The year is 1205, one year after the sack of Constantinople by the Latin knights, and the splitting of the Byzantine Empire into the Empire of Trebizond and Nicaea, along with the Despotate of Epirus. The Latin Empire currently is the most powerful entity in the Balkans, but is engaged in the Battle of Adrianople with Bulgarians and Cumans.
The result of the battle was a decisive Latin victory, as it had rained that day and led to the knights finding Cumans digging into wolf pits. The resulting battle led to Tsar Kaloyan being captured by the Latin Emperor, and the majority of the opposing army being massacred the next few weeks. This secured Baldwin his place as Emperor of all Greeks in the east.
The Principality of Arbanon (or Arberia as we will call it) is now relatively autonomous, however it still was between two minor powers, Epirus and Serbia. So, in response to this issue, the current Princi of Arberia, Gjin Progoni married Komnena Nemanja. Who was the daughter of Stefan Nemanja, the Grand Prince of Serbia. This led to them securing an alliance with the Serbian.
Along with that, he married his younger brother to Princess of Hungary, which led to an even greater ally in the north. Gjin and the majority of the Tribal nobility then converted to Catholicism, in response to the Latin victory in Thrace. The Pope was pleased, and offered the protection of Arberia by the Papacy to his realm.
The coast of Arberia however was not secure, as the Venetians have threatened to expand inland, something that Gjin accounted for in his plans. He wished to secure the interior heartlands, which he did in a campaign against the Epirotes in the beginning of 1206; encouraged by the Greek defeat in Messenia.
The result was the capture of Peqin by the Arberian army, which consisted of Arberians and Serbs, along with German and Frankish mercenaries. This worried the Venetians, who knew that Gjin took a major route in the path of the via egnatia trade route. Thereby, a Venetian emissary demanded that they allow passage towards the east, which Gjin accepted as long as Venice retreat their influence and promise not to interfere in any pushes by Gjin to his neighbors.
Due to a Hungarian victory in the battle of Vidin against the Bulgarians, Gjin led another campaign in 1207, which led to a push east into Diber, which led to the city being captured and a a member of the Clan Gropa being appointed count of the local area.
In Epirus, the capital of Arta was under siege by Latin knights, with a naval blockade by the Genoans. Which led to the city falling in 1209, and the Despot Michael Komnenos being forced to retake the city by another siege, which led to a Pyrrhic victory for the Epirotes in Arta in late 1209. Epirus lost the city of Berat to Arberians, who appointed a local Arberian as lord of the region.
War continued between Bulgaria and Hungary, until the Hungarians battled with Serbian forces in what is considered western Serbia today. The result was a great defeat for the Serbs, and the Hungarian push south into the Serbian realm. Venice took the opportunity and captured several coastal cities in Serbia, which led to more losses for the Serbians.
As a result of the decisive defeat the Serbians faced, many in their royal family took refuge in the Bulgaria and Arberia, that did not deter Gjin from officially declaring war with Serbia in 1211, and using an ancient trade route as a way to besiege the city of Shkoder. King Stefan of Serbia officially battled with Gjin in the battle of Lezhe in 1211.
The battle seemed like a certain loss for the Arberians, but was intervened by the Venetians, who helped annihilate the Serbian army, leading to the siege of Shkoder by both Arberian and Franco-Venetian mercenaries. The city finally surrendered when news of King Stefan’s escape to Bulgaria were show, and the gates were open to the victorious troops.
The treaty of Kruja was signed, which gave Hungary control over a huge amount of territory, Venice control over the Serbian coast, and Arberian control over all of current day Northern Albania. Gjin died in 1213, which led to Dhimitër Progoni becoming the Princi of Arberia, and overseeing the birth of a great nation.
By 1215, the Arberians, who were mostly shepherds and farmers had exploded in population and began to increasingly look into duties as mercenaries for the Latin Empire and Venice. Many, now began to encroach further south into the increasingly destabilized Epirus, with some shepherds reaching the foothills of the Chaonian mountains by 1223.
In the east, the Latin Empire was badly defeated by the the Empire of Nicaea. With the emperor taking most of the Latin Empire’s Asiatic lands. In retaliation, the Latins oversaw an invasion of Rhodes with the Genoans, which was a success. Nicaea was invaded by the Sultanate of Rum in 1217, and Latins retook the land they had lost, and gained even more territory in the eastern coast of the Aegean.
The Ayyubid Caliphate had also taken over southern Armenia, which led to the Georgians and Trebizonians funding a massive revolt in Armenia, which led the east of Rum and the north of the Ayyubids revolting.
This led to Henry I of the Latin Empire, several Catholic rulers, and the Pope to formulate a new crusade that would not only extinguish the Nicaeans, but also push the borders of Catholicism to Armenia, where they would assist the Armenians against the Ayyubids.
In 1215, all of Christendom was united against the oriental forces in Anatolia, a massive army of over 100,000 men was amassed and transported either through Hungary or through Naples. Participants in the 5th crusade also passed through Durres, which hosted a port large enough to handle such an army. Mbreti Dhimitër promised some soldiers of his own, but only so little as to keep as many people as possible.
In a stroke of genius, he recommended the crusaders march into the Despotate of Epirus, which the zealous crusaders happily obliged to, with a small portion of the army brutally defeating the Epirotes in Vlora, and sieging the Castle of Kanine, slaughtering the mostly Greek population of the south, until finally stopping in the port of Vlore, and turned back to the via egnatia to continue their crusade.
Dhimitër got what he wanted, and easily raised an army to take over whatever land was not found in the east. He eventually took over the city of Pogradec in 1214, and fought again against Epirus in 1215, which pushed them up and beyond the Chaonian Mountains, establishing the border Arberia would have with the Greek strongholds in the south.
With that out of the way, Dhimitër sent soldiers to the east after news came about the fall of the Empire of Nicaea, and the continuation of the crusade against the Kaykaus of Rum. Soon the Armenians were supported by the Georgians, who pushed against Rum and the Ayyubids in 1218. The Ayyubid army finally appeared in 1218 and battled against the forces of Georgia, Trebizond, and Armenian rebels. This led to a decisive victory for the Christian forces, and the retreat of the Ayyubids and Rumi from the Armenian highlands. Now was the task of who would retain Armenia, which would be settled when they stopped the Azerbaijani invasion from the east.
The crusaders in Anatolia faced a minor loss, but for the most part successfully destroyed the Turkish army of Kaykaus, so badly were the Turks beaten, that they were forced to the Cappadocian highlands, while the crusaders slaughtered and pillaged Turkish cities, and forcefully converted all whom they lived through it. Anatolia became a war-zone in which the Latin Empire, and the major part of the war ended with the sacking of Iconium by the Christians.
The Sultanate of Rum fractured into hundreds of petty Beyliks and tribes, each vying for power over one another. All were being crushed one by one by zealous Crusaders, so much so that Francis of Assisi (who had also journeyed to Albania) became appalled by the treatment of the Turks and asked to end the crusade in the east of Anatolia. The commanders however would not listen, they demanded that they reach at least Antioch before thinking about ending the crusade.
1219 marked the year when Genghis Khan invaded Persia, and became known by the crusaders, however there was initially no fear from them. They regarded Temujin as “Prester John” coming over to assist his fellow Christians. It wasn’t until the battle of the battle of Kalka River in 1223 where the crusaders - who had recently linked with Antioch- realized the situation they were in.
News of the demons sighted in Armenia shocked the crusaders in Antioch, and they decided to send an emissary to wherever the Khagan resigned in. Thus, the Christians met the Mongols for the first time in Maragheh, and concluded a mutual alliance against the Saracens. When the topic of Georgia was brought up, the Christians offered it in return for a mutual peace. Thus, the Mongols attacked Georgia, and Baku being taken over by the Azerbaijanis.
Back in Arberia, the Epirote army had gathered to retake Kanine and Vlora, only to be surrounded in the plains of central Albania by the Arberian army. The Greek problem was solved when the Venetians invaded and occupied the ports of Butrint and Himare, which led to Chaonian highlands being isolated from the outside world. In turn, the Latins entered into the Epirote south and annexed enormous parts of their territory.
By 1224, the entirety of Epirus was divided by Arberia, The Latin Empire, and The Republic of Venice. The borders of Arberia were extended to what is considered Gjirokaster. Another turn in demographics was also followed, as the Greek and Slavic farmers were either assimilated or displaced by Albanian farmers, who found the rich, forested mountains of the south to be too good to leave behind.