Pal Kastrioti

Pal Kastrioti
Lord of Sina and Lower Gardi
Segnior de Signa et de Gardi-ipostesi
1383—1407
Predecessor Kephale Kastrioti
Hereditary Gjon Kastrioti
Noble family Kastrioti family
Occupation Feudal lord

Pal Kastrioti was a noble man in Albania of the 14th century. Around 1383 he is attested as the ruler of two villages (Sina and Lower Gardi). His father was a kephale of Kanina which belonged to the Principality of Valona. According to Gjon Muzaka Pal had three sons: Konstantin, Alexius and Gjon Kastrioti who was Skanderbeg's father.

Family

The first person to be mentioned as a Kastriot in historical documents,[1] was a ruler (kephale or castellan in contemporary sources) of the Kanina in 1368.[2][3][4] which belonged to the Principality of Valona.[5] It is assumed by Ivan Božić that Pal's father received his estates in Albania from Serbian Emperor Dušan after he captured Berat, Valona and Kanina in 1345.[3] It seems there is a scientific consensus that kephale Kastrioti, Skanderbeg's great-grandfather and the earliest known ancestor of Skanderbeg, was of Serbian origin.[6] Heinrich Kretschmayr also asserts that in fact Pal Kastrioti, father of Gjon Kastrioti and grandfather of Skanderbeg, was Kephale of Kanina.[7]

Pal Kastrioti had three sons: Konstantin[A], Alexius and Gjon Kastrioti[4][8] who was Skanderbeg's father.[3][9] Aleksa Kastrioti controlled three villages.[10] Konstantin Kastrioti was protovestiarios of Sina (Serina) near Durrazo.[11] According to Venetian document discovered by Karl Hopf his title was Lord of Cerüja castle (Latin: dominus Serinae).[12]

Gjon Kastrioti was most famous of three brothers. Like many other noblemen from Albania, he became an Ottoman vassal since 1385.[13] He supported Bayezid I in the Battle of Ankara in 1402.[14] and revolted against the Ottomans during the Albanian Revolt of 1432-1436 led by Gjergj Arianiti.[15]

Territory

At the end of 14th century Pal had the title "segnior de Signa et de Gardi-ipostesi" (Sina (Albanian: Sinë) and Lower Gardi (Albanian: Gardhi i Poshtëm)) because he ruled over those two villages.[16][1] According to some sources the villages he governed were located on the mountain of Qidhna northwest of Debar.[17] Those two villages were granted to Pal by Balša II, the lord of Zeta around 1383 as a fief.[18] The decline of the Balšić family marked the ascendancy of the Kastrioti family.[1] Gjon Kastrioti managed to expand the territory of Kastrioti's domain consisting of a couple of villages in the region of Debar by capturing the region of Mat.[19] After Gjon's subjugation to the Ottomans his former estates would be surveyed in Ottoman registers as Yuvan-ili.[20] One part of Gjon Kastrioti's domain comprising nine villages became a timar which was governed by Skanderbeg before it was granted to André Karlo in 1438, much to Skanderbeg's dismay.[21]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ According to Kastrioti genealogy written by Flavius Comnenus and quoted by du Cange Kostantin was Skanderbeg's great-grandfather and the name of Skanderbeg's grandfather was Georgius.[22] Later research proved that Kostantin was in fact Skanderbeg's uncle while the correct name of Skanderbeg's grandfather is Pal.[23]

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buda, Aleks (2002), Shkrime historike 3, Tiranë: Shtëpia Botuese 8 Nëntori, p. 239, ISBN 9789992716519, OCLC 163395350, Dokumentet përmendin për herë të parë një Kastriot në vitin 1368 si kështjellar ose kefali në Kaninë të Vlorës. [...] Në fund të shek. XIV Pal Kastrioti kishte këtu dy fshatra. Sinjën dhe Gardhin e Poshtëm. [...] Me rënien e Balshajve fillon fuqizimi i Kastriotëve.
  2. ↑ Hopf 1873, p. 533
    Paolo, segneur de Signa et de Gardi-ipostesi ... Branilo, d'origine Serbe, gouverneur de Canina 1368
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dialogue, Volume 5, Issues 17-20. Dijalog. 1996. p. 77. Retrieved 27 March 2012. Njegov pradeda Branilo spominje se 1368. kao upravitelj Kanine [...] Pretpostavlja se da je svoje posede u Albaniji dobio od cara Dušana pošto je ovaj 1345. godine osvojio gradove Berat, Valonu i Kaninu [...] Njegov sin Pavle, gospodar od Sinje, imao je tri sina: Konstantina, Aleksu i Ivana... Ivan Kastriota, otac Skenderbegov, ozenio se Voislavom koja je
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Šufflay 2000, p. 148
    Njegov potomak, Ivan, "gospodin Ivan" u srpskim poveljama, "Ivan Castrioth" u mletačkim spomenicima...
  5. ↑ Schmitt, Oliver Jens (2001), "Die Albanische Adelsgeschlechter in Byzantinisch - serbische tradition", Das venezianische Albanien (1392-1479), München: R. Oldenbourg Verlag GmbH München, p. 185, ISBN 3-486-56569--9, und die Kastriota, die erstmals am Hof der serbischen Fürsten von Valona hervortraten
  6. ↑ Babinger 1976, p. 333
    Branilo Kastriota UrGroßvater Skander-Beg's ist der älteste, uns wenigstens dem Namen nach be kannte Vorfahre des Volkshelden und, wie sich die Forscher einig zu sein scheinen serbischer Herkunft,...
  7. ↑ Heinrich Kretschmayr (September 2012) [1920]. Geschichte von Venedig. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 375. ISBN 978-3-8460-0658-0. Retrieved 7 June 2013. Als erster in der Reihe erscheint 1368 ein Paul als Schloßhauptmann von Kanina bei Valona, sein Sohn Johannes galt für "leidlich mächtig in Albanien", wurde Bürger von Venedig und Ragusa ...
  8. ↑ Muzaka, Gjon (1873) [1515], Karl Hopf, ed., Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi. Per Giovanni Musachi, despoto d'Epiro, Berlin, You should know that the grandfather of Lord Scanderbeg was called Lord Paul Castriota. He ruled over no more than two villages, called Signa (Sina) and Gardi Ipostesi. To this Lord Paul was born Lord John Castriota who became Lord of Mat. And to him was born Lord Scanderbeg. The mother of the said Lord Scanderbeg, i.e. the wife of the said Lord John, was called Lady Voisava Tribalda who was of a noble family.
  9. ↑ Hopf 1873, p. 533
    Constantino, Alessio, Giovanni
  10. ↑ Hopf 1960, p. 97
    ... Alexios Kastriota, der über drei Ortschaften gebot,
  11. ↑ Hopf 1960, p. 94
    ... Auch KonstantinoS Kastriota, der den Titel Protovestiar führte und Serina unweit Durazzo ...
  12. ↑ von Hahn, Johann Georg (1867), Reise durch die Gebiete des Drin und Wardar : im Auftrage der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften unternommen im Jahre 1863 (in German), Wien: Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, p. 23, OCLC 220497422, Professor Hopf fand nämlich eine venetianische Urkunde, in welcher Constantin Kastriota, Skanderbegs Grossvater, „dominus Serinae" genannt wird.
  13. ↑ Povijesno društvo Hrvatske (1989). Historijski zbornik (in Croatian). 41–42. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Hrvatske. p. 24. OCLC 1752136. Retrieved 20 April 2012. dok je tesalski car Anđeli postao vazal još 1386. godine.2* Osmanski vazali bili su tada i... kao i albanska vlastela Dimitrije Jonima, Koja Zakarija, Ivan Kastriot i Tanuš Veliki Dukađin.
  14. ↑ The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest Author: John Van Antwerp Fine, Edition reprint, illustrated Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 1994 ISBN 0-472-08260-4, 9780472082605 p. 422 "Albanian vassals of the Ottomans — Koja Zakarija, Demetrius Jonima, John Castriot, and probably Tanush Major Dukagjin"
  15. ↑ Pipa, Arshi (1984). Studies on Kosova. East European Monographs. p. 14. ISBN 9780880330473. Retrieved 4 May 2012. Gjon Kas- trioti could not avoid participating in the great Albanian revolt of 1432- 1436
  16. ↑ Hopf 1873, p. 533
    Paolo, segneur de Signa et de Gardi-ipostesi
  17. ↑ Recherches albanologiques: Série historique, Volume 12 (in French). Priština: Albanološki institut u Prištini. 1982. p. 67. Retrieved 27 March 2012. Le grand-pére de Scanderbeg s'appelait Pal Kastrioti, qui au cours de la Ile moitié du XlVe siècle était un petit féodal-maître de Sina et de Gardhi i Poshtëm. Ces deux villages se trouvent à la montagne de Qidhna dans le nord-ouest de Dibra.
  18. ↑ Šufflay 2000, p. 148
    Od Balše II (oko 1383.g.) dobio je on u leno dva sela u srednjoj Albaniji na Matu.
  19. ↑ Bartl, Peter (2001) [1995], Albanci : od srednjeg veka do danas (in Serbian), translated by Ljubinka Milenković, Belgrade: Clio, p. 40, ISBN 9788671020176, OCLC 51036121, retrieved 1 February 2012, Његов деда поседовао је неколико села у области Дебра. Отац је проширио породично имање на област Мати
  20. ↑ İnalcık 1995, p. 77
    Ces neuf villages, toujours selon le registre en question, étaient situés dans les terres de Jean (Yuvan-ili), c'est-à-dire qu'ils appartenaient aux domaines de Jean Kastriote, le père de Skanderbeg. ( These nine villages, according to the register in question, were located in the land of John (Yuvan-ili), that is to say they were part of John Kastrioti's property.)
  21. ↑ İnalcık 1995, p. 77
  22. ↑ du Fresne, sieur du Cange, Charles (1680), Historia Byzantina duplici commentario illustrata : Prior familias ... Imperatorum Constantinopol. ... complectitur alter descriptionem urbis Constantinopolis (in Latin), Lutetia Parisorum, p. 270, OCLC 166008975, retrieved 13 September 2012
  23. ↑ Otadžbina, volume 21 (in Serbian). 1889. p. 193. Retrieved 10 September 2012. Да се види нетачност Флавијева родослова доста је навести ово. Према новијим истраживањима Костантин је био Кастриоту стриц, а не прадед, а по сведоџби његова сродника, дед му се звао Павле Кастриот и није имао више од два села.

References

Further reading

Pal Kastrioti
Regnal titles
Preceded by
unknown		 Lord of Sina and Lower Gardi
1383 – 1407 		Succeeded by
Gjon Kastrioti