Skllavëria ndër shqiptarë gjatë Mesjetës
Slave Trade among Albanians during the Middle Ages

Summary/Abstract: Slavery as a social phenomenon that was omnipresent in the Middle Ages, affected strongly also the areas inhabited by Albanians. As a consequence of the troubled situation in the Balkans, especially after the beginning of the 13th century and the collapse of Byzantine power, the Albanian and Balkan lands became one of the most important areas for the powers involved in the slave trade. Although slavery was a common phenomenon and it is increasingly being present in historical studies, it is an issue untreated genuinely by Albanian authors, although t,he phenomenon of slavery is documented in the legislation of the time. The most typical example to understand how widespread this phenomenon was in the area of Shkodra is the statute of this city, which is thought to have been compiled in the first part of the 14th century, when the phenomenon of slavery on the East Adriatic coast was taking its fullest development. Obvoiusly the most important trading place becomes Venice. The presence of Albanians in Venice becomes increasingly important especially since the second half of the 14th century because of the consequences of the demographic crisis after the Black Death. Some of these Albanians went to Venice to seek work, though often after arriving they fell to the status of slaves or servants. However, there are plenty of them that were bought as slaves in the Albanian lands and obviously were aware of their slave status once arriving in Venice. With the beginning of the emigration of Albanians towards Sicily by the end of the 14th century, the possibility of enslavement was quite obvious while the overwhelming majority of those who came as immigrants on the island were poor and armed workers. Ragusa was the main center for the passage of Bogomil and orthodox slaves to Italy. Apart from being an attractive emigration place for a number of Albanian workers, craftsmen and soldiers, Ragusa continues to be a supplying market in Albanian slaves well into the 15th century especially toward Puglia and the Marche. In the framework of Catalan activity in the Mediterranean, can also be included their highly documented slave trade from the Greek areas that had fallen into the hands of the Great Catalan Company. As a slave-supplying area, either through purchase or through capture, Teba is distinguished, while the role of Crete role is mainly that of a trading place. This trade culminates until the 1330s, though it continues even until the end of the 15th century. In the Albanian lands, the Catalan presence has also been important, especially from the second decade of the 14th century to the middle of the 15th century.

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