Athanasius I of Ohrid

Athanasius I (fl. 1596–1615) was the Archbishop of Ohrid from 1596 to 1598. He was known for protecting the Macedonian Slavs from Ottoman tyranny.^[1] He was born in the Mani Peninsula in southern Greece, as Athanasios Rizeas (Greek: Αθανάσιος Ριζέας). He organized the failed Himara Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

1596–57

In 1596 Athanasius sought to end Ottoman rule and contacted the Venetians, meeting with Angelo Basadonna, the provveditore of Corfu, in Butrint. The Venetians refused to help, but Spain supported the revolt.^[2] In 1596, a source stated that there were 10,000 fighters in red costumes in Himara.^[3] As he did not receive the aid he asked for, he travelled to Naples, where he was unsuccessful as well. He then visited the Pope in Rome, where he asked for aid in the organization of an uprising in Macedonia.^[4]

Athanasius went back to Albania in the summer of 1596, and stayed in Himara. On August 23, 1596 he met with Albanian captains Michael Bua, Giovanni Golemi and Michael Papada with the purpose to organize a revolt. They each received a monthly pay of 50 ducats.^[5]

References

1. Kiro Stojanov (1990). Povijesno-pravni razvoj Katoličke crkve bizantsko-slavenskog obreda u Makedoniji. Kršćanska sadašnjost. p. 12. ISBN 978-86-397-0185-7.
2. Richard Hodges; William Bowden; Kosta Lako; R. D. Andrews (2004). Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys 1994-1999. Oxbow Books for the Butrint Foundation. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-84217-158-5.
3. Andromaqi Gjergji (2004). Albanian Costumes Through the Centuries: Origin, Types, Evolution. Acad. of Sciences of Albania, Inst. of Folc Culture. p. 21. ISBN 978-99943-614-4-1.
4. Jugoslovenski Istorijski Casopis. 1978. p. 210.
5. Peter Bartl (1974). Der Westbalkan zwischen spanischer Monarchie und osmanischem Reich: zur Türkenkriegsproblematik an der Wende vom 16. zum 17. In Kommission bei Otto Harrasowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-01553-0. Athanasius scheint sich noch im Sommer 1596 nach Albanien zurückbegeben zu haben. Er hielt sich in der Himara auf. Dorthin begaben sich am 23. August 1596 die albanischen Kapitäne Michael Bua, Giovanni Golemi und Michael Papada. Sie erhielten jeder 50 Dukaten Sold monatlich. Sie fuhren zunächst nach Lecie (Lecce?), wo sie sich mit Kriegsmaterial für die Himarioten — 1 000 Arkebusen, Pulver, Blei, 4 Trommeln und 4 königlichen Bannern (insegne del Re) — ausrüsteten. Wie der venezianische Resident in Neapel berichtete, war er der „capo delle spie, che vanno de qui in Constantinopoli, et ch'e quello, per le mani del quale passano tutti i maneggi di Albania."10 Er muß sich dabei so unentbehrlich gemacht ...