Arbanaška vera (Alb. Feja Katolike shqiptare) (Eng: Albanian Catholic faith) (German: Albanischen Glauben)[1] (Italian: La fede albanese) was the 14th century Serbian antonomasic denunciation of Catholic Albanians in Shkodër, Zeta, Kosovo, Macedonia and other regions modern day Northern Albania.[2][3] In the Dušan's Code, the Albanians were mentioned as "latin believers", "heretic latins" or "non-believers" and that if a 'Christian' (Orthodox) would adopt the azymite rite, he was to be exhorted to the Orthodox faith. The term was first used by Pjetër Bogdani in 1685 in his Cvnevs Prophetarum when he mentioned the "shkietë" (Slavs) using the term to describe the Albanian faith.[4][5][6] The term helped create a necessary differentiation of Christian Albanian culture through out the centuries. Other similar etnhonyms for the Albanians were "Arbanaš", "arbanaški", "jezik" or "latins" as it is mentioned in the year 1300 in Shen Gjergjit close to Skopje.[7] Serbian historian Dimitrije Bogdanović writes that Andrea Bogdani, newphew of Pjeter, wrote in 1662 a report to the Propagation of the Faith mentioning that the core of the Catholics in Serbia are the Albanians and that the Catholic faith in Serbia is called "Arbanaska vera".[8] Albanian archeologist and and historian Edi Shukriu writes that the existence of the denunciation proves that the Albanians at the time were subjects of an ethnocultural assimilation policy initiated by the Serbian medieval state.[9] In 1927, Midhat Frashëri published an article in the Albanian paper Dituria where he writes that the Serbian medieval despots used to denounce the Catholic faith as "Arbanaska vera". [10] In Latin, the term was "La fede albanese".
^Skendi, Stavro (2005). Albanian and South Slavic oral epic poetry (No doubt the opposition of Albanian Roman Catholicism to Montenegrin Christian Orthodoxy intensified its ethnic nature. As early as 1685 Pjeter Bogdani, an Albanian author, wrote: "The Slavs... call the Catholic faith Arbanagka vera (Albanian religion)."2 ed.). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
^Plasari, Dr. Aurel. THE LINE OF THEODOSIUS REAPPEARS Which Side Will the Albanians Take?(PDF) (Bogdani in his „Cuneus“ shows that this identification persisted in later years, when he writes in his introduction that the Slavs also used the name „arbanaska vera“ for the Catholic faith. ed.). studiate il passo Mentre que l'Occidente non s'annera. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
^dr. Sabit SYLA, Prof. assoc. (2015). Kosova(PDF). Prishtinë: INSTITUTI I HISTORISË “ALI HADRI”- PRISHTINË. p. 65. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
^Bogdanovic, Dimitrije (1985). Knjiga o Kosovu (Pisao je više izveštaja Kongregaciji za propagandu vere, a kao Albanac po narodnosti nikada nije bio slep za mane svojih sunarodnika. Albanskim katolicima je, međutim, posvećivao osobitu pažnju ne samo iz rodoljublja nego zbog činjenice da jezgro katolika u Srbiji, kako je to istakao još u jednome svom skadarskom izveštaju [1662], čine Albanci, te se i katolička vera u Srbiji naziva „albanska vera” [la fede albanese]. (He wrote several reports to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and as an Albanian by nationality, he was never blind to the shortcomings of his compatriots. However, he paid special attention to Albanian Catholics not only out of patriotism but also due to the fact that the core of Catholics in Serbia, as he pointed out in another of his Skadar report [1662], are Albanians, and the Catholic faith in Serbia is called "Albanian faith". ”[La fede albanese].) ed.). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
^Shukriu, Edi. ZHVILLIMET ETNOLITIKE NË KOSOVË PËRMES HISTORISË(PDF) (From the above text it is understood that in the XII-XIV centuries the Catholic faith (Arbanaska vera, as the Serbs called it - the Albanian religion) was widespread in Kosovo and that the pressures of the medieval Serbian state and the Serbian Orthodox Church were permanent. The aim was the ethnocultural and religious assimilation of Albanians, as they carried distinctive and autochthonous elements in the medieval Serbian state. It seems that this is the stage when a part of the population became Serbian, always seeing it in the context of the spiritual connection with the church and the low educational level of the population at this time. ed.). Kongresi Ndërkombëtar i Historisë dhe i Kulturës. p. 832. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
^Frasheri, Midhat (1927). E Perkohesmhe Shqiptare(PDF) (Second Volume, Number 7. ed.). Dituria. p. 272. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
