HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lekë III Dukagjini (1410–1481), mostly known as Lekë Dukagjini, was a 15th-century member of the
Albanian nobility The Albanian nobility was an elite hereditary ruling class in Albania, parts of the western Balkans and later in parts of the Ottoman world. The Albanian nobility was composed of landowners of vast areas, often in allegiance to states like the B ...
, from 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 ...
. A contemporary of
Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
, Dukagjini is known for the '' Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit'', a code of law instituted among the tribes of northern Albania. Dukagjini is believed to have been born in
Lipjan Lipjan ( sq-definite, Lipjani) or Lipljan ( sr-Cyrl, Липљан) is a town and municipality located in the District of Pristina in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Lipjan has 6,870 inhabitants, while the municipality has 57,6 ...
,
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
.


Biography

The Dukagjini Principality stretched from
Northern Albania Northern Albania () is one of the three NUTS-2 regions of Albania, along with Central Albania and Southern Albania (). It consists of the counties of Dibër, Durrës, Kukës, Lezhë and Shkodër. Historically and in ethnography, Northern ...
and into modern Kosovo. The western part of Kosovo, sometimes referred to as '' Rrafshi i Dukagjinit or Dukagjin'', takes its name after 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 ...
. Until 1444 he was pronoier of Koja Zaharia. He succeeded his father Pal II as ruler of Dukagjini who appeared to have died of
apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...
in 1446. Dukagjini fought under the command of
Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
against the
Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
within the last two years of Skanderbeg’s rebellion. He also had a strong rivalry between him and Albanian nobleman Lekë Zaharia. The two princes had been in dispute over who should marry Irene Dushmani. Irene was the only child of Lekë Dushmani, prince of Zadrima. In 1445, the Albanian princes had been invited to the wedding of Skanderbeg's younger sister, Mamica, who was being married to Muzaka Thopia. Irene entered the wedding and hostilities began. Dukagjini asked Irene to marry him but Zaharia, drunk, saw this and assaulted Dukagjini. Some princes attempted to stop the fight, but only more people became involved, resulting in several deaths until peace was established. Neither of the two antagonists had suffered any physical damage, but after the event Dukagjini was morally humiliated. Two years later, in 1447, in an act of
revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...
, Dukagjini ambushed and killed Zaharia. However, original Venetian documents contradict this account by showing that this murder happened in 1444. According to Venetian chronicler Stefano Magno it was Nicholas Dukagjin, Zaharia's vassal, who killed Lekë Zaharia in the battle, not Lekë as stated by Marin Barleti. Nonetheless, the death of Zaharia left his princedom with no successor, resulting in his mother handing the fortress over to
Venetian Albania Venetian Albania (, , , , ) was the official term for several possessions of the Republic of Venice in the southeastern Adriatic, encompassing coastal territories primarily in present-day southern Montenegro and partially in northern Albania. Se ...
, a stretch of possessions of the
Republic of Venice 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 ...
. When Skanderbeg tried (unsuccessfully) to capture Dagnum in 1447 this began the Albanian–Venetian War (1447–1448). In March 1451 Lekë Dukagjini and Božidar Dushmani planned to attack Venetian controlled Drivast. Their plot was discovered and Božidar was forced to flee into exile. In 1459 Skanderbeg's forces captured the fortress of Sati from the Ottoman Empire and Skanderbeg ceded it to Venice in order to secure a cordial relationship with Signoria before he sent his troops to Italy to help King Ferdinand to regain and maintain his kingdom after the death of king
Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...
. Before the Venetians took over the control of Sati, Skanderbeg captured it and the surrounding area, driving Lekë Dukagjini and his forces away, because he was opposed to Skanderbeg and destroyed Sati before the Venetian takeover. Dukagjini continued to fight with limited success against 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 ...
, succeeding as the military leader of the
League of Lezhë The League of Lezhë (), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League (), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The League of Lezhë is considered the first unif ...
after the death of
Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
, until 1479. At times his forces united with the Venetians with the blessing of the
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
.


Family

Lekë Dukagjini married Theodora Muzaka with whom he had no issue. However, he did have two natural sons: * Stefan Dukagjini * Nicholas Dukagjini


Legacy

The Law of Lek Dukagjini (kanun) was named after Lekë Dukagjini who codified the customary laws of the Albanian highlands. Although researchers of history and customs of Albania usually refer to Gjeçovi's text of the Kanuni as the only existing version which is uncontested and written by Lekë Dukagjini, it was actually incorrect. The text of the Kanuni, often contested and with many different interpretations which significantly evolved since 15th century, was only named after Dukagjini. Whilst identifying Skanderbeg as the "dragon prince" who dared to fight against any foe, chronicles portray Dukagjini as the "angel prince" who, with dignity and wisdom, ensured the continuity of the Albanian identity. The set of laws were active in practice for a long time, but it was not gathered and codified until the late 19th century by
Shtjefën Gjeçovi Shtjefën Konstantin Gjeçov-Kryeziu or Stjepan Gečević (12 July 1874 – 14 October 1929) was an Albanian Catholic priest, nationalist, ethnologist, and folklorist from Kosovo. He is regarded as the father of Albanian folklore studies. Life Gj ...
. The most infamous laws of Kanuni are those regulating
blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
s. Blood feuds have started once again in Albania (and have since spread to other parts of Albania, and even to expatriates abroad) after the fall of
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
in the early 1990s, having been outlawed for many years during the regime of
Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...
, and contained by the relatively closed borders. Dukagjini's military campaigns against the Ottomans had limited success; he also lacked the ability to unify the country and the Albanian people in the way that Skanderbeg had. Albania fell into complete submission to the Ottomans by the end of the 15th century.


See also

*
Siege of Shkodra The siege of Shkodra () took place from May 1478 to April 1479 as a confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and the Venetians together with the League of Lezhë and other Albanians at Shkodra (Scutari in Italian) and its Rozafa Castle durin ...
*
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 ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukagjini, Leke 1410 births 1481 deaths Albanian Roman Catholics Leke Medieval Albanian nobility 15th-century Albanian people Albanian military personnel Albanian monarchs Albanian royalty