Dhimitër Jonima (? – 1409) was an Albanian nobleman from the

Jonima family The Jonima () were a Albanian nobility, noble Albanian family that held a territory around Lezhë (northern Albania), as vassals of Principality of Arbanon, Arbanon, Serbia in the Middle Ages, Serbia and Ottoman Empire, active in the 13th to 15th ...

. He initially resisted the Ottomans - namely at the

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middl ...

- before becoming their vassal, and he eventually switched to become a vassal of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. He was the lord of the lands that encompassed the trade route from

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

, holding possessions between Lezhë and Rrëshen.

Resistance and Ottoman vassalage

Together with other Albanian noblemen, Dhimitër Jonima is mentioned as a participant of the

in 1389, having been one of the main leaders of the Albanian forces that fought on the side of Lazar's Christian coalition against the Ottomans. He suffered another defeat at the hands of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

shortly after the Ottoman forces captured

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

in 1393. He then acted as a mediator between them and Marco Barbadigo, the husband of

Helena Thopia Helena Thopia (; 1388–1403) was an Albanians, Albanian princess of the Thopia family who held the Krujë region as sovereign lady for two terms; 1388–1392 and 1394–1403. Life Princess Helena, was the eldest daughter of Karl Thopia and Voisa ...

who was in possession of the castle in Krujë during this period. In 1402, as an Ottoman vassal and together with other Albanian noblemen, he fought alongside

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

's forces in the Battle of Ankara.

Venetian vassalage

By 1399, Jonima had already been given the right to take shelter in

and

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

by the Venetians. After the Ottoman defeat, Jonima became a vassal of Koja Zaharia, whose territory sat to the north of Jonima's possessions. They were initially unwilling vassals of the Ottomans, but Koja and Jonima would eventually accept the suzerainty of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

by feigning the defeat of a large force under their command at the hands of the Venetians. After this, their territories and roads were placed under Venetian protection. Jonima recognised the influence of the

Dukagjini family The House of Dukagjini is an Albanian noble family which 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 descendants of the earlier Progoni f ...

in the northern Albanian regions, and so he developed good diplomatic relations with them and communicated with foreign chancellors (Venetians in particular) on their behalf. He maintained positive diplomatic relations with most of his neighbouring lords. He is last mentioned by sources in 1409 as the lord of Shufadaj, a coastal trading town near Lezhë, and is supposed to have died in the same year. Other members of the Jonima family are later mentioned in the Shkodër region, but they never reached the fame or standing of Dhimitër Jonima. Even long after his death, in 1431, upon the defeat of

Gjon Kastrioti Gjon Kastrioti was an Albanians, Albanian feudal lord from the House of Kastrioti and the father of Albanian leader Gjergj Kastrioti (better known as Skanderbeg). He governed the territory between the Cape of Rodon and Debar, Dibër and had a ...

by Ottoman forces, the lands taken from him that had once belonged to the Jonima family were registered by Ottomans as the

vilayet A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

of Dhimitër Jonima.Deuxième Conférence des études albanologiques: à l'occasion du 5e centenaire de la mort de Georges Kastriote-Skanderbeg, Tirana, Volume 1 Deuxième Conférence des études albanologiques: à l'occasion du 5e centenaire de la mort de Georges Kastriote-Skanderbeg, Tirana, Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës. Instituti i Historisë e Gjuhësisë Authors Geōrgios Kastriōtēs (called Scanderbeg, Prince of Epirus), Scanderbeg, Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës. Instituti i Historisë e Gjuhësisë Publisher Université d'état de Tirana, Institut d'histoire et de linguistique, 1969 p.54

Annotations

His name has been spelled "Demetrius Jonima", "Dimitri Jonima", "Dmitar Gonoma", and in .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonima, Dhimiter Dhimiter 14th-century Albanian people 15th-century Albanian people 1409 deaths 15th-century Venetian people Albanian monarchs Albanian Roman Catholics Year of birth unknown 14th-century Venetian people