Battle of Durazzo (1376)

The Battle of Durazzo (Albanian: Beteja e Durrës) was fought in the midsummer of 1376 between the Principality of Albania under Karl Thopia and Navarrese Company under Louis of Évreux at Durrës. The Navarrese Company who were hired by Louis of Évreux to support him in recovering his newly acquired rights of Durazzo and the Kingdom of Albania.

Background

Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo who was the eldest daughter of Charles, Duke of Durazzo inherited the rights to the Kingdom of Albania after her father's death, and reigned as a duchess. In 1365 Louis of Évreux married Joanna and inherited the rights to the Kingdom of Albania, becoming the Duke of Durazzo by right of his wife. Karl Thopia from the Albanian Thopia family conquered and took control of Durrës in 1368 and incorporated it into the Principality of Albania. Durrës held the last of the Angevins, they held out the kingdom before Karl Thopia conquered Durrës which led to the Kingdom of Albania becoming disestablished. After this event occurred Louis made various attempts to expel the intruders from Durazzo and Albania as a whole, but these documents have been lost to obscurity.

Battle

The great final effort by Louis of Évreux to regain his right to rule over the Kingdom of Albania and reestablish it began. In 1372 he planned to expel the intruders from his land at once. Louis hired four companies of knights from Navarre who are referred to as the Navarrese Company. More soldiers were recruited and added to the numbers of the Navarrese Company, but the chief contingents and the most important leaders were engaged by 1375–1376. These soldiers came directly from Navarre to Albania and many extensive preparations were made for this invasion. But little is known about the overall expedition to Albania. Louis received much assistance from his brother Charles II of Navarre who was the King of Navarre and from Charles V of France who was the King of France. The ranks of the Navarre Company swelled considerably in 1375 with new recruits directly from Navarre. The four leaders of the Navarrese Company were Pedro de la Saga, Mahiot de Coquerel, both of which who were chamberlains of the Navarrese king. John de Urtubia and finally Garro or Guarro who is referred to as squires in a document. The battle began in the Midsummer of 1376 and Louis and the Navarrese Company were successful in occupying Durrës. Officially Reestablishing the Kingdom of Albania.

Aftermath

After Louis of Évreux and the Navarrese Company succeeded in gaining back Durrës and reestablishing the Kingdom of Albania. Louis of Évreux died shortly after in the same year. Since the Navarrese Company was under the service of Louis their contract was terminated soon after his death. It is possible that the Navarrese Company may have continued to serve the widow Joanna of Durazzo until her second marriage. Left stranded after Louis's death and anxious to return to their homes in Navarre and Gascony the Navarrese Company spent two or three difficult years in Durazzo. After those few years passed the Navarrese Company passed into Morea leaving Durrës and going into the service of Jacques de Baux, John of Urtubia or Nerio Acciajuoli. Durrës remained under the control of Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo and her second husband Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu for a few years until Karl Thopia invaded Durrës in 1383. Leading to the Disestablishment of the Kingdom of Albania for the final time.

References

Sources

• Fine, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
• Hussey, J. M. (1966). The Cambridge medieval history. Volume IV. Part I, The Byzantine empire. Byzantium and its neighbours. University Press. ISBN 978-0-5210-4535-3.
• La Monte, John L (1949). The world of the Middle Ages : a reorientation of medieval history. Appleton-Century-Crofts. ISBN 978-0-8919-7473-4.
• Rodd, Rennell (1907). The Princes of Achaia and the Chronicles of Morea: A Study of Greece in the Middle Ages, Volume 2. the University of Wisconsin - Madison. ISBN 978-0-6561-3237-9.
• Setton, Kenneth (1975). A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3.
• Woodacre, Elena (2013). The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics, and Partnerships, 1274-1512. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-1373-3914-0.
• Zacour, Norman P (1960). Talleyrand: The Cardinal of Périgord (1301-1364). American Philosophical Society. ISBN 978-0-8716-9507-9.