When one recalls that to adopt
Islamism meant to become a lord and a recognized warrior, while to remain
Christian meant to become a
slave, deprived of the
right to carry weapons, it is easily seen why so many Albanian tribes fell away. The chief tribes of Upper Albania, the Shoshi and the Mirdites, are at once the pioneers of nationality and
Catholicity. Long ago the Mirdites were wont to carry off
Turkish girls of good
family and, after
baptizing them, made them their wives, so that there is a strong strain of
Turkish blood in the
Catholic Mirdites of to-day. This tribe has special
privileges, such as the place of
honour in the Sultan's army under the command of its own chieftain. In accepting a comradeship of arms with
Mussulman troops it guards the
creed and nationality with the same fidelity with which it serves the Sultan when called upon. The Mirdites, about 40,000 in number, and with a chief town of some four hundred houses, Orosci, treat on equal terms with the Porte. The force of circumstances has driven theAlbanian into fierce
espousal of one or other of the causes which are being periodically fought out between antagonists whose success or defeat leaves his own
condition almost unchanged. It was an Albanian who led the Greeks in the War of Independence, and again an Albanian who commanded the
Turkish troops sent to quell the rebellion. The Kings of
Naples kept an Albanian regiment styled the Royal Macedonian, and the famous resistance of Silistria in 1854 is due to dogged Albanian
bravery. Courage and heroism are inborn qualities of this singular and gifted race. The revival of the national aspirations of Albania dates from the Congress of
Berlin (1878), when
Austria, in order to
compensate Servia and
Montenegro for her retention of the
Servian lands of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, thought to divide the land of Albania between them. The
Turks secretly fostered the opposition of both
Mussulmans and
Catholics, and the Albanian League was formed "for the maintenance of the country's integrity and the reconstitution of its independence". The territories alloted to
Servia were already occupied by her troops when resistance broke forth, and the
idea of dislodging them had to be abandoned; but
Montenegro was unable to obtain possession of her share, the rich districts of Gusinie and Plava. The Albanians, undaunted by the unexpected opposition of their former allies, the
Turks, now forced by
Russia to assist
Montenegro, made face against all their enemies with a determination that baffled and dismayed
Europe. Mehemet- Ali was routed, his house at Diakovo burned down, and himself massacred. The Albanians had much to avenge. They had not yet forgotten the
war of a century before when their
women precipitated themselves by hundreds over the roads near Yamina to escape Ali-Pasha's soldiers. The
Turks finally relinquished their efforts to quell the movement they had themselves helped to precipitate, and
Montenegro had to content herself with the barren tracts of the Boyana and the port of Dulcigno. She could not have aspired even to these, had not
Russia, anxious to spread the doctrines of "Orthodoxy", advocated the dismemberment of
Catholic and
Mussulman Albania in favour of the
Servian race.
After
Scutari, Yanina is the largest and most interesting town of modern Albania. Near it are the ruins of the temple of Dodona, the cradle of
pagan civilization in
Greece. This
oracle uttered its
prophecies by interpreting the rustling of oak branches; the fame of its priestesses drew votaries from all parts of
Greece. In this neighbourhood also dwelt the Pelagic tribes of Selles, or Helles, and the Graiki, whose names were afterwards taken to denote the Hellenes, or Greeks. The plateau of Tanina is fertile and favourably situated for defence, and the inhabitants of the city have been able to develop many industries, such as the inlaying of metal,
[COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif][COLOR=blue ! important][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]weaving[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] gold-threaded stuffs, and the fabrication of fire-arms. It is difficult to get the exact statistics of any province of the
Turkish Empire; the population of Albania is variously estimated, from 1,200,000 to 1,600,000, of which 1,500,000 are strictly Albanian. In the Kirchenlex. (Freiburg, 1899), XI, 18,
Father Neher estimates the population at about 1,400,000, one million of which is made up of
Mussulmans. There are 318,000 members of the Greek
schismatic church, and about 120,000
Catholics. It must be added that there are in
Greece proper about 250,000 Albanians, and in
Italy about 100,000, the latter being all
Catholics. In summing up the characteristics of the race, there are two points on which travellers invariably agree: the
chivalry toward the weaker sex of even the unreclaimed Albanian, and the spotless
chastity of their
women. For the rest,
human life is as cheap as in all lands where
individuals must reckon on themselves for its preservation. (See A[SIZE=-2]NTIVARI,[/SIZE] S[SIZE=-2]CUTARY,[/SIZE] D[SIZE=-2]URAZZO,[/SIZE] and the other
dioceses of Albania.)
Publication information
Written by Elisabeth Christitch. Transcribed by WGKofron.
In memory of Agnes Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Published 1907. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Bibliography
LEAKE,
Travels in Northern Greece (London, 1835); ELISјE RECLUS,
The Earth and its Inhabitants (New York, 1895, Eng. tr.):
Europe, I, 115-126; NIOX,
Pјninsule des Balkans; DURHAM'S
Travels; WILKINSON,
Dalmatia and Montenegro; HERDER,
Konvers. Lex., s. v.; BONј,
Turquie d'Europe (Paris, 1889); DEGRAND,
Souvenirs (Paris, 1901); PORTAL,
Note Albanesi (Palermo, 1903).–The documents of the medieval religious history of Albania are best found in the eight volumes of FARLATI,
Illyricum Sacrum (Venice, 1751- 1819). See also THEINER,
Vetera Monumenta Slavorum meridionalium historiam illustrantia (Rome, 1863 sqq.). Recent ecclesiastical statistics may be seen in O. WERNER,
Orbis Terrarum Catholicus (Freiburg, 1890), 122-124, and 120; also in the latest edition of the
Missiones Catholicж (Rome, Propaganda Press, triennially).
albanci ne postojat kako nacija .dojdeni od azerbejgjan so doagjaneto na turcite toa e fact i nema beganje.arnaut (covek od planina)gego mirditi vasite korenja da gi barate na drugo mesto AZERBEHGJAN .interesno sto praatatkovinata nego priznava kosovo:pos2::pos2:
