| Dukagjini Dukagjinët | |
|---|---|
| Noble family | |
 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) | |
| Country | Medieval Albania |
| Current region | Lezhë |
| Founded | 14th century |
| Founder | Gjin Tanushi (duca Ginium Tanuschium Albanensem)[1] |
| Members | |
| Cadet branches | |
| Website | dukagjini |
TheHouse of Dukagjini is anAlbanian noble family which ruled over an area ofNorthern Albania andWestern Kosovo known as thePrincipality of Dukagjini in the 14th and 15th centuries. They may have been descendants of the earlierProgoni family, who founded the first Albanian state in recorded history, thePrincipality of Arbanon.[2] The city ofLezhë was their most important holding.[3]
The Dukagjini evolved from an extended clan (farefisni) to a feudal family in the late 13th century, when their first known progenitorGjin Tanushi who became known as adux (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 VenetianKoper, where they became known as the Docaini family which held the governorship ofSocerb 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 rememberedKanun (customary law) of Albania. Another Dukagjini isYahya bey who was a famousdiwan poet of the 16th century.
The nameDukagjini is a compound of the personal nameGjin and the titleduka (duke). TheDukagjini 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 AngevineDurazzo asduca Ginium Tanuschium Albanensem.[1] The earlier family name of Gjin Tanush may beProgoni as he was likely a descendant of this family.[2] Archival documents of this era from Ragusa and Italy spell the name usually asDucagini/Duchaginni. The Dukagjini who settled in Istria became known as theDucaini orDocaini. In Ottoman Turkish, the Dukagjini became known asDukaginzâde orDukakinoğlu.
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The Dukagjini family was part of an extended clan (farefisni) with several branches. The main branches in the early 15th century were those ofShkodër andDibra and that ofLezhë. The extent of thefis in various regions is indicated in the names of three different areas:Leknia (named after one of the several Lekë Dukagjini) which extends fromMirdita toMalësia, theDukagjin highlands to its north, andRrafshi 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 ofdux (ducam Ginium Tanuschium Albanensem).[5] He may have been a relative or a descendant of the earlierProgoni via protosevastos Progon, son ofGjin 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 theAngevin 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 fromTroy, after which they found refuge in France. From that country, two brothers came southwards again. One settled in Italy and was the progenitor of theDukes of Ferrara and the other Duke Gjin came in Albania and took over the area ofZadrima. 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 theRepublic 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]
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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 nearLezhë and a commander of a force of 40 cavalry and 100 infantry. Although theVenetian Senate accepted his services, believing in his loyalty, he supportedZetan lordBalša III and fought againstVenice when Balša III captured Venetian possessions nearScutari.[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 ofDhimitër Jonima.[12]
According to the chronicle ofGjon Muzaka, Gjergj Dukagjini had three sons, Gjergj, Tanush, andNicholas Dukagjini. Nicholas is first mentioned in a document dated to 1409. In 1443 he was a participant in theLeague of Lezhë, as vassal ofLekë Zaharia. Already in 1444 Nicholas killed Zaharia and tried to capture hispronoia, but failed to capture it, exceptSati and several villages without a fight.[13] AfterSkanderbeg's war against Venice he signed a peace treaty with Venetians. Together with many other Albanian noblemen (such asMoisi Arianit Golemi,Pal Dukagjini andHamza Kastrioti) he abandoned Skanderbeg's forces and deserted to the Ottomans.[14] Ottomans allowed him to govern 25 villages inDebar 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 theFirst Scutari War.[18] They supported Serbian DespotStefan Lazarević during theSecond 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 Venetianadmiral Francesco Bembo offered money toGjon Kastrioti II, the Dukagjini and toKoja 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 ofLezhë who secured a free pass to Ragusan merchants in their dominion.
Pal Dukagjini (died 1393) had five sons namedTanush (the Little), Progon, Pal (II), Andrea, and Gjon Dukagjini. Pal II Dukagjini was killed in 1402 inDalmatia while he was returning from Venice; Progon died in 1394. In a later document, Tanush appears as an ally ofKoja 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,Bosa Dukagjini, who was married toKoja Zaharia.[21] Progon Dukagjini marriedVoisava Thopia, daughter ofKarl Thopia, and appears to have been killed in 1402 underVenetian 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 inPadua 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 ofNaples informed Skanderbeg thatPal Dukagjini sent his envoys and declared his loyalty and vassalage to theKingdom of Naples. Based on that, Alphonso V awarded Pal Dukagjini with 300ducats 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 toItaly. They returned in 1481, trying to recapture their former territories from theOttomans. 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 withArianiti family, they concluded a peace with Ottoman Empire and started their actions againstSkanderbeg.[25]
Some of the Dukagjinis seems to have fled toVenice along with other Venetians when they evacuatedShkodër, and aLuca Ducagini Duca di Pulato e dell stato Ducagino is recorded in Venice in 1506.[26]
Dukakinzade Ahmed Pasha (died March 1515) (Albanian:Ahmed Pasha Dukagjini), another descendant of the family, was anAlbanianOttoman statesman. He wasgrand vizier of theOttoman Empire from 1512 to 1515. His son,Dukakinzade Mehmed Pasha (Turkish:Dukakinoğlu Mehmed Paşa), was thegovernor of theEgypt Eyalet from 1544 to 1546, until he was executed.[27]
Pal Dukagjini and his kinsmanNicholas Dukagjini were initially subjects ofLekë Zaharia, a Venetian vassal who had possessions aroundShkodër. 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 theLeague of Lezhë, a military alliance forged in 1444 that sought to capture Albania from the Ottoman Empire, led bySkanderbeg. In 1450, they abandoned Skanderbeg's army and allied with Ottomans against Skanderbeg.[28]
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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.
... али нема могућности да се он родбински веже за неког било старијег било млађег члана куће Дукађина.
... Arianiti's nephew ... Nicholas and Paul Dukagjini and Hamza Kastrioti deserted to the Ottomans
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...
Како је Којина женабила Боша, сестра Тануша Великог Дукађина
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 ...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)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.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)