Andrea Vrana (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1261) was an Albanian nobleman appointed by

Manfred of Sicily Manfred (; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the Kingdom of Sicily on b ...

as captain of Durazzo (Durrës). The Vrana family was based in the castle of Xibër village, today in the

Mat District Mat District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 61,906 in 2001, and an area of . It was named after the river Mat, which flows through ...

Life

Andrea Vrana hailed from the well-known local Vrana noble family. The family was based in Xibër village, today in the

. The

Byzantine–Norman wars The Byzantine–Norman wars were a series of military conflicts between the Normans and the Byzantine Empire fought from 1040 to 1186 involving the Hauteville family, Norman-led Kingdom of Sicily in the west, and the Principality of Antioch in t ...

and the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

in the 11–12th centuries gave Albanian powerful families an increased political importance. Both Byzantines and Normans made efforts to gain support from them, offering political posts. Amid this,

chose to trust the leadership of the imposed military government in Durazzo to Andrea Vrana. He was appointed ''capitano'' (captain) of the city. Before that, a relative of him served in 1185 as an official of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

in the Mat region. After the death of Manfred in the

Battle of Benevento The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in C ...

, Vrana refused to give the territories under his jurisdiction to the

Despotate of Epirus The Despotate of Epirus () was one of the Greek Rump state, successor states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the ...

and

Charles I of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

. The case of Andrea Vrana shows that Manfred was successful in making alliances with local leaders, some of whom helped against Manfred's adversaries in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The first mention of Andrea Vrana is dated in 1261–1266 as "''capt Arban Cmibri, Andrea Vrana''" in an inscription at a church in Rubik, northwestern Albania. Although Vrana set it on fire, parts of the church survived.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrana, Andrea 13th-century Albanian people Medieval Albanian nobility Military history of the Kingdom of Sicily History of Durrës Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People from Klos (municipality) Albanian monarchs