Muzaka-Serbian Conflict

Muzaka-Serbian Conflict
	Part of the aftermath of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
Date	1350–1370
Location	Albania
Result	Muzaka victory Serbian rule weakens after the death of Stefan Dušan ; Andrea II Muzaka captures most of Southern Albania ; Albanian forces once again defeat the Serbian forces under King Vukašin ;
Belligerents
Principality of Muzaka ; Support:; Byzantine Empire ; Gropa family ; Principality of Polog ; Angevins ; Balšić family	Serbian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Andrea II Muzaka	Stefan Dušan ; King Vukašin (POW); (later released); Prince Marko ; Stefan Uroš V (WIA) ; John Komnenos Asen ; Uglješa Mrnjavčević ; Gjin Dushku
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

Last updated January 05, 2025

The Muzaka-Serbian Conflict was a series of armed engagements and battles throughout the Middle Ages fought by the Albanian Principality of Muzaka against the Serbian Empire, during a span of around 20 years.

Background

After the weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire in the middle and late 13th century, the northern territory of modern-day Albania became part of Serbia. Firstly, as part of Serbian Grand Principality and later as part of Serbian Empire. Serb control in southern Albania is unclear. Some suggest they acquired towns, but others believe they only obtained submission, possibly nominal, from Albanian tribes. Central and southern Albanian towns were not conquered until 1343–45.^[1] Between 1272 and 1368, some areas of the modern-day state were also ruled by the Angevins as the Kingdom of Albania. In the late 14th century, Albanian Principalities were created throughout Albania.

Albanians often played a role in the medieval Serbian army. Emperor Stefan Dušan was known to have recruited light cavalry composed of 15,000 Albanians, armed with spears and swords.^[2]

Events

During the Serbian occupation of Albania under Stefan Dušan, one of the most notable resistances was that of the Muzaka Principality led by Andrea II Muzaka. The Muzaka forces besieged and eventually captured the city of Berat in 1350, forcing the Serbian governor of the lands between Berat and Vlora, John Komnenos Asen, to retreat to Kanina.^[3] Around the same time Andrea II Muzaka was able to capture the plains of Myzeqe from the Serbian forces. The name of the land derives from the battle, with "Myzeqe" meaning "Vendi i Muzakajve" (Land of the Muzaka). During the conflict the Muzaka forces also had support from the Anjou, with whom they allied in 1336, with a compromise of the Anjou capturing Durrës.^[4]

After the death of Stefan Dušan and the fall of the Serbian Empire in 1355, Serbian rule in Albania weakened, leading to Andrea II defeating the Serbian forces and capturing Korça and Devoll.^[4]

With help from the Balšić family, in 1369 or 1370 the Principality of Muzaka defeated the Serbian army under King Vukašin in Pelister, capturing the Serbian noble as a Prisoner of War.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Between 1370 and 1372, with help from Albanian nobility, the Muzaka forces once again defeated the Serbian amry led by Vukašin's son Prince Marko in Pelister, capturing the city.^[4]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Aftermath

In the summer of 1371, Vukašin marched to Zeta, to support his relative Đurađ Balšić in his war against Nikola Altomanović. His army was in Skadar, waiting for naval support from the Republic of Ragusa. Uglješa Mrnjavčević received information that the majority of Ottoman forces left Europe and marched to Anatolia. He decided it was a good time to execute his offensive plans and asked Vukašin for help. Vukašin left Skadar with his army and joined Uglješa. They marched against Adrianople.^[12]

The Serbian army numbered between 50,000 and 70,000 men. Despot Uglješa wanted to make a surprise attack on the Ottomans in their capital city, Edirne, while Murad I was in Asia Minor. The Ottoman army was much smaller, Byzantine Greek scholar Laonikos Chalkokondyles and different sources give the number of 800 up to 4,000 men, but due to most of the Serbian soldiers becoming intoxicated, Şâhin Şahin Paşa conducted a night raid on the Serbian camp, slaughtering a large part of the Serbian Army, killing King Vukašin and despot Uglješa. Thousands of Serbs were killed, and thousands drowned in the Maritsa river when they tried to flee. After the battle, it was said, the Maritsa ran scarlet with blood.

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The Principality of Muzaka, also known as the Lordship of Berat, was an independent realm ruled by the Albanian Muzaka family with its capital at Berat, covering territories in Central and Southern Albania, Western Macedonia and Northern Greece. One of the first rulers was Andrea I Muzaka whose reign was recognized by the Byzantine Emperor. During the Battle of Savra, the Ottomans captured Berat from Balša II, together with Kruja and Ulcinj. They soon retreated from all of those towns keeping only Castoria under their permanent control. Some sources explain that Ottomans probably remained in Berat with intention to use it as foothold to capture Valona. By 1396 Muzaka family took over control of Berat. In 1417 the territories of the Principality, including Vlorë and Berat, became a part of the Ottoman Empire.

The term Albanian Principalities refers to a number of principalities created in the Middle Ages in Albania and the surrounding regions in the western Balkans that were ruled by Albanian nobility. The 12th century marked the first Albanian principality, the Principality of Arbanon. It was later, however, in the 2nd half of the 14th century that these principalities became stronger, especially with the fall of the Serbian Empire after 1355. Some of these principalities were notably united in 1444 under the military alliance called League of Lezhë up to 1480 which defeated the Ottoman Empire in more than 28 battles. They covered modern day Albania,western and central Kosovo, Epirus, areas up to Corinth, western North Macedonia, southern Montenegro. The leaders of these principalities were some of the most noted Balkan figures in the 14th and 15th centuries such as Gjin Bua Shpata, Andrea II Muzaka, Gjon Zenebishi, Karl Topia, Andrea Gropa, Balsha family, Gjergj Arianiti, Gjon Kastrioti, Skanderbeg, Dukagjini family and Lek Dukagjini.

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The Muzaka family was an noble Albanian family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe in the Late Middle Ages. The Muzaka are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan. The earliest historical document that mentions the Muzaka family is written by the Byzantine historian Anna Komnene. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century members of the Muzaka family controlled a region between the rivers of Devoll and Vjosë. Some of them were loyal to the Byzantine Empire while some of them allied with Charles of Anjou who gave them impressive Byzantine-like titles in order to subdue them more easily. In the 1340s, Stefan Dušan pressed further south into Albania, and by 1343-45 had taken central towns and territories in southern Albania, including domains of the Muzaka family. However, they would fall back under local control after his death in 1355. After the Battle of Savra in 1385 the territory of Albania came under the Ottoman Empire; they served the Ottomans until 1444 when Theodor Corona Musachi joined Skanderbeg's rebellion. When the Ottomans suppressed Skanderbeg's rebellion and captured the territory of Venetian Albania in the 15th century many members of the Muzaka family retreated to Italy. Those who stayed in Ottoman Albania lost their feudal rights, some converted to Islam and achieved high ranks in the Ottoman military and administrative hierarchy.

Zeta was one of the medieval polities that existed between 1371 and 1421, whose territory encompassed parts of present-day southern Montenegro and northern Albania, ruled by the Balšić family.

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The Thopia were one of the most powerful Albanian feudal families in the Late Middle Ages, part of the nobility of the Angevin Kingdom of Albania.

The fall of the Serbian Empire was a decades-long process in the late 14th century. Following the death of the childless Emperor Stefan Uroš V in 1371, the Empire was left without an heir and the magnates, velikaši, obtained the rule of its provinces and districts, continuing their offices as independent with titles such as gospodin, and despot, given to them during the Empire. This period is known as the dissolution or the beginning of the fall of the Serbian Empire.

Andrea II Muzaka was an Albanian nobleman of the Muzaka family and the ruler of the Principality of Muzaka in the 14th century. He inherited the principality from his father, Teodor I Muzaka, who died around 1331. Andrea II is known for having expanded the Principality of Muzaka to its greatest extent, from the southern Adriatic coastline of Albania in the west to Kastoria in the east by the time of his death in 1372.

Blasius Mataranga was an Albanian prince of the Matranga noble family.

References

↑ Fine, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. pp. 290–291. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
↑ David Nicolle; (1988) Hungary and the Fall of Eastern Europe 1000–1568 (Men-at-Arms) pp. 35, 37; Osprey Publishing, ISBN 0850458331
↑ Anamali, Skënder (2002). Historia e popullit Shqiptar: gjatë shek. XVI -vitet 20 të shek. XIX. Tiranë: Botimet Toena. p. 294. ISBN 9992716223.
1 2 3 4 "Kush ishte Andrea II Muzaka". klikoje.al. 5 February 2021.
↑ John V. A. Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. pp. 290–291. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
↑ Soulis, George Christos (1984). The Serbs and Byzantium During the Reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331-1355) and His Successors. Dumbarton Oaks Library and Collection. p. 142.
↑ Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania: a reader of historical texts ; 11th - 17th centuries. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 41. ISBN 9783447047838.
↑ Muhadri, Bedri (2023). "Kosova në kuadrin e Principatës së Balshajve". Studime Historike. 74 (1–2): 43–45.
↑ Dorian, Koçi (27 May 2020). "Shëmbëlltyra e Andrea Muzakës". batosot.info.
↑ Gillian Gloyer (1 June 2010). Albania (in Spanish). Alhena Media. p. 103. ISBN 978-84-92963-50-8. Tras la muerte de Stefan Dušan en 1355, el área que se corresponde con el sureste de la actual Albania y hasta Kastoria (que hoy en día pertenece a Grecia) cayó en manos de la familia Muzaka de Berati, uno de los poderosos clanes
↑ John V. A. Fine; John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
↑ Fine, J. V. A. The Late Mediaeval Balkan's, p. 379

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[Fine1994-290--1] Fine, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. pp. 290–291. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.

[2] David Nicolle; (1988) Hungary and the Fall of Eastern Europe 1000–1568 (Men-at-Arms) pp. 35, 37; Osprey Publishing, ISBN 0850458331

[3] Anamali, Skënder (2002). Historia e popullit Shqiptar: gjatë shek. XVI -vitet 20 të shek. XIX. Tiranë: Botimet Toena. p. 294. ISBN 9992716223.

[auto-4] 1 2 3 4 "Kush ishte Andrea II Muzaka". klikoje.al. 5 February 2021.

[5] John V. A. Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. pp. 290–291. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.

[6] Soulis, George Christos (1984). The Serbs and Byzantium During the Reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331-1355) and His Successors. Dumbarton Oaks Library and Collection. p. 142.

[7] Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania: a reader of historical texts ; 11th - 17th centuries. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. 41. ISBN 9783447047838.

[Muhadri1-8] Muhadri, Bedri (2023). "Kosova në kuadrin e Principatës së Balshajve". Studime Historike. 74 (1–2): 43–45.

[9] Dorian, Koçi (27 May 2020). "Shëmbëlltyra e Andrea Muzakës". batosot.info.

[10] Gillian Gloyer (1 June 2010). Albania (in Spanish). Alhena Media. p. 103. ISBN 978-84-92963-50-8. Tras la muerte de Stefan Dušan en 1355, el área que se corresponde con el sureste de la actual Albania y hasta Kastoria (que hoy en día pertenece a Grecia) cayó en manos de la familia Muzaka de Berati, uno de los poderosos clanes

[11] John V. A. Fine; John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.

[p._379-12] Fine, J. V. A. The Late Mediaeval Balkan's, p. 379

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