Durrës Expedition

The Durrës Expedition (Albanian: Ekspedita e Durrësit) was an invasion of the Principality of Albania—led by Karl Thopia—by the Navarrese Company, under the command of Louis of Évreux. Louis hired the Navarrese Company to support him in reclaiming his newly acquired rights over the city of Durrës and overall the Kingdom of Albania, inherited through his marriage to Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo. While details of the expedition are scarce, Louis succeeded in occupying Durrës and ousting Thopia in 1376. However, he died shortly thereafter, rendering his contract with the Navarrese Company void. The mercenaries relocated to Morea under new leadership, leaving Durrës a contested city until another invasion by Thopia in 1383, which led to the final disestablishment of the Kingdom of Albania.

Durrës Expedition Ekspedita e Durrësit
Part of Albanian-Anjou Conflict
Model of Durrës Castle during the Middle Ages
Date 1376 Location Durrës, Albania 41°19′N 19°27′E Result Navarrese victory Territorial changes Louis of Évreux captures Durrës and re-establishes the Kingdom of Albania
Belligerents
Principality of Albania	Navarrese Company Kingdom of Navarre Kingdom of France
Commanders and leaders
Karl Thopia	Louis of Évreux Pedro de la Saga Mahiot de Coquerel John de Urtubia Garro
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown
Location within Albania Show map of Albania Durrës Expedition (Mediterranean) Show map of Mediterranean

Background

Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo, inherited the rights to the Kingdom of Albania upon the death of her father, Charles, Duke of Durazzo due to being the eldest surviving child, and subsequently ruled as a duchess.^[1][2] In 1365, Louis of Évreux married Joanna and inherited the rights to the Kingdom of Albania, becoming the Duke of Durazzo by right of his wife.^[3][4] Karl Thopia from the Albanian Thopia family conquered and took control of Durrës in 1368 and incorporated it into the Principality of Albania. Durrës had been the last stronghold of the Angevins, who maintained control over the kingdom, until Thopia conquered the city, leading to the disestablishment of the Kingdom of Albania.^[5][6] After this event, Louis made various attempts to expel the intruders from Durrës and Albania as a whole. However, detailed records of these attempts have been lost over time, leaving little documentation of his early efforts.^[7]

Expedition

Louis of Évreux's brother Charles II of Navarre, who was King of Navarre

The final effort by Louis of Évreux to assert his claim to the Kingdom of Albania and restore its rule began in the early 1370s. In 1372, the ranks of the a group of mercenaries from Navarre, known as the Navarrese Company, began to swell at the behest of Enguerrand VII de Coucy, who orchestrated the recruitment of 500 lances and 500 mounted archers from Gascony. These troops were assembled to support the campaign to conquer the Kingdom of Albania.^[8][9] Louis also enlisted four companies of knights from Navarre to support his claim by 1376.^[10] The majority of the soldiers in the Navarrese Company, recruited mainly between 1375 and 1376, came from Navarre and Gascony. They received a monthly payment of 30 florins of Aragon, with the enrolment lists preserved in the Archives of the Cámara de Comptos in Pampeluna.^[11][12]

The soldiers from Navarre and Gascony made extensive preparations for the invasion of Albania. However, scant information is available regarding the Albanian expedition overall.^[13] Louis garnered substantial martial support in the form of men-at-arms from his brother Charles II, the King of Navarre, and monetary support amounting to 50,000 ducats from Charles V, the King of France.^[14][15][16] The Navarrese Company was led by four individuals: Pedro de la Saga and Mahiot de Coquerel, both chamberlains of the Navarrese king; John de Urtubia; and Garro (or Guarro), who is documented as a squire.^[17] The battle for the city began in the midsummer of 1376, and Louis and the Navarrese Company were successful in occupying Durrës, which reestablished the Kingdom of Albania.^[18][19][20]

Karl Thopia who was Prince of Albania, was also related to Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo, and distantly related to Louis of Évreux through his mother, Hélène of Anjou.

Aftermath

Louis of Évreux died in 1376, the same year he succeeded in gaining back Durrës and reestablishing the Kingdom of Albania.^[21][22][23] With Louis's death, the Navarrese Company's contract was terminated.^[24] They possibly continued to serve Joanna of Durazzo until her remarriage.^[25][26] Marooned and keen to return to Navarre and Gascony, the Navarrese Company endured between two and three demanding years in destitute Durrës before eventually moving to Morea.^[27][28][29] There, they entered the service of Jacques de Baux, Nerio Acciajuoli, Juan Fernández de Heredia, and Peter IV of Aragon.^[30][31][32] Durrës remained under the control of Joanna and her second husband Robert IV of Artois for a few years until Thopia invaded again in 1383, leading to the final disestablishment of the Kingdom of Albania.^[33][34][35]

References

1. Kenneth Meyer Setton. The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. American Philosophical Society. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-8716-9161-3. ...duchess of Durazzo 1348-1368...
2. Zacour 1960, p. 32.
3. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...He was preparing to press upon Albania claims which he had recently acquired through his marriage with Doña Joanna of Anjou, Duchess of Durazzo, the daughter of Charles of Anjou and the granddaughter of John Don Luis...
4. Woodacre 2013, p. xx.
5. J. M. Hussey. The Cambridge medieval history. Volume IV. Part I, The Byzantine empire. Byzantium and its neighbours. University Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-5210-4535-3. ...In 1368, however, Albania , together with Durazzo, had fallen to the Albanian lord Charles Topia, who took the title of king...
6. Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3. ...In 1368 the kingdom of Albania, together with the city of Durazzo, had fallen to the Albanian lord Charles Topia, and Louis of Évreux was faced with no inconsiderable task if he would give effect to his right to rule over the "kingdom" he had thought to possess through his marriage to the heiress Joanna...
7. Rodd, Rennell (9 February 2018). The Princes of Achaia and the Chronicles of Morea: A Study of Greece in the Middle Ages, Volume 2. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-6561-3237-9. ...The story of the various attempts made by Louis d'Évreux to expel the intruders is lost in obscurity...
8. Luttrell, Anthony. The Hospitallers of Rhodes and Their Mediterranean World. the University of Michigan. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-8607-8307-7. ...la procura per un accordo con il capitano francese Eguerrand de Coucy circa il reclutamento di 500 lancee e 500 archerii per la conquista del totum Regnum Albanie, firse nel quadro di una crociata papale. Questa contrattazione non approdo a nulla, ma nel tardo 1375 ed al principio del 1376 Carlos di Navarra, a seguito della richiesta del fratello louis, stava...
9. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...To add to the numbers of the reconstituted Navarrese Company, it would appear, very active recruiting was begun for Don Luis in 1372 by a condottiere named Ingeram de Coucy, who contracted to enlist in Gascony a force of five hundred lances and five hundred mounted archers for service in distant Albania. Although this was undoubtedly the largest single recruitment, it formed neither the important nucleus nor the bulk of the forces hired by Don Luis for the reconquest of his wife's domains...
10. John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...Interested in realizing these rights, Louis hired four companies of knights from Navarre, who are usually referred to as the Navarrese Company, and took Durazzo, probably in 1376. ...
11. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...the principal leaders and troops of the Navarrese Company of later fame were largely recruited in 1375 and 1376, and passed directly from Navarre to Albania without being reorganized and outfitted in Naples, where Don Luis' chief head quarters were, and where his wife resided. Mercenaries were enlisted from lands to the north and south of the Pyrenees, especially, however, from among the Gascons, and month after month the agents of Don Luis enlisted knights in his service, and groups were registered of four, ten, thirty, and fifty men, each man to receive thirty florins of Aragon a month. Almost a score of names of military contractors have come down to us, for example, in the enrolment lists of 1375-1376, persevered in the Archives of the Cámara de Comptos in Pampeluna (vol. 152, fol. 18), and published by Rubió y Lluch...
12. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...Many more than a thousand Gascons and Navarrese were embarked at Tortosa between February of 1375 and June of 1376 (other forces had preceded them); of their part in the recovery of Durazzo from the Albanians, unfortunately we know nothing; all we know is that Don Luis of Evreux, with his stalwart assistance, succeeded in his undertaking and lost his life in the success...
13. Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3. ...In 1372 very active recruiting added to the numbers of the new Navarrese Company, but the chief contingents and most important leaders were engaged in 1375 and 1376, and they passed, for the most part, directly from Navarre to Albania. Extensive preparations were made for the expedition, and almost a score of names of military contractors have come down to us in the enrolment lists of 1375-1376. Of the details of Louis's Albanian expedition little is known...
14. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...King Charles II of Navarre took a great interest in the venture: his Majesty himself informed the royal bailie of Tudela, in 1375, of his intention to supply a hundred men at arms to aid his brother's enterprise on the Adriatic (ayuda de cient hombres darmas á neustras despensas)...
15. Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3. ...Louis received much assistance from his royal brother of Navarre and from Charles V of France. ...
16. Baker, Julian (2021). Coinage and Money in Medieval Greece 1200-1430. Brill. p. 223. ISBN 978-9-0044-3434-9. ...The kingdom of France also intervened during the important attempt by one of its vassals, Louis of Evreux, to re-take Durazzo for the Angevins in the later 1360s, with a loan of 50,000 ducats...
17. J. M. Hussey. The Cambridge medieval history. Volume IV. Part I, The Byzantine empire. Byzantium and its neighbours. University Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-5210-4535-3. ...These leaders were Pedro de la Saga and Mahiot de Coquerel, both chamberlains of the Navarrese king, and Juan de Urtubia and a certain Garro or Guarro, called squires in the documents...
18. Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3. ...but Durazzo was apparently occupied in the midsummer of 1376...
19. John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...and took Durazzo, probably in 1376...
20. J. M. Hussey. The Cambridge medieval history. Volume IV. Part I, The Byzantine empire. Byzantium and its neighbours. University Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-5210-4535-3. ...The Navarrese Company succeeded in occupying Durazzo, apparently in the midsummer of 1376...
21. John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ... Shortly thereafter Louis died, probably still in 1376...
22. Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3. ...Louis died about the same time, and shortly thereafter his widow Joanna married duke Robert of Artois...
23. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311-1388. Variorum. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...The occupation of Durazzo by the Navarrese must have come in the midsummer of 1376, for a Navarrese treasury account of that year mentions the death of Don Luis, la muert del hermano del Rey don loys duc de duraz...
24. John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...since the kngihts had been in Louis' personal service, they regarded their contract as terminated ...
25. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...Hoping to return the sooner to their homes, and regarding themselves as freed from their allegiance to Joanna of Durazzo after her second marriage...
26. Rodd, Rennell (9 February 2018). The Princes of Achaia and the Chronicles of Morea: A Study of Greece in the Middle Ages, Volume 2. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-6561-3237-9. ...It is possible that they continued for a time to serve his widow, the Duchess Joan of Durazzo, who, after her first husband's death, contracted a second marriage with Count Robert of Artois...
27. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...Shortly thereafter his widow, the Duchess of Durazzo, married Robert, Duke of Artois, and most of the Navarrese Company spent three very difficult years in impoverished and unhealthful Durazzo (1376-1378). ...
28. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...How a band of the Navarese Company came to leave Durazzo for Corinth we do not know: the Navarrese were not expelled by the Albanians whom they had forced to withdraw from Durazzo almost two years before...
29. Setton, Kenneth. A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3. ...Most of the Navarrese Company spent about two hard years in impoverished Durazzo. Anxious to return to their homes in Navarre and Gascony, and considering their allegiance to Joanna terminated by her second marriage...
30. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...The Company sought through its leaders, early in 1377, to enter the service of King Pedro IV of Aragon. On 21 and 23 June, 1377, King Pedro wrote to the four captains of the Company, Mossen Pedro de la Saga and Mahiot de Coquerel, both chamberlains of the King of Navarre (cambarlencs del Rey), and John de urtubia and a certain Guarro or Garro, designated in the King's letters as squires (escuderos). His Majesty was willing to see as their lord, the King of Navarre, raised no objection, and he sent a request to the latter to send his subjects thus stranded overseas two good ships. King Pedro IV directed the leaders of the Company to retain, for his service, their horses and boats which they had a goodly number (cavalls e vexells dels quals havets cumpliment) All four of these leaders are mentioned in the enrolment lists of 1375-1376...
31. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...When the plans of the Navarrese in Durazzo finally came to nothing for what reasons we do not know — they entertained proposals, through their leaders Urtubia and Coquerel, from three important personages with an interest in the Peloponnesus and a ready use for their military prowess — Nerio Acciajuoli, lord of Corinth, in 1378; Juan Fernández de Heredia, Master of the Hospitallers of St. John, in 1379; and, finally, in 1380, Jacques de Baux, Angevina Prince of Achaea and last Latin claimant to the Byzantine throne...
32. John L. La Monte (1949). The world of the Middle Ages : a reorientation of medieval history. Appleton-Century-Crofts. p. 526. ISBN 978-0-8919-7473-4. ...they passed into Morea in 1378. In the spring and early summer of 1379, some of them, under a certain John of Urtubia...
33. John V. A. Fine (jr.), John Van Antwerp Fine (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...The Angevins retained Durazzo for a time, for in 1379 Joanna's new husband, Robert of Artois, is found issuing to Dubrovnik a charter pertaining to Durazzo. Karlo Thopia, who held the territory both north and south of the city, soon, probably in 1383, regained possession of Durazzo...
34. Setton, Kenneth (April 2013). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311–1388. Variorum. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9. ...For Joanna of Durazzo and her second husband, Robert of Artois, still held the city in 1379...
35. Baker, Julian (2021). Coinage and Money in Medieval Greece 1200-1430. Brill. p. 361. ISBN 978-9-0044-3434-9. ...The Navarrese then handed over the town to Robert of Artois, Joanna of Durazzo's second husband...

Sources

• Baker, Julian (2020). Coinage and Money in Medieval Greece 1200–1430. Brill. ISBN 978-9-0044-3434-9.
• Fine, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
• Hussey, J. M. (1966). The Cambridge medieval history. Volume IV. Part I, The Byzantine empire. Byzantium and its neighbours. University Press. ISBN 978-0-5210-4535-3.
• La Monte, John L (1949). The world of the Middle Ages : a reorientation of medieval history. Appleton-Century-Crofts. ISBN 978-0-8919-7473-4.
• Luttrell, Anthony (1992). The Hospitallers of Rhodes and Their Mediterranean World. the University of Michigan. ISBN 978-0-8607-8307-7.
• Rodd, Rennell (1907). The Princes of Achaia and the Chronicles of Morea: A Study of Greece in the Middle Ages, Volume 2. the University of Wisconsin – Madison. ISBN 978-0-6561-3237-9.
• Setton, Kenneth (1975). Catalan domination of Athens, 1311-1388. Variorum. ISBN 978-1-2586-6391-9.
• Setton, Kenneth (1975). A History of the Crusades: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, edited by Harry W. Hazard. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-2990-6670-3.
• Woodacre, Elena (2013). The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics, and Partnerships, 1274-1512. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-1373-3914-0.
• Zacour, Norman P (1960). "Talleyrand: The Cardinal of Périgord (1301-1364)". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 50 (7). American Philosophical Society: 1–83. doi:10.2307/1005798. ISBN 978-0-8716-9507-9. JSTOR 1005798.