1.
Municipalities of Albania
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This is a list of municipalities of Albania. Municipalities are the administrative divisions of Albania and are inferior to counties. Prior to 2015, there were two types of municipalities in Albania, municipalities with a character called bashki, and municipalities with a rural character called komunë. Municipalities are all divided into at least two units, which are sometimes referred to as municipal units or mini-municipalities. Administrative units are composed of one or more cities, villages, or neighbourhoods and constitute the third-, most defunct municipalities are now administrative units and may also be cities, villages, or neighbourhoods. Albanian Association of Municipalities Albanian Association of Municipalities
2.
Albania
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Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It has a population of 3.03 million as of 2016, Tirana is the nations capital and largest city, followed by Durrës and Vlorë. The country has a coastline on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea to the west. Albania is less than 72 km from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. In antiquity, the area of Albania was home to several Illyrian, Thracian. After the Illyrian Wars, it part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Moesia Superior. In 1190, the first Albanian state, the Principality of Arbanon was established by archon Progon in the region of Krujë, the territory of Albania was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, of which it remained part of for the next five centuries. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, following the Balkan Wars, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy in 1939, which formed Greater Albania, before becoming a Nazi German protectorate in 1943. The following year, a socialist Peoples Republic was established under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, Albania experienced widespread social and political transformations in the communist era, as well as isolation from much of the international community. In 1991, the Socialist Republic was dissolved and the Republic of Albania was established, Albania is a democratic and developing country with an upper-middle income economy. The service sector dominates the economy, followed by the industrial. After the fall of communism in Albania, Free-market reforms have opened the country to foreign investment, especially in the development of energy, Albania has a high HDI and provides universal health care system and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and it is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union. Albania is one of the members of the Energy Community, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It is home to the largest lake in Southern Europe and one of the oldest lakes in Europe, Albania is the Medieval Latin name of the country. The name may have a continuation in the name of a settlement called Albanon and Arbanon. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbëri or Arbëni, Albanians today call their country Shqipëri. As early as the 17th century the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria, the two terms are popularly interpreted as Land of the Eagles and Children of the Eagles
3.
Counties of Albania
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Albania is divided into twelve counties. Each county has been divided into two or more municipalities, which are the division of Albania. In 2015, the government reduced the number of municipalities to 61 and abolished separate rural municipalities, in 2000, counties replaced districts as the first-level administrative subdivision in Albania. Geography of Albania Districts of Albania List of cities in Albania ISO 3166-2, AL Interactive Map of Albania Counties Counties of Albania
4.
Socialist Party of Albania
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The Socialist Party of Albania, is a social-democratic political party in Albania, it gained power following the 2013 parliamentary election. The party seated 66 MPs in the 2009 Albanian parliament and it achieved power in 1997 after a political crisis and governmental realignment. In the 2001 parliamentary election the party secured 73 seats in the Parliament, which enabled it to form the Government. In the general election of 3 July 2005, the Socialist Party lost its majority and the Democratic Party of Albania formed the new government, having secured, with its allies, a majority of 81 seats. The Socialist Party of Albania is an associate of the Party of European Socialists and its official newspaper is Zëri i Popullit, which had been the organ of its predecessor, the Communist Party of Labour of Albania. The party, formed in November 1941, has known as the Socialist Party since 1991. The Communist Party of Labour of Albania, the ruling party since the end of World War II, was the most rigid Stalinist party in Europe under its founder. However, Hoxhas successor, Ramiz Alia, was forced to introduce limited reforms in the late 1980s, finally, on 11 December 1990, Alia announced that the PPSh had given up its monopoly of power. The PPSh won the Constitutional Assembly elections of March 1991—the first free elections held in the country in almost 80 years, by this time, however, it was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party. At an extraordinary congress in June 1991, in its efforts to survive in the new system, fatos Nano, a man from the intelligentsia, was elected the new chairman. Nano helped to reform the old communist party and made it a member of the Socialist International, on 1 September 2005 Nano resigned as the chairman of the Socialist Party, after losing the elections. He was succeeded by Edi Rama, fatos Nano was the head of Socialist Party of Albania from 1991 to 2005. In 2005, after a defeat in the elections, he resigned from his post. PSs current leader is Edi Rama, former Mayor of Tirana, gramoz Ruçi, who was Interior Minister of the last cabinet of the communist regime and is well known for his loyalty to the party, is the head of the Socialist Group, which has 64 MPs. Ben Blushi is an important party politician that has strongly criticized the way Edi Rama is leading the Socialist Party. Vice-coordinators of the group are Erjon Braçe, Vasilika Hysi, Saimir Tahiri, Eduard Shalsi, arta Dade is the party secretary for international affairs, and she is assisted by Arben Ahmetaj, Taulant Balla, Olta Xhacka, Ditmir Bushati and Qemal Minxhozi. Ahmetaj and Balla usually deal with PS relationships with the left parties in Europe, especially with the Greek Panhellenic Socialist Movement. Blendi Klosi, is seen as a very important politician in PS
5.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
6.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
7.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
8.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
9.
Albanian language
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Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian-based dialects can be found scattered in Greece, Southern Italy, Sicily, and Ukraine. Due to the large Albanian diaspora, the number of speakers is much higher than the native speakers in Southeast Europe. The first audio recording of Albanian was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna, the Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language group. In general there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, Albanian is now considered an isolate within Indo-European, no extant language shares the same branch. The only other languages that are the surviving member of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek, Balto-Slavic, and Germanic languages, in 1995, Ann Taylor, Donald Ringe and Tandy Warnow described as surprising their finding, using quantitative linguistic techniques, that Albanian appears to comprise a subgroup with Germanic. This theory is reinforced by subsequent research by the same authors, Albanian also shares two features with Balto-Slavic languages, a lengthening of syllabic consonants before voiced obstruents and a distinct treatment of long syllables ending in a sonorant. Other conservative features of Albanian include the retention of the distinction between active and middle voice, present tense and aorist. In another but uncommon hypothesis, Albanian is grouped with both Balto-Slavic and Germanic based on the merger of Proto-Indo-European *ǒ and *ǎ into *ǎ in a northern group. However, this shift is now regarded as only part of a larger push chain that affected all long vowels. The earliest loanwords attested in Albanian come from Doric Greek, whereas the strongest influence came from Latin, curtis, the loanwords do not necessarily indicate the geographical location of the ancestor of Albanian language. However, according to linguists, the borrowed words can help to get an idea about the place of origin. The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted and drawn out roughly from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. This is borne out into three layers of borrowings, the largest number belonging to the second layer, which may be compared to, for example. The first, with the fewest borrowings, was a time of less important interaction, the final period, probably preceding the Slavic or Germanic invasions, also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Other formative changes include the syncretism of several case endings, especially in the plural. Such borrowing indicates that the Romanians migrated from an area where the majority was Slavic to an area with a majority of Albanian speakers and their movement is probably related to the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire into Albania around that time. Jernej Kopitar was the first to note Latins influence on Albanian, Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian qiqer from Latin cicer, qytet from civitas, peshk from piscis and shigjetë from sagitta
10.
Tirana
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Tirana /tᵻˈrɑːnə/ is the capital and largest city of Albania and as well the heart of Albanias cultural, economic and governmental activity. It is located on the center of the country surrounded by hills with the Dajti Mountain on the east. The city is located some 700 kilometres north of Athens,290 km west of Skopje,250 km south-east of Pristina and 160 km south of Podgorica. Tirana is a city with a history dating from the Paleolithic times back 10,000 to 30,000 years ago to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the area of the city was the Cave of Pellumbas, as argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with ancient Illyrian toponyms as its precincts are some of the earliest regions in Albania to be inhabited. One of the ancient monuments, the Tirana Mosaic is believed to have part of a 3rd century ancient Roman house. Later, in the 5th and 6th centuries, a Paleo-Christian Basilica was built around this site, Tirana was founded as a city in 1614 although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. An almost unimportant centre until the beginning of the 20th century, the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed Tirana as the capital of Albania, Tirana is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula ranking 7th with a population of 800,000 and the largest Albanian-speaking city in the world. The municipality, has a population of 800,986. It is also the biggest Metropolitan area in Albania and the one with a population of over 800.000. Being Albanias primate city, Tirana is the political, social and cultural center of Albania. Almost all of the largest companies, media and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city, the city is ranked in the Top 10 of the sunniest cities in Europe with a total of 2,544 hours of sun. As argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with Illyrian toponyms, as its precincts are some of the earliest inhabited regions in Albania. A castle possibly called Tirkan or Theranda, whose remnants are found along Murat Toptani Street, was built by Emperor Justinian in 520 A. D. the area had no special importance in Illyrian and classical times. Records from the first land registrations under the Ottomans in 1431–32 show that Tirana consisted of 60 inhabited areas, Tirana is mentioned since 1572 as Borgo di Tirana. In 1614, Sulejman Bargjini, a ruler, built the Old mosque, a small commercial centre. During this period, the Ethem Bey Mosque, built by Molla Bey of Petrela, was constructed and it employed the best artisans in the country and was completed in 1821 by Mollas son Etëhem, who was also Sulejman Bargjinis grandnephew. In 1800, the first newcomers arrived in the settlement, the so-called ortodoksit and they were Vlachs from villages near Korçë and Pogradec, who settled around modern day Park on the Artificial Lake
11.
Illyrians
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The Illyrians were a group of Indo-European tribes in antiquity, who inhabited part of the western Balkans and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula. The first account of Illyrian peoples comes from the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, the Illyrian tribes never collectively regarded themselves as Illyrians, and it is unlikely that they used any collective nomenclature for themselves. The term Illyrians last appears in the record in the 7th century. In later Greek mythology, Illyrius was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia who eventually ruled Illyria, Illyrius had multiple sons and daughters. From these, sprang the Taulantii, Parthini, Dardani, Encheleae, Autariates, Dassaretae, autareius had a son Pannonius or Paeon and these had sons Scordiscus and Triballus. Even before the advent of post-modernism, scholars recognized a difficulty in producing a single theory on the ethnogenesis of the Illyrians given their heterogeneous nature, nevertheless, scholars traditionally looked for the origins of the Illyrian peoples centuries, even millennia, before their first historical attestation. Following the theories of Gustaf Kossinna, scholars sought to equate tribes mentioned by later Greco-Roman historians with preceding Bronze, in particular, scholars such as Julian Pokorny and Richard Pittioni placed the Illyrian homeland within the Luzatian culture, itself an offshoot of the trans-Central European Urnfield culture. From c.1200 BC, the bearers of the Lausitz culture are said to have engaged in widespread migrations throughout Europe. With regard to the Balkans, their movement south in turn initiated the Dorian migrations into southern Greece and these Pan-Illyrian theories have since been dismissed by scholars, based as they were on racialistic notions of Nordicism and Aryanism. The above theories have found little archaeological corroboration, as no convincing evidence for significant migratory movements from the Luzatian culture into the west Balkans have ever been found. Rather, archaeologists from the former Yugoslavia highlighted the continuity between the Bronze and succeeding Iron Age, ultimately developing the so-called autochthonous theory of Illyrian genesis, the autochthonous model was most elaborated upon by Alojz Benac and B. They argued that the proto-Illyrians had arrived earlier, during the Bronze Age as nomadic Indo-Europeans from the steppe. From that point, there was a gradual Illyrianization of the western Balkans leading to historic Illyrians and he did not deny a minor cultural impact from the northern Urnfield cultures, however these movements had neither a profound influence on the stability. Of the Balkans, nor did they affect the ethnogenesis of the Illyrian ethnos, aleksandar Stipčević raised concerns regarding Benacs all-encompassing scenario of autochthonous ethnogenesis. They rather see the emergence of historic Illyrians tribes as a recent phenomenon - just prior to their first attestation. The exception to this are the communities in Glasinac and Mati, the impetus behind the emergence of larger regional groups, such as Iapodes, Liburnians, Pannonians etc. is traced to increased contacts with the Mediterranean and La Tène global worlds. This catalyzed the development of complex political institutions and the increase in differences between individual communities. Emerging local elites selectively adopted either La Tène or Hellenistic and, later, Roman cultural templates in order to legitimise and they were competing fiercely through either alliance or conflict and resistance to Roman expansion
12.
Albanoi
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Albanoi or Albani were an Illyrian tribe whose first historical account appears in a work of Ptolemy in addition to a town called Albanopolis located east of the Ionian sea, in modern-day Albania. Ptolemys mention in 150 AD places them in the Roman province of Macedon, specifically in Epirus Nova and it is believed that they are related to the modern nation of the Albanians. The first mention of Albanopolis in an inscription is on an ancient funerary stele at Scupi, Albanoi were later mentioned in the History of Michael Attaliates around AD1080. The revolt of the Albanoi against Constantinople also dates the first written mention in Byzantine history, the much later mentioned Arbanon is likely to be the name of a district – the plain of the Mat has been suggested – rather than a particular place. It is not certain if the ancient city of Albanopolis corresponds with the Arbanon of the 11th cAD, list of ancient tribes in Illyria Albania History of Albania Origin of Albanians Illyrians
13.
Principality of Arbanon
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Arbanon or Albanon, was an autonomous principality, the first Albanian entity during the Middle Ages, initially part of the Byzantine Empire and later of the Despotate of Epirus. The state was established by archon Progon in the region of Kruja, Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin and then Demetrius, who attained the height of the realm. After the death of Demetrius, the last of the Progon family, the principality came under Gregory Kamonas, according to some scholars, Progons realm was the first Albanian state during the Middle Ages. Pipa and Repishti conclude that Arbanon was the first sketch of an Albanian state, the rulers were titled archon by the Byzantines. Before 1204, Arbanon was a principality of the Byzantine Empire. The titles archon and panhypersebastos is a sign of Byzantine dependence, after 1204, the Albanians naturally followed the Despotate of Epirus, successor of the Byzantine Empire. The Gëziq inscription mention the Progon family as judices, and notes their dependence on Vladin and Đorđe Nemanjić, the rulers were connected to the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty, through marriage and alliances. In 1252, Golem submitted to the Empire of Nicaea, in the beginning the name Arbanon was applied to a region in the mountainous area to the west of Ohrid Lake and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin in the 11th century AD. There are scarce sources about Arbanon, in 1166, prior Arbanensis Andrea and episcopis Arbanensis Lazarus participated in a ceremony held in Kotor. After some resistance from officials, the bishopric of Arbanon was put under the direct dependence of the Pope. Little is known about archon Progon who was the first ruler of Kruja and its surroundings, the Kruja fortress stayed in the possession of the Progon family, and Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin, and later Dhimitër. Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja conquered Pilot from the Arbanas during his southern campaign, Demetrius was the third and last lord of the Progon family, ruling between 1207 or 1208 and 1216. He succeeded his brother Gjin and brought the principality to its climax and he styled himself panhypersebastos and megas archon. He maintained international relations, with the Republic of Ragusa, Republic of Venice and he issued significant commercial benefits in his territory to the Republic of Ragusa, as is found in a Ragusan document. In 1208, Demetrius married Komnena Nemanjić, the daughter of Serbian Grand Prince, a brief alliance was established between the two countries amidst conflicts with the Republic of Venice. Demetrius marriage with Komnena did not rule out the risk of Serbian expansion toward the Albanian domains, however, in 1204, the most serious threat came from the Venetian Duchy of Dyrrhachium, a Latin entity formed after the Fourth Crusade in the former territories of the Byzantine Empire. In search for allies, Demetrius signed a treaty with the Republic of Ragusa in 1209 and this is considered a tactful move, which Demetrius undertook to establish ties with Western Europe against Venice. The friendship with the pope was of short duration, and soon turned into ill-feeling, according to K. Frashëri, Kamonas was elected
14.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
15.
Kingdom of Albania (medieval)
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The Kingdom of Albania was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territories he conquered from the Byzantine Empire in 1271. The Kingdom of Albania was declared in late February 1272, the kingdom extended from the region of Durazzo south along the coast to Butrint. A major attempt to further in direction of Constantinople failed at the Siege of Berat. A Byzantine counteroffensive soon ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1281, the Sicilian Vespers further weakened the position of Charles, and the Kingdom was soon reduced by the Byzantines to a small area around Durazzo. The Angevins held out here, however, until 1368, when the city was captured by Karl Thopia, in 1392 Karl Thopias son surrendered the city and his domains to the Republic of Venice. During the conflict between the Despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Nicaea in 1253, lord Golem of Kruja was initially allied with Epirus, Golems troops had occupied the Kostur area trying to prevent the Nicaean forces of John Vatatzes from entering Devoll. Vatatzes managed to convince Golem to switch sides and a new treaty was signed between the parties where Vatatzes promised to guarantee Golems autonomy, the same year Despot of Epirus Michael II signed a peace treaty with Nicaea acknowledging their authority over west Macedonia and Albania. The fortress of Krujë was surrendered to Nicaea, while the Nicean emperor acknowledged the old privileges, the same privileges were confirmed later by his successor Theodore II Laskaris. The Nicaeans took control of Durrës from Michael II in 1256, during the winter of 1256–57, George Akropolites tried to reinstall Byzantine authority in the area of Arbanon. Autonomy was thus banished and a new administration was imposed and this was in contrast to what the Nicaeans had promised before. The local Albanian leaders revolted and on hearing the news, Michael II also denounced the treaty with the Nicaea. With the support of Albanian forces he attacked the cities of Dibra, Ohrid, in the meantime Manfred of Sicily profited from the situation and launched an invasion into Albania. His forces, led by Philip Chinardi, captured Durrës, Berat, Vlorë, Spinarizza and their surroundings, facing a war in two fronts, despot Michael II came to terms with Manfred and became his ally. He recognized Manfreds authority over the regions which were ceded as a dowry gift following the marriage of his daughter Helena to Manfred. However, in September 1261, Manfred organized a new expedition and managed to capture all his dominions in Albania, Manfred respected the old autonomy and privileges of the local nobility and their regions. He also integrated Albanian nobles into his administration, as was the case with Andrea Vrana who was the captain and governor of Durrës. Albanian troops were used by Manfred in his campaigns in Italy. Manfred appointed Philippe Chinard as the general-governor of his dominions in Albania, initially based in Corfu, Chinard moved his headquarters to Kanina, the dominant center of the Vlorë region
16.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
17.
Albanian Declaration of Independence
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The Albanian Declaration of Independence is the declaration of independence of the Albanian Vilayet from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912, the success of the Albanian Revolt of 1912 sent a strong signal to the neighboring countries that the Ottoman Empire was weak. The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for an Albanian Vilayet and that was the reason for Ismail Qemali to organize All-Albanian Congress in Vlora. Under these circumstances, delegates from all over Albania were gathered in the Assembly of Vlorë, Ismail Qemali returned to Albania with Austro-Hungarian support and, at the head of a swiftly convened national assembly, declared Albanian independence in the town of Vlora on 28 November 1912. The declaration was more theoretical than practical because Vlora was the town in the whole country under the delegates’ control―yet it proved to be effective in the vacuum of power. The Ottoman Government had never taken their interests into consideration and had never been willing to recompense the Albanians for the services they had rendered. It had recently shown some interest in coming to an understanding with our people, War had recently broken out with four countries in the Balkans that were seeking change and rights for their peoples, united by their ethnicity and religion. Later, these countries put aside their initial objective and, as the war was going well for them, they agreed to divide the Empire up among themselves, including Albania. As there was no hope of saving Albania by means of arms. Ismail Kemal bey promoted this idea and objective, that was received by all the Great Powers, in particular by Austria. It was only Russia that remained somewhat hostile to the idea because of the Slavs, but it did not deny the existence of Albania and an Albanian people. The delegates unanimously agreed with the words of Ismail Kemal bey and resolved that Albania, as of today, should be on her own, free and independent under a provisional government. The meeting was adjourned until the day and the delegates went out. The assembly of eighty-three leaders meeting in Vlorë in November 1912 declared Albania an independent country, the complete text of the declaration, composed in Albanian and Ottoman Turkish, was, In Vlora, on the 15th/28th of November. This flag was sewn after Skanderbegs principality flag, which had used more than 400 years earlier. On 4 December 1912, the Assembly of Vlorë created the first Government of Independent Albania and it established also a Council of Elders, which would help the Government to it duties. On 1 March 1913, they convened an Albanian Congress of Trieste, there were 119 representatives in all, coming from the United States, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and of course from the new state itself. Bishop Fan Noli of Boston was one of the featured speakers, on December 1912 the Great Powers met in London to deal with territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War
18.
Republic of Central Albania
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The Republic of Central Albania was a short-lived unrecognised state established on October 16,1913 with its administrative centre in Durrës, today in Albania. The territory of the state was bounded by the river Mat in the North, the flag of the Republic of Central Albania was red with white star in lower right part. The Republic of Central Albania issued its own post stamps, faik Konica initially gave his support to the government of Essad Pasha. The most important role in establishing the Republic of Central Albania had Essad Pasha Toptani, during the First Balkan War, he became famous for his resistance during the Siege of Scutari. He was a member of the Toptani family, one of many families that were rich feudal Muslim landowners with privileged status during Ottoman rule, the Kingdom of Serbia agreed to support Essad Pashas government financially, and even with military force if needed. In exchange, Essad Pasha agreed to neutralize a large group of about 20,000 kachaks from Kosovo and they were led by Isa Boletini and supported by Ismail Qemali and his Provisional Government of Albania. Essad Pasha agreed to help the Kingdom of Serbia acquire part of the areas north of Black Drin. Young Turks from Istanbul were still hoping to restore Ottoman suzerainty over Albania and those activities resulted in an attempt to declare Ahmed İzzet Pasha, then minister of defence of the Ottoman Empire, first prince of Principality of Albania. Ahmed İzzet Pasha was to prevent those landowners from achieving privileged status with the help of several hundred Ottoman soldiers sent to Albania and they were all arrested by Dutch gendarmerie on January 8,1914, when they tried to disembark in Albania. The incident was officially denied by the government in Istanbul, izzet Pasha sent major Beqir Grebenali, another ethnic Albanian, to be one of his chief representatives in Albania. The Provisional Government of Albania under control of Ismail Qemali captured and executed major Beqir Grebenali, such provocative and damaging display of independence of Qemalis government angered Great Powers and International Commission of Control forced Qemali to step aside and leave Albania. This government was established by a group of Albanians led by Ismail Qemali, since the First Balkan War started before this agreement was confirmed in the assembly of the Ottoman Empire, this united Albanian vilayet remained officially unrecognized. Its independence was declared on November 28,1912 by a group of Albanians that Qemali had gathered from all four Ottoman vilayets together with four men, Albanians of Romania. In his work, Memorandum on Albania, Essad Pasha Toptani denied that Qemalis government was legitimate and these Catholics were reluctant to submit to any of the two national governments, just as they were reluctant to surrender to the Porte. Thus, after the Balkan Wars and before prince Wilhelm of Wied took control of the newly established Principality of Albania on March 7,1914, Albania was divided into three parts. Jacques The Albanians, a history, By Miranda Vickers Newspapers news about attempt of to accept call from Muslim landowners in Albania for throne of the province
19.
Essad Pasha Toptani
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Essad Pasha Toptani or Esad Pasha Toptani, primarily known as Essad Pasha, was an Ottoman army officer who served as Albanian deputy in the Ottoman parliament. He was a prominent politician in the early 20th century Albania, Toptani cooperated with the Balkan League after the Balkan Wars and established a state in central Albania, based in Durrës, called the Republic of Central Albania. He held the title of Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, Essad Pasha was born in 1863 in Tirana, Ottoman Empire the son of Ali Bey Toptani and Vasfije Alizoti. He belonged to prominent landowning family Toptani which founded contemporary Tirana, in 1908, having served as gendarmerie commander in Janina, he joined the Young Turks and became a member of the Turkish parliament as the deputy of Durrës. During the Albanian Revolt of 1912 Essad Pasha Toptani obliged himself to organize the uprising in Central Albania and Mirdita. On January 30,1913, Hasan Riza Pasha, commander of Shkodër, was ambushed and killed by Osman Bali and Mehmet Kavaja, Riza Pasha wanted to keep up the defense of the besieged city, and after his death Essad Pasha continued his resistance until April 1913. He turned the fortress of Shkodër over to Montenegro, only in April 1913 after a war and great heroism of Albanian. Essad Pasha was allowed in return to leave the town with his army, officially Serbia simultaneously helped a number of other small tribal chiefs who resisted Ismail Qemalis government, directing them towards cooperation with Essad Pasha. Back in Albania, relations between the Prince and the scheming Toptani, now minister of war and minister of the interior soon soured, Essad Pasha led a faction of his own in the Peasant Revolt in Albania against Prince Wilhem. He was the person in Albania to have a self-contained army of his own. On 9 January, his men tried to take Elbasan, but they were repulsed by the governor of the town, Aqif Pasha Elbasani. On 19 May 1914, when Toptani refused to lay down his weapons, armed forces under Dutch gendarmerie officer Johan Sluys surrounded and shelled his house in Durrës, forcing him to surrender. He was arrested for conspiracy, though after consultations with Prince Wied, he was not court-martialled but sent to Bari in southern Italy, from exile in Rome, he maintained close links with the Serbian and Montenegrin governments. With Italian and Serbian financial backing he established armed forces, Toptani invaded Dibër on 20 September, Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić ordered that his followers be aided with money and arms. His power base in central Albania was weakened in November 1914 by an uprising of Muslim rebels who turned against him, but he managed, with Italian support, to hold on to the town of Durrës. When Serbian forces invaded Albania in mid-June 1915, swiftly occupying Pogradec, Elbasan, Tirana and Kavaja, though his rule was not stable because of the First World War. In the end of 1914, Essad secretly agreed with the Greek government to support the annexation of the provinces, known to Greeks as Northern Epirus. He soon declared war on Austria-Hungary to show support for the Entente, during this time Tirana and much of central Albania was controlled by his Field Commander, Osman Bali
20.
Principality of Albania
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Albania had been under Ottoman rule from around 1478. The Great Powers recognized the independence of Albania in the Treaty of London in May 1913, the Great Powers selected Prince William of Wied, a nephew of Queen Elisabeth of Romania to become the sovereign of the newly independent Albania. A formal offer was made by 18 Albanian delegates representing the 18 districts of Albania on February 21,1914, outside of Albania William was styled prince, but in Albania he was referred to as Mbret so as not to seem inferior to the King of Montenegro. Prince William arrived in Albania at his capital of Durrës on March 7,1914 along with the Royal family. The security of Albania was to be provided by an International Gendarmerie commanded by Dutch officers, William never renounced his claim to the throne. World War I interrupted all government activities in Albania, and the country was split into a number of regional governments, political chaos engulfed Albania after the outbreak of World War I. Surrounded by insurgents in Durrës, Prince William departed the country in September 1914, just six months after arriving, the Albanian people split along religious and tribal lines after the princes departure. Muslims demanded a Muslim prince and looked to Ottomon Empire as the protector of the privileges they had enjoyed, hence many beys and clan chiefs, in late October 1914, Greek forces entered Albania in the Protocol of Corfus recognized Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. Italy occupied Vlorë, and Serbia and Montenegro occupied parts of northern Albania until a Central Powers offensive scattered the Serbian army, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces then occupied about two-thirds of the country. Serbia and Montenegro were promised much of northern Albania, and Greece was promised much of the southern half. The treaty was to leave a tiny Albanian state that would be represented by Italy in its relations with the major powers. In September 1918, the Entente forces broke through the Central Powers lines north of Thessaloniki, Albanias political confusion continued in the wake of World War I. Italian forces controlled Albanian political activity in the areas they occupied, the Serbs, who largely dictated Yugoslavias foreign policy after World War I, strove to take over northern Albania, and the Greeks sought to control southern Albania. Serbian troops conducted actions in Albanian-populated border areas, while Albanian guerrillas operated in both Serbia and Montenegro, the deal was done behind the Albanians backs and in the absence of a United States negotiator. The Lushnjë National Assembly appointed a regency to rule the country. A bicameral parliament was created, in which an elected lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, appointed members of its own ranks to an upper chamber. In February 1920, the government moved to Tirana, which became Albanias capital, one month later, in March 1920, U. S. President Woodrow Wilson intervened to block the Paris agreement. The countrys borders, however, remained unsettled, Albanias new government campaigned to end Italys occupation of the country and encouraged peasants to harass Italian forces
21.
Prenk Bib Doda
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Prenk Bib Doda was an Albanian leader of the resistance against the Ottoman Empire, prince of Mirdita, and politician in the Principality of Albania. Doda was born in 1860 in Orosh, Mirditë District, the son of Bibë Dodë Pasha of the Gjonmarkaj clan and his father was given the title Pasha from the Ottomans due to his support in suppressing the Albanian Revolt of 1843–44 against the Tanzimat reforms. He spent his youth in Istanbul and returned to Mirdita in 1876, immediately after, he went in agreement with the Montenegrins for and aided uprising against the Ottomans. He was a contributor to the Albanian League of Prizren in 1878. Doda was exiled by the Ottoman government, and was released in 1908, Doda led rebellions against the empire, on October 26,1911 he founded in Mirdita a Provision Government of Albania together with Terenzio Tocci, overruled by the Ottomans at that time. The government was paying a force of 5,000 to 7,000 under Dodas command. Dodas volunteers and the International Dutch Gendarmerie were also joined by Isa Boletini and his men, mostly from Kosovo, another expedition failed on June 23, around 15 miles north of Durrës near Slinzë, where Prenk himself was captured by the rebels and then released on parole. There were rumors that he was a traitor to Prince Wilhelm, after World War I, he served as Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Turhan Pasha Permeti. In 1918, at the Congress of Durrës, Doda was elected vice president and he was in a very tense relationship with the Italian authorities established in Albania, and in a very good relations with the British diplomats. On 22 March 1919 he was killed in a prepared by the Preng Gjeta Caku band, paid by the Italians, while traveling from Durrës to Shëngjin in company of British diplomat Eden. Prenk Republic of Mirdita Ottoman military reform efforts Catholicism in Albania
22.
Abaz Kupi
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Abaz Kupi or Abas Kupi also known as Bazi i Canës, was an Albanian military officer. He served as commander of the gendarmerie of the town of Kruja, as a royalist, he created the Legality Movement in Albania, which promoted the return to the throne of Zog of Albania. During the Cold War Kupi was a member of the Albanian Free Committee and he was also honored by the Military Order of Bravery. Born on 6 August 1892, in the Varosh neighborhood of Akçahisar, in 1913-1918 he entered the service of Essad Pasha Toptani. British Ambassador Hayres persuaded Elez Isufi to return to Dibra, the Italian invasion of Albania found Kupi with the rank of major in Durrës, but he was not capable of organizing the defense and had to flee before he was taken by the Italians. With the Italian invasion complete, Kupi moved to Turkey, where he remained until there was a new opportunity to fight the Italians and his family was deported to the south of Italy. When the United Kingdom entered World War II the British forces were looking into possibilities of creating an antifascist resistance in Albania. At this times the best fit figures of Albania was Muharrem Bajraktari, Prenk Pervizil Hysni Dema, Fiqri Dine, Gjon Markagjoni, Myslym Peza, Abaz Kupi went from Turkey with the intention of leading the resistance. The Yugoslav government was against such action, but when a German attack on Yugoslavia was imminent it gave the green light. On April 1941, a group led by Abaz Kupi, Xhemal Herri, Gani Kryeziu. Because of poor supplies and lack of coordination, the expedition was trapped in the regions of northern Albania. At this times captain Xhemal Herri, chief of secret services of King Zog and this crime was a great shame and indelible stain for Kupi. Abaz Kupi collaborated with the communists and was elected a member of the General Council of the National Liberation Movement known as LANÇ, Kupi participated with the communists in the Mukje Agreement organized by the Balli Kombëtar. Soon after the event, he was forced to leave the communists, and created the Legality Movement, which aimed for the return of King Zog to Albania. Apart from some sporadic fighting in September 1943 in Krujë, his forces did not attack German troops, although pressed to do so by the British mission, which was established with them. At these circumstances the British mission was protected by General Prenk Pervizi, one of the most important nationalist personalities, when the Albanian communists First Storm Division attacked in northern Albania from August to October 1944, the British mission left Albania. Anti-communist leaders fled to the mountains in agreement with the Allies, instead, Kupi fled by boat and was taken by the Italians and put in prison in Ancona. After his arrival in Italy, Kupi was liberated by Allied troops from Ancona prison, in 1949, the Albanians formed in Paris the Free Albania Committee with President Midhat Frashëri, of which also Kupi it took part with other important Albanians
23.
Skanderbeg Museum
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The Skanderbeg Museum in Krujë honors Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbej, the national hero of Albania. The museum is located inside the Krujë Castle and the restored bazaar, the citadel includes a restored house from the Ottoman era that is now the Ethnographic Museum. The Krujë Castle, which houses the museum, is a historic citadel, Ottoman troops attacked it thrice, in 1450,1466 and 1467, but failed to take control. It was this fortress that helped George Kastrioti Skanderbeg defend Albania from the Ottoman invasion for more than two decades. The museum contains objects dating back to Skanderbeg’s time, the exhibits have been arranged in a way that chronicles his life and military feats. Paintings, armor, and other dating back to his time have been exhibited to showcase one of the proudest periods of Albanian history. An interesting display is the replica of the hero’s famous goat head-topped helmet, the memorial building was designed by Pirro Vaso and Pranvera Hoxha. History of Albania Tourism in Albania Architecture of Albania Skanderbeg Official Website Internal photograph,2006
24.
Fountain
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A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air to supply drinking water and/or for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were originally purely functional, connected to springs or aqueducts and used to drinking water and water for bathing and washing to the residents of cities, towns. Until the late 19th century most fountains operated by gravity, and needed a source of higher than the fountain, such as a reservoir or aqueduct. In addition to providing drinking water, fountains were used for decoration, Roman fountains were decorated with bronze or stone masks of animals or heroes. In the Middle Ages, Moorish and Muslim garden designers used fountains to create versions of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France used fountains in the Gardens of Versailles to illustrate his power over nature, the baroque decorative fountains of Rome in the 17th and 18th centuries marked the arrival point of restored Roman aqueducts and glorified the Popes who built them. By the end of the 19th century, as indoor plumbing became the source of drinking water. Mechanical pumps replaced gravity and allowed fountains to recycle water and to force it high into the air, the Jet dEau in Lake Geneva, built in 1951, shoots water 140 metres in the air. The highest such fountain in the world is King Fahds Fountain in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, fountains are used today to decorate city parks and squares, to honor individuals or events, for recreation and for entertainment. A Splash pad or spray pool allows city residents to enter, get wet, the musical fountain combines moving jets of water, colored lights and recorded music, controlled by a computer, for dramatic effects. Drinking fountains provide clean drinking water in buildings, parks. Ancient civilizations built stone basins to capture and hold precious drinking water, a carved stone basin, dating to around 2000 BC, was discovered in the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash in modern Iraq. The ancient Assyrians constructed a series of basins in the gorge of the Comel River, carved in rock, connected by small channels. The lowest basin was decorated with carved reliefs of two lions, the ancient Greeks were apparently the first to use aqueducts and gravity-powered fountains to distribute water. In the 6th century BC the Athenian ruler Peisistratos built the fountain of Athens. It had nine large cannons, or spouts, which supplied drinking water to local residents. Greek fountains were made of stone or marble, with water flowing through bronze pipes, most Greek fountains flowed by simple gravity, but they also discovered how to use principle of a siphon to make water spout, as seen in pictures on Greek vases. The Ancient Romans built a system of aqueducts from mountain rivers and lakes to provide water for the fountains
25.
Medieval Greek
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From the 7th century onwards, Greek was the only language of administration and government in the Byzantine Empire. This stage of language is described as Byzantine Greek. The study of the Medieval Greek language and literature is a branch of Byzantine Studies, or Byzantinology, however, this approach is rather arbitrary as it is more an assumption of political as opposed to cultural and linguistic developments. Indeed, by time the spoken language, particularly pronunciation, had already shifted towards modern forms. Medieval Greek is the link between this vernacular, known as Koine Greek, and the Modern Greek language. With the transfer of the Roman imperial court to Byzantium between 324 and 330, the centre of the Roman Empire was moved into an area where Greek was the dominant language. At first, Latin remained the language of both the court and the army and it was used for documents, but its influence soon waned. From the beginning of the 6th century, amendments to the law were written in Greek. Furthermore, parts of the Roman Corpus Iuris Civilis were gradually translated into Greek, under the rule of Emperor Heraclius, who also assumed the Greek title Basileus in 629, Greek became the official language of the Eastern Roman Empire. This was in spite of the fact that the inhabitants of the empire still considered themselves Romaioi until its end in 1453, the number of those who were able to communicate in Greek may have been far higher. In any case, all cities of the Eastern Roman Empire were strongly influenced by the Greek language, alexandria, a center of Greek culture and language, fell to the Arabs in 642. During the seventh and eighth centuries, Greek was replaced by Arabic as a language in conquered territories such as Egypt. Thus, the use of Greek declined early on in Syria, Egypt, from the late 11th century onwards, the interior of Anatolia was invaded by Seljuq Turks, who advanced westwards. Language varieties after 1453 are referred to as Modern Greek, as early as in the Hellenistic period, there was a tendency towards a state of diglossia between the Attic literary language and the constantly developing vernacular Koiné. By late antiquity, the gap had become impossible to ignore, written literature reflecting this demotic Greek begins to appear around 1100. Among the preserved literature in the Attic literary language, various forms of historiography take a prominent place and they comprise chronicles as well as classicist, contemporary works of historiography, theological documents, and saints lives. Poetry can be found in the form of hymns and ecclesiastical poetry, many of the Byzantine emperors were active writers themselves and wrote chronicles or works on the running of the Byzantine state and strategic or philological works. Furthermore, letters, legal texts, and numerous registers and lists in Medieval Greek exist and these are influenced by the vernacular language of their time in choice of words and idiom, but largely follow the models of written Koine in their morphology and syntax
26.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
27.
Medieval Latin
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Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors, medieval Latin should not be confused with Ecclesiastical Latin. There is no consensus on the exact boundary where Late Latin ends. Medieval Latin had a vocabulary, which freely borrowed from other sources. Greek provided much of the vocabulary of Christianity. The various Germanic languages spoken by the Germanic tribes, who invaded southern Europe, were major sources of new words. Germanic leaders became the rulers of parts of the Roman Empire that they conquered, other more ordinary words were replaced by coinages from Vulgar Latin or Germanic sources because the classical words had fallen into disuse. Latin was also spread to such as Ireland and Germany. Works written in the lands, where Latin was a language with no relation to the local vernacular, also influenced the vocabulary. English words like abstract, subject, communicate, matter, probable, the high point of the development of medieval Latin as a literary language came with the Carolingian renaissance, a rebirth of learning kindled under the patronage of Charlemagne, king of the Franks. On the other hand, strictly speaking there was no form of medieval Latin. Every Latin author in the period spoke Latin as a second language, with varying degrees of fluency, and syntax, grammar. For instance, rather than following the classical Latin practice of placing the verb at the end. Unlike classical Latin, where esse was the auxiliary verb, medieval Latin writers might use habere as an auxiliary, similar to constructions in Germanic. The accusative and infinitive construction in classical Latin was often replaced by a clause introduced by quod or quia. This is almost identical, for example, to the use of que in similar constructions in French. In every age from the late 8th century onwards, there were learned writers who were familiar enough with classical syntax to be aware that these forms and usages were wrong, however the use of quod to introduce subordinate clauses was especially pervasive and is found at all levels. That resulted in two features of Medieval Latin compared with Classical Latin. First, many attempted to show off their knowledge of Classical Latin by using rare or archaic constructions
28.
Turkish language
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Outside of Turkey, significant smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union add Turkish as an official EU language, in 1928, as one of Atatürks Reforms in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Turkish alphabet was replaced with a Latin alphabet. The distinctive characteristics of Turkish are vowel harmony and extensive agglutination, the basic word order of Turkish is subject–object–verb. Turkish has no classes or grammatical gender. Turkish has a strong T–V distinction and usage of honorifics, Turkish uses second-person pronouns that distinguish varying levels of politeness, social distance, age, courtesy or familiarity toward the addressee. The plural second-person pronoun and verb forms are used referring to a person out of respect. Turkic languages belong to the Altaic language group, the Turkic family comprises some 30 living languages spoken across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia. Turkish is a member of the Oghuz group of languages, a subgroup of the Turkic language family, there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between Turkish and the other Oghuz Turkic languages, including Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, Gagauz, and Balkan Gagauz Turkish. The earliest known Old Turkic inscriptions are the three monumental Orkhon inscriptions found in modern Mongolia, erected in honour of the prince Kul Tigin and his brother Emperor Bilge Khagan, these date back to the second Turk Kaghanate. The Seljuqs of the Oghuz Turks, in particular, brought their language, following the adoption of Islam c. Turkish literature during the Ottoman period, particularly Divan poetry, was influenced by Persian, including the adoption of poetic meters. One of the tasks of the newly established association was to initiate a reform to replace loanwords of Arabic. By banning the usage of imported words in the press, the association succeeded in removing several hundred words from the language. While most of the words introduced to the language by the TDK were newly derived from Turkic roots, owing to this sudden change in the language, older and younger people in Turkey started to differ in their vocabularies. While the generations born before the 1940s tend to use the terms of Arabic or Persian origin. The past few decades have seen the work of the TDK to coin new Turkish words to express new concepts and technologies as they enter the language. Many of these new words, particularly information technology terms, have received widespread acceptance, however, the TDK is occasionally criticized for coining words which sound contrived and artificial. Some earlier changes—such as bölem to replace fırka, political party—also failed to meet with popular approval, some words restored from Old Turkic have taken on specialized meanings, for example betik is now used to mean script in computer science
29.
Iron Age
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The Iron Age is an archaeological era, referring to a period of time in the prehistory and protohistory of the Old World when the dominant toolmaking material was iron. It is commonly preceded by the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia with exceptions, meteoric iron has been used by humans since at least 3200 BC. Ancient iron production did not become widespread until the ability to smelt ore, remove impurities. The start of the Iron Age proper is considered by many to fall between around 1200 BC and 600 BC, depending on the region, the earliest known iron artifacts are nine small beads dated to 3200 BC, which were found in burials at Gerzeh, Lower Egypt. They have been identified as meteoric iron shaped by careful hammering, meteoric iron, a characteristic iron–nickel alloy, was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. Such iron, being in its metallic state, required no smelting of ores. Smelted iron appears sporadically in the record from the middle Bronze Age. While terrestrial iron is abundant, its high melting point of 1,538 °C placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the second millennium BC. Tins low melting point of 231, similarly, recent archaeological remains of iron working in the Ganges Valley in India have been tentatively dated to 1800 BC. By the Middle Bronze Age, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects appeared in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, African sites are turning up dates as early as 1200 BC. Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of iron production in around 1200 BC. Between 1200 BC and 1000 BC, diffusion in the understanding of iron metallurgy and use of objects was fast. As evidence, many bronze implements were recycled into weapons during this time, more widespread use of iron led to improved steel-making technology at lower cost. Thus, even when tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger, and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently. Increasingly, the Iron Age in Europe is being seen as a part of the Bronze Age collapse in the ancient Near East, in ancient India, ancient Iran, and ancient Greece. In other regions of Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe, the Near Eastern Iron Age is divided into two subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age, during the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly alloys which were produced with a carbon content between approximately 0. 30% and 1. 2% by weight. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, however, steel was difficult to produce with the methods available, and alloys that were easier to make, such as wrought iron, were more common in lower-priced goods
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Illyrian Wars
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The Illyrian Wars were a set of wars fought in the period 229–168 BC between the Roman Republic and the Ardiaei kingdom. Rome expelled Illyrian garrisons from a number of Greek cities including Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra, Pharos, the Romans also set up Demetrius of Pharos as a power in Illyria to counterbalance the power of Teuta. The Second Illyrian War lasted from 220 BC to 219 BC, in 219 BC, the Roman Republic was at war with the Celts of Cisalpine Gaul, and the Second Punic War with Carthage was beginning. These distractions gave Demetrius the time he needed to build a new Illyrian war fleet, leading this fleet of 90 ships, Demetrius sailed south of Lissus, violating his earlier treaty and starting the war. Demetrius fleet first attacked Pylos, where he captured 50 ships after several attempts, from Pylos, the fleet sailed to the Cyclades, quelling any resistance that they found on the way. Demetrius foolishly sent a fleet across the Adriatic, and, with the Illyrian forces divided, from Dimale the navy went towards Pharos. In 171 BC, the Illyrian king Gentius was allied with the Romans against the Macedonians, but in 169 BC he changed sides and allied himself with Perseus of Macedon. During the Third Illyrian War, in 168 BC, he arrested two Roman legati and destroyed the cities of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium, which were allied to Rome. He was defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under L. Anicius Gallus, in the second half of the third century BC, the Ardiaei kingdom was transformed into a formidable power under the leadership of Agron. During this time, Agron invaded part of Epirus, Corcyra, Epidamnos and Pharos in succession, the Illyrians used the lembus, a small and fast warship with a single bank of oars. Raids by sea from the Adriatic and Ionian were probably a familiar threat to the north-western Greeks, what was new was the use of a land army to follow up and profit from the victories gained by the navy. The Greek cities on the coast of Illyria were systematically attacked, Rome answered an appeal from the island of Issa, threatened by Agron, by sending envoys. They were attacked en route by Illyrian vessels, and one of them was killed and that time a number of political events marked the adjacent Greek states. In 234 BC, the succession in Epirus came to an end. In the south, the part of Acarnania seceded from this arrangement. Besieged at Medion, the Acarnanians sought assistance from Demetrius II of Macedonia, in response, the king requested assistance from Agron to relieve the siege. The Illyrian attack under Agron was mounted in either 232 or 231 BC, one hundred lembi, with 5000 men on board, sailed up to land at Medion. They then formed up in the order that was usual in their own country and this defeat of the Aetolians, who were famed for their victory over the invading Gauls a generation before, caused a sensation in Greece
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Roman Republic
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It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
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Serbian Empire
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The Serbian Empire is a historiographical term for the empire in the Balkan peninsula that emerged from the medieval Serbian Kingdom. It was established in 1346 by King Stefan Dušan, known as the Mighty and he also promoted the Serbian Church to an Orthodox patriarchate. His son and successor, Uroš the Weak, lost most of the territory, the Serbian Empire effectively ended with the death of Stefan V in 1371 and the break-up of the Serbian state. Some successors of Stefan V claimed the title of Emperor in parts of Serbia until 1402, Stefan Dušan became King of Serbia by deposing father, Stefan Dečanski. By 1345, Dušan the Mighty had expanded his state to cover half of the Balkans, therefore, in 1345, in Serres, Dušan proclaimed himself Tsar. On 16 April 1346, in Skopje, he had himself crowned Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, the ceremony was performed by the newly elevated Serbian Patriarch Joanikije II, the Bulgarian Patriarch Simeon, and Nicholas, the Archbishop of Ohrid. Tsar Dušan doubled the size of his kingdom, seizing territories to the south, southeast. Serbia held parts of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moravian Serbia, Kosovo, Zeta, modern Macedonia, modern Albania and he did not fight a single field battle, instead winning his empire by besieging cities. Dušan undertook a campaign against the Byzantine Empire, which was attempting to avert a deteriorating situation after the destruction caused by the Fourth Crusade, Dušan swiftly seized Thessaly, Albania, Epirus, and most of Macedonia. Dušan thus ruled over the almost the entire Balkan peninsula, with only southern Greece, Salonica and he gave sanctuary to the former regent of the Byzantine Empire, John VI Kantakouzenos, in revolt against the government, and agreed to an alliance. In 1349 and 1354, Dušan enacted a set of known as Dušans Code. The Code was based on Roman-Byzantine law and the first Serbian constitution and it was a Civil and Canon law system, based on the Ecumenical Councils, for the functioning of the state and the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1355, Dušan begin military preparations, assembling an army of 80,000 men, Dušan marched towards Constantinople, capturing Adrianople in a fierce battle. The Serbian army was proceeding to Constantinople, located 40 miles to the east and his expedition ended as well, and the army retreated carrying the dead body of the man who had elevated Serbia to the rank of a great power. Dušan was succeeded by his son, Stefan Uroš V, called the Weak, the combination of sudden conquest, backwards administration, and failure to consolidate its holdings led to the fragmentation of the empire. The period was marked by the rise of a new threat, the Ottoman Turkish sultanate gradually spread from Asia to Europe and conquered first Byzantine Thrace, and then the other Balkan states. Too incompetent to sustain the empire created by his father. The Serbian Empire of Stefan V fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities, Stefan Uroš V died childless on 4 December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been killed by the Ottoman Turks during the Battle of Maritsa
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Karl Topia
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Karl Topia was an Albanian feudal prince and warlord who ruled Albania from the middle of the 14th century until the first Ottoman conquest of Albania. Topia usually maintained good relations with the Roman Curia, in 1376 a vacant place became an ore diocese in Durrës, again with a Latin Bishop to be occupied. The first mention of the Topia is from 1329, when Tanusio Topia was mentioned as one of the counts of Albania, in 1338, Tanusio was mentioned as Count of Matia. Andrea abducted and married her, and they had two sons, Karl and George, king Robert, enraged, under the pretext of reconciliation had the couple invited to Naples where he had them executed. In 1358, Karl rose against the rule of the Anjou and managed to drive out of Durrës from Epirus. He ruled most of modern central Albania from 1358 to 1388, since 1362, Karl sought himself to set Durrës, which was in the possession of the Duchess Joanna of Anjou. The first, certainly still unsuccessful siege lasted from April 1362 until May 1363, then, Topia 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, Karl gained control of Durrës in 1368, which was where the Angevins held out due to their Kingdom becoming smaller in size. Topia ruled over the regions of Durrës, Kruja, Peqin, Elbasan, Mokra and Gora, Balša II made a fourth attempt to conquer Durrës, an important commercial and strategic center, which was ruled by his rival, Karl Topia. In 1385, Balša II started an offensive, capturing Durrës from Karl Topia the following year, Topia 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 Lushnja, Balša II fought the Turks and was defeated and killed. Thopia again gained control over Durazzo, probably under Ottoman suzerainty, in the last decade of his rule, Karl closely followed the Republic of Venice, particularly with regard to foreign policy. On August 17,1386, Karl Topia allied himself with Venice and committed himself to participate in all wars of the Republic or pay auxiliary funds, in addition, he promised the Venetian buyers protection in his lands. In return, Venice supplied a galley, permitted recruitment of Topias mercenaries in Venetian areas, the Ottomans undertook several heavy attacks on Durrës, which also still persisted as Karl died in January 1388. His son, Gjergj, became Karls successor, in 1381, Karl built the St. Gjon Vladimirs Church in the proximity of Elbasan, where Gjon Vladimirs remains were held until 1995. He is depicted in the icon of St. Vladimir, painted by Onufri, wearing a crown, inscriptions, A calligraphic inscription in Greek says, ΚΑΡΛΑ ΘΕΩΠΙΑC ΚΑΙ ΚΤΗΤΩΡ ΤΗC ΑΓΙΑC ΜΟΝΗC ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ. 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 and this inscription is currently located in the Albanian Historical Museum in Tirana
Albania
Durrës
