Tanusio Topia

Tanusio Topia ( 1329–38) was an Angevin Albanian count that served Princes of Taranto Philip I and Robert, and Dukes of Durazzo John and Charles. He had domains in Matia.

Background
Under Philip I, the Kingdom of Albania was restricted to roughly the modern Durrës District. Upon the death of Philip I in 1332, there were various claims on his domains within the Angevin family. The rights of the Duchy of Durazzo (Durrës) and the Kingdom of Albania together were given to John of Gravina with a sum of 5,000 pounds of gold. After his death in 1336, his dominions in Albania passed to his son Charles, Duke of Durazzo. During this period there were different Albanian noble families who began consolidating their power and domains. One of them was the Thopia family whose domains were in central Albania. The Serbs were pressing hard in their direction and the Albanian nobles found a natural ally in the Angevins. Alliance with Albanian leaders was also crucial to the safety of the Kingdom of Albania, especially during the 1320s and 1330s. Most prominent among these leaders were the Thopias, ruling in an area between the rivers Mat and Shkumbin, and the Muzaka family in the territory between the river Shkumbin and the city of Vlorë. They saw the Angevins as protectors of their domains and made alliances. During 1336–1337 Charles had various successes against Serb forces in central Albania.

History
He was mentioned in 1329 as one of the counts of Albania. This is the first mention of the Topia. In an act of Robert, King of Naples, dated April 15, 1338, Tanusio was mentioned as Count of Matia (conte di Matia). This reconfirmed Topia's relations to the Angevins from the time of Philip I. By 1343, Serbian King Stefan Dušan had conquered almost all of Albania, except for Durazzo which had been defended under the command of Tanusio.

Issue
According to Karl Hopf, Tanusio's son or brother Andrea, as told by Gjon Muzaka (fl. 1510), had fallen in love with the daughter of Robert of Naples when her ship, en route to the Principality of the Morea to be wed with the bailli, had stopped at Durazzo where they met. Andrea abducted and married her, and they had two sons, Karl and George. King Robert, enraged, under the pretext of reconciliation had the couple invited to Naples where he had them executed. Karl Topia later became the Prince of Albania.