The toponym Albania may indicate several different geographical regions: a country in Southeast Europe; an ancient land in the Caucasus; as well as Scotland, Albania being a Latinization of a Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba ; [1] and a city in the U.S. state of New York.
Albania is the name of a country in Southeast Europe, attested in Medieval Latin. The name has derived from the Illyrian tribe of the Albanoi and their center Albanopolis, noted by the astronomer of Alexandria, Ptolemy, in the 2nd century AD. [2] [3] [4] [5] Linguists think that the element *alb- in the root word, is an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in Alps . [6] Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the term appears as the ethnonym of Albanians in Medieval Greek documents as Albanoi and Arbanitai, and in Medieval Latin as Albanenses and Arbanenses, gradually entering in other European languages. [7] [8]
The toponym Arbon (Greek : Ἄρβων or Ἀρβών) [9] or Arbo [10] ( Greek : Άρβωνα) [11] is mentioned by Polybius in the History of the World (2nd century BC). It was perhaps an island [12] in Liburnia or another location within Illyria. Stephanus of Byzantium in the 6th century AD, in his important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica (Εθνικά), cites Polybius, saying it was a city in Illyria and gives a topical name for its inhabitants, calling them Arbonios (Greek: Αρβώνιος) and Arbonites (Greek: Αρβωνίτης). [13]
Albanopolis was an ancient Illyrian city in the Roman province of Macedon, [14] the center of the Illyrian tribe of Albani, noted by the astronomer of Alexandria, Ptolemy, during 150 AD in his famous work Geography . [15] It was located in the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Krujë, central Albania. [16] [17] [18] The city may have a continuation with the name of the city of Albanon or Arbanon, mentioned during the Middle Ages. [19]
Albanoi (Ἀλβανόί) reappeared in Byzantine documents in the 11th century, around 1043, as the exonym of the Albanians. [20] During the late Byzantine period the names Albanoi, alongside Arbanitai, were used interchangeably, and gradually entered other European languages, in which similar derivative names emerged. [21] The national ethnonym of the Albanians has derived from this Illyrian tribe. [22] [23] [24]
Arbanon, or Albanon, originally, was a region in the mountainous area to the west of Lake Ohrid and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin, in the 11th century AD. [25]
The Albanians are mentioned in Anna Comnena's account Alexiad , as Arbanites, because of their fights against the Normans in the region of Arbanon, during the reign of her father Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118). [26] Before that, in the book History written in 1079–1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates was first to refer to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium. [27] In later Byzantine usage, the terms Arbanitai and Albanoi, with a range of variants, were used interchangeably, while sometimes the same groups were also called by the classicising name Illyrians. [28] [29]
In the 12th to 13th centuries, Arbanon ( Greek : Άρβανον) appears as a principality in Byzantine sources. In 1190 the Principality of Arbanon (Albanian: Principata e Arbërit) became the first Albanian state during the Middle Ages. [30] Its capital was the city of Krujë, [31] the region in which the town of Arbanon originally was located and from which the principality got its name. [32] It seems that this toponym has survived continuously since antiquity in this area. [33] This suggests that probably the toponym "Arbanon" has derived from the ancient city of Albanopolis. [34] [35] [36]
In Latin documents the territory was known as Arbanum and later as Albaniae. [37] It appears in Bulgarian chronicles as Arbanas. [38] In medieval Serbian sources, the toponym of the country underwent linguistic metathesis and was rendered as Raban and Rabanski for the people. [39] [40] This is a typical metathesis in Slavic languages, for example the island of Arba in Croatia now is known as Rab. [41] However, in later Serbian references the ethnonym for Albanians would appear as Arbanasi . [42] [43]
Meanwhile, the Albanians, during the Middle Ages, referred to their country as Arbëria (Gheg Albanian : Arbënia) and called themselves Arbëreshë (Gheg Albanian : Arbëneshë). [44] [45] [46] In Southeast Europe, a similar term is still used today by the Aromanians, who call the Albanians in their language Arbineshi. [47]
The medieval ethnonym Arbanitai and its corresponding modern ethnonym Arvanites have the same etymology as Albanians , being derived from the stem Alb- by way of a rhotacism, Alb- → Arb- (based on the root *alban- and its rhotacized variant *arban-). [48] In fact, the term Arvanitis (Ἀρβανίτης) [singular form] was established in modern Greek language from the original name Alvanitis (Άλβανίτης), who in return derived from Alvanos (Ἀλβανος). [49] [50] Compare the rhotacism of alb- into arv- in the Neapolitan dialect of Italy.
Albania as the name of Caucasian Albania, a state and historical region of eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of Azerbaijan and partially southern Dagestan.
However, unlike the names of the other two European countries, this name was an exonym given to them by the Romans, as no one knew what the local inhabitants of the region of Caucasian Albania called themselves at the time. Compare also the land in Caucasus called Iberia, and the Iberian peninsula in Europe.
The Udi people and their language, the Udi language, are descendants of the ancient people of Caucasian Albania. [51] [52] [53]
Alba, a Gaelic name for Scotland, may be related to the Greek name of Britain Albion, Latinized as Albania during the High Medieval period, and later passed into Middle English as Albany.
Albion (Ancient Greek: Ἀλβίων) is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island. The name for Scotland in the Celtic languages is related to Albion: Alba in Scottish Gaelic, Albain in Irish, Nalbin in Manx and Alban in Welsh, Cornish and Breton. These names were later Latinised as Albania and Anglicised as Albany, which were once alternative names for Scotland. New Albion and Albionoria ("Albion of the North") were briefly suggested as possible names of Canada during the period of the Canadian Confederation.
Albany is the capital of the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Albany County. The name originates from the Scottish Duke of Albany, whose title comes from the Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba. [54]
When New Netherland was captured by the English in 1664, they changed the name Beverwijck to Albany, in honor of the Duke of Albany. This was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to the second son of the King of Scots. [55] Albany is one of the oldest surviving European settlements from the original Thirteen Colonies [56] and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States.
Indeed, Eire might well have become the Gaelic name of Scotland as it is that of Ireland. But it was Alba that finally won as the vernacular name while Scotia survived as entirely a literary term
and escaped to Arbon
The title of duke of Albany was first bestowed in 1398....
The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as in Croatia, Greece, Italy and Turkey. They also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
Albanian culture or the culture of Albanians is a term that embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Albanians. Albanian culture has been considerably shaped by the geography and history of Albania, Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, parts of North Macedonia, and parts of Northern Greece, traditional homeland of Albanians. It grew from that of the Paleo-Balkan cultures, including Proto-Albanian, Illyrian, Thracian, Dacian, with their pagan beliefs and specific way of life in the wooded areas of far Southern Europe. Albanian culture has also been influenced by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans.
Arvanitika, also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika was brought to southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by Albanian settlers who moved south from their homeland in present-day Albania in several waves. The dialect preserves elements of medieval Albanian, while also being significantly influenced by the Greek language. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the use of Greek and most younger members of the community no longer speak it.
When the Roman Empire divided into east and west in 395, the territories of modern Albania became a part of the Byzantine Empire. At the end of the 12th century, the Principality of Arbanon was formed which lasted until mid 13th century, after its dissolution it was followed with the creation of the Albanian Kingdom after an alliance between the Albanian noblemen and Angevin dynasty. After a war against the Byzantine empire led the kingdom occasionally decrease in size until the Angevins eventually lost their rule in Albania and led the territory ruled by several different Albanian chieftains until the mid 14th century which for a short period of time were conquered by the short-lived empire of Serbia. After its fall in 1355 several chieftains regained their rule and significantly expanded until the arrival of the Ottomans after the Battle of Savra.
This is a timeline of Albanian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Albania and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Albania. See also the list of Albanian monarchs and list of heads of state of Albania.
The origin of the Albanians has been the subject of historical, linguistic, archaeological and genetic studies. The first mention of the ethnonym Albanoi occurred in the 2nd century AD by Ptolemy describing an Illyrian tribe who lived around present-day central Albania. The first certain attestation of medieval Albanians as an ethnic group is in the 11th century, when they continuously appear in Byzantine sources.
Labëria is a historic region that is roughly situated in southwestern Albania. Its inhabitants are known as Labs and its boundaries reach from Vlorë to Himara in the south, to the Greek border near Sarandë, incorporating the Kurvelesh region of Gjirokastër District and extending east to the city of Tepelenë.
Shqiptar is an Albanian ethnonym (endonym), by which Albanians call themselves. They call their country Shqipëria.
Arbëresh is the variety of Albanian spoken by the Arbëreshë people of Italy. It is derived from the Albanian Tosk spoken in Albania, in Epirus and is also spoken by the Arvanites, with endonym Arvanitika.
Albanopolis was a city in ancient Roman Macedon specifically in Epirus Nova, the city of the Albanoi, an Illyrian tribe. Albanopolis has been located by various scholars at the modern-day village of Zgërdhesh or at Krujë. The ancient city may correspond with later mentions of the settlement called Arbanon and Albanon during the Middle Ages, although it is not certain this was the same place. The city appears at 150 AD, almost 300 years after Roman conquest of the region.
Arnaut is a Turkish ethnonym used to denote Albanians. Arvanid (اروانيد), Arnavud (آرناوود), plural: Arnavudlar (آرناوودلر): modern Turkish: Arnavut, plural: Arnavutlar; are ethnonyms used mainly by Ottoman and contemporary Turks for Albanians with Arnavutça being called the Albanian language. Arnavudluk (آرناوودلق) was the Ottoman Turkish geographical designation of the Albanian regions, including areas such as present-day Albania, Kosovo, western North Macedonia, southern Serbia, southern Montenegro and parts of northern Greece.
Arbanon was a principality in present-day Albania, ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanian state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was established in 1190 by the Albanian archon Progon in the region surrounding Kruja, to the east and northeast of Venetian territories. Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin and then Demetrius (Dhimitër), who managed to retain a considerable degree of autonomy from the Byzantine Empire. In 1204, Arbanon attained full, though temporary, political independence, taking advantage of the weakening of Constantinople following its pillage during the Fourth Crusade. However, Arbanon lost its large autonomy ca. 1216, when the ruler of Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas, started an invasion northward into Albania and Macedonia, taking Kruja and ending the independence of the principality. From this year, after the death of Demetrius, the last ruler of the Progoni family, Arbanon was successively controlled by the Despotate of Epirus, then by the Bulgarian Empire and, from 1235, by the Empire of Nicaea.
In 395, the Roman Empire was permanently divided and the area that now constitutes modern Albania became part of the Byzantine Empire.
Labuništa is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia.
Arbanasi is an ethnic community in and around the city of Zadar region in northern Dalmatia region of Croatia who are of Albanian ethnic origin. They are traditional speakers of the Arbanasi dialect of Gheg Albanian. Their name is an obsolete way to say Albanians in Croatian and is the toponymy of the first Arbanasi settlement in the region, which today is a suburb of Zadar. In Albanian literature, they are known as "Albanians of Zadar".
Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including:
The Albanoi were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus under the name Abroi. Ptolemy is the first author who mentions them under the name Albanoi. Their central settlement was called Albanopolis (Ἀλβανόπολις) and was located roughly between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers, in central Albania. The archaeological site of Zgërdhesh has been identified as the likely location of Albanopolis. Stephanus of Byzantium who reproduced Hecataeus added an entry for another settlement named Arbon in Illyria whose inhabitants were called Arbonioi or Arbonites. Another Arbon was recorded by Polybius. John of Nikiû wrote in the 7th century CE about a people known as Arbanitai in the Greek translation of the manuscript.
The Albanians and their country Albania (Shqipëria) have been identified by many ethnonyms. The native endonym is Shqiptar. The name "Albanians" Latin: Albanenses/Arbanenses) was used in medieval Greek and Latin documents that gradually entered European languages from which other similar derivative names emerged. Linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, meaning "hill, mountain", also present in Alps. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the term in Albanian became rendered as Arbëreshë for the people and Arbëria for the country.
This article contains information about Illyrian vocabulary. No Illyrian texts survive, so sources for identifying Illyrian words have been identified by Hans Krahe as being of four kinds: inscriptions, glosses of Illyrian words in classical texts, names—including proper names, toponyms and river names—and Illyrian loanwords in other languages. The last category has proven particularly contentious. The names occur in sources that range over more than a millennium, including numismatic evidence, as well as posited original forms of placenames. Messapic, an ancient language of Apulia which was of Balkan provenance and is grouped in the 'Illyric branch' of the Indo-European family, does have an epigraphic corpus, and some words have been recorded by ancient authors. Messapic words and relevant etymologies are listed in Messapic language#Lexicon.