Report on the situation of Albania and Serbia when visited by Vincenc Zmajeviç, Archbishop of Tivar, in 1703

Abstract

General information on the situation of Albania and the activity of Father Vincenc Zmajeviç, Archbishop of Tivar, Apostolic Guest of Albania The Report of the Archbishop of Tivar, Vinçenc Zmajeviç, provides the coastal extension of Albania, beginning with Pastroviçi, the final frontier of the Republic of Venice and ending at the Bay of Ambraky.
At the time when Vinçenc Zmajeviç came for inspection, a good part of Albania was governed by Oda Verdi Mahmut Begolli, from Peja.
This Pasha welcomed the Archbishop of Tivar and, on his honor and in the honor of the Church, he made many concessions to the Christian population, especially to the Catholic ones.
In his report, the author makes us known that the Christians of this fertile country would enjoy all the benefits of this world, if the Turks would not charge them with heavy taxes, therefore, he follows, they have lost their love for the cultivation of land, their only means of living, thus keeping much of their land waste.
The report indicates that from these taxes (at large imposed on the Christians), the nation is injured in the weakest part, in that of the interest, to which is particularly apt this nation by its nature or by necessity. Because of these taxes, the author believes, that there were conversions from Catholic religion into the Muslim one.
In the report, Vinçenc Zmajeviç speaks also about the ignorance of the Catholic clergy, who not responding to the needs of the time, was, in most cases, the cause for the return of Christians into Muslims. Another reason for the mass conversions of the Catholic population into Muslims was the lack of Catholic clergy in various areas and regions for years.
The report of Zmajeviç was an epilogue of the time and situation of the believers, of the Church and the Catholic clergy of Albania, during the time he visited it.