| Zaharia family | |
|---|---|
 Fragment of the Zaharia family Coat of arms found in the inner wall of Danjë castle | |
| Current region | Albania |
| Members | Nicholas Zakarija, Koja Zaharia, Lekë Zaharia, Pjetër Zaharia |
| Estate(s) | Budva, Dagnum, Sati, Gladri and Dushmani |
14th and 15th century nobility | |
The Zaharia family, also known as the Zakarija, Zakaria or Zaccaria was an Albanian noble family, most prominent during the 14th and 15th century.
The Zaharia family is mentioned for the first time in the 14th century. [1] A certain Nicholas Zakarija is first mentioned in 1385 as a Balšić family commander and governor of Budva in 1363. [2] After more than twenty years of loyalty, Nicholas Zakarija revolted in 1386 and became ruler of Budva. However, by 1389 Đurađ II Balšić had recaptured the city. [2]
The name of Nicholas Zaharia appears in the form of Nikola Sakat in many original Venetian and Ragusan documents (as governor of Budva in 1383, influential person in Zeta in 1386 and lord of Dagnum during a period of cooperation with Balšić family). [3] [4] [5] That is a basis for some concluding that that Nicholas Zaharia and Nikola Sakat are the same person, who is related to Koja Zaharia. [6]
Komnen Arianiti of Arianiti family married the daughter of Nicholas Zaharia Sakati, ruler of Budva. They had three sons (Gjergj, Muzaka, and Vladan), and one daughter who married Pal Dukagjini. [7]
In 1396, due to a favorable political situation, Koja Zaharija captured the castle of Dagnum and declared himself a vassal of the Ottomans. In 1412 or at the beginning of 1413, in his second marriage, Balša III married Bolja, a daughter of Koja Zaharia. [8] In 1415 their only son and the only male descendant of the Balša family died. [9] Koja maintained the control of the region until his death.
Upon the death of Koja Zaharija, control of the region was passed to his only son, Lekë Zaharia. According to Marin Barleti, in 1445, during the wedding ceremony of Skanderbeg's sister Mamica Kastrioti, Lekë Zaharia had a dispute with Lekë Dukagjini. The reason of this dispute was a woman named Irene Dushmani, the heir of Dushmani family. She seemed to prefer Zaharia, while this was not accepted by Dukagjini. A skirmish happened and Lekë Dukagjini remained wounded, saved only by the intervention of Vrana Konti. Two years later, in 1447, Lekë Zaharia was killed in an ambush and Lekë Dukagjini was accused of this murder.
Original Venetian documents show that this murder happened in 1444. [10] According to Venetian chronicler Stefano Magno, it was Nicholas Dukagjin, Zaharia's vassal, who killed Lekë Zaharia in battle, not Lekë Dukagjin, as stated by Marin Barleti. [11] Stefano Magno also stated that, before he died, Lekë Zaharia expressed the wish that his properties should be handed over to Venetian Republic. [12]
Bozha Zaharia, the mother of Lekë Zaharia, died in the fire which devastated Venetian Scutari in October 1448. [13]
Having left no heirs, the fortress of Dagnum was claimed by Skanderbeg in the name of League of Lezhë, in which Lekë Zaharia had been a participant. However, his mother surrendered the castle to the Venice Republic. This events triggered the two-year-long Albanian–Venetian War (1447–1448). In the end the castle of Dagnum remained in Venetian hands toward an annual tribute to Skanderbeg. [14]
According to Eqrem Vlora, some members of the Zaharia family were initially Eastern Orthodox Christians, only converting to Roman Catholicism in 1414, after which they disappeared from history. [15]
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.
Đurađ II Balšić or George II Balshafl. 1385 – April 1403), was the Lord of Zeta from 1385 to 1403, as a member of the Balšić noble family. He was the son of Stracimir Balšić, and succeeded his paternal uncle Balša II in ruling Zeta. He reigned from 1386 up to 1389 in the still officially undissolved Serbian Empire in the form of a family alliance, then up to 1395 as an Ottoman vassal. He ruled until his death in 1403, when he was succeeded by his only son, Balša III. According to some historians, Serbian epic poetry identifies Đurađ II with Strahinja Banović.
Balša III or Balsha III was the fifth and last ruler of Zeta from the Balšić noble family, from April 1403 to April 1421. He was the son of Đurađ II and Jelena Lazarević.
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.
The Albanian–Venetian War of 1447–48 was waged between Venetian and Ottoman forces against the Albanians under George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. The war was the result of a dispute between the Republic and the Dukagjini family over the possession of the Dagnum fortress. Skanderbeg, then ally of the Dukagjini family, moved against several Venetian held towns along the Albanian coastline, in order to pressure the Venetians into restoring Dagnum. In response, the Republic sent a local force to relieve the besieged fortress of Dagnum, and urged the Ottoman Empire to send an expeditionary force into Albania. At that time the Ottomans were already besieging the fortress of Svetigrad, stretching Skanderbeg's efforts thin.
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 House of Dukagjini is an Albanian noble family which 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 descendants of the earlier Progoni family, who founded the first Albanian state in recorded history, the Principality of Arbanon. The city of Lezhë was their most important holding.
Koja Zaharia or Koja Zakaria was an Albanian nobleman and a member of the Zaharia family.
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.
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.
Theodor Corona Musachi or Teodor III Korona Muzaka, was an Albanian nobleman who led the 1437–38 revolt against the Ottomans and was one of the founders of the League of Lezhë in 1444.
почетком 1383... заповједник Будве Никола Сакат...наводно испољили жељу да Ђурђа II Страцимировића лише власти Никола и Андреја Сакат, па их је зетски господар по савету Дукађина, казнио...Никола Сакат помиње се у одлукама дубровчког Малог вијећа крајем марта 1386 год. као утицајна личност у Зети...[Google translation: at the beginning of 1383 ... the commander of Budva Nikola Sakat ... allegedly expressed a wish to deprive Đurđe II Stracimirović of power Nikola and Andrej Sakat, so the lord of Zeta, on the advice of Dukađin, punished them ... Nikola Sakat is mentioned in the decisions of the Dubrovnik Small Council at the end of March 1386 as an influential person in Zeta ...]