r the Byzantine Empire as an important port and a major link between the Empire and western Europe.
Middle Ages
The city and the surrounding coast became a Byzantine province (the Theme of Dyrrhachium) in the early 9th century. Byzantine rule was contested by the Bulgarians under Simeon the Great, but it remained in Byzantine hands until the late 10th century, when Samuel of Bulgaria conquered the city and held it until c. 1005.
Dyrrachium was lost in February 1082 by the emperor Alexios I Komnenos to the Normans under Robert Guiscard and his sonBohemund in the Battle of Dyrrhachium. Byzantine control was restored a few years later but the city was lost again in 1185, this time to the Norman King William II of Sicily. In 1205, after the Fourth Crusade, the city was transferred to the rule of the Republic of Venice who formed the "Duchy of Durazzo". This Duchy was destroyed in 1213 and the city was taken by the Despotate of Epirus. In 1257 Durrës was briefly occupied by the King of Sicily, Manfred of Hohenstaufen. It was re-occupied by the Despite of Epirus Michael II until 1259 when the Despotate was defeated by the Byzantine Empire of Nicaea in the Battle of Pelagonia. In the 1270s, Durrës was again controlled by Nikephoros I Angelos, the son of Despot Michael II who in 1278 was forced to yield the city to Charles d' Anjou (Charles I of Sicily).
Five years later, in c. 1273, it was wrecked by a devastating earthquake (according to George Pachymeres; R. Elsie, Early Albania(2003), p. 12) but soon recovered. It was briefly occupied by the King Milutin of Serbia in 1296. In early 14th century, the city was under the rule of a coalition between Anjous, Hungarians and the Albanian rulers of the Thopia family. In 1317 or 1318, the area was taken by the Serbs and remained under their rule until the 1350s. At that time the Popes, supported by the Anjous, increased their diplomatic and political activity
