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Himara Revolt of 1596

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The Himara Revolt of 1596 was an Albanian[1][2][3] uprising organized by Archbishop Athanasius I of Ohrid in the region of Himara against the Ottoman Empire. It was part of a range of anti-Ottoman movements in the Western Balkans at the end of the 16th century during the Long Turkish War in the Balkans. The revolt received the support of various western powers and was instigated through local leaders, scholars and clergy as well as Greek military figures in their service.[4]

Himara Revolt
Part of the Long War
DateJuly–August 1596
Location
Himara, Ottoman Empire (now Albania)
Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Himariots  Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Archbishop Athanasius
Strength
1,300
100 Spaniards
Casualties and losses
+80

Background

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Revolutionary action in Himara broke out again after Manthos Papagiannis' death in 1596.[5]

Metropolitan bishop Athanasius I of Ohrid, an ethnic Greek who originated from Mani,[6] was an influential personality in the area of his religious jurisdiction and took initiatives to stir up in revolt Epirotes and Albanians.[7] The Himariotes considered him a saint and showed him full loyalty.[8] Himara was among the Greek inhabited regions where revolutionary activity was mainly reported during this period (1571-1621).[9]

Due to the Ottoman-Venetian peace treaty sign at 1573 various uprisings in the Balkans and especially in Epirus received encouragement by Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. As such Athanasius' attempt received the support of the local nobility, scholars, clerics as well as from Greek military figures under the command of western powers.[10] Spanish conspirators decided to invite Athanasius I of Ohrid into their plans.[11][better source needed] He was described as "discrete and intelligent".[12] In the beginning, Athanasius was uninvolved, until the beginning of 1596 when he offered his cooperation to the Venetian official in Corfu.[11][better source needed]

Athanasius sent a letter to the provveditore and captain of Corfu, Angelo Basadonna, in January 1596, about wanting to meet up and discuss "very important things".[13] The two had a meeting on 26 January 1596, during which Athanasius spoke of the "miserable state of Christians" and asked for help for a general uprising.[13] Rejected by Venice, he openly joined the Spanish conspirators, who contacted the Neapolitan deputy about this.[11][better source needed] Athanasius sent his minister to Naples to ask for weapons and 2,000 soldiers from Spain, and to establish the whole plan of the uprising.[11][better source needed] He also sent a certain Paniperis, close associate and representative of Himara, to Neaples.[7] The Neapolitan vice-king, the Count of Olivares, sent one of his captains, the Albanian stratiot Miguel Bua, to oversee the coastal fortresses of Bari and Otranto,[14] as well as the events that were occurring in Himara, and to get to know the real intents of the people.[11][better source needed] While the Neapolitan captain was in Albania, the Himariots south of Vlorë immediately rose up.[11][better source needed] Bua brought ammunition and equipment for the insurgent inhabitants of Himara, and served as the captain and colonel of 2,000 Albanians.[14]

Meanwhile, the Venetian ambassador in Naples suspected that the Himariotes received weapons from the Spanish and that they immediately sold them to the Ottomans. He also accused Petros Lantzas, a Greek agent that worked for the Spanish, for having organized this. Nevertheless those weapons were finally confiscated and sent back to Otranto.[15]

The Albanian[16] revolt of Himara was part of a range of anti-Ottoman movements in the Western Balkans at the end of the 16th century during the Long Turkish War in areas that extended from Epirus up north to the area of Šibenik (in Croatia).[1]

Uprising

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Following Athanasius' promise to raise 6,000 Albanians and his plea for help in munitions, the Spaniards began preparations to attack.[17] Athanasius had returned to Albania by the summer of 1596 and stayed in Himara. A contemporary source stated that there were 10,000 fighters in red costumes in Himara.[18][dubious – discuss]

The revolt was active in July and August,[19] with initial success, the rebels managing to control the coastal towns.[12] Athanasius attacked the fortress of Kanina with the support of Ottaviano di Loffredo. A number of Greek and Albanian captains in the service of the Spanish in Naples also participated in this operation, such as Miguel Bua, Giovanni Golemi, Esteban Bublia, Nicodemos Konstantinos, etc.[20]

The rebel force being reinforced by a small unit of Spaniards attacked the nearby Ottoman fort of Cerna.[21] The fort was simultaneously attacked from three directions by 1,300 men, of whom only 300 were equipped with arquebuses.[22] Initially a group of 100 Spaniards managed to capture part of the fort raising their flag, killing 80 Ottoman soldiers including the commander of the fort.[22] During the attack Nicodemos Konstantinos was wounded by an arquebus on the right arm while his brother Simon was taken prisoner by the Ottomans.[23] However the Himariots being confused about this turn of the battle withdrew from the battlefield.[22] Meanwhile a part of the soldiers engaged in looting and fled with their loot to the mountains. Ottaviano had to defend the fort with just 50 men, but finally had to withdraw without dismantling it, as had been foreseen in his initial plan.[24] This gave the opportunity to the Ottomans to launch a successful counterattack.[22]

The revolt was easily suppressed after the Venetians convinced some of the chieftains not to join the rebellion,[25] and the fact that the rebel army was undisciplined.[11]

Aftermath

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After the unsuccessful operation Athanasius returned to Himara for the preparations of another rebellion.[26] The remaining Spaniards left the region,[27] but Athanasius awaited this time an aid of 3–4,000 soldiers from the Spanish king.[19] Simon Konstantinos being taken prisoner was sent to Constantinople and his property was confiscated. However, due to his noble origin he wasn't executed.[23] On August 23, 1596 he met with the Albanian captains Michael Bua, Giovanni Golemi, and Michael Papada.[28] They each received a monthly pay of 50 ducats.[28] They then went to Lecce to arm the Himariots with 1,000 arquebuses, powder, lead, four drums, and four royal banners (insegne del Re).[28] Athanasius then moved to Rome and had an audience with the Pope. The following 20 years he continued to visit various western European leaders to trigger their intervention against the Ottomans, but without success.[22] Lantzas was one of the main supporters of the Himariotes while Greek agent Hieronimo Combis was against any anti-Ottoman action in the region.[29] Combis also discouraged Michael Bua and his companions.[30]

In the Sanjak of Herzegovina and Montenegro Vilayet, the Serbs rose up in 1596–97, but without foreign support the rebels were forced to capitulate.[31] In 1600, a rebellion broke out in Thessaly.[32]

References

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  1. ^ a b Studii: revistă de istorie. Vol. 24. Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne. 1971. p. 419. Andrei Pippidi a arătat că rascoala albanczilor din Himara (1596-1597) face parte dintr-o serie de mişcări de eliberare care se intind din Epir pină ia Sibenik, fiind conduse de arhiepiscopii de Ohrida, Ioachim, Gavriil şi Atanasie I. Rolul unui ...
  2. ^ Barbu, Violeta (2010). "Les arbanassi : un réseau marchand aux frontières de l'Empire Ottoman au début du XVIIe siècle". Études balkaniques: 213. Des soulèvements des peuples des Balkans ont eu lieu dans la période 1595-1598 à:Himara (les Albanais),...
  3. ^ Lloshi, Xhevat (1985). Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar. Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar. Akademia e Shkencave. p. 585. K.Sh. arritën të korrnin disa suksese ushtarake, si: fitorja në luftën e Himarës, çlirimi i përkohshëm i Vlorës më 1596, thyerja e 4 sanxhakbejlerëve në Dibër e në Mat më 1601 etj.
  4. ^ Ψιμούλη, Βάσω Δ. (2006). Σούλι και Σουλιώτες. Ιστορία και Πολιτική (4th ed.). Athens: Βιβλιοπωλείον της Εστίας. p. 54. "'Ετσι υποκινούν μέσω των τοπικών ηγετών -λογίων, κληρικών καθώς και Ελλήνων στρατιωτικών που βρίσκονται στην υπηρεσία τους, πολλές εξεγέρσεις σε διάφορα σημεία της χερσονήσου καθώς και στην Ήπειρο. Η ανταρσία του αρχιεπισκόπου Αχρίδας Αθανασίου (1596) όπως και οι εξεγέργσεις του "Σκυλοσόφου" το 1600 και 1611 στην Ήπειρο, εντάσσονται στις κινήσεις αυτές."
  5. ^ Korre, Katerina (2013). "History of the Greek People in 16th century Northern Epirus: The case of Matthaios Papagiannis". History-Scholars: Epirus and Ioannina from 1430 to 1912 (in Greek): 165–166. μάλιστα, λίγο μετά το θάνατο του ματθαίου παπαγιάννη, οι Τούρκοι θα αντιμετώπιζαν μία ακόμα χειμαρριώτικη εξέγερση που απειλούσε να συμπαρασύρει τη βορειοηπειρωτική ενδοχώρα (1596).
  6. ^ Dinu, Tudor (2008). "The Romanian Lord Michael the Brave (1593-1601) and the Greeks". Μνήμων. 29: 9–41. doi:10.12681/mnimon.4. ISSN 2241-7524. Retrieved 23 September 2022. Όπως είναι γνωστό, τον Αύγουστο του 1596 στη Χιμάρα της Βόρειας Ηπείρου ξέσπασε μία εξέγερση με αρχηγό τον Αθανάσιο, αρχιεπίσκοπο της Αχρίδας, έναν Έλληνα που καταγόταν από τη Μάνη.
  7. ^ a b Kontali, 2008, p. 125
  8. ^ Floristan, 2017, p. 155: "En la Chimarra lo tenían por santo y le prestaban total obediencia. Pedía tres o cuatro mil infantes para rebelar a su provincia, que comprendía Bulgaria, Servia, la pequeña Valaquia, Albania y parte de Grecia.
  9. ^ Imízcoz, José Manuel Floristán (2014). ""Bizancio después de Bizancio": la herencia imperial de Constantinopla y la política exterior de los Austrias españoles (1517-1621)". Baetica Renascens. 2. Federación Andaluza de Estudios Clásicos: 863–875. ISBN 978-84-942322-5-1. Retrieved 7 February 2023. Pese a todo, la preponderancia militar española, la enemistad sostenida con el islam y la proximidad territorial de los enclaves de Italia meridional hicieron que entre 1571 y 1621 España relevara a Venecia como destinataria preferente de las peticiones griegas de ayuda... Tres fueron las regiones griegas de mayor actividad antiotomana en el periodo analizado, las tres situadas en la fachada adriática de los Balcanes: en el norte, la Chimarra (Cimavra, Himarë), en el Epiro septentrional, con una ramificación interior hacia el arzobispado de Acrida...
  10. ^ Ψιμούλη, Βάσω Δ. (2006). Σούλι και Σουλιώτες. Ιστορία και Πολιτική (4th ed.). Athens: Βιβλιοπωλείον της Εστίας. p. 54. 'Ετσι υποκινούν μέσω των τοπικών ηγετών -λογίων, κληρικών καθώς και Ελλήνων στρατιωτικών που βρίσκονται στην υπηρεσία τους, πολλές εξεγέρσεις σε διάφορα σημεία της χερσονήσου καθώς και στην Ήπειρο. Η ανταρσία του αρχιεπισκόπου Αχρίδας Αθανασίου (1596) όπως και .... "Σκυλοσόφου" το 1600 και 1611 στην Ήπειρο, εντάσσονται στις κινήσεις αυτές.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g SANU 1932, p. 131.
  12. ^ a b Randa 1964, p. 130.
  13. ^ a b Filološki fakultet 1979, p. 157.
  14. ^ a b Floristán 2019, p. 12.
  15. ^ Floristan, 2017, p. 152: " Rannusio sospechaba que la operación había sido muñida por Pedro Lantzas ... a Otranto gracias a los oficios del em bajador Francisco de Vera
  16. ^ Barbu, Violeta (2010). "Les arbanassi : un réseau marchand aux frontières de l'Empire Ottoman au début du XVIIe siècle". Études balkaniques: 213. Des soulèvements des peuples des Balkans ont eu lieu dans la période 1595-1598 à:Himara (les Albanais),...
  17. ^ Floristan, 2008, p. 162
  18. ^ Andromaqi Gjergji (2004). Albanian Costumes Through the Centuries: Origin, Types, Evolution. Acad. of Sciences of Albania, Inst. of Folc Culture. p. 21. ISBN 978-99943-614-4-1.
  19. ^ a b Matkovski 1983, p. 228.
  20. ^ Floristan, 2018, p. 162-163
  21. ^ Kontali 2011, p. 126.
  22. ^ a b c d e Kontali 2011, p. 127.
  23. ^ a b Floristán Imízcoz, José Manuel; Floristán Imízcoz, José Manuel (2017). "Los contactos de la Chimarra con Roma y España en la segunda mitad del s. XVI y primeras décadas del s. XVII". Eprints.ucm.es (in Spanish): 156. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  24. ^ Floristan, 2018, p. 163
  25. ^ Marović, Miodrag (1995). Balkanski Džoker: Albanija i Albanci : istorijska hronika nastajanja i razvoja albanskog pitanja. Kulturni centar. p. 54. ISBN 9788670040052.
  26. ^ Kontali 2011.
  27. ^ Kontali 2011, p. 167.
  28. ^ a b c Bartl 1974, p. 126.
  29. ^ Floristan, 2018, p. 163: "La empresa de Chimarra se vio envuelta en las disputas personales que mantenían en Nápoles dos agentes al servicio de España, el corfiota Pedro Lantzas y el epirota Jerónimo Combis, superintendente general del servicio de espionaje de levante en el reino de Nápoles58. Lantzas fue uno de los principales valedores de los chimarrotes ante el virrey, mientras que Combis se mostró contrario a sus propuestas."
  30. ^ Bartl 1974, p. 128.
  31. ^ Trevor W. Harrison; Slobodan Drakulic (2011). Against Orthodoxy: Studies in Nationalism. UBC Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7748-2096-7.
  32. ^ Vranousis, Sfyroeras, 1997, p. 246

Sources

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