Gjon Kastrioti I.

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Battle of the Blackbird Field , Russian miniature from the illustrated chronicle of Ivan IV (Лицевой летописный свод), 1568–1576

Gjon Kastrioti I (* 1380 in the Mat region , today's Albania ; † May 2, 1437 ; in German  Johannes : also: Ivan, Italian Giovanni ), the father of the later Skanderbeg , was an Albanian prince who lived from 1389 to his Death ruled over the Principality of Kastrioti in northern Albania in 1437 . In 1389 he fought at the side of his father Pal Kastrioti in the Battle of the Blackbird Field (also: Battle of Kosovo) against the Ottomans (Turks). His father died in the battle, while Gjon survived the battle and became a vassal in the service of Sultan Murad II , a common form of tribute that happened to many other Albanian princes.

Life

Most of the sources are silent about his childhood. It is known that the Kastrioti family , which belonged to the tribe of the South Miridites , was settled near today's border with Montenegro and Kosovo . Gjon inherited two villages from his father: Sinë and Unter-Gardi on the slopes west of the Drin river in the Dibra region , in north-east Albania.

Benefiting from the turmoil in the Ottoman Empire after the death of Bayezid I (1403) and the power vacuum in the Albanian region, he succeeded in significantly expanding his territory at the beginning of the 15th century. He subjugated the coastal region between the Venetian- occupied cities of Shkodra and Durrës , which was previously ruled by the Jonima and Zaharia , and thus dominated the trade route and the mountains between the Adriatic and Kosovo.

Principality of Kastrioti in its maximum extent

First anti-Ottoman Balkan coalition

The first project of an anti-Ottoman Balkan coalition dates back to 1359, just five years after the arrival of the Ottomans in Europe. The Albanian principalities responded to the Serbs' call for help together with the Bosnian and Bulgarian princes against the Ottoman conquerors. On June 15, 1389, the coalition of the Balkan peoples ( Albanians , Bosnians , Bulgarians , Wallachians , Serbs , Hungarians and Dalmatians ) was defeated in the battle on the Blackbird Field Murad I , the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire . Gjon fought alongside his father Pal, who died in battle. The Ottomans then settled in the central Balkans ( Macedonia and Bulgaria ). The three Albanian princes Gjergj II Balšić and Teodor II Muzaka , under the leadership of Gjon, withdrew within their borders, but were able to withstand the Ottomans and found a Christian Albanian entity extending from the southern border of Ragusa extended to the Gulf of Patras .

Gjon, Ottoman and Venetian Vassall

Like many other Albanian nobles, Gjon became an Ottoman vassal from 1389, which meant that he had to pay tribute to the sultan and support the sultan's wars in the Balkans with an army. In 1402 Gjon supported the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I in the battle of Ankara .

In a phase of the sultan's military weakening, Gjon, with his troops and with the help of the wealth acquired in Turkish service, managed to expand his property to the sea. According to the Austrian historian and archivist Heinrich Kretschmayr , Gjon was considered to be “reasonably powerful in Albania”, became a citizen of the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Ragusa , ruled as a Turkish vassal and a feared horseman in the area from Durazzo to Dibra.

In order to escape the increasing pressure of the Ottomans, he looked for good relations with the Republic of Venice. In the Venetian archives he became “ dominus partium Albanie ” (ruler of a part of Albania) in 1406 , in 1407 as “ dominus satis potens in partibus Albaniae ” (mighty lord in a part of Albania) and in 1409 as “ magnifici domini Johannis Castrioti ” (greater Mr. Johannes Castrioti) mentioned. To cope with the Ottomans, Gjon pledged himself as a vassal of the Republic of Venice, the only Catholic neighboring country, to receive protection. But when there was no interest in armed conflict with the Sultan, Gjon returned to Ottoman services in 1410, which was to cost him dearly. As mentioned above, he had to pay tribute to the sultan and contribute an army to the sultan's wars in the Balkans . In addition, he had to leave his eldest son Stanisha as pledge for his loyalty to the Sultan, convert to Islam, cede the strategically important region of Dibra , his fortress Sfetigrad in northern Albania and the fortress Kruja . In return, the Sultan undertook to let the boy grow up in his faith (Catholic) and to be allowed to take over his inheritance after the death of his father. Once again, Gjon was able to expand his sphere of influence at home with the prestige and fortunes he had gained at the Sultan's court. Gjon was mentioned in 1413 in Venetian documents as " dominus partis Bosine " (Lord of Bosnia ). In 1420 its territory reached almost as far as Prizren in the east and as far as Lezha in the west . On January 28, 1423 " Juannus Castrioti " was mentioned as " unus ex dominis Albanie " (one of the lords of Albania). The sultan, however, made so much power of a vassal suspicious and therefore demanded in 1423 the other three sons of Gjon (Reposh, Konstandin and Gjergj ) as pledge to his court in Adrianople , where they were educated in Islam .

Map of military activities during the Albanian Revolt from 1432 to 1436

Gjon then became an ally of Venice in the battle for Thessaloniki (1428-1430), which had belonged to Venice since 1423. Gjon, like the Venetians, was defeated by the Ottomans. Four castles of Gjon were razed to the ground and two were converted into Ottoman garrisons, and most of his lands were placed under Ottoman administration. Gjon himself had to withdraw into the narrow, mountainous area that was left to him. Since then, the Sultan has been able to exercise his power fairly unhindered in Albanian territory; a perfect administration, which was primarily intended to calculate the taxes and other duties to be paid by farmers and landowners, stoked the anger of the population. Between 1435 and 1438 there was a series of armed anti-Ottoman peasant uprisings in central and southern Albania under the leadership of Gjergj Arianiti , future father-in-law of Skanderbeg, in the valley of the Shkumbin river and in the area of Gjirokastra , all of which were bloodily suppressed.

After 1430, Gjon's son, Gjergj Kastrioti (lat .: Georgius Castrioti ), who had lived as a pledge at Murad II's court since 1423 and, contrary to the sultan's promise , had been raised to Islam and to be a warrior ( janissaries ), became so much used in military operations in the Balkans that various documents and letters from Venetian representatives asked the father Gjon to use his paternal authority so that the son would refrain from forays into the countries belonging to the Republic of Venice.

Gjon died on May 2, 1437. After his death, Murad II assigned the principality of Albania to the renegade Albanian Hasan Bey Versdesa by edict . With this act, the Sultan broke the pact once concluded with Gjon that one of his sons could inherit his inheritance after his death. Gjergj, who was named Iskender (Alexander) as a hostage at the Ottoman court , was named Bey (military honorary title) and Wali (provincial governor) of Misia, Skuria in 1438, after the death of his older brothers Reposh and Konstandin, for his services and Jonima (capital Kruja) sent to their native Albania.

family

Gjon married Vojsava . The couple had nine children:

  • Stanisha (Stanislaus; † 1446),
  • Reposh (Repossio; † 1431 from food poisoning), meanwhile a monk in Hilandar Monastery ,
  • Konstandin (Konstantin) II. († 1437/38 from food poisoning),
  • Mara,
  • Gjergj (also Gjorg or Georg), known as Skanderbeg (* 1405; † January 17, 1468 in Lezha),
  • Jelena,
  • Mamica,
  • Angjelina (Angelina) and
  • Vlajka.

religion

Gjon's religion was directly influenced by the international balance of political forces. During his life, Gjon changed religion several times with his princely house.

The Albanian historian, politician and Orthodox Bishop Fan Noli wrote in his Skanderbeg biography: “In religious matters, John (Gjon) Kastrioti was a typical Albanian. He was not a fanatical follower of any faith, but changed it according to his changing political orientations. He was Roman Catholic as an ally of Venice (1407); he was Greek Orthodox as a partisan Stefan Lazarević of Serbia from 1419 to 1426; he was a Muslim as an ally of Murat II from 1430 to 1438; Roman Catholic he was again from 1438 as an ally and honorary citizen of Venice and Ragusa (Dubrovnik); and he died a good Christian in 1443. ”(Other sources give May 2, 1437.) This policy was followed by other Albanian princes of the Middle Ages .

According to Oliver Jens Schmitt , the Kastrioti originally had relationships with the Serbian Orthodox world of faith. He had donated a tower in the Serbian monastery of Hilandar , where son Stanisha also lived as a monk for a while.

The seemingly careless handling of religions had at least two reasons: Political security was more important to the Albanians than religion, and tolerance towards those of different faiths was quite common at the time and was also practiced by the Ottomans. They did not proselytize, but “bought” the Christian souls. In addition to strict obligations, the conversion to Islam brought tangible tax and other practical advantages. The Ottoman rulers were not particularly interested in how serious the convert was about the new religion.

literature

  • Archivio di Stato di Venezia: Acta Albaniae Veneta saeculorum XIV et XV, Part 1, Volumi 3-4 . Typis Josephi Tosini, Venezia 1980 (Latin).
  • Studi storici . Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo, Edizioni 125-131, Rome 1980 (Italian).
  • Marin Barleti : Des all streytparsten and most dear princes and Herr Georgen Castrioten, called Scanderbeg ... did chivalrous acts. Described in Latin and now translated into German by Joannem Pinicianum, Steiner, Augsburg 1533.
  • Oliver Jens Schmitt: Skanderbeg. The new Alexander in the Balkans. Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2229-0 .
  • Christine von Kohl: Albanien , Verlag CH Beck, Munich, 1998, ISBN 3-406-50902-9
  • Fan Noli : Georg Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405-1468). Boston University, 1939, accessed October 26, 2016.
  • Agostino Pertusi: Martino Segono di Novo Brdo, vescovo di Dulcigno: un umanista serbo-dalmata del tardo Quattrocento: vita e opere . Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo, Rome 1981 (Italian).
  • Janko Šafařík: Acta archivi Veneti spectantia ad historiam Serborum et reliquorum Slavorum meridionalium . Typographia Principatus Serbia, Belgradi 1860 (Latin, online version in the Google book search).
  • Miranda Vickers: Shqiptarët - Një histori modern . Bota Shqiptare, 2008, ISBN 978-99956-11-68-2 , Skënderbeu farkëton bashkimin shqiptar kundër osmanëve (English: The Albanians - A Modern History . Translated by Xhevdet Shehu).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to other sources: 1442
  2. ↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt only uses the name Ivan in his Skanderbeg biography, as only this appears in contemporary documents.
  3. ↑ Barletius, 1st book, 2nd chapter: " Seyn women was called Voisana / wleche ir vatter an almost noble prince of the Tribolarum / ... "; Demetrio Franco; Cap. 1: " il quale D. Giovanni [Castriotto] hebbe per moglie la figliuola del Sig. Di Pollogo, quale è una parte della Macedonia, & Bulgaria, al quale sua moglie si chiamave Voisava. "; Johann Georg von Hahn, p. 305: " Skanderbeg's mother is once called Visava Tribalda by the despot, another time Voisava Tripalda "; Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf, p. 301: “ moglie del detto Signor Giovanni, hebbe nome Signora Voisava Tripalda e venne da bona parte ”; Fan Stylian Noli, p. 88: “ He married Voisava Tripalda of Polog. "Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 44:" Skanderbeg's mother Vojsava was a Serb from the Branković dynasty, ie a Slav. "
  4. ↑ According to Marin Barleti 1412: "In 1430 Gjergj was only 18 years old."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Miranda Vickers, p. 23
  2. ↑ a b c d Christine von Kohl: Albania . Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-50902-9 , p. 39 ff . ( Online version ).
  3. ↑ John Musachi: Brief Chronicle on the Descendants of our Musachi Dynasty , 1515 in: Early Albania: A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries by Robert Elsie, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2003, p. 54.
    You should know that the grandfather of Lord Scanderbeg was called Lord Paul Castriota. He ruled over no more than two villages, called Signa (Sina) and Gardi Ipostesi. To this Lord Paul was born Lord John Castriota who became Lord of Mat. And to him was born Lord Scanderbeg. The mother of the said Lord Scanderbeg, i. e. the wife of the said Lord John, was called Lady Voisava Tribalda who was of a noble family.
  4. ↑ a b c d Oliver Jens Schmitt : Skanderbeg. The new Alexander in the Balkans . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2229-0 , pp. 26-33 .
  5. ^ Franco Demarchi: Minoranze linguistiche tra storia e politica . Arti Grafiche Artigianelli, 1988, Le minoranze etniche nei Balcani by Adriana Mitescu, p. 175 .
  6. ↑ Irvin Faniko: L'evoluzione storico della Carta-giuridico Fondamentale Albanese . Photocopy Canon sh.pk, Tirana, 2013, Le popolazioni illiriche, p. 29 ff .
  7. ↑ Povijesno društro Hrvatske: historijski zbornik, Volumi 41-42 . 1989, p. 24 (Croatian). "dok je tesalski car Anđeli postao vazal još 1386. godine.2 * Osmanski vazali bili su tada i ... kao i albanska vlastela Dimitrije Jonima, Koja Zakarija, Ivan Kastriot i Tanuš Veliki Dukađin."
  8. ^ John Van Antwerp Fine: The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest . University of Michigan Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5 , pp. 422 (English).
  9. ^ A b Heinrich Kretschmayr: History of Venice , second volume: The blossom . Salwasser Verlag, 2012, ISBN 3-8460-0658-0 , p. 375 .
  10. ↑ Agostino Pertusi, p. 292
  11. ^ Studi storici, p. 292
  12. ↑ Janko Šafařík, p. 447
  13. ^ Acta Albaniae Veneta, p. 405
  14. ↑ Janko Šafařík, p. 134
  15. ^ Ludwig von Thallóczy: Illyrisch-Albanische Forschungen . Munich Duncker & Humblot, 1916, p. 140 .
  16. ↑ Arshi Pipa, Sami Repishti: Studies on Kosova . East European Monographs, 1984, ISBN 978-0-88033-047-3 , pp. 14 (English). "Gjon Kastrioti could not avoid participating in the great Albanian revolt of 1432-1436"
  17. ↑ M. Emanuela Palmisano: Progetto Scuola-Museo: Argonauti - Mare e migranti . Regione Siciliana, 2010, Il mare e la diaspora degli albanesi di Sicilia by Anna Ceffalia and Isidoro Passanante, p. 50 (Italian, PDF [accessed October 28, 2016]).
  18. ↑ Peter Giefer: Kosovo: on the way in the heart of the Balkans . Trescher Verlag, 2010, ISBN 3-89794-141-4 , Skanderbeg or Gjergi Kastrioti, p. 27 .
  19. ↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt : Skanderbeg. The new Alexander in the Balkans. Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, p. 44f.
  20. ^ Fan Stylian Noli: George Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405-1468) . Boston University Graduate School, Boston 1947, p. 88 .
  21. ↑ a b Marin Barleti
  22. ^ Fan Noli: Georg Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405-1468) . Boston University, 1939, p. 90-91 (English). , accessed October 26, 2016
  23. ↑ Miranda Vickers: Shqiptarët - Një histori modern . Bota Shqiptare, 2008, ISBN 978-99956-11-68-2 , Fillimi i rënies osmane, p. 35–36 (English: The Albanians - A Modern History . Translated by Xhevdet Shehu).
  24. ↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt: Religion and Culture in Albanian-speaking Southeast Europe . Peter Lanf GmbH, 2010, ISBN 3-631-60295-2 , p. 20 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Kastrioti, Gjon I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kastrioti, Ivan I .; Kastrioti, Johannes IM; Kastrioti, Giovanni I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian prince
DATE OF BIRTH 1380
PLACE OF BIRTH Mati region , Albania
DATE OF DEATH May 2, 1437