Principality of Arbër

The Principality of Arbër or Arbëria (1190–1255) was the first Albanian state during the Middle Ages. The proclamation of the feudal state of Arbëria, in the north of Albania, with Kruja as the capital took place on 1190. As the founder of this state is known Progoni and later on Gjini and Dhimiter. Nderfandina is known as the most important center of this principality. For this was spoken clearly by the emblem of Arber found carved on a stone in the Catholic Church of Saint Maria. After the fall of Progon Dynasty the principality came under Grigor Kamona and Gulam of Albania. Finally the Principality was dissolved on 1255. The best period of the principality was under Dhimiter Progoni.


Progon Dynasty

* Progon (1190–1198)
* Gjin Progoni (1198–1208)
* Dhimitër Progoni (1208–1216)


Others

* Grigor Kamona (1216–1253?)
* Gulam (1253?–1255)




Under Dhimitër Progoni
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Dhimitër Progoni was the third and the last Prince of Albania from the Progon Dynasty, reigning between 1208 and 1216. He succeeded his brother Gjin and brought the principality to its climax. Western sources of the time attribute him the titles judex ("judge") and princeps Arbanorum ("prince of the Albanians"), while Byzantine records refer to him as megas archon ("grand archon"). Marrying Komnena, the daughter of the Serbian Prince Stefan Nemanja and granddaughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos, he also earned the exalted Byzantine title panhypersebastos.

Dhimitër's marriage with Nemanja's daughter did not rule out the risk of a Serbian expansion toward the Albanian domains. However, in 1204, the most serious threat came from the Venetian Duchy of Durrës, a Latin entity formed after the Fourth Crusade in the former territories of the Byzantine Empire. In search for allies, Dhimitër signed in 1209 a treaty with the Republic of Raguza and began negotiations with Pope Innocent III regarding his and his subjects’ conversion to Catholicism. This is considered a tactful move, which Dhimitër undertook to establish ties with Western Europe against Venice.




Succession

Dhimitër had no son to succeed him. His wife, Komnena, married an Albanian noble, Grigor Kamona, who later became Prince of Albania.[1] Grigor Kamona saw a decadence of the principality and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Gulam. Under Gulam's rule, the principality ended.