The Moneta family was a 15th-century noble family of

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

and

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

in the region of Scutari (modern day

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

). They first served Zeta's Lord Balša III and Serbian despot

Stefan Lazarević Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall ( sr, Стефан Високи / ''Stefan Visoki''), was the ruler of Serbia as prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427), ...

before they became

pronoia The ''pronoia'' (plural ''pronoiai''; Greek: πρόνοια, meaning "care" or "forethought," from πρό, "before," and νόος, "mind") was a system of granting dedicated streams of state income to individuals and institutions in the late Byz ...

rs of the

in 1423. Their religion was

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

and they ruled the land between rivers Bojana and Drin. The most notable members of the Moneta family include Rajko Moneta, his wife Jelena and their three sons. First Rajko and then his sons participated in numerous military conflicts including the

Second Scutari War The Second Scutari War ( sr-cyr, Други скадарски рат) was an armed conflict in 1419–1426 between Zeta (1419–1421) and then the Serbian Despotate (1421–1423) on the one side and the Venetian Republic on the other, over Scuta ...

, the

Albanian–Venetian War (1447–1448) 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 possessi ...

and the Ottoman sieges of Scutari, first in 1474 and then 1478/1479. After Scutari was captured by the Ottomans in 1479 Nicholas, one of the sons who became

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

of Scutari, went to Venice to join his wife and their five children who took refuge in Venice in 1478 before the last Ottoman siege of Scutari started.

Zeta and Serbian Despotate

Rajko Moneta was a nobleman in service of Balša III. He was married to Jelena, a daughter of Jelisanta, a granddaughter of Olivera Mrnjavčević and a great-granddaughter of King Vukašin Mrnjavčević. Rajko controlled four big villages and large areas of land. Balsha III took many Venetian prisoners when he captured Drivast at the end of August 1419 and exchanged them for his three noble men captured by Venice, one of them being Rajko Moneta. After death of Balsha III Rajko Moneta served despot

, but decided to leave him in 1423, during the

Venetian pronoier

As Venetian pronoier Rajko Moneta controlled four salt ponds in Grbalj valley near Kotor. After the

Venice did not allow anybody to sell salt from Grbalj anywhere else except at Kotor market, not even to loyal Venetian vassal Nicholas Moneta. Olivera Mrnjavčević, a great-grandmother of Rajko's wife Jelena, built the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary in Lorenc (unknown place which did not belong to Scutari region) sometime before 1371. The property of the church was later increased with the gifts of Balša III. Based on the jus patronatus this church was inherited by the descendants of Olivera, Jelena and her sons Jacob and Nicholas. Nicholas and Jacob Moneta complained to Venetian Senate because the governor of Scutari gave two churches which belonged to Olivera's legacy to two

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

s of his choice. In 1443 the Venetians gave tax benefits to Rajko Moneta to stimulate settling of the village of St. Vraza ( sr, Свети Врачи). Members of the Moneta family (three sons of Rajko Moneta) participated in the

as Venetian pronoiers struggling against

Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

. Between 1456 and August 1457 a small war was waged between two branches of the

Dukagjini family The Dukagjini are an Albanian feudal noble family who 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 relatives or descendants of the earlier ...

. Between Ottoman supported

Lekë The lek (; indefinite singular ''lek'', definite plural ''lekët'', indefinite plural ''lekë''; sign: Lekë in Albanian or Lek in English, sometimes L; code: ALL) is the currency of Albania. Historically, it was subdivided 100 ''qintars'' (; s ...

and

Pal Dukagjini Pal Dukagjini ( it, Paolo Ducagini, 1411–1458) 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. ...

on one side and Draga Dukagjini, son of Nicholas Dukagjini, supported by

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. In this war Moneta family, together with Skanderbeg and

Humoj family The Humoj or Omoj was an Albanian noble family that served as pronoiars of the Republic of Venice in the region of Balec and Drisht (modern day Albania) in the 15th century. Family history When Balec came under control of the Republic of Ve ...

served Venetian forces. Nicholas Moneta was a wealthy Venetian patrician and

of Scutari who fought against the Ottomans during the Siege of Krujë (1466–1467) (joined by

and some members of the

). Nicholas Moneta and two other Orthodox Christians were authorized by the Senate to be procurators of Serbian churches on Skadar lake. Jacob Moneta ( sr, Јаков Монета) borrowed supplies and money to Venetian governors. Once he borrowed some money to Zuan Contarini to pay the salary to the Venetian mercenaries in

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana. Kruj ...

Ottoman sieges of Scutari

Jacob and Nicholas fought against the Ottomans during two sieges of Scutari, one in 1474 and another in 1478–1479.

Marin Barleti Marin Barleti ( la, Marinus Barletius, it, Marino Barlezio; – ) was a historian and Catholic priest from Shkodër who was a humanist. He is considered the first Albanian historian because of his 1504 eyewitness account of the 1478 siege of ...

in his work about the siege of Shkodra describes Jacob Moneta as Venetian officer who fought against the Ottomans. During the Siege of Shkodra (1478—1479) Nicholas was a commander of cavalry. In January 1478, before the siege has started, his wife and their five children went to Venice together with wives and children of many other noblemen from Scutari, including the wife of Koja Humoj and their daughter. The Venetian Senate helped Nicholas' wife with initial donation of 15 ducats and monthly payments of 5 ducats, which was the biggest donation granted to some refugee family from Shkodër. After the Ottomans captured Scutari Nicholas joined his family in Venice. The descendants of Rajko Moneta who took refuge in Venice lived in poverty.

Notes

References

* * * {{Serbian noble houses 15th-century Serbian nobility Serbian noble families Albanian noble families People of the Serbian Despotate Principality of Zeta Republic of Venice families Venetian period in the history of Montenegro Venetian period in the history of Albania