Robert Elsie

Texts and Documents of Albanian History

Albanian History
1800 — 1899

1804 William Martin Leake: Travels in Southern Albania A British military man tours southern Albania in 1804 and 1805.

1806 François Pouqueville: Travels in Epirus and Albania François Pouqueville, French consul in Janina, gives an account of his travels through Epirus and southern Albania at the time of Ali Pasha of Tepelena.

1809 Lord Byron: Letters on Albania The English poet writes home describing his meeting in Janina with the formidable tyrant, Ali Pasha of Tepelena, and the attempts of the tyrant’s son to seduce him.

1809 John Hobhouse: A Meeting with Ali Pasha in Tepelena Lord Byron’s friend and travelling companion, John Hobhouse, describes their meeting with Ali Pasha of Tepelena in October 1809 and provides an account of the pasha’s life.

1812 Peter Oluf Brønsted: Interviews with Ali Pacha of Joanina Danish archaeologist Peter Oluf Brønsted narrates his meeting with Ali Pasha in Preveza in late 1812.

1812 - 1813 Henry Holland: Travels in the dominions of Ali Pasha British travel writer Henry Holland offers a biography of Ali Pasha and a description of his journey from Janina to Tepelena.

1813 Thomas Smart Hughes: Travels in Albania Two English gentlemen travel through southern Albania and Epirus in 1813.

1814 Charles Cockerell: Travels in Southern Europe British archaeologist and writer Charles Cockerell narrates his visit from Preveza to Janina, then in southern Albania, and his meeting with Ali Pasha.

1827 Ibrahim Manzour: Information on Albania and the Customs of its Inhabitants A by no means flattering description of the early nineteenth-century Albanians, as encountered by an Alsatian soldier and writer at the court of Ali Pasha of Janina.

1829 Félix de Beaujour: The Albanians as Fighters and Soldiers An early 19th-century French diplomat leaves his impressions of the Albanians as fighters and soldiers.

1830 Benjamin Disraeli: Letter on a Visit to Albania Benjamin Disraeli, later to be British prime minister, describes his journey to Arta and Janina, then in southern Albania, and his awe at entering the divan of the Great Turk.

1831 David Urquhart: The Spirit of the East Scottish political figure David Urquhart visits southern Albania in November 1831 and gives an account of his journey overland from Gjirokastra to Tepelena, Berat, Kavaja and Durrës.

1833 Gottlieb August Wimmer: Notes on Albania A German geography book reveals the level of general knowledge of Albania in 1833.

1834 Robert Curzon: Through Albania on the Road to Meteora English scholar Robert Curson passes through Paramythia and Janina, then in Albanian Epirus, on his way back from the Levant.

1836 Ami Boué: Journeys through Kosovo in European Turkey The German-Austrian geographer Ami Boué travelled much in European Turkey and made several journeys back and forth across Kosovo in the years 1836-1838.

1836 Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer: The Early Albanian Settlement of the Peloponnese A then controversial study of the 13th-14th century migration of Albanian tribes to southern Greece and their settlement in the Peloponnese.

1836 Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer: Die albanische Besiedlung des Peloponnes im Mittelalter Umstrittene Studie zur Einwanderung albanischer Stämme in das südliche Griechenland und deren Ansiedlung im Peloponnes im 13.-14. Jahrhundert.

1839 August Grisebach: A Journey from Prizren to Shkodra A German botanist makes his way on foot from Prizren to Shkodra and describes an unknown land.

1841 Nicolay, Prince of the Vasoyevich: Brief Information on the Tribes of High Albania A first-hand account of the highland tribes of Albania and Montenegro, given by a Montenegrin author.

1841 Nicolay, Prince des Wassoevitch: Notice abrégée sur les tribus de la Haute Albanie ... Description des tribus dans la région frontalière entre l’Albanie et le Monténégro par un auteur monténégrin.

1842 Cyprien Robert: The Albanians The French scholar Cyprien Robert gives a description of the Albanians as he sees them (1842).

1844 Joseph Müller: Characteristics of the Albanians Dr Joseph Müller was an Austro-Hungarian military physician from Prague who served as medical commissioner in Albania and Rumelia around 1838. The following excerpts reflect the level of general knowledge of the Albanians and their language in the first half of the nineteenth century.

1848 Edward Lear: The Devil Writes English poet and painter Edward Lear, on an originally unplanned painting tour of Albania, gives us an account of his visit to Elbasan and Tirana.

1848 James Henry Skene: The Albanians Scottish diplomat James Henry Skene provides an ethnological study of the Albanians, as they were seen in the mid-19th century.

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.

1858 Hyacinthe Hecquard: A Description of Plava and Gucia A description of Plava [Plav] and Gucia [Gusinje] in southeastern Montenegro in 1858.

1858 Johann Georg von Hahn: Travels in Dardanian Albania Description of a journey through Kosovo in 1858.

1858 - 1869 Guillaume Lejean: Travels in Albania and Kosovo A Breton geographer ventures into the northern Albanian mountains and Kosovo in the mid-nineteenth century.

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.

1865 Henry Fanshawe Tozer: Researches in the Highlands of Turkey Henry Fanshawe Tozer (1829-1916) was a British writer, teacher and traveller. He is the author of the travel book “Researches in the Highlands of Turkey, Including Visits to Mounts Ida, Athos, Olympus, and Pelion, to the Mirdite Albanians, and Other Remote Tribes” (London 1869), which contains a detailed account of his journey through Albania in 1865.

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.

1875 Auguste Dozon: Excursion to Albania Description by a French consul of his journey through Ottoman Albania in 1875.

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 Edward Frederick Knight: Early English Tourists Venture into the Northern Albanian Mountains A group of early English tourists venture into the mountains of northern Albania and get more of an adventure than they bargained for.

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.”

1883 Oscar Baumann: From Tuzi to Scutari A nineteen-year-old Austrian lad hikes from Podgorica in Montenegro over the border to Scutari (Shkodra) in Ottoman Albania in the summer of 1883.

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.”

1890 Victor Bérard: Travels through Central Albania, between Turkey and Contemporary Hellenism A French classical scholar describes his journey through Ottoman Albania (Durrës, Kavaja, Peqin and Elbasan) in 1890, on his way to Macedonia.

1892 Theodor Ippen: Novi Pazar and Kosovo The Austrian scholar Theodor Ippen describes his journey through the Sandjak of Novi Pazar and Kosovo in the late Ottoman period.

1896 Naim Frashëri: The Bektashi Notebook Naim Frashëri’s profession of faith, the Bektashi Notebook, for the first time in a good English translation.

1897 Kurt Hassert: Excursions in High Albania The German geographer Kurt Hassert describes his travels through the mountains of northern Albania in 1897, from Shkodra to Mirdita and Prizren, and to the rapacious Shala tribe.

1898 Karl Oestreich: A Visit with an Albanian Chieftain The German geographer Karl Oestreich travelled through Ottoman Kosovo in the late summer of 1898. While sojourning in Mitrovica, he wrote the following entry in his diary about his visit to the home of the Kosovo nationalist figure and guerilla fighter, Isa Boletini.

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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