Albanians and Byzantines. Aproaches to the Study of their common cultural past

Abstract

The cultural heritage of the Albanian nation is – like the cultural heritages of many European nations – complex and has manifold roots in the ancient and medieval history. Through the late antique and medieval centuries the Albanian people received cultural impulses from the Christian nations and institutions in Southeastern Europe and in Italy. Ancient Greek and Roman cultural influence was followed by Byzantine and Western. After the Middle Ages Albania was, under the Ottoman rule, also confronted for some centuries with Muslim culture and ideology. Butthe Albaniansfound the power to overcome foreign interests, political and ideological, and Albania’s role was not reducedtoa melting-pot of foreign cultural elements. The Albanian people integrated these elements and ideas in the main stream of cultural and national identity.