Texts and Documents of Albanian History

Robert Elsie

Texts and Documents of Albanian History
1850 — 1899

1850 Edmund Spencer: A Journey from Ohrid to Janina English travel writer Edmund Spencer narrates his overland journey through central and southern Albania.

1853 William Wingfield: A Tour in Albania English writer William Frederick Wingfield provides an account of his brief visit to Shkodra in Ottoman Albania.

1854 Johann Georg von Hahn: Travels in Central Albania Von Hahn, remembered as the father of Albanian studies, gives a detailed and informative rendering of his journey through central Albania (Myzeqeja, Durrës, Kavaja, Tërbuf, Peqin, Elbasan, Tirana, Kruja and Shijak) in 1850.

1861 George Finlay: The Albanians Detailed account of the presence of the Albanians in central Greece in the mid-nineteenth century, of the Albanian origin of the “fustanella,” and of the tragic fate of the Suliot Albanians at the time of Ali Pasha.

1861 Georgina Mackenzie and Paulina Irby: Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey-in-Europe    Two British ladies, travelling through the southern Balkans, describe their stay in Ottoman Prizren.

1866 Emile Wiet: The Diocese of Lezha and Mirdita A French diplomat, serving as consul in Shkodra, describes the Catholic diocese of Lezha and Mirdita in the mid-19th century.

1867 Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico: A Visit to Albania Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, later to become Emperor of Mexico, gives an account of his visit to the rather run-down port of Durrës.

1877 Arthur Evans: Albania and the Eastern Key of the Adriatic British archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, writes a letter about his visit to the port of Durrës in May 1877.

1878 Memorandum to Lord Beaconsfield Early appeal for Albanian autonomy and independence, sent to Prime Minister Disraeli at the Congress of Berlin.

1878 Pashko Vasa: Memorandum on the new Bulgaria Albanian political figure and writer Pashko Vasa, also known as Wassa Effendi, sent this memorandum to the British government as a reaction to the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878.

1878 The Resolutions of the League of Prizren Albanian leaders gathered in Prizren to oppose the Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin that had ignored the rising Albanian wish for self-determination. The League of Prizren, that passed these Resolutions, marked the start of the thirty-year struggle for Albanian independence.

1878 Fanny Janet Blunt: The Albanians Fanny Janet Blunt, wife of the British vice-consul in Skopje, Sir John Elijah Blunt, published a two-volume study of ‘The Peoples of Europe’, including this chapter on the Albanians.

1883 Arthur Evans: Some Observations on the Present State of Dardania British archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans, reports from late 19th-century Kosovo, a land “plunged into apparently hopeless anarchy.”

1884-1889 Jean-Claude Faveyrial: Histoire de l'Albanie Présentation de la première histoire de l’Albanie et de son auteur, l’enseignant Jean-Claude Faveyrial, qui était prêtre de la Mission Lazariste à Monastir (Bitola) en Macédoine.

1889-1898 Sami Bey Frashëri: Description of Chameria Extracts on Chameria from Sami bey Frashëri’s monumental Ottoman Turkish lexicon “Kamus al-a’lam.”

1889-1898 Sami Bey Frashëri: Description of Kosova Extracts on Kosova (Kosovo) from Sami bey Frashëri’s monumental Ottoman Turkish lexicon “Kamus al-a’lam.”

1899 Sami Bey Frashëri: What will Become of Albania? Major manifesto of the Albanian national movement for full autonomy within the Ottoman Empire.

1899 Faïk Bey Konitza: Memoir on the Albanian National Movement A memorandum on the nationalist movement, with notes on its leading figures, as drafted Faik Bey Konitza for the Austro-Hungarian authorities at the turn of the last century.

 

The translations in this anthology may be copied, downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes if the source is appropriately documented. | Robert Elsie

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