Pal Kastrioti: Dallime mes rishikimesh

Gjon Kastrioti was most famous of three brothers. Like many other [[Albanian nobility|noblemen from Albania]], he became an Ottoman vassal since 1385.<ref>{{cite book|title=Historijski zbornik, Volumes 41-42|url= http://books.google.rs/books?ei=_3ORT7XPOcbHsgb09MmRBA&id=iaRnAAAAMAAJ&dq=kao+i+albanska+vlastela+Dimitrije+Jonima%2C+Koja+Zakarija%2C+Ivan+Kastriot+i+Tanu%C5%A1+Veliki+Duka%C4%91in.%22&q=%22kao+i+albanska+vlastela+Dimitrije+Jonima%2C+Koja+Zakarija%2C+Ivan+Kastriot+i+Tanu%C5%A1+Veliki+Duka%C4%91in.%22#search_anchor |year=1989|publisher=Nakladni zavod Hrvatske|location=Zagreb|OCLC=1752136|author=Povijesno društvo Hrvatske|accessdate=20 April 2012|page=24|language=Croatian|quote=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.}}</ref> He supported [[Bayezid I]] in the [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402.<ref>The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest Author: John Van Antwerp Fine, Edition reprint, illustrated Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 1994 ISBN 0-472-08260-4, 9780472082605 p. 422 "Albanian vassals of the Ottomans — Koja Zakarija, Demetrius Jonima, John Castriot, and probably Tanush Major Dukagjin"</ref> and revolted against the Ottomans during the [[Albanian Revolt of 1432-1436]] led by [[Gjergj Arianiti]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Pipa|first=Arshi|title=Studies on Kosova|year=1984|publisher=East European Monographs|isbn=9780880330473|url=http://books.google.rs/books?id=Mim5AAAAIAAJ&q=gjon+kastrioti+1432+uprising&dq=gjon+kastrioti+1432+uprising&hl=sr&sa=X&ei=iiSkT5j4N67S4QTOz6m8CQ&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA|accessdate=4 May 2012|page=14|quote=Gjon Kas- trioti could not avoid participating in the great Albanian revolt of 1432- 1436}}</ref>

 

 

At the end of 14th century Pal had the title "segnior de Signa et de Gardi-ipostesi" (Sina ({{lang-sq|Sinë}}) and Lower Gardi ({{lang-sq|Gardhi i Poshtëm}})) because he ruled over those two villages.<ref>{{harvnb|Hopf|1873|p=533}}{{quote|Paolo, segneur de Signa et de Gardi-ipostesi}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last= Buda |first= Aleks |title= Shkrime historike |url=http://books.google.rs/books?ei=M8lyT_mcCMvusgam5ojkDQ&id=l5K4AAAAIAAJ&dq=kanina+kastrioti&q=%22Dokumentet+p%C3%ABrmendin+p%C3%ABr+her%C3%AB+t%C3%AB+par%C3%AB+nj%C3%AB+Kastriot+n%C3%AB+vitin+1368+si+k%C3%ABshtjellar+ose+kefali+n%C3%AB+Kanin%C3%AB+t%C3%AB+Vlor%C3%ABs.+Me+r%C3%ABnien+e+Balshajve+fillon+fuqizimi+i+Kastriot%C3%ABve.+Ata+kthehen+n%C3%AB+tokat+e+tyre+dhe+i+zgjerojn%C3%AB+pronat+n%C3%AB+lugin%C3%ABn+e+Drinit.%22#search_anchor |volume= 3 |date= |origyear= |year=2002 |month= |publisher= Shtëpia Botuese 8 Nëntori |location= Tiranë |language= |isbn=9789992716519 |oclc=163395350 |page= 239 |quote=Në fund të shek. XIV Pal Kastrioti kishte këtu dy fshatra. Sinjën dhe Gardhin e Poshtëm.}}</ref> According to some sources the villages he governed were located on the mountain of Qidhna northwest of [[Debar]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Recherches albanologiques: Série historique, Volume 12|year=1982|publisher=Albanološki institut u Prištini|location=Priština|url=http://books.google.rs/books?ei=SGlxT-L8Konysgaot-3cDQ&id=qKLiAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Pal+kastrioti%22&q=%22+nord-ouest+de+Dibra%22#search_anchor|accessdate=27 March 2012|page=67|language=French|quote=Le grand-pére de Scanderbeg s'appelait Pal Kastrioti, qui au cours de la Ile moitié du XlVe siècle était un petit féodal-maître de Sina et de Gardhi i Poshtëm. Ces deux villages se trouvent à la montagne de Qidhna dans le nord-ouest de Dibra.}}</ref> Those two villages [[Balša II]] (the lord of Zeta) granted to Pal Kastrioti around 1383 as a [[Fee (feudal tenure)|fief]].<ref>{{harvnb|Šufflay|2000|p=148}}{{quote|Od Balše II (oko 1383.g.) dobio je on u leno dva sela u srednjoj Albaniji na Matu.}}</ref> The decline of the [[Balšić noble family|Balšić]] family marked the ascendancy of the Kastrioti family.<ref>{{Citation |last= Buda |first= Aleks |title= Shkrime historike |url=http://books.google.rs/books?ei=M8lyT_mcCMvusgam5ojkDQ&id=l5K4AAAAIAAJ&dq=kanina+kastrioti&q=%22Dokumentet+p%C3%ABrmendin+p%C3%ABr+her%C3%AB+t%C3%AB+par%C3%AB+nj%C3%AB+Kastriot+n%C3%AB+vitin+1368+si+k%C3%ABshtjellar+ose+kefali+n%C3%AB+Kanin%C3%AB+t%C3%AB+Vlor%C3%ABs.+Me+r%C3%ABnien+e+Balshajve+fillon+fuqizimi+i+Kastriot%C3%ABve.+Ata+kthehen+n%C3%AB+tokat+e+tyre+dhe+i+zgjerojn%C3%AB+pronat+n%C3%AB+lugin%C3%ABn+e+Drinit.%22#search_anchor |volume= 3 |date= |origyear= |year=2002 |month= |publisher= Shtëpia Botuese 8 Nëntori |location= Tiranë |language= |isbn=9789992716519 |oclc=163395350 |page= 239 |quote=Me rënien e Balshajve fillon fuqizimi i Kastriotëve.}}</ref> Gjon Kastrioti managed to expand the territory of Kastrioti's domain consisting of a couple of villages in the region of [[Debar]] by capturing the region of [[Mat District|Mat]].<ref>{{Citation |last= Bartl |first= Peter |others=translated by Ljubinka Milenković |title=Albanci : od srednjeg veka do danas |url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/49463125/Albanci-od-srednjeg-veka-do-danas-Peter-Bartl |accessdate= 1 February 2012 |origyear= 1995 |year=2001 |month= |publisher= Clio |location= Belgrade |language= Serbian |isbn=9788671020176 |oclc= 51036121 |page=40 |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote=Његов деда поседовао је неколико села у области Дебра. Отац је проширио породично имање на област Мати |ref= }}</ref> After Gjon's subjugation to the Ottomans his former estates would be surveyed in Ottoman registers as Yuvan-ili.<ref>{{harvnb|İnalcık|1995|p=77}}{{quote|Ces neuf villages, toujours selon le registre en question, étaient situés dans les terres de Jean (Yuvan-ili), c'est-à-dire qu'ils appartenaient aux domaines de Jean Kastriote, le père de Skanderbeg. ( These nine villages, according to the register in question, were located in the land of John (Yuvan-ili), that is to say they were part of John Kastrioti's property.)}}</ref> One part of Gjon Kastrioti's domain comprising nine villages became a [[timar]] which was governed by [[Skanderbeg]] before it was granted to André Karlo in 1438, much to Skanderbeg's dismay.<ref>{{harvnb|İnalcık|1995|p=77}}</ref>