| Progoni family | |
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 Heraldic emblem of the Principality of Arbanon and Dimitri Progoni which was discovered in Gëziq, Mirditë) | |
| Titles | princeps 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]
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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]
Stefan Nemanjić, or Stefan the First-Crowned, was the Grand Prince of Serbia from 1196 and the King of Serbia from 1217 until his death in 1228. He was the first Rascian king; due to his transformation of the Serbian Grand Principality into the Kingdom of Serbia and the assistance he provided his brother Saint Sava in establishing the Serbian Orthodox Church, he is regarded one of the most important members of the Nemanjić dynasty.
When the Roman Empire divided into east and west in 395, the territories of modern Albania became a part of the Byzantine Empire. At the end of the 12th century, the Principality of Arbanon was formed which lasted until mid 13th century, after its dissolution it was followed with the creation of the Albanian Kingdom after an alliance between the Albanian noblemen and Angevin dynasty. After a war against the Byzantine empire led the kingdom occasionally decrease in size until the Angevins eventually lost their rule in Albania and led the territory ruled by several different Albanian chieftains until the mid 14th century which for a short period of time were conquered by the short-lived empire of Serbia. After its fall in 1355 several chieftains regained their rule and significantly expanded until the arrival of the Ottomans after the Battle of Savra.
Krujë is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana.
The Kingdom of Albania was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territories he conquered from the Byzantine Empire in 1271, with the help of the local Albanian nobility. The Kingdom of Albania was declared in late February 1272. The kingdom extended from the region of Durazzo south along the coast to Butrint. A major attempt to advance further in direction of Constantinople failed at the Siege of Berat (1280–1281). A Byzantine counteroffensive soon ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1281. The Sicilian Vespers further weakened the position of Charles, and the Kingdom was soon reduced by the Byzantines to a small area around Durazzo. The Angevins held out here, however, until 1368, when the city was captured by Karl Thopia. In 1392, Karl Thopia's son surrendered the city to the Republic of Venice.
The House of Arianiti were an Albanian noble family that ruled large areas in Albania and neighbouring areas from the 11th to the 16th century. Their domain stretched across the Shkumbin valley and the old Via Egnatia road and reached east to today's Bitola.
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.
Gregorios Kamonas was a Greek-Albanian Lord or Prince of Krujë (Arbanon) in ca. 1215. Demetrios Chomatenos (1216–1236) mentioned him as having the title of sebastos, given to him by the emperor Alexios III Angelos after 1205, during his stay in the Despotate of Epirus at the court of his nephew Michael I Komnenos Doukas. He first married the daughter of Gjin Progoni, then married Serbian princess Komnena Nemanjić, the daughter of King Stefan Nemanjić and widow of Dimitri Progoni, thus inheriting the rule of Arbanon. He strengthened ties with Serbia and secured Arbanon through an Orthodox alliance. He had a daughter together with Komnena, who married Golem of Kruja the later lord of Kruje.
Golem was an Albanian nobleman who ruled the Principality of Arbanon, in its phase of semi-independency. He was the last ruler of Arbanon before its final annexation in the reemerging Byzantine Empire. His holdings included Krujë and probably Ohrid.
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 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century that these principalities became stronger, especially with the fall of the Serbian Empire. Some of these principalities were notably united in 1444 under the military alliance called League of Lezhë.
Arbanon was a principality ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanian state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was established in 1190 by the native archon Progon in the region surrounding Kruja, to the east and northeast of Venetian territories. Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin and then Demetrius (Dhimitër), who managed to retain a considerable degree of autonomy from the Byzantine Empire. In 1204, Arbanon attained full, though temporary, political independence, taking advantage of the weakening of Constantinople following its pillage during the Fourth Crusade. However, Arbanon lost its large autonomy ca. 1216, when the ruler of Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas, started an invasion northward into Albania and Macedonia, taking Kruja and ending the independence of the principality. From this year, after the death of Demetrius, the last ruler of the Progon family, Arbanon was successively controlled by the Despotate of Epirus, then by the Bulgarian Empire and, from 1235, by the Empire of Nicaea.
The Dukagjini are an Albanian feudal noble family who ruled over an area of Northern Albania and Western Kosovo known as the Principality of Dukagjini in the 14th and 15th centuries. They may have been relatives or descendants of the earlier Progoni, who founded the first Albanian state in recorded history, the Principality of Arbanon. The city of Lezhë was their most important holding.
Komnena Nemanjić was the Duchess consort of Dimitri Progoni, the albanian megas archon of Kruja, and later Gregory Kamonas, the archon of Elbasan. She was the daughter of Serbian King Stephen II Nemanjić.
The Thopia family was one of the most powerful Albanian feudal families in the Late Middle Ages. It was initially part of the nobility of the Angevin Kingdom of Albania.
The Jonima family was an Albanian noble family that held a territory around Lezhë, as a vassal of Arbër, Serbia and Ottoman Empire, active in the 13th to 15th centuries. The Jonima, like most Albanian noble families, were part of a fis or clan.
Nicholas 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.
The Principality of Dukagjini refers to the domains (zotërimet) of the Albanian Dukagjini family in northern Albania and wester 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.
Albanian heraldry is the use of heraldic symbols in Albania. The earliest form of Albanian heraldry is from the late 12th century, with the creation of the first Albanian medieval country, the Principality of Arbanon in 1190. During the 13th to the 15th century, a great number of medieval Albanian noble families had at their coat of arms the symbol of eagle like the Kastrioti, Muzaka, Arianiti, Dukagjini, but the most prominent being the Kastrioti's coat of arms, having a black double headed eagle, which became a national symbol of the Albanians during Skanderbeg's reign in the 15th century, as well as the official national flag of Albania from 1912.