Progoni

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Progoni family
Geziq eagle emblem.svg
Heraldic emblem of the Principality of Arbanon and Dimitri Progoni which was discovered in Gëziq, Mirditë)
Titlesprinceps Arbanorum
panhypersebastos
megas archon
archon
judex

The Progoni were an Albanian noble family which established the first Albanian state to be recorded in history, the Principality of Arbanon. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

Progon of Kruja, father of Dhimitër Progoni established his rule in Krujë in 1190. Before 1204, Arbanon was an autonomous principality of the Byzantine Empire. [4] Little is known about archon Progon who ruled Krujë and its surroundings at least since the era between 1190 and 1198. [5] The Krujë Castle and other territories remained in the Progoni, and Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin, and later Demetrio Progoni. [6] He used the title princeps Arbanorum ("prince of the Albanians") to refer to himself and was recognized as such by foreign dignitaries. In the correspondence with Innocent III, the territory he claimed as princeps Arbanorum was the area between Shkodra, Prizren, Ohrid and Durrës (regionis montosae inter Scodram, Dyrrachium, Achridam et Prizrenam sitae). [7] In general, Progoni brought the principality to its climax. [8] The area the principality controlled, ranged from the Shkumbin river valley to the Drin River valley in the north and from the Adriatic sea to the Black Drin in the east. [9] Many later feudal rulers of Albania would lay claim to the same title and present their rule as the continuation of this state. The first to do so was Charles I of Anjou who sought to legitimize the Kingdom of Albania as a descendant state of the Principality of Arbanon about 60 years later, in 1272. [10] After Dhimitër Progoni's death and by 1256, Arbanon would be annexed by the reemerging Byzantine Empire. He had no sons, but left as his successor his nephew Progon as protosebastos of Ndërfandë (Mirdita).

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 family 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 protosebastos Progon. [11]

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Progon was the first Albanian ruler known by name, an archon of the Kruja Fortress and its surroundings, known as the Principality of Arbanon. He ruled between 1190 and 1198. Progon was succeeded by his two sons, Gjin, and Dimitri.

Gjin Progoni was an archon of Kruja, located in present-day Albania, from c. 1198 until his death in 1208. He succeeded his father, Progon of Kruja, becoming the second ruler of the House of Progon. Gjin was succeeded by his younger brother Dhimitër Progoni.

Demetrio Progoni was an Albanian leader who ruled as Prince of the Albanians from 1208 to 1216 the Principality of Arbanon, the first Albanian state. He was the successor and brother of Gjin Progoni and their father, Progon of Kruja. His father was Progon of Kruja. Following the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in the Fourth Crusade, he managed to further secure the independence of Arbanon and extended its influence to its maximum height. Throughout much his rule he was in struggle against the Republic of Venice, Zeta of Đorđe Nemanjić and later the Despotate of Epiros and inversely, maintained good relations with their rivals, the Republic of Ragusa, and at first Stefan Nemanjić of Raška, whose daughter Komnena he married. The Gëziq inscription found in the Catholic church of Ndërfandë shows that by the end of his life he was a Catholic. In Latin documents, of the time, he is often styled as princeps Arbanorum and in Byzantine documents as megas archon and later as Panhypersebastos. Under increasing pressure from the Despotate of Epiros, his death around 1216 marks the end of Arbanon as a state and the beginning of a period of autonomy until its final ruler Golem of Kruja joined the Nicaean Empire. The annexation sparked the Rebellion of Arbanon in 1257. He didn't have any sons to continue his dynasty, but his wealth and a part of his domain in Mirdita passed after Demetrio's death to his underage nephew, Progon, whom he named protosevastos. The Dukagjini family which appeared in historical record 70 years later in the same region may have been relatives or direct descendants of the Progoni.

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References

Citations

  1. Ducellier 1999 , p. 780: "As for Albania, its separate identity was real enough, even though it had not truly broken with Constantinople; all the same, the rulers of Arbanon around ἄρχον, Progon and his sons Dhimitër and Gjin, based at Kruja, retained a considerable degree of autonomy, even though Progon bore no title grander than ἄρχων (archon); and the title of πανὑπερσεβαστός (panhypersebastos), borne by Dhimitër at the start of the thirteenth century, can only be seen as a sign of his dependence on the Byzantines."
  2. Clements 1992 , p. 31: "By 1190, Byzantium's power had so receded that the archon Progon succeeded in establishing the first Albanian state of the Middle Ages, a principality."
  3. Fine 1994 , p. 51"At the close of the twelfth century, excluding the tribesmen in the mountains, many of whom functioned freely regardless of which state they owed theoretical submission, the only known Albanian political entity was that of Kroja."
  4. Osswald 2007 , p. 134
  5. Fine 1994, p. 51.
  6. Ducellier 1981, p. 646.
  7. Haluščynskyj 1954 , p. 338
  8. Anamali & Prifti 2002 , p. 198
  9. Frashëri 2008, p. 73.
  10. Lala 2008 , p. 18
  11. 1 2 Zamputi 1984 , p. 218

Sources