"ARVANITES IN THE GREEK SPACE " By DINOS KOUBATIS, writer, researcher, poet, playwright

IAPWA “PEGASI” ALBANIA
Some ideas (thoughts)
ARVANITES IN THE GREEK SPACE
By DINOS KOUBATIS, writer, researcher, poet, playwright
The relations between the Illyrians and the Greeks have been preserved in the depths of the years, and even well-known historians and scholars identify them, proving their common Pelasgian origin. Another link between them is the era of the Byzantine Empire, that is, when Constantine of Illyrian descent and with a Greek mother, who was later called "THE GREAT" placed his Empire on the shores of the Bosphorus, in order to monitor (oversee) better, in the East and the West, the possessions of the former state of the Roman Empire. This new condition, on the other hand, "deprives" him of the original name of the Illyrians, since both they and the Greeks are now called "Romans" because the new Empire comes from ancient Rome. Later, the Slavic surge, which began with attacks in the 6th century and ended in the 7th century, when the northern parts of Illyria were conquered, its inhabitants fled to the South, and many of them settled in Thessaloniki, Corfu and the Peloponnese, as confirmed by the Albanian historians Pollo and Puto in their study entitled "History of Albania".
The first historical reference to the Illyrians in Greece, but with the characterization "Albanians", we have in 1043, where they are included as allies of General Georgios Maniatis, when he rebelled against the Queen.
As "Arvanites", they are mentioned in 1078, after participating in the stay of the Duke of Durres, Nikiforos Vasilakis, general of the Byzantine army, when he conspired against Nikiforos III Votaneiatis, as noted by the Byzantine historian Michael Attaleiati. Ioannis Skylicis and Anna Komnini mention the Arvanon area, which is inhabited by Arvanites, in northern Albania, in the Shkumbin river valley, as an Arvanites area. From 1190 to 1255, they were called local arhondas (gods) holding Byzantine titles: such as the "lords" of the Crown. After the 12th century, "Arvanon" is mentioned as Episkopatus Albanensis.
The term "Arvanites" is considered certain that, as in all similar cases, it is derived from the term "Arvanon", and was first mentioned by Michael Attaleiatis, in 1081, in his writings on the Vasilakios movement: ".. he also had many Roman, Bulgarian and Arvanites soldiers. "
During the period from the 15th to the 19th century, in medieval Europe, the terms "Arvanites", "Greeks", "Albanians" and "Graeci Stradioti" were considered revered because they also referred to brave men who, without fear and effectively wars, where they participated in foreign armies, both in Greece and in other European countries, and even as mercenaries.
During the period of revolt against the Turks, the use of the term "Arvanites" had to be explained in order to avoid misunderstandings and so in the following excerpt, written by the inhabitants of Himara, it is said: "... Our special Arvanites, the so-called Zuliats with three Flambourians, shed much blood against the Turks. And for us Christians, in the glory of Christ, more Turks were killed than Christians.
«The Arvanites of Epirus (...) From Himara, that is, from the Epirus of the Albanians (...)».
The Greeks, as well as other neighboring peoples, called the land of the Arvanites "Arvanitia", until the middle of the XIV century and, later, "Albania".
Earlier and after the spread of Christianity, the Arvanites, who enlisted in the Byzantine army, took honorary positions in the Empire, moved to the Holy Mountain (Agio Oros), where the Monastery of Karakakalo was often invested simply by them.
The Byzantine and Venetian lords with the "golden bulls" seem to have been urging the Arvanites to settle in Greece and specifically in 1295 in Thessaly, where they would live in complete harmony with the Greeks, but the Vlachs there would not welcome, and will create problems to get rid of them. Shortly afterwards, other Arvanites descend to Thessaly and Acarnania, coming from the Despotate of Epirus, after its dissolution by the Italians of the House of Orsini, twelve thousand in number, with their families. They are welcomed by the emperor Andronikos, who meets them and places them there as guards, the majority, or as workers, as Ioannis Kordatos claims. In 1333, Kantakouzenos will mention that, in the mountains of Thessaly, there are one million and two thousand Arvanites, Malaccans, Bouins and Mesarites, while Chalcocondylis assures us that, in time, they became masters of the land. The Venetian Marino Sanuto calls them a "whip" that God had sent to punish those outside the walls, that is, the Venetians and the Catalans, and despite their efforts to expel them, they did not succeed, because many others came constantly. Thus, in 1318, the Arvanites, after succeeding in expelling the Vlachs from Thessaly, defended the country as their own, resisting Don Fabrigo of Thebes and the Catalans, they fought the Byzantines and, finally, allied with the native Greeks and Michael Komnenos against the Nicaean Empire.
During the thirteenth century, thousands of Arvanites descended mainly to the south, crossed the plain of Thessaly and headed for Thebes, Attica and the Peloponnese, as well as the nearby islands, while in Mystras, during the reign of Manuel Kantakouzinou, despot Theodoros I of the Peloponnese, Paleologos, received ten thousand Arvanite families, who arrived as complement to the declining Greek population, as historian Konstantinos Paparigopoulos informs us.
But also the foreign invaders of the Greek area, such as the Lord of Thiva, Ramon de Vilanova, invite the Arvanites to inhabit the land, both in Athens and in Evia, as warriors, against the enemies of their small hegemony. Their reward was mainly the giving of the land on which they settled with their families.
These Arvanite tribes, which over time have been transformed into Greeks, will not hesitate to defend their second homeland, both against the intruders of other European countries and against the common enemy, which is the Turks. The Greeks and Arvanites unite, wherever they are from Souli, to Ydhra and Spetses, to Morias, to Spata, and everywhere they fight against the tyrant. In Thiva, Mani, Messolonghi and in every place where they were settled and welcomed, the Arvanites not only support the subjugated Greeks, but also sacrifice themselves to liberate themselves, as a social part of the country, in which were sheltered.
In 1854, the German historian Haan, in his work "Albanian Studies", and, after many years of local studies and research, came to the conclusion that the Albanians were completely close to the ancient Greeks and constituted a link between them and the Romans.
The Arvanites, during the later moments of the Byzantine Empire, are the ones who will help, actively and effectively Constantine Paleologos, later Emperor, to expel the Venetians from the Peloponnese. One of his dynamic supporters was also Arvanite Theodoros Bohalis, who, previously, had supported Ioannis Paleologos. There are also those who will oppose the intention of Emperor Nikiforos Aggelos, when he expresses his predisposition to marry the sister of the widow of the Slavic ruler Stefan Dushan, as the Arvanites' ingratitude for the Slavs had deep roots.
In 1497, the Venetian fortune teller, Marco Berberigo, told the Venetian Senate that "the Arvanites and the Greeks are but one people, hating every foreigner."
Pas rënies së Peloponezit, shumë arvanitas emigruan në Italinë e Poshtme, por edhe në shumë vende të tjera; venedikasit i çuan në Kefalonia, Korfuz, Zakyntho dhe Kretë, nga ku dhe vazhduan luftimet e tyre kundër turqve.
In support of the Arvanites against the Greeks, during the Peloponnesian revolt, Turhan Pasha massacred eight hundred, and ordered their severed heads to be exposed one above the other, in the form of a pyramid, as Paparigopoulos informs us. And it is true that, after the fall of the Queen, the Arvanites of the Peloponnese rebelled, led by their leader, Petro Boua Sklepa, to prevent the brothers of Constantine Paleologos from handing over their land to the Turks.
After the fall of the Peloponnese, many Arvanites emigrated to Lower Italy, but also to many other countries; the Venetians took them to Kefalonia, Corfu, Zakynthos and Crete, from where they continued their fighting against the Turks.
Earlier, the Arvanites played a dominant role in the Greek renegade war against the Turks. Even in 1674, the French Consul in Athens, Jean Giroud, wrote to the Marquis de Nuandel: "The Brigands of the areas, both here and in Moria, are almost all Arvanites."
Perhaps, it would be intentional to mention some Arvanites names that have significantly helped Greece to date and on multiple levels, which became and for most of them constituted, a second homeland, for which they fought with force of their body but also of their soul, to give it freedom and better days of living. However, these names have been officially mentioned and verified, repeatedly, and the space in this report is quite small. Today, even after so many centuries, there are no differences and the ties between the Greeks and the Arvanites became particularly close, over time.
The Arvanites, welcomed in Greece, assimilated, united their social life, their customs and habits, created models of heroes. In every place, in Greece, the Arvanites have been and are present.
Salamis, 23 June 2020