Devol (; ; ) also Deabolis or Diabolis, was a medieval fortress and bishopric in western

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, located south of

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

in what is today the south-eastern corner of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

( Devoll municipality). Its precise location is unknown today, but it is thought to have been located by the river of the same name (today Devoll River), and on the Roman

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a contin ...

road. It is first mentioned in historical sources in John Skylitzes' account of the Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars under Emperor

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...

, whose general

Eustathios Daphnomeles Eustathios Daphnomeles (, early 11th century) was a Byzantine and patrician who distinguished himself in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. He ranks as one of the most prominent and successful generals in the thirty-year war between Emperor ...

is said to have subdued some of the last Bulgarian resisting forces concentrated in Deabolis in 1018. The place is also mentioned in a 1019 charter granted by Basil to the Bulgarian church, as a ''kastron'' (castle) under the jurisdiction of the bishop of

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

It is not precisely known when Deabolis became a bishopric. Saint

Clement of Ohrid Saint Clement (or Kliment) of Ohrid ( Bulgarian, Macedonian, , ''Kliment Ohridski''; , ''Klḗmēs tē̂s Akhrídas''; ; – 916) was one of the first medieval Bulgarian saints, scholar, writer, and apostle to the Slavs. He was one of the mos ...

(ca. 840–916), an eminent medieval Bulgarian writer, is supposed to have been its bishop around 900, according to the saint's vita written by

Theophylact of Ohrid Theophylact (, ; around 1055after 1107) was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Archbishop of Ohrid and commentator on the Bible. He is regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, commemorated on December 31st. Life Theophylact was born in the ...

some 200 years later; however, the first independent contemporary documents confirming its status as a bishopric are of a later date. Deabolis/Devol was the site of the Treaty of Devol between

Bohemond I of Antioch Bohemond I of Antioch ( 1054 – 5 or 7 March 1111), also known as Bohemond of Taranto or Bohemond of Hauteville, was the prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, leadi ...

and Byzantine Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

in 1108. It was reconquered by the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...

in the beginning of the 13th century. Byzantine control was restored in 1259 when Michael Palaeologos besieged the city using

helepolis Helepolis (, meaning: "Taker of Cities") is the Greek name for a movable siege tower. The most famous was that invented by Polyidus of Thessaly, and improved by Demetrius I of Macedon and Epimachus of Athens, for the Siege of Rhodes (305 BC ...

siege engines The fortress continued to play an important role until the 14th century. Its site became forgotten in modern times. It has been tentatively identified with the site of a modern Albanian village called

Zvezdë Zvezda or Zvezdë is a village in the municipality of Pojan, a subdivision of the municipality of Maliq, in the Korçë County of Albania. Located in south-east Albania, it is within close range of Lake Prespa, which is shared between Albania, Nort ...

(located at ), a conjecture already proposed by the 19th century British traveller

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

in 1835. The place Deabolis/Devol on the Devoll river should not be confused with a different medieval fortress likewise called Deabolis, or Devolgrad, situated further east in today's

, near

Kavadarci Kavadarci ( ) is a town in the Tikveš region of North Macedonia. In the heart of North Macedonia's wine country, it is home to the largest winery in Southeast Europe, named after the Tikveš plain. The town of Kavadarci is the seat of Kavadarc ...

References

{{reflist Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Albania under the Byzantine Empire Kutmichevitsa Medieval Macedonia Archbishopric of Ohrid