Prania Iliro-Arbërore në Bregdetin Kroat Gjatë Mesjetës
The Illyrian – Arbëror (albanian population) Presence on the Croatian Coast during the Middle Ages

Summary/Abstract: The Illyrian – Arbëror (albanian population) Presence on the Croatian Coast during the Middle Ages The presence of Arbër population in areas of the Croatian coast has its own specifications which differ depending on the time and geographical extent. Starting from the premise of continuity of Illyrian- Arbëror we notice that there are present the elements of Illyrian ethnos mixed with Roman ethnic elements in the Dalmatian cities during the early Middle Ages, known as the Roman population. Later, this population would undergo the process of slavism, and respectively croatism. However, this process does not include the entire area of the Adriatic. In southern areas of Dalmatian coast as Ragusa and Kotor, which were geographically closer to the region of transformation of the Illyrians to Arbër, the Illyrian element was saved and was not strongly influenced by the Roman element, but gradually turned to Arbër. So it would be unfair to consider the early presence of Albanian people in areas near Ragusa and Kotor as a product of Albanian migrations in these areas. This population was indigenous and geographically linked with the other ethnic Illyrian- Arbëror space. Historically, according to material – cultural heritage, these residents were adherents of indigenous Illyrians connected to the Arbër core. Regarding to migrated Arbër population to Croatian lands particularly to the Middle Dalmatia can be discussed for the centuries XIV and XV. So, depending on the time and space, there exist specifications of Arbër population and their presence in the Croatian lands. The Medieval history knows many individual cases of Arbër population, who contributed to the cultural raising of Ragusa and other Dalmatian cities. However, the cultural level of the Albanian individuals who left traces in the history of the Dalmatian coast should not be taken as an outlier, because it was a product of the general and collective cultural level of Albanians. Through concrete examples, validated with archival documents, in this paper there is noted the presence and the contribution of Arbër population in the Dalmatian coast cities.

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