Progonos Sgouros ( sq, Progon Skura, gr, Πρόγονος Σγουρός;) was a late 13th-century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

senior military commander from

Principality of Arbanon Arbanon ( sq, Arbër or , el, Ἄρβανον, ''Árvanon''; la, Arbanum) was a principality ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanians, Albanian State (polity), state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was establi ...

(Medieval Albania) with the rank of ''

megas hetaireiarches The ( grc-gre, ἑταιρειάρχης), sometimes anglicized as Hetaeriarch, was a high-ranking Byzantine officer, in command of the imperial bodyguard, the . In the 9th–10th centuries there appear to have been several , each for one of the su ...

''. He was lord of

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

during the Byzantine Empire's territorial control over the city..

Biography

Progonos Sgouros was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

from

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

(Byzantine Dyrrhachion) and belonged to the prominent

Skuraj family The Skura (also, ''Skuraj'', ''Skurraj'', ''Skurra'', ''Scura'', ''Sgouros'', ''Ozgur'', ''Uzgur'') were a medieval Albanian feudal family centred around the historical and ethnographic region of Benda in the highlands north-east of modern Tira ...

.: "La chiesa della Madre di Dio Periblepta, chiamata oggi San Clemente, a Ocrida, fu decorata nel 1295 per cura del grande eteriarca bizantino Arbanas Progon Sgouros, strettamente imparentato con la famiglia imperiale tramite matrimonio.": "An Albanian by the name of Progon Sgouros (Πρόγονος τοũ Σγούρου) and with the title of ''hetaireiarches'' restored the church of St. Clement of Ochrida about 1295." He was married to Eudokia, a female relative of Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328), becoming a '' gambros'' of the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

.. Around 1294–1295, he restored the Church of the Virgin Peribleptos in

, at the time under Byzantine rule,. which later came to be known as St. Clement after Saint Clement of Ohrid.. Progonos gifted an

Iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

of 8 panels, together with an icon of the Virgin Peribleptos of which only a fragment survived, with the iconostasis depicting the main feasts of the Church.. The works were painted by Eutychios and Michael Astrapas, from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. A portrait of Saint Astius in the church was likely donated by him as a symbol of the close ties between Durrës and Ohrid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Progonos, Sgouros 13th-century Byzantine people Byzantine generals Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown 13th-century Albanian people Megaloi hetaireiarchai