but also against internal enemies such as powerful landowners who challenged the central authority. The Despotate also used the irregular Arvanite soldiers for raids on Venetian territories.
Beauvau H. d., Map of the Peloponnesus (1615)
Bibliography
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