The earliest artistic depiction of the Dukagjini coat of arms, a 14th century miniature, was published in the monthly periodical YLLI – issue nr.6, 7th annual edition (p.20)
The Dukagjini evolved from an extended clan (farefisni) to a feudal family in the late 13th century, when their first known progenitor Gjin Tanushi who became known as a dux (duke) and thus his descendants took the surname Dukagjini. By the early 15th century, they had evolved in one of the most important feudal families in the country. After the Ottoman conquest of Albania, a branch of them found refuge and settled in Venetian Koper, where they became known as the Docaini family which held the governorship of Socerb Castle until the early 17th century, when the last male line Docaini died. Another branch, converted to Islam from Catholic Christianity and remained in the Ottoman Empire, where they reached the high ranks of Ottoman leadership and produced many governors (pashas) in the Middle East, where descendants of them live in the modern period.
Lekë Dukagjini is the best known member of the clan in Albania. He is remembered in oral tradition as the codifier of the best remembered Kanun (customary law) of Albania. Another Dukagjini is Yahya bey who was a famous diwan poet of the 16th century.
Name
The name Dukagjini is a compound of the personal name Gjin and the title duka (duke). The Dukagjini are descendants of an aristocrat named Gjin Tanushi who lived in the late 13th century. He is mentioned in 1281 in a letter of the captain of Angevine Durazzo as duca Ginium Tanuschium Albanensem.[1] The earlier family name of Gjin Tanush may be Progoni as he was likely a descendant of this family.[2] Archival documents of this era from Ragusa and Italy spell the name usually as Ducagini/Duchaginni. The Dukagjini who settled in Istria became known as the Ducaini or Docaini. In Ottoman Turkish, the Dukagjini became known as Dukaginzâde or Dukakinoğlu.
Origins
Armorial of the Istria branch of the Dukagjini as depicted in Prospero Petronio's manuscript "Sacred and Profane Memoirs of Istria"
The Dukagjini family was part of an extended clan (farefisni) with several branches. The main branches in the early 15th century were those of Shkodër and Dibra and that of Lezhë. The extent of the fis in various regions is indicated in the names of three different areas: Leknia (named after one of the several Lekë Dukagjini) which extends from Mirdita to Malësia, the Dukagjin highlands to its north, and Rrafshi i Dukagjinit in western Kosovo.[4] The first known ancestor of the Dukagjini who gave his name to the family was an Albanian military figure, Gjin Tanushi, who in 1281 became known with the title of dux (ducam Ginium Tanuschium Albanensem).[5] He may have been a relative or a descendant of the earlier Progoni via protosevastos Progon, son of Gjin Progoni. The rule of this Progon in the Mirdita area, the many similarities between the emblem of the Progoni family in the Gëziq inscription and the coat of arms of the later Dukagjini and the claim of the Dukagjini that they were the hereditary overlords of Ndërfandë and the abbacy of Gëziq has led historians to consider that the two clans may have been related or even that the Dukagjini were descendants of the Progoni via protosevastos Progon.[2]
Gjin Tanushi is mentioned as an enemy of the Angevin rule in Albania who was later captured and imprisoned for his actions.[6]Gjon Muzaka wrote the first account about the origins of the Dukagjini in 1510. He describes an illustrious origin from Troy, after which they found refuge in France. From that country, two brothers came southwards again. One settled in Italy and was the progenitor of the Dukes of Ferrara and the other Duke Gjin came in Albania and took over the area of Zadrima. Gjon Muzaka's genealogies are considered highly dubious historically, but of value about what they reflect about their author and his era. Muzaka was married to Maria Dukagjini, a descendant of the family. Another such oral story which has been recorded in the archives of the Republic of Ragusa names them as regional rebels in the 7th century AD, who had twice attacked the city.[7][8]
A person with the Dukagjini name was mentioned in a 1377 document in Dubrovnik, as Nicolaus Tuderovich Duchaghi.[9] It is not possible to connect this person as being a relative of any other member of the Dukagjini family.[10]
History
Lands of the Dukagjini in late 14th century.
In the 15th century, sources appear for two separate branches of the Dukagjin family. The representative of one branch, Gjergj Dukagjini, appears as an owner of some villages near Lezhë and a commander of a force of 40 cavalry and 100 infantry. Although the Venetian Senate accepted his services, believing in his loyalty, he supported Zetan lordBalša III and fought against Venice when Balša III captured Venetian possessions near Scutari.[11] Gjergj Dukagjini died before 1409. In 1409, the Venetian Senate pardoned his son Nikola (Nikollë) for the activities of his father, based on the request of Dimitrije Jonima.[12]
According to the chronicle of Gjon Muzaka, Gjergj Dukagjini had three sons, Gjergj, Tanush, and Nicholas Dukagjini. Nicholas is first mentioned in a document dated to 1409. In 1443 he was a participant in the League of Lezhë, as vassal of Lekë Zaharia. Already in 1444 Nicholas killed Zaharia and tried to capture his pronoia, but failed to capture it, except Sati and several villages without a fight.[13] After Skanderbeg's war against Venice he signed a peace treaty with Venetians. Together with many other Albanian noblemen (such as Moisi Arianit Golemi, Pal Dukagjini and Hamza Kastrioti) he abandoned Skanderbeg's forces and deserted to the Ottomans.[14] Ottomans allowed him to govern 25 villages in Debar and 7 villages in Fandi.[15] Nicholas died before 1454.[16] His sons, Draga and Gjergj Dukagjini who were killed around 1462, ambushed by other nobleman from Albania, played minor political roles.[6][17]
The Dukagjini remained neutral during the First Scutari War.[18] They supported Serbian Despot Stefan Lazarević during the Second Scutari War until January 1423, when they, alongside some other nobility, were bribed over by the Venetians.[19] They were never mobilized, but left the ranks of Despot Stefan.[19] Although Venetian admiral Francesco Bembo offered money to Gjon Kastrioti II, the Dukagjini and to Koja Zaharija in April 1423 to join the Venetian forces against the Serbian Despotate, they refused.[20]
The names of the other branches of Dukagjini's family are mentioned in a Ragusian document from 1387. The brothers Lekë and Paul Dukagjini are described as owners of Lezhë who secured a free pass to Ragusan merchants in their dominion.
Pal Dukagjini (died 1393) had five sons named Tanush (the Little), Progon, Pal (II), Andrea, and Gjon Dukagjini. Pal II Dukagjini was killed in 1402 in Dalmatia while he was returning from Venice; Progon died in 1394. In a later document, Tanush appears as an ally of Koja Zaharia and appears to have died somewhere before 1433. Andrea Dukagjini died in 1416, while his brother Gjon became a priest and appears to have died in 1446.
Lekë Dukagjini had two sons, Progon and Tanush (Major) Dukagjini, and one daughter, Boša, who was married to Koja Zaharia.[21] Progon Dukagjini married the girl of Karl Thopia and appears to have been killed in 1402 under Venetian service. Tanush (Major) Dukagjini moved into Shkodër with his family, composed of two sons Pal and Lekë Dukagjini and two girls, of whom we only know one's name, Kale. In 1438, Tanush (Major) Dukagjini was interned in Padua and is not mentioned again in the chronicles.[22]
His little son, Lekë Dukagjini (born in 1420), did not play a great political role and is mentioned for the last time in 1451, as an enemy of Venice. His other son Pal Dukagjini (1411–1458) participated in the League of Lezhë and was an ally of Skanderbeg. On 21 October 1454, Alphonso V of Naples informed Skanderbeg that Pal Dukagjini sent his envoys and declared his loyalty and vassalage to the Kingdom of Naples. Based on that, Alphonso V awarded Pal Dukagjini with 300 ducats of annual provisions.[23]
Pal had four sons, Lekë, Nikollë, Progon, and Gjergj Dukagjini.[24]
The name of Gjergj Dukagjini is mentioned only once in historical sources, while his brother Progon died before 1471. The other two brothers, Lekë and Nikollë Dukagjini, left the country after the capture of Shkodër in 1479, going to Italy. They returned in 1481, trying to recapture their former territories from the Ottomans. One of their sons, Progon Dukagjini tried to do the same in 1501, but with little success.[24]
After the Dukagjini family left the League of Lezhë in 1450, together with Arianiti family, they concluded a peace with Ottoman Empire and started their actions against Skanderbeg.[25]
Some of the Dukagjinis seems to have fled to Venice along with other Venetians when they evacuated Shkodër, and a Luca Ducagini Duca di Pulato e dell stato Ducagino is recorded in Venice in 1506.[26]
Pal Dukagjini and his kinsman Nicholas Dukagjini were initially subjects of Lekë Zaharia, a Venetian vassal who had possessions around Shkoder. Nicholas murdered Lekë, and the Dukagjini continued to rule over their villages Buba, Salita, Gurichuchi, Baschina under Venetian vassalage. Pal and Nicholas were part of the League of Lezhë, a military alliance forged in 1444 that sought to capture Albania from the Ottoman Empire, led by Skanderbeg. In 1450, they abandoned Skanderbeg's army and allied with Ottomans against Skanderbeg.[28]
Lekë III Dukagjini (1410–1481), mostly known as Lekë Dukagjini, was a 15th-century member of the Albanian nobility, from the Dukagjini family. A contemporary of Skanderbeg, Dukagjini is known for the Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, a code of law instituted among the tribes of northern Albania. Dukagjini is believed to have been born in Lipjan, Kosovo.
The League of Lezhë, also commonly referred to as the Albanian League, was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The League of Lezhë is considered the first unified independent Albanian country in the Medieval age, with Skanderbeg as leader of the regional Albanian chieftains and nobles united against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg was proclaimed "Chief of the League of the Albanian People," while Skanderbeg always signed himself as "DominusAlbaniae".
Stefan Crnojević, known as Stefanica was the Lord of Zeta between 1451 and 1465. Until 1441, as a knyaz he was one of many governors in Upper Zeta, which at that time was a province of the Serbian Despotate. He then aligned himself with the Bosnian duke, Stefan Vukčić Kosača, and remained his vassal until 1444 when he accepted Venetian suzerainty. In Venetian–held Lezhë, on 2 March 1444, Stefan and his sons forged an alliance with several noblemen from Albania, led by Skanderbeg, known as the League of Lezhë. In 1448 he returned under suzerainty of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković. In 1451, Stefan took over the leadership of the Crnojević family and became the ruler of a large part of Zeta, hence the title Gospodar Zetski.
The term Albanian Principalities refers to a number of principalities created in the Middle Ages in Albania and the surrounding regions in the western Balkans that were ruled by Albanian nobility. The 12th century marked the first Albanian principality, the Principality of Arbanon. It was later, however, in the 2nd half of the 14th century that these principalities became stronger, especially with the fall of the Serbian Empire after 1355. Some of these principalities were notably united in 1444 under the military alliance called League of Lezhë up to 1480 which defeated the Ottoman Empire in more than 28 battles. They covered modern day Albania,western and central Kosovo, Epirus, areas up to Corinth, western North Macedonia, southern Montenegro. The leaders of these principalities were some of the most noted Balkan figures in the 14th and 15th centuries such as Gjin Bua Shpata, Andrea II Muzaka, Gjon Zenebishi, Karl Topia, Andrea Gropa, Balsha family, Gjergj Arianiti, Gjon Kastrioti, Skanderbeg, Dukagjini family and Lek Dukagjini.
Dagnum was a town, bishopric and important medieval fortress located on the territory of present-day Albania, which has been under Albanian, Serbian, Venetian and Ottoman control and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. It is close to the modern day town of Vau i Dejës.
The Zaharia family was an Albanian noble family, most prominent during the 14th and 15th century.
Lekë Zaharia Altisferi was an Albanian nobleman from the Zaharia family. He was the only son of his father Koja Zaharia and mother Bosa Dukagjini, who also had one daughter, Bolia, who named her son Koja after her father.
Lekë Dushmani was an Albanian nobleman and one of the founding members of League of Lezhë, formed on 2 March 1444.
Sati was a medieval fortified town near Shkodër in contemporary Albania. Between 1395 and 1459, it passed through the control of the Venetian Republic, the Dukagjini family, the Ottoman Empire, and Skanderbeg, who razed it sometime after 1459.
Pal Dukagjini was an Albanian nobleman, a member of the Dukagjini family. He and his kinsman Nicholas Dukagjini were initially subjects of Lekë Zaharia, a Venetian vassal who had possessions around Shkoder. Nicholas murdered Lekë, and the Dukagjini continued to rule over their villages under Venetian vassalage. Pal and Nicholas were part of the League of Lezhë, a military alliance that sought liberation of Albania from the Ottoman Empire, founded by the powerful Skanderbeg. In 1454, the Dukagjini accepted vassalage of Alfonso V of Aragon, as other chieftains had done three years earlier. Pal later abandoned Skanderbeg's army and deserted to the Ottomans.
Nicholas Dukagjini was a 15th-century member of the Dukagjini family.
Peter Spani was an Albanian nobleman and Venetian pronoetes in the first half of the 15th century. His family's domains included territories around Shkodër (Scutari), Drisht (Drivasto) and western Kosovo. He ruled over Shala, Shosh, Nikaj-Mërtur (Lekbibaj) and Pult; the whole region under the Ottomans took his name, Petrişpan-ili. Between 1444 and 1455, Peter was a member of the League of Lezhë and after his death, the League took his territories.
Nicholas II Dukagjini was an Albanian nobleman of the Dukagjini family in the 15th century. He was the son of Pal Dukagjini, one of the founding members of the League of Lezhë. Nicholas Dukagjini fled to Italy after the second Siege of Shkodra in 1479, but is well known for the return to his homeland two years later, together with Skanderbeg’s son Gjon Kastrioti and other noblemen to lead the armed movement against the Ottomans.
Gojko Balšić or Gojko Balsha and his brothers George Strez and John were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the White Drin towards the Adriatic. The brothers were members of the house of Balšić, which earlier held the Lordship of Zeta. They participated in founding the League of Lezhë, an alliance led by their maternal uncle Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Gojko supported Skanderbeg until the latter's death in 1468, and then continued to fight against the Ottomans within Venetian forces.
George Strez Balšić or Gjergj Strez Balsha and his brothers Gojko and Ivan were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the White Drin towards the Adriatic. The brothers were members of the Balšić noble family, which had earlier held Zeta. They participated in founding of the League of Lezhë, an alliance led by their maternal uncle Skanderbeg. George later betrayed Skanderbeg, by selling a domain to the Ottomans, while his two brothers continued to support Skanderbeg until his death and then continued to fight for the Venetian forces.
Ivan Strez Balšić or John Balsha fl. 1444–1469) and his brothers George Strez and Gojko Balšić were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the White Drin towards the Adriatic. The brothers were members of the Balšić family, which earlier held Zeta, but had now placed itself among the nobility in Albania. They participated in founding of the League of Lezhë, an alliance led by their maternal uncle Skanderbeg. Ivan and Gojko supported Skanderbeg until he died in 1468 and then continued to fight against Ottomans together with Venetian forces. After Skanderbeg's death Venice installed Ivan Strez Balšić as Skanderbeg's successor.
Andrea II Thopia was a 15th century Albanian nobleman whose domains included the territory of Scuria. He was a member of the Thopia family and one of the founders of the League of Lezhë.
Tanush Dukagjin, known as Little Tanush, was an Albanian nobleman, a member of the Dukagjini family, the son of Pal Dukagjini. He had four brothers: Progon, Pal II, Andrea, and Gjon Dukagjini.
Skanderbeg's rebellion was an almost 25-year long anti-Ottoman rebellion led by the Albanian military commander Skanderbeg in what is today Albania and its neighboring countries. It was a rare successful instance of resistance by Christians during the 15th century and through his leadership led Albanians in guerrilla warfare against the Ottomans.
The Principality of Dukagjini refers to the domains (zotërimet) of the Albanian Dukagjini family in northern Albania and western part of the modern-day territory of Kosovo in the 14th century and 15th century. At their maximum extent, the domains of the Dukagjini extended from Upper Zadrima in the northwest to the Plain of Dukagjini in western Kosovo. The political center of the Dukagjini family was Lezhë until 1393 when it was surrendered to Venice in order to not fall under the Ottomans. The Ottoman sanjak of Dukagjin was named after the rule of the family in the areas that formed it.
↑ Šufflay, Milan (1925). Srbi i Arbanasi: (njihova simbioza u srednjem vijeku). Seminar za arbanasku filologiju. p.203. Retrieved 25 December 2013. Osim ovih, kako Musachi veli, pravih Dukadzina (la casa dei veri Du* cagueni) bilo je jos drugih linija (questi altri Ducagini). Takova jedna (Nicolaus Tuderovich Duchaghin) spominje te g. 1377. U Lesu odrzali se oni daleko u tursko doba.
↑ Spremić, Momčilo (1964). Zbornik Filozofskog fakulteta (in Serbian). Naučno delo. p.388. Retrieved 7 January 2014. ... али нема могућности да се он родбински веже за неког било старијег било млађег члана куће Дукађина.
↑ Božić 1979, p.355: "... мада је Сенат примио у службу Ђорђа Дукађина у уверењу да ће "увек бити веран нашој влади и послушан нашим управницима" он је убрзо окренуо леђа Млечанима и борио се против њих на страни Балше III.. "
↑ Božić 1979, p.355: "...Умро је пре 1409, када је Сенат, на молбе Димитрија Јониме, опростио његовом сину Николи очеве поступке против Млечана..."
↑ Božić 1979, p.365: Никола Дукађин наставио је борбу против нових господара Дања; заузео је Сати и неколико села која се нису могла бранити.
↑ Skendi, Stavro (1980). Balkan cultural studies. East European Monographs. p.175. ISBN9780914710660. Retrieved 24 March 2012. ... Arianiti's nephew ... Nicholas and Paul Dukagjini and Hamza Kastrioti deserted to the Ottomans
↑ Bešić 1970, p.297: од којих је син некадашњегмлетачког пронијара — Никола Дукађин — добио пространепосједе, 25 села у Дебру и 7 села у области Фанди.
↑ Božić 1979, p.368: Још за живота Николе Дукађина (умро je пре 1454), између њих и Скен-дербега пукао je дубок јаз и одржавао ce годинама.
↑ Božić 1979, p.379: ...Млечани нису ништа предузимали, Турци нису проваљивали... ситна господа су несметано рашчишћавала старе рачуне. Ту је као жртва пао и Драга Дукађин ..."
↑ Vujović, Dimitrije; Risto Dragićević; Nikola Đakonović; Milinko Đurović; Mirčeta Đurović; Pavle Mijović; Đoko Pejović; Vlado Strugar (1970), Milinko Đurović (ed.), Istorija Crne Gore[History of Montenegro] (in Serbian), vol.II, Titograd: Naučno Delo, p.144, OCLC633018773, Франћеско Бембо је настојао да привучена млетачку страну најистакнутије арбанаске господаре. Ивану Кастриоту је нудио 300, Који Закарији 200, а двојици Дукађина по сто дуката....Ни он ту није ништа учинио...
↑ The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest Author John Van Antwerp Fine Edition reprint, illustrated Publisher University of Michigan Press, 1994 ISBN0-472-08260-4, ISBN978-0-472-08260-5 p. 535-536
↑ Spomenik, Volumes 95-97 (in Serbian). Serbian Academy of Science and Arts. 1942. p.xvi. Retrieved 2 February 2012. Кастел Нови код Напуља, 21. октобар 1454: Краљ Алфонс V јавља Скендербегу да му је Павле Дукађини преко свог посланика изјавио оданост и покорност и да му је као свом вазалу, одредио годишњу провизију од 300 дуката ...
1 2 Historia e Popullit Shqiptar Albanian Academy of Science Tiranë 2002, Toena p. 265
↑ Frashëri 1964, p. 78: "In 1450 two powerful aristocratic families, Arianits and Dukagjins, left the league.... Skanderbeg tried to keep them near him. But his efforts failed. The Dukagjins not only did not accede, but on the contrary, concluded peace with Sultan and began to plot against Skanderbeg."
↑ Frashëri, Kristo (1964), The history of Albania: a brief survey, Shqipëria: Tirana, p.78, OCLC230172517, retrieved 23 January 2012, In 1450 two powerful aristocratic families, Arianits and Dukagjins, left the league.... Skanderbeg tried to keep them near him. But his efforts failed. The Dukagjins not only did not accede, but on the contrary, concluded peace with Sultan and began to plot against Skanderbeg.
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