Donika Kastrioti

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Donika Kastrioti, engraving (1596) by Johann Theodor de Bry

Donika Kastrioti (full name: Andronika Kastrioti , born Arianiti Muzaka ; Italian Donica Castriota ; * 1428 in Kanina ; † between March 8, 1505 and early September 1506 in Valencia ) was an Albanian princess and wife of Skanderbeg . After Donika's death and the subsequent flight of Donika to the Kingdom of Naples , she became a close confidante of King Ferdinand I , maintained a close friendship with the king's wife Johanna von Aragón (also: Johanna III .; 1454-1517) and was her daughter Johanna IV . (1478–1518) like a mother.

Life

Donika Kastrioti was born as the daughter of Prince Gjergj Arianiti († 1461) and his wife Maria Muzaka († 1444) in the castle of Kanina . At that time her father ruled over a principality whose area stretched on both sides of the Shkumbin River in what is now central Albania to what is now the city of Bitola in the east.

On April 21, 1451 she married Skanderbeg, who wanted to strengthen the relationship with the Arianiti family , in the Ardenica monastery . At this time Skanderbeg had committed himself as a vassal to the Kingdom of Naples under Alfonso I in the Treaty of Gaeta , in return he received Neapolitan protection from the Ottoman Empire .

In 1456 their only son Gjon Kastrioti II was born, who later married Irena Branković , the daughter of the Serbian despot Lazar Branković .

In the middle of the fighting between the Ottomans and the League of Lezha led by Skanderbeg, her husband died of a fever in 1468 and Donika Kastrioti was then forced to flee with her son to Naples , where she was warmly welcomed by King Ferdinand I and in His residence Castel Nuovo was offered a place to stay out of gratitude to the late Skanderbeg.

In 1477 Ferdinand I married his cousin Johanna von Aragón, the daughter of Johann II. Donika Kastrioti had a deep and long friendship with Johanna. In 1496 Donika moved into an apartment directly above Johanna's.

Even after the death of Ferdinand I and the assumption of the throne by Friedrich I in 1496, nothing changed in relation to the Skanderbeg family. They continued to be treated with respect and friendliness in the courtyard.

On September 7, 1499, the now widowed Johanna III. Italy in the direction of Spain , where her daughter, Donika and a few others from the royal court followed her a little later. The group around Johanna von Neapel embarked for Sicily on August 2nd and 3rd, 1501 , in order to sail on to Spain in July 1502.

A letter from Donika Kastrioti of March 8, 1505 has survived in which she complains with dignity about the pillaging of Spanish soldiers in Galatina .

Donika Kastrioti died between March 8, 1505 and the beginning of September 1506, when Joan of Aragon and her daughter returned to Naples. In her will, Joan of Aragón expressed her will that the remains of her friend should be transferred from the Holy Trinity Church in Valencia to Naples in a chapel of the still-to-be-built church of the Santa Maria della Concenzione monastery. However, it does not seem that Joan's last will has been realized, so that Donika Kastrioti may still be buried in Valencia today.

literature

  • Riccardo Filangieri: Castel Nuovo - Reggia angioina e aragonese di Napoli . Naples 1934.
  • Athanas Gegaj: L'Albanie et l'Invasion turque au XVe siècle . Bureaux du Recueil, Bibliothèque de l'Université catholique de Louvain, 1937 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  • Paolo Petta: Despoti d'Epiro e principi di Macedonia: esuli albanesi nell'Italia del Rinascimento . Argo, Lecce 2000, ISBN 88-8234-028-7 .

Web links

Commons : Andronika Arianiti  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paolo Petta: Despotism d'Epiro e principi di Macedonia. Esuli albanesi nell'Italia del Rinascimento . Argo, Lecce 2000, ISBN 88-8234-028-7 , pp. 69 (Italian).
  2. ↑ Skënder Anamali: Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime . tape 1 . Botimet Toena, Tirana 2002, OCLC 52411919 , p. 255-257 .
  3. ↑ Robert Elsie: A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folk culture . New York University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8147-2214-8 , pp. 14 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ Ilirjan Gjika: Manastiri i Ardenicës (The Ardenica Monastery). Retrieved November 25, 2013 (Albanian).
  5. ^ Giovanni Antonio Summonte: Historia della cittá e regno di Napoli . Tomo VR Gessari, Naples 2002, p. 103 (Italian, online version in the Google book search).
personal data
SURNAME Donika Kastrioti
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Andronika Kastrioti, Donika Arianiti Muzaka
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian princess and wife of Skanderbeg
DATE OF BIRTH 1428
PLACE OF BIRTH Kanina
DATE OF DEATH between March 8, 1505 and September 1506