The long protracted turmoil of dynastic wars had made germinate in their real victims, the Albanians, the seeds of national sentiment which contained great promise, so that, when after Emperor
Stefan Dušan's death, a descendant of
Stefan Uroš I, returned to the province, the inhabitants rose
en masse and, under the leadership of Karl Thopia, cut down the pretender and his entire force in the battle of
Acheloos. In 1358, Karl rose against the rule of the
Anjou and managed to drive them out of Durrës from
Epirus and Albania. He ruled most of modern central Albania from 1358 to 1388 and held the title of
Princeps Albaniae (Prince of Albania) and
Duke of Durrës. Since 1362, Karl sought
Durrës, which was in the possession of
Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo. The first, certainly still unsuccessful siege lasted from April 1362 to May 1363. Then, Thopia had to withdraw his troops, who were weakened by an epidemic disease. Only in 1367 could Karl conquer Durrës, who had attained in the meantime the tacit agreement of the Venetians for his project and turn this important port into his residence. (1381) Karl gained control of
Durrës in 1368, which was where the
Angevins held out due to their
Kingdom becoming smaller in size. In 1374,
Pope Gregory XI awarded him the title '''"Grande Conte d'Albania" (Grand Count of Albania)'''. Karl lost
Durrës in 1376, conquered by Joanna's husband
Louis during the
Durrës Expedition, but recovered it in 1383 when the last mercenaries of the
Navarrese Company moved to Greece. Thopia ruled over the regions of
Durrës,
Kruja,
Peqin,
Elbasan, Mokra and Gora, that is, along both sides of the
Via Egnatia as far east as
Lake Ohrid. ==Rivalry with Balsha II==