Karl Thopia

{{main|Thopia family}}

The first mention of the Thopia is from 1329,{{cite book|author=Johann Georg von Hahn|title=Reise durch die Gebiete des Drin und Wardar: im Auftrage der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften unternommen im Jahre 1863|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXhcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA282|year=1867|publisher=Aus der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei|page=282}} when Tanusio Thopia was mentioned as one of the counts of Albania.{{cite book|author=Émile G. Léonard|title=Histoire de Jeanne 1re, reine de Naples, comtesse de Provence (1343–1382): La jeunesse de la reine Jeanne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=coRJAAAAMAAJ|year=1932|publisher=Imprimerie de Monaco|page=107}} In 1338, Tanusio was mentioned as Count of Mat (conte di Matia).{{cite book|title=Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btZHAQAAIAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Scuola Tipografica Italo-Orientale "S.Nilo"}} According to Karl Hopf, Tanusio's son or brother Andrea I, as told by Gjon Muzaka (fl. 1510), had fallen in love with an illegitimate daughter of King Robert of Naples when her ship, en route to the Principality of the Morea to be wed with the bailli, had stopped at Durrës where they met. Andrea abducted and married her, and they had two sons, Karl and George. Karl was named after his great great grandfather Charles I of Anjou. King Robert, enraged, under the pretext of reconciliation had the couple invited to Naples where he had them executed.{{cite book|author=Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf|title=Geschichte Griechenlands vom Beginn des Mittelalters bis auf unsere Zeit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpHPclZ4gT8C&pg=PA41|year=1960|publisher=B. Franklin|quote=… da deren Besitzungen bald darauf in der Hand jenes Tanussio Thopia (1328–1338) waren, dem König Robert von Neapel 1338 den Besitz der Grafschaft Mat bestätigte. Des letztern Sohn oder Bruder Andreas war es, der sich mit dem Hause Capet verschwägerte. König Robert, so erzählt Musachi, hatte seine natürliche Tochter dem Bailli von Morea – vielleicht dem Bertrand de Baux – zur Gattin bestimmt und sie nach Durazzo gesandt, wo damals Thopia weilte. Er verliebte sich in sie, entführte und heirathete sie. Zwei Söhne, Karl und Georg, entsprossen dieser Ehe. Aber schwer traf die Gatten bald die Rache des erzürnten Vaters; unter dem Scheine der Versöhnung lud er beide zu sich nach Neapel ein und ließ sie dort hinrichten; die Kinder aber, in denen somit wirklich das Blut der Angiovinen floß, wurden gerettet; in der festen Burg Kroja , die er später ausbaute, nicht, wie die Sage meldet , erst gründete "), wuchs Karl auf, entschlossen, den Mord des vaters zu rächen}} Karl Thopia is first mentioned in 1350, at a time when Anjou still owned Durrës.

The long protracted turmoil of dynastic wars had made germinate in their real victims, the Albanians, the seeds of national sentiment which contained great promise, so that, when after Emperor Stefan Dušan's death, a descendant of Stefan Uroš I, returned to the province, the inhabitants rose en masse and, under the leadership of Karl Thopia, cut down the pretender and his entire force in the battle of Acheloos.{{cite book|title=E. J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913–1936|author= M. Th. Houtsma|year= 1987|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA456|page=456|publisher= BRILL|isbn= 9004082654|access-date=15 November 2011}}

In 1358, Karl rose against the rule of the Anjou and managed to drive them out of Durrës from Epirus and Albania. He ruled most of modern central Albania from 1358 to 1388 and held the title of Princeps Albaniae (Prince of Albania) and Duke of Durrës.{{harvnb|Fine|1994|pp=372–373}}: "Karlo entered into close relations with Venice, which granted him Venetian citizenship and called him Prince of Albania."{{cite book|last=Elsie|first= Robert|title=The Tribes of Albania History, Society and Culture |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-8577-2586-8 |page=7 |quote=...Charles Thopia (d. 1388) held sway in a triangle of land between Durrës, Kruja and Elbasan, and called himself prince of Albania (princeps Albaniae)...}}{{cite book|last=Elsie|first= Robert|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania |date=2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7380-3 |page=42 |quote=...Charles Thopia as Prince of Albania (princeps Albaniae)...}}{{cite book|last= de Sufflay|first= Emilianus|title=Acta et diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia Collegerunt et digesserunt dr Ludovicus de Thalóczy, dr Constantinus Jireček|date=1918 |publisher=the University of Michigan|isbn= |page=263 |quote=...prineps Albaniae; magnus comes: Carolus Thopia 1359--1388...}}{{cite book|last=Djukanovic|first= Bojka|title=Historical Dictionary of Montenegro |date=2023 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-3915-8 |page=30 |quote=...Karl Topia, Prince of Albania...}}{{cite book|last=Oliver Jens Schmitt|first= Bernd J. Fischer|title=A Concise History of Albania |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-1070-1773-3 |page=42 |quote=...Charles, had assumed the pompous title of a Duke of Durrës...}}

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

File:Stema e Karl Topisë.png (1381)]]

Karl gained control of Durrës in 1368, which was where the Angevins held out due to their Kingdom becoming smaller in size. In 1374, Pope Gregory XI awarded him the title "Grande Conte d'Albania" (Grand Count of Albania).Fine, 1994 [https://archive.org/details/latemedievalbalk00fine p. 371] Karl lost Durrës in 1376, conquered by Joanna's husband Louis during the Durrës Expedition, but recovered it in 1383 when the last mercenaries of the Navarrese Company moved to Greece.{{cite book|author=John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine |title=The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest|date=1994 |publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-4720-8260-5|page=384|quote=...The Angevins retained Durazzo for a time, for in 1379 Joanna's new husband, Robert of Artois, is found issuing to Dubrovnik a charter pertaining to Durazzo. Karlo Thopia, who held the territory both north and south of the city, soon, probably in 1383, regained possession of Durazzo...}}{{sfnp|Fine|1994|p=384}}

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

Balsha II and the Thopia had been fighting for the control of the region between Lake Skadar and Durrës since 1363. Balsha, allied with the Albanian tribe Mataruge, tried to invade Albania in 1364. In the summer of the same year, Balsha was defeated by Karl and Gjergj Balsha was captured in a skirmish. It would not be until 1366 that Republic of Ragusa would mediate peace between them and procured the release of Balsha II.Fine 1994, [https://archive.org/details/latemedievalbalk00fine p. 372] In 1380, Karl Thopia tried to make an alliance with King Louis I of Hungary, who confirmed it in the possessions he had in Durrës and the surrounding area. This alliance was not welcomed by either the Venetians or the Roman Curia, as long as the Hungarian king supported Avignon's antipope. Rejecting Charles's legitimacy over Durrës, the Pope turned his brother-in-law Balsha II against him.

File:Medieval Durrës.jpg during the Medieval era.]]

Balsha II made a fourth attempt to conquer Durrës, an important commercial and strategic center, which was ruled by his rival, Karl Thopia. In 1385, Balsha II started an offensive, capturing Durrës from Karl Thopia the following year, and proclaimed himself Duke of Durazzo (Durrës). Thopia called on the Turks for assistance. Murad I gladly sent an army of 40,000 men from Macedonia. In the plain of Savra between Elbasan and Lushnjë, Balsha II fought the Turks and was defeated and killed.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Thopia again gained control over Durrës, probably under Ottoman suzerainty.{{Sfn|Fine|1994|p=390}}

{{unreferenced section|date=March 2015}}

In the last decade of his rule, Karl closely followed the Republic of Venice, particularly with regard to foreign policy. On 17 August 1386, Karl Thopia allied himself with Venice and committed himself to participate in all wars of the Republic or pay auxiliary funds and supply grain. In addition, he promised the Venetian buyers protection in his lands. In return, Venice supplied a galley, permitted recruitment of Thopia's mercenaries in Venetian areas and instructed the captain of their Adriatic fleet to protect Karl's coasts from the Ottomans. The Ottomans undertook several heavy attacks on Durrës, which also still persisted as Karl died in January 1388, where he was buried in Saint John Vladimir's Church.{{cite book|last= Rojas Molina|first= Grabiela|title=Decoding Debate in the Venetian Senate Short Stories of Crisis and Response on Albania (1392-1402)|date=2022 |publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9-0045-2093-6 |page=83 |quote=...He died in January, 1388. His only son (George Thopia) succeeded him...}}{{cite book|last=E. Jacques|first= Edwin |title=The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present - Volume 1 |date=2009 |publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-4238-6 |page=167 |quote=...Upon his death in 1388, Karl was buried in the monastery of St. John which he had built in Elbasan...}}{{cite book|last=Fine, Jr|first= John V. A.|title=The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest |date=1994 |publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-4720-8260-5 |page=391 |quote=...However, Karlo Thopia died in 1387 or 1388. He was buried in a church he built near modern Elbasan. His epitaph was given in three languages–Greek, Latin and Serbian...}} His son, Gjergj Thopia, became Karl's successor.{{cite book|last=E. Jacques|first= Edwin |title=The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present - Volume 1 |date=2009 |publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-4238-6 |page=174 |quote=...Upon the death of Karl Topia (1388) his sickly son Gjergj headed the principality. Being an ineffective ruler anyway, he yielded to Venetian pressure and left Durrës to Venice just before he died in 1392...}}

In 1381, Karl built the St. Gjon Vladimir's Church in the proximity of Elbasan, where Jovan Vladimir's remains were held until 1995.{{citation|last=Anamali|first=Skënder|title=Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime|volume=I|year=2002|page=294|publisher=Botimet Toena|language=Albanian|oclc=52411919}} He is depicted in the icon scenes of the life of Saint Jovan Vladimir , painted by Onufri, wearing a crown and standing by the Church of the Saint.

Inscriptions:

• A calligraphic inscription in Greek says: "ΚΑΡΛΑ ΘΕΩΠΙΑϹ ΚΑΙ ΚΤΗΤΩΡ ΤΗϹ ΑΓΙΑϹ ΜΟΝΗϹ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ" (Karla Theopias, builder of the Holy Monastery of the Saint).
• File:Shijon, Albania - St Jovan Vladimir's Church 2018 01.jpg was founded by Karl Thopia]]Another Greek inscription in the building refers to him as: "... ο πανυψηλώτατος πρώτος Κάρλας Θεωπίας ανεψιός δε και αίματος ρύγας της Φραγγίας... οικοδόμησεν τον πάνσεπτον ναόν τούτον του αγίου Ιωάννου του Βλαδιμήρου ..." (the highest and prime Karlas Theopias, nephew and by blood king of Francia ... built this holy church of St. John Vladimir ... ) dated 1382. This inscription is currently located in the Albanian Historical Museum in Tirana.Icons from the Orthodox Communities of Albania, catalog of the exhibition of the collection of icons of the National Museum of Medieval Art of Korce, held in Thessaloniki in 2006. Published by the [http://www.ekbmm.gr/english.php European Centre of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414221031/http://www.ekbmm.gr/english.php |date=14 April 2019 }} – Museum of Byzantine Culture (Greece), p. 138.
• "These signs of a great lord ... Carla Thopea" (ετούτα τα σιμάδηα αυθέντου μέγα ... Κάρλα Θοπήα).[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ahy9953.0001.001/139?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image von Hahn Johann Georg, Albanesische studien, vol. 1, pp. 119, 120]

According to North Macedonian researcher from Skopje, Grodzanov, Karl Thopia made significant contributions to reconstruct the church of saints Clement and Panteleimon in Ohrid. According to another author, in the northern narthex of the church, near the entrance to the nave, a fragment of a fresco depicts a double-headed eagle and near the neck is drawn the triple lily, the heraldic symbol of the coat of arms of the royal family of the Angevins of France, which Karl Thopia was related to maternally. The same coat of arms can be found on the portrait of Karl painted by Kostandin Shpataraku. Author V. Moshin claims that during the year 1380, the elder Gervasije, the abbot of the church, together with his brothers, addressed Karl Topia as the new Ktitor.{{Cite web |last=Shtylla |first=Valter |title=Gjurmë të Fisnikut Arbëror Karl Topia në Ohër gjatë Mesjetës |url=https://telegraf.al/speciale/prof-dr-valter-shtylla-gjurme-te-fisnikut-arberor-karl-topia-ne-oher-gjate-mesjetes/ |website=Telegrafi}}{{Cite book |last=Grozdanov |first=Cvetan |url=https://ia601804.us.archive.org/29/items/20210410_20210410_1808/%D0%93%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2_text.pdf |title=ПОРТРЕТИ НА СВЕТИТЕЛИТЕ ОД МАКЕДОНИЈА IX-XVIII ВЕК}}{{Cite book |last=Moshin |first=V. |url= |title=Фондови словенских рукописа у Jугославиjу // Библиотекар |date=1961}}

Karl married Voisava Balsha, in {{circa}} 1370.{{cite book|last= Rojas Molina|first= Grabiela|title=Decoding Debate in the Venetian Senate Short Stories of Crisis and Response on Albania (1392-1402)|date=2022 |publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9-0045-2093-6 |page=83|quote=...In the meantime, their sister Vojislava married Charles Thopia in or around 1370...}} The pair had three children:{{cite book|last=Rudolf Künker|first= Fritz |title=The De Wit Collection of Medieval Coins Künker Auktion 137 - The De Wit Collection of Medieval Coins, 1000 Years of European Coinage, Part III: England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Balkan, the Middle East, Crusader States, Jetons und Weights |date=2008 |publisher=Numismatischer Verlag Künker|isbn= |page=284 |quote=...Karl Thopia was wedded to Vojsava, a daughter of Balsa I...}}{{cite book|last=Hopf|first= Karl |title=Chroniques Gréco-Romaines inédites ou peu connues |date=1873 |publisher=Weidmann|isbn= |page=532 |quote=...ép.: Voisava , fille de Balša I de Cedda...}}{{cite book|last=Elsie|first= Robert|title=Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries |date=2003 |publisher=Harrassowitz|isbn=978-3-4470-4783-8 |page=52 |quote=...The aforementioned sons fled back to their country. Later on, the said Lord Charles married Lady Voisava, the daughter of Lord Balsha...}}{{cite book|last=Stair Sainty|first= Guy|title=The Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it |date=2018 |publisher=Boletín Oficial del Estado|isbn=978-8-4340-2506-6 |page=503 |quote=...Karolus Thopia and Voislava Balsha...}}{{cite book|last=Hopf|first= Karl |title=Chroniques Gréco-Romaines inédites ou peu connues |date=1873 |publisher=Weidmann|isbn= |page=532 |quote=...Elena , dame de Croja - Giorgio 1381 ,- Voisava...}}{{cite book|last=Stair Sainty|first= Guy|title=The Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Angeli, Farnese and Bourbon families which governed it |date=2018 |publisher=Boletín Oficial del Estado|isbn=978-8-4340-2506-6 |page=503 |quote=...Gjergj Thopia, the son of Karolus Thopia and Voislava Balsha....}}

• Gjergj Thopia (fl. 1388–d. 1392), Lord of Durrës (Durazzo), married Teodora Branković
• Helena Thopia (fl. 1388–1403), married Venetian count Marco Barbadigo (first marriage) and lord Kostandin Balsha (second marriage)
• Voisava Thopia, married N. Cursachio (first marriage) and in 1394, Progon Dukagjini, Lord of Lezhë and uncle of Pal Dukagjini{{cite book |title=Historia e Popullit Shqiptar |author=Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë |author2=K. Prifti |author3=Xh. Gjeçovi |author4=M. Korkuti |author5=G. Shpuza |author6=S. Anamali |author7=K. Biçoku |author8=F. Duka |author9=S. Islami |author10=S. Naçi |author11=F. Prendi |author12=S. Pulaha |author13=P. Xhufi |year=2002 |publisher=Toena |location=Tirana, Albania |isbn=99927-1-622-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlUtAQAAIAAJ |access-date=23 April 2012| page=309}} (second marriage)

Karl had two more children but the parentage is unknown:

• Maria Thopia, married Filippo di Maramonte
• Niketa Thopia, married a daughter of Komnen Arianiti.

{{ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center

|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;

|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;

|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;

|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;

|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;

|1= 1. Karl Thopia

|2= 2. Andrea I Thopia

|3= 3. Hélène of Anjou

|4= 4. Tanusio Thopia

|5= 5. Unknown

|6= 6. Robert, King of Naples

|7= 7. Unknown Mistress

|8= 8. Sevasto Thopia

|9= 9. Unknown

|10= 10. Unknown

|11= 11. Unknown

|12= 12. Charles II of Naples

|13= 13. Mary of Hungary, Queen of Naples

|14= 14. Unknown

|15= 15. Unknown

|24= 24. Charles I of Anjou

|25= 25. Beatrice of Provence

|26= 26. Stephen V of Hungary

|27= 27. Elizabeth the Cuman

|48=48. Louis VIII of France

|49=49. Blanche of Castile

|50=50. Ramon Berenguer V, Count of Provence

|51=51. Beatrice of Savoy

|52=52. Béla IV of Hungary

|53=53. Maria Laskarina

|54=54. Köten

}}

• Thopia family
• Principality of Albania (medieval)
• Saint Gjon Vladimir's Church

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|last=Fine|first=John V. A.|title=The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvVbRrH1QBgC&pg=PA390|year=1994|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-08260-4}}

{{S-start}}

{{s-reg}}

{{succession box|before=Karl Thopia|title=Lord of Krujë|years=1355–1388|after=Helena Thopia}}

{{Succession box | before=Joanna of Durrës
as Duchess of Durrës | title=Prince of Albania | years=1368–1383 | after=Balsha II}}

{{Succession box | before=Karl Thopia | title=Prince of Albania | years=1385–1388 | after=Gjergj Thopia}}

{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topia, Karl}}

Category:Principality of Albania (medieval)

Category:14th-century births

Category:1387 deaths

Category:14th-century Albanian people

Category:Albanian monarchs

Karl

Karl

Category:People from Durrës

Category:Albanian Roman Catholics