Zenebishi family

Zenebishi
Noble house
Estates Gjirokastër
Founded 1304
Dissolution 1460

The Zenebishi Family (fl. 1304–1460) was a medieval noble family in southern Albania that served the Angevins, Venetians and Ottomans. They governed territories in Epirus, centered in Gjirokaster.

John Zenebishi was one of the most notable members of this family. In the period 1373–1414 he controlled Gjirokaster and its surroundings. After the Ottomans captured the region of Epirus, members of this family held high positions within Ottoman hierarchy.

Origin and early history

Principalities of Epirus 1370–1409

The Zenebishi's are mentioned in 1304 as one of the families that were granted privileges by the Angevin Philip I, Prince of Taranto.[1] This was probably the Zenevisi.[2] According to Robert Elsie, the family originated from the Zagoria region between Gjirokastra and Përmet, in modern-day southern Albania.[1]

In 1381 and 1384, the Catholic lords of Arta asked the Ottoman troops for protection against the invading Albanians under the Zenebishi; the Ottomans routed the raiders and restored order in Epirus.[3]

John Zenebishi is one of the most notable members of this family.[1] Like many contemporary Balkan rulers who were under the cultural influence of the Byzantine Empire, he adopted a title from the Byzantine court hierarchy for himself, that of sevastokrator.[4] During the Ottoman Interregnum (1402–13) Zenebishi lost to Venetians most of the mainland territories across from the Venetian possession of Corfu.[5] In 1419, he was killed by the Ottomans.[6]

Ottoman period

After a period of initial resistance to the Ottomans, most of the noble families of the region, including the Zenebishi family, Arianiti and Muzaka, converted to Islam, and some of their members rose to high positions within the Ottoman military and feudal hierarchy.[7] The territory that the Zenevisi controlled before their submission to the Ottomans was registered in an Ottoman defter (tax register) of 1431 as "the lands of Zenevisi" (Turkish: Zenebisi ili).[8][9]

In 1443 Simon Zenebishi, John's grandson, built the Strovili fortress with Venetian approval and support.[10] In 1454–55 Simon Zenevisi was recognized by Alphonso V as a vassal of the Kingdom of Naples.[11]

John's son, known after his conversion to Islam as Hasan Bey, was a subaşi in Tetovo in 1455.[12] The other son of John, whose Muslim name was Hamza Zenevisi, was an Ottoman military commander who defeated the forces of the Despots of the Morea besieging Patras in 1459.[13] In 1460, following the Ottoman conquest of the Morea, he became a sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Mezistre.[14]

Members

John Zenebishi had the following descendants:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Elsie, Robert (24 December 2012). A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. I.B.Tauris. p. 501. ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3. ZENEBISI, GHIN ( -1418) Mediaeval ruler. Gjin Zenebishi, also known as John Zenebishii and by the Albanian neologism of Gjon Zenebishi, descended from a family of the Zagoria region between Gjirokastra and Përmet. In 1380, he was given
  2. ↑ Tom Winnifrith (2002). Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. Duckworth. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-0-7156-3201-7.
  3. ↑ TBR 6. TBR Company. 2000. p. 41. In 1381 and 1384, the Latin feudal lords of Arta asked Muslim troops for protection against the invading Albanian Zenevisi clan from Gjirokastra. The Muslim Turkish mercenaries routed the Albanian raiders and restored order in Epirus.
  4. ↑ Bulgarian historical review. Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 2003. p. 164. Due to long Byzantine rule Albanian aristocracy used titles of Byzantine titulature like despot, (Balsha and Gjin Bue Shpata), sevastocrator (Gjon Zenebishi) and comes.
  5. ↑ Pitcher, Donald Edgar (1972). An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire: From Earliest Times to the End of the Sixteenth Century. Brill Archive. p. 68. GGKEY:4CFA3RCNXRP.
  6. ↑ Bartl, Peter (1995). Albanien: vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (in German). Friedrich Pustet. p. 293. ISBN 978-3-7917-1451-6. Adelsfamilie Zenebishi, 1419 von den Türken erobert.
  7. ↑ Schmitt, Oliver Jens (2010). Religion und Kultur im albanischsprachigen Südosteuropa (in German). Peter Lang. p. 56. ISBN 978-3-631-60295-9. Muslimisch gewordene Angehörige der Familien Muzaki, Arianiti und Zenevisi, die vorher am Abwehrkampf gegen die Türken beteiligt gewesen waren, wurden in das Militärlehenssystem eingegliedert und erhielten Posten in der ...
  8. ↑ Winnifrith, Tom (2002). Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. Duckworth. pp. 97, 98. ISBN 978-0-7156-3201-7. Near Gjirokaster we have the Zenebishi family, probably the Zenevias. They occur in Ottoman records as owning land near Gjirokaster in 1431. One of their number, having converted to Islam with the name of Hamza, was a scourge of the ...
  9. ↑ Archivum Ottomanicum. Mouton. 1983. p. 207. In Albania, the regions bore the names of the leading feudal families: Zenebisi ili (the lands of Zenebisi), Yovan ili (the domains of the Kastriots), Balsa ili (the lands of the Balshich), and eastward from Elbasan, Pavlo Kurtik ili, etc
  10. ↑ Byzantino Bulgarica. Éditions de l'Académie des sciences de Bulgarie. 1981. p. 268. ...und 1413 konnte sich Venedig diesen begehrten, auch Bu^tia genannten Stützpunkt sichern.30 Die Festung Strobili in der Nähe von Saiata wurde 1443 von Simon Zenebisi mit venezianischer Zustimmung oder auch Unterstützung errichtet.
  11. ↑ Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1978). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The fifteenth century. American Philosophical Society. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-87169-127-9.
  12. ↑ OTAM: Ankara Üniversitesi Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi dergisi (in Turkish). Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi. 1991. p. 65. Güney Arnavutluk'un en meşhur feodal ailelerinden birisini temsil eden Gjin Zenebisi'nin iki oğlu da, Sultan Sarayının yanında eğitim görmüştü. Hasan Bey adıyla anılan bunlardan birisi, 1455 yılında Kalkandelen subaşısı görevini yapmıştı.
  13. ↑ Pitcher, Donald Edgar (1972). An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire: From Earliest Times to the End of the Sixteenth Century. Brill Archive. p. 86. GGKEY:4CFA3RCNXRP.
  14. 1 2 Osmanlı tarihi. Türk Tarih Kurumu. 1983. p. 62. İskender'in yeğeni olan bu Hamza Kastriyota ile yine Arnavut senyörlerinden Gin Zenibisi'nin oğlu olup Osmanlı devleti hizmetinde bulunara 1460'da Mora'da Mizistra sancakbeyliği etmiş olan Hamza Zenebisi'yi birbirine karıştır mamalıdır.
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