Skuraj family

Last updated
Skura
Skurajt
Noble family
Stema e Skurave (1).svg
Model no.1
The coats of arms of the Skura are depicted in Friedrich Heyer von Rosenfeld's "Wappenbuch des Königreichs Dalmatien", published in 1873.
Stema e Skurave (2).svg
Model no.2
Country Medieval Albania
Current region Benda
Founded13th century
Members
Different spellings of the name include Scura, Schura, Schuro, Sguro, Scuro, Sgurous, and Zguraj.

The Skura (also, Skuraj, Skurraj, Skurra, Scura, Sgouros, Ozgur, Uzgur) were a medieval Albanian feudal family centred around the historical and ethnographic region of Benda in the highlands north-east of modern Tirana, central Albania. [1] They were among the Albanian families that rose to prominence in the Theme of Dyrrhachium and reached high military-administrative ranks within the Byzantine state apparatus. [2] On top of their relations with the Byzantine Empire and other members of the local Albanian nobility, the Skura were also closely involved with other prominent powers in the region, such as the Angevin Kingdom of Albania and the Ottoman Empire. [3]

Contents

History

Among the earliest attestations of the Skura are from the thirteenth century. A familial tomb dated back to the year 1201, located in a church dedicated to Saint Mary in the village of Brrar north-east of Tirana, has been identified as that of the sebastos Mihal Skura who had died in the same year. His title and monument alludes to the high rank and status held by the Skura during the period. [4] The tomb was excavated in 1980 by the archaeologists Aleksandër Meksi and Damian Komata, who noted that the frontal part of the tomb was decorated with an arcade of five arches, each of which had a Latin cross underneath them. They also noted that an equal-armed cross of the Byzantine style was engraved at the front of the tomb inscription which itself was written in both Medieval Greek and Latin, indicating that the family was influenced by both the Roman Catholic and Byzantine churches. The Latin crosses may specifically reflect the shift away from Byzantine Eastern Orthodox influence and jurisdiction, propagated by the Principality of Arbanon, and a growing identification or allegiance to the Roman Church. The tomb inscription was also transcribed by the team as: [5]

+ΜΝΗΣΘΗΤΙ ΚΥΡΙΕ ΤΟΝ ΔΟΥΛΟΝ ΣΟΥ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΝ ΤΟΝ ΣΑΟΥΡΟΝ ΑΜΑ ΣΥΜΒΙΩ ΚΑΙ ΤΕΚΝΟΙΣ OR(E)SUAETCUMFILI(I)SSUISMEMENTOD (OMI) NEFAMULOTUOMICHALESVASTOSGVRUMCUMUX (Remember, Lord your servant, thy sevast Mihal Skura with his wife and children. Year 6790)

Later in 1295, another scion of the Skura family, Progonos Sgouros (Progon Skura) from Dyrrhachium, [6] [7] is mentioned in an inscription from the church of Saint Clement of Ohrid as its founder. [3] Progon himself was also the lord (megas eteriarchos) of Ohrid responsible for halting the military expansion of Stefan Milutin into the region and was married to a certain Eudokia who was the relative of the emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. [3] [8]

The Skura appear again in an Angevin document of 1274 where three nobles of the Skura family appear among the Albanian nobles who had reached an agreement with Charles I of Anjou: the savasto Maurus Scura, Zacharias Scura, and Georgius Scura. [9] To further cement their positive relations and ties with the Angevins, the Skura, alongside other Albanian nobles, submitted to Philip I of Taranto in 1304 and became vassals. [8]

Branches of the Skura were also present in northern Albania and had reached the city of Lezhë in north-western Albania by the fourteenth century, where the family heraldic emblem of the scion Antonio Skura was discovered in his tombstone in Kodër Marlekaj. The emblem depicts a lion standing on its hind legs holding a lily on the right corner. There are also two hanging cords with lilies at the ends and a partially destroyed inscription in Latin. [10]

Later, in a document of 1469, a certain Vucho Scura is recorded as the leader of the highland territory of Benda near the citadel of Krujë (voyvode montanee Bende super Croyam). [11]

Following the Ottoman conquest of Albania, branches of the Skura were incorporated into the Ottoman state system and converted to Islam. Richard F. Kreutel argues that a certain Uzguroğlu ("son of Skura") Mehmed Bey was responsible for the Ottoman conquest of Durrës in 1501 and that he had served in campaigns around Modon and Koroni in the previous year. However, other academics have asserted that a descendant of the Evrenosoğlu was responsible for the conquest. [12] It is possible that this Mehmed Bey was the same individual, or a relative, responsible for aiding in the reconstruction of the Lezhë Castle in 1522 and the founding of the Lead Mosque in Berat. [13] An Isa Bey from the Skura also obtained the position of beylerbey of Anatolia. [14]

Connection to the Progoni family

It has been theorised by some Albanian historians that the Progoni family that ruled over the Principality of Arbanon were a branch of the Skura. [11] [15] This position bases itself on the fact that both families maintained marital ties with the Byzantine dynasties, specifically the Angeloi. While Leo Sgouros married Eudokia Angelina, daughter of Alexios III Angelos, Demetrio Progoni married Eudokia's daughter via her earlier marriage with Stefan Nemanjić, Komnena Nemanjić. Their relative, Progon Skura, was also married to a relative of Andronikos II Palaiologos. It is then argued that matrimonial ties with the emperor were reserved to special important families from the Byzantine provinces and that the Albanian Skura were among those few which held such ties. [11]

Connection to the Sgouros family of the Peloponnese

According to Xhufi, another member of this family – attested during the thirteenth century – was Leo Sgouros, who served as the strategos of Corinth and Nafplio in the Peloponnese, and was the son-in-law of Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos via his marriage to Eudokia Angelina in 1203. [3] Vlachopoulou writes that this view is based on the corruption of the original Sgourós/Sgoúros into Skoúros, Skoúras, Skýros, which is first observed in the 13th century, and mainly in the 14th and 15th centuries. She adds that this view is problematic, since the Sgouros family first appeared in the eleventh century, and particularly in areas that don't attest any Albanian presence until centuries later. According to her, it's more probable that members of the Sgouros family intermarried with various Albanian houses during the 14th and 15th centuries, which is the time that the latter migrated to various parts of Greece. [16]

Related Research Articles

During classical antiquity, Albania was home to several Illyrian tribes such as the Ardiaei, Albanoi, Amantini, Enchele, Taulantii and many others, but also Thracian and Greek tribes, as well as several Greek colonies established on the Illyrian coast. In the 3rd century BC, the area was annexed by Rome and became part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Moesia Superior. Afterwards, the territory remained under Roman and Byzantine control until the Slavic migrations of the 7th century. It was integrated into the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albania in the Middle Ages</span> History of Albania from the 12th to 15th centuries

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Albania (medieval)</span> 13th- and 14th-century European kingdom

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Thopia</span> 14th century Albanian prince and warlord

Karl Thopia was an Albanian feudal prince and warlord who ruled Albania from the middle of the 14th century until the first Ottoman conquest of Albania. Thopia usually maintained good relations with the Roman Curia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arianiti family</span> Albanian noble family

The 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.

The Progoni were an Albanian noble family which established the first Albanian state in recorded history, the Principality of Arbanon.

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.

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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.

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References

  1. ↑ Xhufi, Pëllumb (2010). "Benda e Arbrit në Mesjetën e Vonë". Studime Historike (1/2): 16.
  2. ↑ Anamali, Skënder (2002). Historia e Popullit Shqiptar, Vëll. 1. Tiranë: TOENA. pp. 183, 195–6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Xhufi 2010, p. 17.
  4. ↑ Xhufi 2010, p. 16.
  5. ↑ Koçi, Dorian (2018). Treasuries from the Medieval Pavilion and the Great Albanian Pashaliks' Corner (DOC). TREASURIES OF NATIONAL HISTORICAL MUSEUM. Tirana. p. 49. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  6. ↑ Christidou, Anna (2014). "Political 'expedience' and peripheral saints: assimilating St. Asteios of Dyrrachion in the Byzantine Orthodox tradition". Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 38 (2): 166. doi:10.1179/0307013114Z.00000000042. S2CID   153766631. Gozdanov also notes, rightly, that the prominent position of St. Asteios' portrait at St. Clement of Ohrid may also be associated with Progon Sgouros, the commissioning patron originating from Dyrrachion, and with the intention to highlight visually the close ecclesiastical ties between Dyrrachion and Ohrid
  7. ↑ Daum, Werner, ed. (1998). Albanien zwischen Kreuz und Halbmond (in German). Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde. p. 105. ISBN   9783701624614. Dieses Kloster befand sich eine Zeitlang im Besitz der Skuraj , einer bekannten albanischen Adelsfamilie . Ein Angehöriger dieses Geschlechts , Progon Skura , war Auftrag - geber der Fresken in der Klemens - Kirche in Ohrid
  8. 1 2 Anamali 2002, p. 234.
  9. ↑ Malaj, Edmond (2020). "Lezha in the Middle Ages". Studica Albanica. 1: 11.
  10. ↑ Koçi 2018, pp. 70–1.
  11. 1 2 3 Xhufi 2010, p. 18.
  12. ↑ Filipović, Nenad (2012). "Draç'in Fethi (1501), Oruç Bin-i Âdil Vakayinâmesi ve Isâbey-oğlu Mehmet Çelebi". Prilozi Za Orijentalnu Filologiju (61): 388.
  13. ↑ Kiel, Machiel (1990). Ottoman Architecture in Albania, 1385-1912. Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture. pp. 194–5. ISBN   9789290633303.
  14. ↑ Egro, Dritan (2003). Islam in Albanian Lands During the First Two Centuries of the Ottoman Rule (PDF) (PhD). Bilkent University. p. 195.
  15. ↑ Anamali 2002, p. 196.
  16. ↑ Vlachopoulou, Fotini (2001). Ο βίος και η πολιτεία του Λέοντος Σγουρού: Βυζαντινού άρχοντα της βορειοανατολικής Πελοποννήσου στις αρχές του 13ου αιώνα [The life and times of Leon Sgouros: Byzantine lord of northeastern Peloponnese in the early 13th century] (in Greek). University of Johannesburg. pp. 22–23.
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