Dushmani family

The Dushmani or Dušmani (Latin: Dusmani, Serbian Cyrillic: Душман, Душмани) were a family that ruled parts of Pilot, a historical province in what is today the Dukagjin highlands in northern Albania, during the 15th century under the Republic of Venice.

The Dušmani were a Slavic family in Pilot (in northern Albania).[1] The name "Dušman" is derived from Slavic root duša (spirit, soul), as is "Dušan", with the suffix -man, and was used in Serbian society from the Middle Ages to at least the 19th century.[2] The oldest generation of the family is mentioned on 2 June 1403 when the Venetian Senate confirmed the three brothers Goranin, Damjan and Nenad the rule over their lands in Pilot Minor ("Little" or "Lower" Pilot) as Venetian subjects.[3][4] Through various ways, the Republic of Venice won over local nobility in the Scutari region and thereby created a certain security zone around their possessions against the Ottomans.[5] In July 1404 the brothers requested from the government that their litigations be addressed to the knez in Scutari.[4] The family were subject to Albanianization; at first bearing Slavic names, the second Venetian confirmation some forty years later shows some members with Albanian names.[1]

In 1427, a "Dusmanus" is mentioned as the bishop of Polatum (Dusmanus ep. Polat.);[6] Daniele Farlati (1690–1773) called him "Dussus" and put his office in 1427–46.[7]

Pavle Dušman (d. 1457) was a Catholic bishop active in Svač (1443), Drivasto (1446), and Skadarska Krajina (1454).[8]

Lekë Dushmani (or Leka Dušman[9]), was mentioned as one of the founders of the League of Lezhë.[10] Lekë Dushmani held Zadrima.[11] Lekë's daughter Irene (Jerina) became famous while there was a dispute for her which brought the first defection among the members of League of Lezhë which led toward the Albanian–Venetian War (1447–48).[12] The Dushmani and Spani family did not participate in the war.

In Drivasto, Božidar Dušman gathered Venetian opponents, and partnering up with Lekë Dukagjini readied for rebellion in the city and among the villages.[13] They planned to attack Venetian-controlled Drivast,[14] but the plot was discovered, and in March 1451 the Council of Forty had Božidar Dušman convicted to 30 years of exile from Venetian holdings in Albania.[15] It was threatened that his head would be cut off between two pillars at the Doge's palace if anybody found him there.[16]

In July 1452, Pope Nicholas V sent Pavle Dušman to settle the conflict between Lekë Dukagjini and Skanderbeg.[17]

According to Demetrios Sicilianos, the Dousmanis family in Greece ultimately descended from the 15th-century Albanian nobleman "Lekas (Alexander) Dousmanis", whose family took refuge in Greece after the Ottoman conquest of Albania by Mehmed the Conqueror (r. 1444–81).[18]

References

  1. 1 2 Antonović 2003, p. 273.
  2. ↑ Grković 1977, p. 86.
  3. ↑ Antonović 2003, p. 273; Ljubić 1875, p. 44
  4. 1 2 Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore 1970b, p. 82, Malović-Đukić 1991
  5. ↑ Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore 1970b, p. 82.
  6. ↑ Hierarchia catholica medii aevi et recentioris aevi. Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae. 1913. p. 404.
  7. ↑ Vjesnik Kr. državnog arkiva u Zagrebu. 17-18. Tisak zaklade tiskare narodnih novina. 1915. p. 28.
  8. ↑ Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore 1970b, p. 328.
  9. ↑ Glas. 22. Belgrade: SKA. 1890.
  10. ↑ Noli 1947, p. 36.
  11. ↑ Noli 1967, p. 84.
  12. ↑ Noli 1947, p. 39.
  13. ↑ Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore 1970b, p. 221.
  14. ↑ Schmitt 2001, p. 308.
  15. ↑ Božić 1979, p. 369, Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore 1970b, p. 221
  16. ↑ Božić 1979, p. 370.
  17. ↑ Spomenik. 95-97. SANU. 1942. p. xv.
  18. ↑ Demetrios Sicilianos (1960). Old and new Athens. Putnam. p. 223.

Sources

  • Antonović, Miloš (2003). Town and District in Littoral of Zeta and Northern Albania in XIVth and XVth Century. Istorijski institut. ISBN 978-86-7743-031-3.
  • Božić, Ivan (1979). "О Дукађинима". Немирно Поморје XV века. Srpska književna zadruga. OCLC 5845972.
  • Grković, Milica (1977). Rečnik ličnih imena kod Srba. Belgrade: Vuk Karadžić.
  • Ljubić, Simeon (1875). Listine o odnošajih izmedju južnoga slavenstva i Mletačke Republike: Od godine 1403 do 1409. Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti.
  • Malović-Đukić, Marica (1991). "Пилот у средњем веку". Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији: Зборник радова са међународног научног скупа одржаног на Цетињу 21, 22. и 23. јуна 1990. године. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе. OCLC 29549273.
  • Noli, Fan S. (1947). George Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405–1468). International Universities Press. OCLC 732882.
  • Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore (1970b). Историја Црне Горе (2): Црна Гора у доба обласних господара. Titograd: Redakcija za istoriju Crne Gore. OCLC 492555897.
  • Schmitt, Oliver Jens (2001). Das venezianische Albanien (1392–1479) (in German). München: R. Oldenbourg Verlag GmbH München. ISBN 3-486-56569-9.
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