Arianiti family
Encyclopedia
The Arianiti were an Albanian
noble family that ruled large areas in Albania
and neighbouring areas from the 11th to the 16th century. Their domain stretched across the Shkumbin
valley and the old Via Egnatia
road and reached to the east today's Bitola
.
, which is mentioned for first time in the 11th century in the work of Byzantine historian, George Kedrenos. Kedrenos tells how during the 1001–1018 period the Byzantine Emperor Basil II
, named David Arianites
strategos
of Thessaloniki
, and later strategos of Skopje
. David Arianites fought against the Bulgarians in Strumica
and Skopje. David's son, Constantine, is also mentioned in the years 1049-1050 as being in the military service of the Byzantine Empire.
The name appears in modern Albania in the late 13th century: in 1274, in an agreement between Charles I of Naples and some Albanian noblemen the name of a sebastokrator
Alexios Arianites is mentioned. The Arianites/Arianiti last name has also been mentioned in other 14th century documents: In 1304 two documents, one from Philip I, Prince of Taranto, and the other from Charles II of Naples
between several names of Albanian noble families, to whom are recognized prior held privileges, include the name of the Arianiti family. In a 1319 letter, Pope John XXII
sent to some Albanian nobles, the name of protolegator Guljelm Arianiti is included. In the Epitaph of Gllavenica
, embroidered in 1373, the name of George Arianiti, the embroiderer is documented.
Not necessarily all the Arianiti people mentioned in various 11-14th century sources belong to the same family tree, however from them it is safe to assume that the Arianiti family was an important noble family of Medieval Central Albania. The importance of such family stemmed from the possession and control of important segments of the Royal Road (Via Egnatia
) which served multiple convoys trading grain, salt and other products. The Arianiti family must have had the collaboration of the Pavle Kurtik, whose domain were in the provinces middle course of Shkumbin, and with Župan
Andrea Gropa, ruler of the city of Ochrid. The dominant position of the fortress of Ochrid, on the whole area of a very rich lake with high quality fish, had made his possession was the focus of political and military actions of the gods of the areas nearby.
Arianiti's political activity is better reflected in 15th century documents, when following Ottoman conquests, they lost the rich eastern regions of their dominions and began to pursue more active and aggressive foreign policies, especially since 1430 when Gjergj Arianiti had a series of victories over the Ottoman armies.
The Arianiti family members are several times mentioned by their last name along other last names, which include Komneni, Golemi, Topia, Shpata, and Çermenika, as well as nobility titles. The inherited titles and the other names testify that the Arianiti had established family ties with other noble families, including those of the Byzantine Empire, as indicated by the surname Komneni/Komnenos
. The Arianiti family also had their coat of arms and other heraldry signs. The double headed eagle emblem was on their heraldic symbols. A document shows that Gjergj Arianiti had commissioned his flag to be designed in Ragusa
.
The genealogical tree Arianiti cannot be built exactly, since the earliest periods, when they are first mentioned. According to Marin Barleti
and Gjon Muzaka
Gjergj Arianiti's father was Komnen Arianiti. Komnen Arianiti had married the daughter of Nikolle Zaharia Sakati, ruler of Budva
. Komnen Arianiti had three sons (Gjergj, Muzaka, and Vladan), and one daughter who married Pal Dukagjini.
Muzaka Arianiti had one son, Moisi Arianiti, a warrior that fought the Ottoman Empire along Skanderbeg
. Moisi Arianiti is primarily known as Moisi Golemi. Moisi Golemi had married Zanfina Muzaka, first wife of Muzaka Topia. Muzaka Topia, after his marriage with Zanfina Muzaka, married Skanderbeg
's sister, and oldest daughter of Gjon Kastrioti
, Maria Kastrioti, also called Mamica.
The younger brother of Gjergj Arianiti, Vladan, married the daughter of Gjon Kastrioti
, Angjelina, long before that Skanderbeg appeared on the top of the Albanian war against the Ottoman Empire. Their son, Muzaka (described as Muzaka of Angjelina, in order to distinguish him from his uncle) participated in the creation of the League of Lezhë
in 1444.
The political and military activities of the great son of Komnen Arianiti, Gjergj, gave the Albanian noble family name of Arianiti a particular weight in Albania's political life.
Gjergj Arianiti married Maria Muzaka with whom he had eight daughters. Her death caused him to marry the Italian noblewoman Despina (or Petrina) Francone, daughter of the governor of Lecce
in the Kingdom of Sicily
. They had three sons (Thoma, Kostandin and Arianit) and a daughter.
The possessions of the Arianiti family have changed over time with expansion and contractions, but in general, the Arianiti enjoyed a special position in the economic and political life of Albania and in the relationships with different regions of country and their political forces. Proof of this are the several marriages of the Arianiti's descendants to the Kastrioti
and Muzaka families, as well as Dukagjini, and also to Serb despot Stefan Brankovic, who married Gjergj Arianiti's daughter, Angjelina Arianit Komneni, later Saint Angelina of Serbia.
The eastern extension of the state of Gjergj Arianiti included Manastir and Florina
, and most of the areas around the Ohrid Lake from which a large income from fishing and fish exporting was obtained. The Arianiti also owned the Sopotnica castle (Svetigrad), later named by the Ottomans Demir Hisar
.
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
noble family that ruled large areas in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and neighbouring areas from the 11th to the 16th century. Their domain stretched across the Shkumbin
Shkumbin
Shkumbin is a river in central Albania, flowing into the Adriatic Sea. It is considered the dividing line for the two dialects of the Albanian language: Tosk and Gheg ....
valley and the old Via Egnatia
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.Starting at Dyrrachium on the...
road and reached to the east today's Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
.
History of the family
The Arianiti family name has been linked with the noble Byzantine family of ArianitesArianites
Arianites is an extinct genus of Cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....
, which is mentioned for first time in the 11th century in the work of Byzantine historian, George Kedrenos. Kedrenos tells how during the 1001–1018 period the Byzantine Emperor Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
, named David Arianites
David Arianites
David Arianites was a high-ranking Byzantine commander of the early 11th century.He hailed from the noble Arianites family of Constantinople. He initially held the title of patrikios, and became a senior general under Basil II. In 1017 Basil II invaded Bulgaria with a large army including Rus'...
strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, and later strategos of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
. David Arianites fought against the Bulgarians in Strumica
Strumica
Strumica is the largest city in eastern Macedonia, near the Novo Selo-Petrich border crossing with Bulgaria. About 100,000 people live in the region surrounding the city. The city is named after the Strumica River which runs through it...
and Skopje. David's son, Constantine, is also mentioned in the years 1049-1050 as being in the military service of the Byzantine Empire.
The name appears in modern Albania in the late 13th century: in 1274, in an agreement between Charles I of Naples and some Albanian noblemen the name of a sebastokrator
Sebastokrator
Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence. The word is a compound of "sebastos" Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used...
Alexios Arianites is mentioned. The Arianites/Arianiti last name has also been mentioned in other 14th century documents: In 1304 two documents, one from Philip I, Prince of Taranto, and the other from Charles II of Naples
Charles II of Naples
Charles II, known as "the Lame" was King of Naples, King of Albania, Prince of Salerno, Prince of Achaea and Count of Anjou.-Biography:...
between several names of Albanian noble families, to whom are recognized prior held privileges, include the name of the Arianiti family. In a 1319 letter, Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
sent to some Albanian nobles, the name of protolegator Guljelm Arianiti is included. In the Epitaph of Gllavenica
Epitaph of Gllavenica
The Epitaph of Gllavenica is a 14th century epitaph, written on a shroud, and embroidered by a monk named Savia from Ballsh, Albania. The shroud is made of silk, linen and gold, and symbolizes the burial cloth of Christ, used in Orthodox Good Friday's processions.Technically, stylistically and in...
, embroidered in 1373, the name of George Arianiti, the embroiderer is documented.
Not necessarily all the Arianiti people mentioned in various 11-14th century sources belong to the same family tree, however from them it is safe to assume that the Arianiti family was an important noble family of Medieval Central Albania. The importance of such family stemmed from the possession and control of important segments of the Royal Road (Via Egnatia
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.Starting at Dyrrachium on the...
) which served multiple convoys trading grain, salt and other products. The Arianiti family must have had the collaboration of the Pavle Kurtik, whose domain were in the provinces middle course of Shkumbin, and with Župan
Zupan
Żupan was a long garment, always lined, worn by almost all males of the noble social class in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, typical male attire from the beginning of the 16th to half of the 18th century, still surviving as a part of the Polishnational dress.- Derivation :The name żupan has...
Andrea Gropa, ruler of the city of Ochrid. The dominant position of the fortress of Ochrid, on the whole area of a very rich lake with high quality fish, had made his possession was the focus of political and military actions of the gods of the areas nearby.
Arianiti's political activity is better reflected in 15th century documents, when following Ottoman conquests, they lost the rich eastern regions of their dominions and began to pursue more active and aggressive foreign policies, especially since 1430 when Gjergj Arianiti had a series of victories over the Ottoman armies.
The Arianiti family members are several times mentioned by their last name along other last names, which include Komneni, Golemi, Topia, Shpata, and Çermenika, as well as nobility titles. The inherited titles and the other names testify that the Arianiti had established family ties with other noble families, including those of the Byzantine Empire, as indicated by the surname Komneni/Komnenos
Komnenos
Komnenós or Comnenus was the name of a ruling family of the Eastern Roman Empire , who halted the political decline of the Empire from c.1081 to c.1185.-Origins:...
. The Arianiti family also had their coat of arms and other heraldry signs. The double headed eagle emblem was on their heraldic symbols. A document shows that Gjergj Arianiti had commissioned his flag to be designed in Ragusa
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...
.
The genealogical tree Arianiti cannot be built exactly, since the earliest periods, when they are first mentioned. According to Marin Barleti
Marin Barleti
Marin Barleti . was an Albanian historian and Catholic priest. He is considered the first Albanian historian, especially because of his biography on Skanderbeg, translated in many languages in the 16th to the 18th centuries.-Life:Barleti lived in Shkodër and was a scholar and a clergyman...
and Gjon Muzaka
Gjon Muzaka
Gjon Muzaka wan an Albanian nobleman from the Muzaka family, that has historically ruled in the Myzeqe region, Albania. In 1510 he wrote a Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi . The work was published in Karl Hopf's Chroniques gréco-romaines, Paris 1873,...
Gjergj Arianiti's father was Komnen Arianiti. Komnen Arianiti had married the daughter of Nikolle Zaharia Sakati, ruler of Budva
Budva
Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality...
. Komnen Arianiti had three sons (Gjergj, Muzaka, and Vladan), and one daughter who married Pal Dukagjini.
Muzaka Arianiti had one son, Moisi Arianiti, a warrior that fought the Ottoman Empire along Skanderbeg
Skanderbeg
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
. Moisi Arianiti is primarily known as Moisi Golemi. Moisi Golemi had married Zanfina Muzaka, first wife of Muzaka Topia. Muzaka Topia, after his marriage with Zanfina Muzaka, married Skanderbeg
Skanderbeg
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
's sister, and oldest daughter of Gjon Kastrioti
Gjon Kastrioti
Gjon Kastrioti , member of Kastrioti family, son of Pal Kastrioti, was an Albanian lord and the father of Scanderbeg. He was called also Hamza Kastrioti.- Name :...
, Maria Kastrioti, also called Mamica.
The younger brother of Gjergj Arianiti, Vladan, married the daughter of Gjon Kastrioti
Gjon Kastrioti
Gjon Kastrioti , member of Kastrioti family, son of Pal Kastrioti, was an Albanian lord and the father of Scanderbeg. He was called also Hamza Kastrioti.- Name :...
, Angjelina, long before that Skanderbeg appeared on the top of the Albanian war against the Ottoman Empire. Their son, Muzaka (described as Muzaka of Angjelina, in order to distinguish him from his uncle) participated in the creation of the League of Lezhë
League of Lezhë
The League of Lezhë was an alliance of Albanian Principalities forged in Lezhë on the 2nd of March 1444. It was initiated and organised by Skanderbeg with the aim of uniting the Albanian principalities that had been founded in the 12th - 14th centuries, to fight the Ottoman Armies...
in 1444.
The political and military activities of the great son of Komnen Arianiti, Gjergj, gave the Albanian noble family name of Arianiti a particular weight in Albania's political life.
Gjergj Arianiti married Maria Muzaka with whom he had eight daughters. Her death caused him to marry the Italian noblewoman Despina (or Petrina) Francone, daughter of the governor of Lecce
Lecce
Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...
in the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
. They had three sons (Thoma, Kostandin and Arianit) and a daughter.
The possessions of the Arianiti family have changed over time with expansion and contractions, but in general, the Arianiti enjoyed a special position in the economic and political life of Albania and in the relationships with different regions of country and their political forces. Proof of this are the several marriages of the Arianiti's descendants to the Kastrioti
Kastrioti
The Kastrioti family were a noble Albanian family in the middle Ages. The Kastrioti dynasty originally hailed from the Dibër region in Albania...
and Muzaka families, as well as Dukagjini, and also to Serb despot Stefan Brankovic, who married Gjergj Arianiti's daughter, Angjelina Arianit Komneni, later Saint Angelina of Serbia.
The eastern extension of the state of Gjergj Arianiti included Manastir and Florina
Florina
Florina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West...
, and most of the areas around the Ohrid Lake from which a large income from fishing and fish exporting was obtained. The Arianiti also owned the Sopotnica castle (Svetigrad), later named by the Ottomans Demir Hisar
Demir Hisar
Demir Hisar , or in Slavic translation known as Železnec , is an area spreading on the South West part of Macedonia to the North West of the Pelagonian plain, around the river flow of the Black River with her inflows...
.