Peter Spani ( sq, Pjetër Spani; 1430–1457) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Albanian nobleman and Venetian pronoier in the first half of the 15th century. His family's domains included territories around

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

(Scutari),

Drisht Drisht ( sq-definite, Drishti) is a village, former bishopric and Latin titular see with an Ancient and notable medieval history (Latin ''Drivastum,'' Italian ''Drivasto'') in Albania, 6 km from Mes Bridge (Albanian: ''Ura e Mesit''). It is l ...

(Drivasto) and western

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. He ruled over

Shala Shala (Šala) was a Mesopotamian goddess of weather and grain and the wife of the weather god Adad. It is assumed that she originated in northern Mesopotamia and that her name might have Hurrian origin. She was worshiped especially in Karkar a ...

, Shosh,

Nikaj-Mërtur Nikaj-Mërtur is a region of the Gjakova Highlands of Northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribes of Mërturi and Nikaj. The region of Nikaj-Mërtur is located in the south-east of the Albanian Alps, borderin ...

(

Lekbibaj Lekbibaj is a village and a former municipality Tropojë northern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Tropojë. The population at the 2011 census was 1,207. It is the historical center of the Nik ...

) and

Pult Pult or Pulat ( sq-definite, Pulti or Pulati), is a region in northern Albania. It is bordered by the Malësia Region to its north and by the Dukagjin Highlands to its east and its south. The region has traditionally been inhabited by the Plan ...

; the whole region under the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

took his name, Petrişpan-ili (literally, 'dominions of Pjetër Shpani'). Between 1444 and 1455, Peter was a member of the

League of Lezhë The League of Lezhë ( sq, Lidhja e Lezhës), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League ( sq, Lidhja Arbërore), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The Leag ...

and after his death, the League took his territories.

Family

The Spani family held several villages around

(Scutari),

(Drivasto) and various areas in western Kosovo during the first half of the 15th century.. The surname ''Span'' or ''Spani'' probably derives from the Greek word ('beardless').. Peter's father, Marin, is first mentioned in 1409 as already deceased. And since Peter did not have any sons, he emphasized that his successor would be his nephew Marin, a son of his brother Brajko. Peter's other brother, Stefan, was appointed by the Venetians as the lord of village Podgora in 1406.

League of Lezhë

In March 1444, Peter Spani attended a meeting of several noblemen from Albania held in

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. One of the main strongholds of the Labeatai, the earliest of the fortification walls of Lezhë are of typical Illyrian const ...

when they allied themselves into a

. The League of Lezhë was founded by:. #

Lekë Zaharia Lekë Zaharia (? – 1444), was an Albanian nobleman from Zaharia family. He was the only son of his father Koja Zaharia and mother Bosa who also had one daughter, Bolja, who named her son Koja after her father. League of Lezhë In 1444 h ...

(lord of

Sati Sati or SATI may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi * ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike *Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer *Sati, a character in ''Th ...

and

Dagnum Dagnum ( sq, Danjë or Dejë, sr, Danj, it, Dagno) was a town, bishopric and important medieval fortress located on the territory of present-day Albania, which has been under Serbian, Venetian and Ottoman control and remains a Latin Catholic t ...

) and his vassals Pal Dukagjin and

Nicholas Dukagjini Nicholas Dukagjini ( it, Nicolas Ducagin, sq, Nikollë Dukagjini) was a 15th-century member of the Dukagjini family. Biography Nicholas Dukagjini was the son of Gjergj (George) Dukagjini, who died before 1409 when Nicholas was mentioned for t ...

# Peter Spani (lord of the mountains behind

Drivasto Drisht ( sq-definite, Drishti) is a village, former bishopric and Latin titular see with an Ancient and notable medieval history (Latin ''Drivastum,'' Italian ''Drivasto'') in Albania, 6 km from Mes Bridge (Albanian: ''Ura e Mesit''). It is l ...

) #

Lekë Dushmani Lekë Dushmani was an Albanian nobleman and one of the founding members of League of Lezhë, formed on 2 March 1444. Life A member of the Dushmani family he ruled over the region of Zadrima, in modern Shkodër District. In Venetian documents he ...

(lord of

) # George Stresi Balsha with John and

Gojko Balšić Gojko Balšić or Gojko Balsha ( sr, Гојко Балшић; sq, Gojko Balsha; fl. 1444) and his brothers George Strez and John were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the White Drin towards the Adriatic. The brothers were members of the ...

# Andrea Thopia with his nephew Tanush Thopia #

Gjergj Arianiti Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the grand-uncle of Moisi Arianit Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was ...

Theodor Corona Musachi Theodor Musachi ( sq, Theodhor Koronë Muzaka) or Teodor III Muzaka, was an Albanian nobility, Albanian nobleman who led the 1437–38 revolt against the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans and was one of the founders of the League of Lezhë in 1444. Famil ...

Stefan Crnojević Stefan Crnojević ( sr-cyr, Стефан Црнојевић), known as Stefanica (Стефаница; 1426–1465) was the Lord of Zeta between 1451 and 1465. Until 1441, as a knyaz he was one of many governors in Upper Zeta, which at that t ...

with his sons In 1451 after

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

signed the

Treaty of Gaeta The Treaty of Gaeta was a political treaty signed in Gaeta on March 26, 1451, between Alfonso V for the Kingdom of Naples and Stefan, Bishop of Krujë, and Nikollë de Berguçi, ambassadors of Skanderbeg. In the treaty Skanderbeg recognized h ...

with

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 ...

, he signed similar treaties with Peter Spani and other chieftains from Albania:

, Ghin Musachi, George Stresi Balsha, Pal III Dukagjini, Thopia Musachi, Peter of Himara, Simon Zanebisha and Carlo Toco. John Musachi's ''Brief chronicle on the descendants of our Musachi dynasty'' (1515) mentions that he survived the war and lived to an advanced age. In the early Ottoman-era subdivisions of Albania, the region formerly ruled by Pjetër Spani was known in Ottoman Turkish as ''Petrishpani'' or ''Ishpani''.. From 1430 to 1456, the Spani are also often mentioned in the archives of the

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

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Family

League of Lezhë

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Further reading