Authored by Petrit Latifi

The castles of Zveçan and Lipjan were not Serbian or Slavic castles, but rather Byzantine Albanian fortifications. The Byzantine forces tried in vain to stop the Serbian hordes who invaded in the 12th century. The invaded Byzantine Albanian lands continued until the 14th century.

“The chronological development can be described as follows: The Byzantine Empire maintained formal and, with varying degrees of intensity, material sovereignty over the territory of present-day Kosovo until the end of the 13th century (Schmitt 2008, 49ff.; Malcolm 1998, 41ff.; Vickers 1998, 6ff.).

Serbian forces exerted pressure from the north; occasionally, they succeeded in advancing south. The Byzantine fortifications, the castles of Zveçan and Lipjan, still bear witness to the defensive structure, which, however, could not stop those Serbian forces.

In a process that began as early as the 12th century, the Serbian Nemanjids conquered large parts of present-day Kosovo, first the Kosovo Plain, then the west around the valley of the White Drin, and even made it the core territory of their empire Kosovo remained under Serbian rule until the end of the 14th century (the northern regions even until the 15th century), before then coming under Ottoman rule.

Naturally, the changes of power only briefly mentioned here were intense, combative processes of succession, each lasting several decades. Rulers did not alternate seamlessly, but were interrupted by power struggles between local rulers, each of whom established their own, albeit short-lived, spheres of influence in smaller territories.

It was by no means the case that a new rule immediately brought with it a new law or a new order; rather, a long period of adjustment was required, during which the new rule had to establish its sovereignty and find a modus vivendi with the new subjects. (These lengthy processes of succession are described, for example, in Malcolm 1998, pp. 1ff. and 22ff., and Vickers 1998, pp. 6ff.)”

Zvečan Fortress in 1530, according to an engraving from the book by B. Kuripešić. Among other things, Pristina is also mentioned several times in this book. (Source: National Library of Ljubljana).

Reference

Indifferenz, Gegnerschaft, Identität Veränderungen im politischen Verhältnis von Dorf und Staat im Kosovo By Henrique Schneider , 2016. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Indifferenz_Gegnerschaft_Identit%C3%A4t_Ver/uzb2DQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=serbischen+Banden+albanische&pg=PA82&printsec=frontcover