Kastrioti family

The Kastrioti family were a noble Albanian family in the middle Ages. The Kastrioti dynasty originally hailed from the Dibër region in Albania. Pal, the founder was Roman-Catholic and had good relations to the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Naples and the Papacy.

Contents

History

The first notable member of the Kastriotis was Pal Kastrioti who supported with his Albanian knights the Christian alliance in the battle of Kosovo (1389) against the Ottomans. He did not survive the battle. His son Gjon Kastrioti († 1437), father of Skanderbeg, expanded the territory of his dominions but was ultimately crushed by Ottomans. His son George Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405–1468) was the most famous member of the Kastrioti family known for his epic resistance to superior Ottoman forces. Today he is renowned as an Albanian national hero.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the Kastrioti was a black double headed eagle. This symbol was inspired by the Byzantine war flag. When Skanderbeg united the Albanian princes in order to defend Albania from the Ottomans he first used the black double-headed eagle on a red background as a war flag. Because of his fame and status as a national hero, Albania uses Skanderbeg's war flag as its national flag. The eagle on the national flag of Albania has 25 feathers, which symbolizes the 25 successful years of Skanderbeg's struggle against the Ottoman armies.

Members

The last name Kastrioti refers both to the Kastrioti family and to a municipality in northeastern Albania called Kastriot, in the Dibër District, from which the family's surname derives[1][2] possibly having its origin in Latin word castrum via the Greek κάστρο (English: castle).[3][4][5]

Jela, then wife of Gjin (Gino) Musacchio; Angjelina (Angelina), then wife of Vladan Arianit Conmenus Thopia; Vlajka, then wife of Stefan Maramonte Balšić; Maritsa, then wife of Karol Musacchio Thopia

References

  1. ^ Hasluck, Margaret Masson Hardie (1954). The unwritten law in Albania. University Press. p. 15. http://books.google.com/books?id=XfcxAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 18 December 2011. 
  2. ^ Akadémia, Magyar Tudományos (1985). Acta orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. http://books.google.com/books?id=mNoTAQAAMAAJ&q=Kastrioti+%2B+Kastriot&dq=Kastrioti+%2B+Kastriot&hl=en&ei=SLJmToTCLaXT4QTJ6PS0Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y. Retrieved 18 December 2011. 
  3. ^ Schmitt, Oliver (2009) (in German), Skanderbeg. Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan, Verlag Friedrich Pustet, ISBN 978-3-7917-2229-0, http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/buecher/Schweizer-Historiker-beleidigt-Albaner/story/19392466?print=yes%20Robelli%20Enver%20(2009)%20Schweiger%20Historiker%20weckt%20den%20%C4%80rger%20der%20Albaner,%20%20, "Der Name des Stammes Kastrioti leitet sich laut Schmitt vermutlich vom griechischen Wort «kastron» (Festung) ab" 
  4. ^ (in Croatian) Bulletin d'archéologie et d'histoire dalmate, 55—59, Split: Arheološki Muzej (Zadar); Arheološki Muzej (Split), p. 118, http://books.google.rs/books?id=lWAxAQAAIAAJ&q=%22to+je+svakako+gr%C4%8Dka+izvedenica%22&dq=%22to+je+svakako+gr%C4%8Dka+izvedenica%22&hl=en&ei=vxXWTov3A8y0hAfUkPRU&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA, retrieved 30. November 2011, "Još treba istaći Skenderbegovo prezime Kastriot... To je svakako grčka izvedenica ... etnikum od castra" 
  5. ^ von Thallóczy, Ludwig; Konstantin Jireček; Milan von Šufflay; Theodor A Ippen; Ernst C Sedlmayr; (1916) (in German), Illyrisch-albanische Forschungen, MÜNCHEN UND LEIPZIG: VERLAG VON DüNCKER & HUMBLOT, p. 80, OCLC 10224971, http://www.archive.org/stream/illyrischalbanis00thaluoft/illyrischalbanis00thaluoft_djvu.txt, "Kastriot, die einen griechischen Namen führten, „Stadtbürger", kastriotis von kastron." 
  6. ^ a b c d http://books.google.se/books?id=OEvWBG6Ct3YC

External links