Mihael Summa or Mikel Suma (March 12, 1695 – November 20, 1777) was the Albanian Catholic Archbishop of

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

from 1728 to 1743, having succeeded Peter Karagić.

Life and career

Suma was born in Balba,

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 ...

, in the Diocese of Sapë to a noble Catholic family. On the same day he was baptized as "Zupin" by Don Nikola Kabashi. Suma was described as kind and diligent. Don Tibeo Paccalorzi, the principal of the Fermo College in Rome, wrote on April 15, 1711, that "Mihael Summa is a person of which much is expected." When Suma returned home from his studies, he was ordained a priest on 28 October 1718, in the parish church of Saxony by Marin Gjini. On 29 October Peter Karagić appointed Suma as his

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

. Suma became the capital vicar of the archdiocese in 1727 after Peter Karagić died on 15 January. Archbishop

Vicko Zmajević Vicko Zmajević (21 December 1670 – 12 September 1745) was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Bar and Primate of Serbia and also the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zadar, Archdiocese of Zadar. Biography Zmajević was born ...

wrote on May 16, 1727 to the Rome Congregation recommending Suma as the archbishop of Skopje. In 1727, after an investigation, the Pope selected Suma as the new archbishop, and he was appointed on 15 November 1728. He was ordained a bishop on 3 July 1729 in Crkva sv. Spasitelja, Velja. In 1728, during the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

, Suma began negotiations with the Austrian forces but was exposed by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. He was forced to flee to Austria at the end of 1736. In the same year, he visited

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. In 1737, Suma led the Albanian highlanders in an anti-Ottoman revolt, but after the Austrian forces retreat through

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...

, the Albanians were left to resist for three years. During the spread of the plague in the region, it is believed that Suma stayed in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, but letters to Rome written on 6 April and 6 June 1739 show that he traveled to the

Pešter The Pešter Plateau (), or simply Pešter ( sr-Cyrl, Пештер, ) is a karst plateau in southwestern Serbia, in the Raška (or Sandžak) region. It lies at an altitude of , with the highest point (''Kuljarski vrh'') at 1,492 meters. The terr ...

region in the

. In his letters he describing how his countrymen in Pešter and Novi Pazar were subjected to Austrian rule. Suma was fluent in Albanian, Croatian and Turkish resulting in him being appreciated by the local Turks and Orthodox believers in Skopje (Shkup). After the Turks seized Belgrade, Suma fled to Osijek, where he had the status of an Imperial senior citizen, with 1800 forints a year as pension. He lived with his son, sat on the city council and became a merchant. Before 23 September 1743, Suma resigned as Archbishop, becoming Archbishop Emeritus. In 1765, Suma bought a house, where he lived with his son. He preached in Dakovo, Pedukh, Petrijevci, Valpov, Dardi, Vukovar,

Ilok Ilok () is the easternmost town in Croatia forming a geographic salient surrounded by Vojvodina. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on the Fruška Gora hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Bačka region of Serbi ...

and Petrovaradin for many decades. In May 1777, Suma fell ill and on 20 November, at the age of 82, he died in his home surrounded by relatives. Suma was buried at the Franciscan church in Osijek by Bishop Krtica. In July 1778, a monument of black marble was raised above his tomb. Suma had been a priest for 59 years and a bishop for 48.

References

{{Authority control 1695 births 18th-century Albanian Roman Catholic bishops 1777 deaths Bishops of Skopje 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Ottoman Empire