Karl Thopia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:Short description

Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.

Template:DMCA

Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.

Karl Thopia
Script error: No such module "Lang".
Prince of Albania
Grand Count of Albania
Duke of Durrës
Lord of Krujë
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found.
Portrait of Karl Thopia at the Skanderbeg Museum.
Prince of Albania & Duke of Durrës
Reign1358–1388
PredecessorAndrea I Thopia
SuccessorGjergj Thopia
Lord of Krujë
Reign1358–1388
SuccessorHelena Thopia
BornScript error: No such module "person date".
Durrës, Princedom of Albania
DiedScript error: No such module "person date".
Elbasan, Princedom of Albania
Burial
St. Gjon Vladimir's Church
SpousePage Template:Marriage/styles.css has no content.
​
​
(m. 1370)​
Script error: No such module "Parameter validation".
IssueGjergj Thopia
Helena Thopia
Voisava Thopia
Maria Thopia
Niketa Thopia
DynastyThopia
Anjou-Naples
FatherAndrea I Thopia
MotherHélène of Anjou
ReligionRoman Catholic

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

Karl Thopia (Template:Langx; c. 1339 – January 1388) sometimes written as Charles Thopia, was an Albanian feudal prince and warlord who ruled Albanian domains from 1358 until the first Ottoman conquest of Albania in 1388.[1] Thopia usually maintained good relations with the Roman Curia.

Family

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The first mention of the Thopia family is from 1329,[2] when Tanusio Thopia was mentioned as one of the counts of Albania.[3] In 1338, Tanusio was mentioned as Count of Mat (conte di Matia).[4] According to Karl Hopf, Tanusio's son or brother Andrea I, as told by Gjon Muzaka (fl. 1510), had fallen in love with Hélène of Anjou, illegitimate daughter of King Robert of Naples when her ship, en route to the Principality of the Morea to be wed with the bailli, had stopped at Durrës where they met. Andrea abducted and married her, and they had two sons, Karl and George. Karl was named after his great great grandfather Charles I of Anjou. King Robert, enraged, under the pretext of reconciliation, invited the couple to Naples where he had them executed.[5] Karl Thopia is first mentioned in 1350, at a time when Anjou still owned Durrës.

Control of Durrës and the Princedom of Albania

The long protracted turmoil of dynastic wars had made germinate in their real victims, the Albanians, the seeds of national sentiment which contained great promise, so that, when after Emperor Stefan Dušan's death, a descendant of Stefan Uroš I, returned to the province, the inhabitants rose en masse and, under the leadership of Karl Thopia, cut down the pretender and his entire force in the battle of Acheloos.[6]

In 1358, Karl rose against the rule of the Anjou and managed to drive them out of Durrës from Epirus and Albania. He ruled most of modern central Albania from 1358 to 1388 and held the title of Princeps Albaniae (Prince of Albania) and Duke of Durrës.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Since 1362, Karl sought Durrës, which was in the possession of Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo. The first, certainly still unsuccessful siege lasted from April 1362 to May 1363. Then, Thopia had to withdraw his troops, who were weakened by an epidemic disease. Only in 1367 could Karl conquer Durrës, who had attained in the meantime the tacit agreement of the Venetians for his project and turn this important port into his residence.[citation needed]

File:Stema e Karl Topisë.png
Stone engraving attributed to Karl Thopia, found in Saint Gjon Vladimir's Church (1381)

Karl gained control of Durrës in 1368, which was where the Angevins held out due to their Kingdom becoming smaller in size. In 1374, Pope Gregory XI awarded him the title "Grande Conte d'Albania" (Grand Count of Albania).[13] Karl lost Durrës in 1376, conquered by Joanna's husband Louis during the Durrës Expedition, but recovered it in 1383 when the last mercenaries of the Navarrese Company moved to Greece.[14]Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.

Thopia ruled over the regions of Durrës, Kruja, Peqin, Elbasan, Mokra and Gora, that is, along both sides of the Via Egnatia as far east as Lake Ohrid.

Rivalry with Balsha II

Balsha II and the Thopia had been fighting for the control of the region between Lake Skadar and Durrës since 1363. Balsha, allied with the Albanian tribe Mataruge, tried to invade Albania in 1364. In the summer of the same year, Balsha was defeated by Karl and Gjergj I Balsha was captured in a skirmish. It would not be until 1366 that Republic of Ragusa would mediate peace between them and procured the release of Balsha II.[15] In 1380, Karl Thopia tried to make an alliance with King Louis I of Hungary, who confirmed it in the possessions he had in Durrës and the surrounding area. This alliance was not welcomed by either the Venetians or the Roman Curia, as long as the Hungarian king supported Avignon's antipope. Rejecting Charles's legitimacy over Durrës, the Pope turned his brother-in-law Balsha II against him.

File:Medieval Durrës.jpg
Model of Durrës Castle during the Medieval era.

Balsha II made a fourth attempt to conquer Durrës, an important commercial and strategic center, which was ruled by his rival, Karl Thopia. In 1385, Balsha II started an offensive, capturing Durrës from Karl Thopia the following year, and proclaimed himself Duke of Durazzo (Durrës). Thopia called on the Turks for assistance. Murad I gladly sent an army of 40,000 men from Macedonia. In the plain of Savra between Elbasan and Lushnjë, Balsha II fought the Turks and was defeated and killed.[citation needed] Thopia again gained control over Durrës, probably under Ottoman suzerainty.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.

Venetian alliance

Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.

In the last decade of his rule, Karl closely followed the Republic of Venice, particularly with regard to foreign policy. On 17 August 1386, Karl Thopia allied himself with Venice and committed himself to participate in all wars of the Republic or pay auxiliary funds and supply grain. In addition, he promised the Venetian buyers protection in his lands.[16] In return, Venice supplied a galley, permitted recruitment of Thopia's mercenaries in Venetian areas and instructed the captain of their Adriatic fleet to protect Karl's coasts from the Ottomans. The Ottomans undertook several heavy attacks on Durrës, which also still persisted as Karl died in January 1388, where he was buried in St. Jovan Vladimir's Church.[17][18][19] His son, Gjergj Thopia, became Karl's successor.[20]

Foundations

St. Gjon Vladimir’s Church

In 1381, Karl built the St. Gjon Vladimir's Church in the proximity of Elbasan, where Jovan Vladimir's remains were held until 1995.[21] He is depicted in the icon scenes of the life of Saint Jovan Vladimir , painted by Onufri, wearing a crown and standing by the Church of the Saint.[citation needed]

Inscriptions:

  • A calligraphic inscription in Greek says: "ΚΑΡΛΑ ΘΕΩΠΙΑϹ ΚΑΙ ΚΤΗΤΩΡ ΤΗϹ ΑΓΙΑϹ ΜΟΝΗϹ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ" (Karla Theopias, builder of the Holy Monastery of the Saint).
  • File:Shijon, Albania - St Jovan Vladimir's Church 2018 01.jpg
    The St. Gjon Vladimir's Church was founded by Karl Thopia
    Another Greek inscription in the building refers to him as: "... ο πανυψηλώτατος πρώτος Κάρλας Θεωπίας ανεψιός δε και αίματος ρύγας της Φραγγίας... οικοδόμησεν τον πάνσεπτον ναόν τούτον του αγίου Ιωάννου του Βλαδιμήρου ..." (the highest and prime Karlas Theopias, nephew and by blood king of Francia ... built this holy church of St. John Vladimir ... ) dated 1382. This inscription is currently located in the Albanian Historical Museum in Tirana.[22]
  • "These signs of a great lord ... Carla Thopea" (ετούτα τα σιμάδηα αυθέντου μέγα ... Κάρλα Θοπήα).[23]

Church of St. Celment and Panteleimon

According to Macedonian researcher Cvetan Grodzanov, Karl Thopia made significant contributions to reconstruct the church of saints Clement and Panteleimon in Ohrid. According to another author, in the northern narthex of the church, near the entrance to the nave, a fragment of a fresco depicts a double-headed eagle and near the neck is drawn the triple lily, the heraldic symbol of the coat of arms of the royal family of the Angevins of France, which Karl Thopia was related to maternally. The same coat of arms can be found on the portrait of Karl painted by Kostandin Shpataraku. Author V. Moshin claims that during the year 1380, the elder Gervasije, the abbot of the church, together with his brothers, addressed Karl Topia as the new Ktitor.[24][25][26]

Issue

Karl married Voisava Balsha, in c. 1370.[27] The pair had three children:[28][29][30][31][32][33]

Karl had two more children but the parentage is unknown:

Family tree

Template:Ahnentafel

See also

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gillian Gloyer (2008). Albania. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841622460. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Johann Georg von Hahn (1867). Reise durch die Gebiete des Drin und Wardar: im Auftrage der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften unternommen im Jahre 1863. Aus der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. p. 282.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Émile G. Léonard (1932). Histoire de Jeanne 1re, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343–1382): La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne. Imprimerie de Monaco. p. 107.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata. Scuola Tipografica Italo-Orientale "S.Nilo". 1978.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf (1960). Geschichte Griechenlands vom Beginn des Mittelalters bis auf unsere Zeit. B. Franklin. … da deren Besitzungen bald darauf in der Hand jenes Tanussio Thopia (1328–1338) waren, dem König Robert von Neapel 1338 den Besitz der Grafschaft Mat bestätigte. Des letztern Sohn oder Bruder Andreas war es, der sich mit dem Hause Capet verschwägerte. König Robert, so erzählt Musachi, hatte seine natürliche Tochter dem Bailli von Morea – vielleicht dem Bertrand de Baux – zur Gattin bestimmt und sie nach Durazzo gesandt, wo damals Thopia weilte. Er verliebte sich in sie, entführte und heirathete sie. Zwei Söhne, Karl und Georg, entsprossen dieser Ehe. Aber schwer traf die Gatten bald die Rache des erzürnten Vaters; unter dem Scheine der Versöhnung lud er beide zu sich nach Neapel ein und ließ sie dort hinrichten; die Kinder aber, in denen somit wirklich das Blut der Angiovinen floß, wurden gerettet; in der festen Burg Kroja , die er später ausbaute, nicht, wie die Sage meldet , erst gründete "), wuchs Karl auf, entschlossen, den Mord des vaters zu rächen
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.M. Th. Houtsma (1987). E. J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913–1936. BRILL. p. 456. ISBN 9004082654. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  7. ^ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor_id_list' not found.: "Karlo entered into close relations with Venice, which granted him Venetian citizenship and called him Prince of Albania."
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Elsie, Robert (2015). The Tribes of Albania History, Society and Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8577-2586-8. ...Charles Thopia (d. 1388) held sway in a triangle of land between Durrës, Kruja and Elbasan, and called himself prince of Albania (princeps Albaniae)...
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Elsie, Robert (2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Scarecrow Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8108-7380-3. ...Charles Thopia as Prince of Albania (princeps Albaniae)...
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.de Sufflay, Emilianus (1918). Acta et diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia Collegerunt et digesserunt dr Ludovicus de Thalóczy, dr Constantinus Jireček. the University of Michigan. p. 263. ...prineps Albaniae; magnus comes: Carolus Thopia 1359--1388...
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Djukanovic, Bojka (2023). Historical Dictionary of Montenegro. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-5381-3915-8. ...Karl Topia, Prince of Albania...
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Oliver Jens Schmitt, Bernd J. Fischer (2022). A Concise History of Albania. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-1070-1773-3. ...Charles, had assumed the pompous title of a Duke of Durrës...
  13. ^ Fine, 1994 p. 371
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.John V. A. Fine (jr.), 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. 384. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...The Angevins retained Durazzo for a time, for in 1379 Joanna's new husband, Robert of Artois, is found issuing to Dubrovnik a charter pertaining to Durazzo. Karlo Thopia, who held the territory both north and south of the city, soon, probably in 1383, regained possession of Durazzo...
  15. ^ Fine 1994, p. 372
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Succession in the House of Thopia". European Monarchies Review. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rojas Molina, Grabiela (2022). Decoding Debate in the Venetian Senate Short Stories of Crisis and Response on Albania (1392-1402). Brill. p. 83. ISBN 978-9-0045-2093-6. ...He died in January, 1388. His only son (George Thopia) succeeded him...
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.E. Jacques, Edwin (2009). The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present - Volume 1. McFarland & Company. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7864-4238-6. ...Upon his death in 1388, Karl was buried in the monastery of St. John which he had built in Elbasan...
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fine, Jr, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 391. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...However, Karlo Thopia died in 1387 or 1388. He was buried in a church he built near modern Elbasan. His epitaph was given in three languages–Greek, Latin and Serbian...
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.E. Jacques, Edwin (2009). The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present - Volume 1. McFarland & Company. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-7864-4238-6. ...Upon the death of Karl Topia (1388) his sickly son Gjergj headed the principality. Being an ineffective ruler anyway, he yielded to Venetian pressure and left Durrës to Venice just before he died in 1392...
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Anamali, Skënder (2002), Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime (in Albanian), vol. I, Botimet Toena, p. 294, OCLC 52411919{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  22. ^ Icons from the Orthodox Communities of Albania, catalog of the exhibition of the collection of icons of the National Museum of Medieval Art of Korce, held in Thessaloniki in 2006. Published by the European Centre of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments Script error: No such module "webarchive". – Museum of Byzantine Culture (Greece), p. 138.
  23. ^ von Hahn Johann Georg, Albanesische studien, vol. 1, pp. 119, 120
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Shtylla, Valter (25 October 2021). "Gjurmë të Fisnikut Arbëror Karl Topia në Ohër gjatë Mesjetës". Telegrafi.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Grozdanov, Cvetan. ПОРТРЕТИ НА СВЕТИТЕЛИТЕ ОД МАКЕДОНИЈА IX-XVIII ВЕК (PDF).
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Moshin, V. (1961). Фондови словенских рукописа у Jугославиjу // Библиотекар.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rojas Molina, Grabiela (2022). Decoding Debate in the Venetian Senate Short Stories of Crisis and Response on Albania (1392-1402). Brill. p. 83. ISBN 978-9-0045-2093-6. ...In the meantime, their sister Vojislava married Charles Thopia in or around 1370...
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rudolf Künker, Fritz (2008). The De Wit Collection of Medieval Coins Künker Auktion 137 - The De Wit Collection of Medieval Coins, 1000 Years of European Coinage, Part III: England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Balkan, the Middle East, Crusader States, Jetons und Weights. Numismatischer Verlag Künker. p. 284. ...Karl Thopia was wedded to Vojsava, a daughter of Balsa I...
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hopf, Karl (1873). Chroniques Gréco-Romaines inédites ou peu connues. Weidmann. p. 532. ...ép.: Voisava , fille de Balša I de Cedda...
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 52. ISBN 978-3-4470-4783-8. ...The aforementioned sons fled back to their country. Later on, the said Lord Charles married Lady Voisava, the daughter of Lord Balsha...
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Stair Sainty, Guy (2018). The Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it. Boletín Oficial del Estado. p. 503. ISBN 978-8-4340-2506-6. ...Karolus Thopia and Voislava Balsha...
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hopf, Karl (1873). Chroniques Gréco-Romaines inédites ou peu connues. Weidmann. p. 532. ...Elena , dame de Croja - Giorgio 1381 ,- Voisava...
  33. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Stair Sainty, Guy (2018). The Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it. Boletín Oficial del Estado. p. 503. ISBN 978-8-4340-2506-6. ...Gjergj Thopia, the son of Karolus Thopia and Voislava Balsha....
  34. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë; K. Prifti; Xh. Gjeçovi; M. Korkuti; G. Shpuza; S. Anamali; K. Biçoku; F. Duka; S. Islami; S. Naçi; F. Prendi; S. Pulaha; P. Xhufi (2002). Historia e Popullit Shqiptar. Tirana, Albania: Toena. p. 309. ISBN 99927-1-622-3. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

Sources

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Karl_Thopia&oldid=2212758"