This is a timeline of Albanian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Albania and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Albania. See also the list of Albanian monarchs and list of heads of state of Albania.

Antiquity

2nd century AD to 12th century Year Date Event150Ptolemy's map shows the city of Albanopolis (located northeast of Durrës).Madrugearu A, Gordon M. The wars of the Balkan peninsula. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. p.146 Ptolemy also mentions the Illyrian tribe named Albanoi, who lived around this city.William Smith, LLD, Ed., Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, 1854. Ptolemy is the earliest writer in whose works the name of the Albanians has been distinctly recognized. He mentions (3.13.23) a tribe called ALBANI (Ἀλβανοί) and a town ALBANOPOLIS (Ἀλβανόπολις), in the region lying to the E. of the Ionian sea; and from the names of places with which Albanopolis is connected, it appears clearly to have been in the S. part of the Illyrian territory, and in modern Albania. There is no means of forming a conjecture on how the name of this obscure tribe came to be extended to so considerable a nation. The area was part of the Roman province of Macedonia.244-311Epirus Nova or New Epirus or Illyria GraecaThe Loeb Editor's Notes, 28 Nova Epirus or Illyris GraecaA new classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology, and geography: partly based upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology by Sir William Smith,1851, page 392Catholic Encyclopedia - Durazzo or Illyris proper was a province of the Roman Empire established by Diocletian during his restructuring of provincial boundaries. The province, belonged to the Roman province of Macedonia.Handbook of Ancient Geography and History by Ptz Wilhelm, , The (734) southern portion, or Illyria Graeca, belonged to the province of Macedonia.Atlas of Classical History by R. Talbert, 1989, page 175: "... divided the diocese of Moesia into two, styled Thracia and Macedonia, the latter consisting of the provinces from Epirus Nova and Macedonia southward. But there is evidence that Constantine considered ..." Later it became a themeEncyclopedia of ancient Greece by Nigel Guy Wilson, 2006, , page 246 of the Byzantine Empire. Dyrrachium was established as the capital of Epirus nova.Hendry, p. 299. The geography is entirely correct for Servius' time, since Diocletian's rearrangement of provincial boundaries included the creation of the province of Epirus Nova out of southern Illyricum with Dyrrachium (=Epidamnus) as its capital. The Roman administrative region of Epirus Nova corresponded to southern Illyria, which was in part subject to ancient Greek influence.Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992,, Page 2101000-1018The Arbanasi people are recorded as being 'half-believers' (non-Orthodox Christians) and speaking their own language in the Fragment of Origins of Nations between 1000 and 1018 by an anonymous author in a Bulgarian text of the 11th century.1043 In History written in 1079–1080, Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates referred to the Albanoi as having taken part in a revolt against Constantinople in 1043 and to the Arbanitai as subjects of the duke of Dyrrachium. It is disputed, however, whether the "Albanoi" of the events of 1043 refers to Albanians in an ethnic sense or whether "Albanoi" is a reference to Normans from Sicily under an archaic name (there was also tribe of Italy by the name of "Albanoi").The wars of the Balkan Peninsula: their medieval origins G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series Authors Alexandru Madgearu, Martin Gordon Editor Martin Gordon Translated by Alexandru Madgearu Edition illustrated Publisher Scarecrow Press, 2008 , It was supposed that those Albanoi from 1042 were Normans from Sicily, called by an archaic name (the Albanoi were an independent tribe from Southern Italy), p. 25 However a later reference to Albanians from the same Attaliates, regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion in 1078, is undisputed.The wars of the Balkan Peninsula: their medieval origins G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series Authors Alexandru Madgearu, Martin Gordon Editor Martin Gordon Translated by Alexandru Madgearu Edition illustrated Publisher Scarecrow Press, 2008 , It was supposed that those Albanoi from 1042 were Normans from Sicily, called by an archaic name (the Albanoi were an independent tribe from Southern Italy). The following instance is indisputable. It comes from the same Attaliates, who wrote that the Albanians (Arbanitai) were involved in the 1078 rebellion of... p. 251081–1118Arbanitai of Arbanon are recorded in an account by Anna Comnena of the troubles in that region during the reign of her father Alexius I Comnenus by the Normans.Comnena, Anna. The Alexiad, Book IV.1190The Principality of Arbanon was created.1200Local Albanian noble families began to emerge and Serbia occupies parts of northern Albania.

13th century Year Date Event 1204 Fourth Crusade: Venice won control over most of Albania. Fourth Crusade: The Byzantines regained control of the southern portion of Albania and established the Despotate of Epirus. 1258 The Angevin Kingdom of Sicily seized the Albanian coast and much of the Epirus hinterland. 1272 Forces allied to Angevin Charles I of Naples occupied Durrës and established the Kingdom of Albania. 1280 Siege of Berat (1280–1281): An Angevin offensive against Constantinople was repulsed by the Byzantines. 1290 Albania began to come under Serbian attack.

14th century Year Date Event 1304 The Angevins recaptured the Kingdom of Albania. 1368 Karl Thopia captured Durrës from the Angevins. 1385 Thopia invited the Ottoman Empire to intervene against his rival Balsha II. 1389 June 15 Battle of Kosovo: Albanians, as part of a Serbian-led Balkan army, were crushed by Ottoman forces.

15th century Year Date Event 1405 George Kastrioti, later Skanderbeg, was born. 1430 Gjon Kastrioti led an unsuccessful uprising against the Ottoman Empire. 1433 Gjergj Arianiti rebelled against the Ottoman Empire with some success. 1443 After being sent into battle near Niš, Skanderbeg entered Albania and embraced Roman Catholicism, marking the beginning of a long war against the Ottoman Empire. 1444 Skanderbeg was proclaimed chief of the League of Lezhë. 1450 The Albanians, led by Skanderbeg, routed Ottoman forces. 1466 The Albanians, led by Skanderbeg, began the defense of Krujë against massive Ottoman armies. 1467 The defense of Krujë ended. 1468 January 17 Skanderbeg died. 1478 Fourth Siege of Krujë (1478): Krujë fell to the Ottoman Empire, causing many Albanians to flee to southern Italy, Greece, Egypt, and elsewhere. 1479 Shkodër fell to the Ottoman Empire in Fourth siege of Shkodra the Albanians were helped by Venice but still lost.

17th century Year Date Event 1700 Some Albanians who converted to Islam found careers in the government and military services of the Ottoman Empire. A mass conversion of Albanians began which would see some two-thirds of them become Muslims.

18th century Year Date Event 1785 Kara Mahmud Bushati, an Albanian noble from the Bushati family based in Shkodër, attacked Montenegrin territory and was named governor of Shkodër by Ottoman authorities. 1800 Most Albanian conversion to Islam came to an end.

19th century Year Date Event 1822 Albanian leader Ali Pashë Tepelena was assassinated by Ottoman agents for promoting an autonomous state. 1830 Five hundred Albanian leaders, accepting an invitation to meet with an Ottoman general in Monastir, were trapped and killed in an ambush. 1835 The Ottoman Sublime Porte divided Albanian-populated lands into the Ottoman-administered vilayets of Janina and Rumelia. 1848 Albanians rose up against the Tanzimat reforms. 1861 The first school known to use the Albanian language in modern times opened in Shkodër. 1877 April 24 Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878): The war began. 1878 March 3 Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878): The Ottoman Empire was defeated by its rival Russian Empire, seriously weakening Ottoman power over Albanian-populated areas. June 10 Albanian leaders meeting in Prizren formed the League of Prizren to advocate a unified Albania under Ottoman suzerainty. 1879 October 12 The Society for Printing of Albanian Writings, composed of Roman Catholic, Muslim, and Eastern Orthodox Albanians, was founded in Constantinople. 1881 Ottoman forces crushed Albanian resistance fighters at Prizren. The leaders of the League of Prizren and their families were arrested and deported. 1897 Ottoman authorities disbanded a reactivated League of Prizren.

20th century