Feja e Gjergj Kastriotit - Skënderbeut

[Albo]

"Katoliko-Greke" ne Amerike, titullohen tashme arbereshet shqiptare qe kane emigruar ne Amerike. Ne nje raport ne lidhje me "katoliko-greket e Amerikes", Vatikani vete hedh drite edhe mbi besimin orthodhoks te emigranteve, bile citon edhe nje leter te Gjergj Kastriotit ku ai i kerkon leje Papes qe te lejoje popullin e tij te strehohet ne Italine e sotme, ne rast nevoje te diktuar nga lufta me turqit.

Greek Catholics in America

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IV. ITALIAN GREEK CATHOLICS

In the extreme southern part of Italy and in the Island of Sicily the Greek Rite has always flourished, even from Apostolic times. Three of the popes (5th. Eusebius, Agatho, and Zacharias) were Greeks from that region. Many of the Greek saints venerated by the Church were Southern Italians or Sicilians, and the great Greek monastery of Grottaferrata near Rome was founded by St. Nilus, a native of Rossano in Calabria. The Greek Rite in Southern Italy never fell into schism or separated from unity with Rome at the time of the great Schism of Constantinople. Although they held to their faith and rite, yet the fact that they were not thereafter closely allied with their fellow-Greeks of Constantinople caused the followers of their rite to diminish. After the schism an idea grew up among the Italians of the Roman Rite that the Greek language and ritual were in some indefinable way identified with the schism. This was intensified upon the failure of the Greeks after the Council of Florence (1428) to adhere to the union. Therefore, as the Greek language died out among the southern Italians, they gradually gave up their Greek Rite and adopted the Roman Rite instead. While the Greek Rite thus became gradually confined to monasteries, religious houses, and country towns, and would perhaps never have died out on Italian soil, yet it was reinforced in a singular manner by immigration from the Balkan peninsula in the period between 1450 and 1500. The Albanians, who were converted to Christianity and followed the Greek Rite, using the Greek language in their liturgy, were persecuted by the Turks, and, by reason of the many Turkish victories over the Albanians under their chieftain, George Castriota, also known by his Turkish name of Scanderbeg (Alexander Bey), were forced to leave their native land in large numbers. Scanderbeg applied to Pope Eugene IV for permission for his people to settle in Italy, so as to escape the Moslem persecutions. From time to time they settled in Calabria and Sicily, and received among other privileges that of retaining their Greek Rite wherever their colonies were established. Since that time they, like the Greek inhabitants of Southern Italy, have become entirely Italianized, but, together with them, have retained their Greek Rite quite distinct from their Latin neighbours down to the present day. All the Italians who follow the Greek Rite in Southern Italy are known as Albanese (Albanians), although only the elder generations of that race retain their knowledge of the Albanian tongue. The Mass and all the offices of the Church are of course said in Greek according to the Rite of Constantinople, although a few Latinizing practices have crept in. The smaller churches do not have the iconostasis, priests de not confer confirmation, but it is given by the bishop, and they follow the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar followed by all the other Greeks.

When the immigration to America from the south of Italy and from Sicily began in large proportions, the Italo-Greeks came also. They are from Calabria, Apulia, and Basilicata in Italy, and from the Dioceses of Palermo, Monreale, and Messina in Sicily. They are settled in the United States chiefly in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and throughout the States of Pennsylvania and Illinois. It is claimed that the Greek Catholic population of Italy has sent a third of its number to America, and some well-informed Albanese have even declared that there are perhaps more. They estimate that there are 20,000 of them in the United States, the greater part of whom are in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia. As a rule they have not shown themselves in any wise as devoted church-attendants, but that may be because they have been in a measure neglected -- for everyone assumes that an Italian must be of the Roman Rite and ought to go to a Latin church. They have neither the means to construct churches of their own rite nor do they care to frequent churches of the Latin Rite, although their societies usually attend the Italian Catholic churches and celebrate their festivals according to the Latin Rite. In many places they attend the churches of the Ruthenian Greek Catholics, and in some few instances some have gone to the Hellenic churches of the Greek Orthodox, where the language of the ritual is Greek. During the year 1904 the first (and so far the only) Italian Greek Catholic priest, Papas (Rev.) Ciro Pinnola, was sent from Sicily by Cardinal Celesia of Palermo to the United States, to look after the scattered flock of Greek Catholics here and he is now a priest of the Archdiocese of New York. He found that these Italians, being accustomed to the language and rites of the Greek Church, as well as infected by the inertia of so many of the newcomers to these shores, had not attended the Latin Catholic churches, and that they had become the prey of all sorts of missionary experiments to draw them away from their allegiance to the Faith. Besides, they were among the poorest of the Italian immigrants and had been unable to establish or maintain a chapel or church of their rite. He took energetic steps to look after them and on Easter Day, 1906, had the pleasure of opening the first Italian Greek Catholic chapel on Broome Street in the City of New York. This has progressed so far that he has now a larger missionary chapel (Our Lady of Grace) on Stanton Street, with a congregation of about 400, where the Greek Rite in the Greek language is celebrated. He has also various missionary stations in Brooklyn and on Long Island, which he visits at regular intervals, but he has been unable to do anything for the Italian Greek Catholics in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Other priests of their rite are needed. There is a small school attached to the Greek Catholic chapel in New York where the Church Catechism and Greek singing is taught, as well as several Italian and English branches, and children are instructed in their church duties. There is quite a large society of men, the "Fratellanza del Santissimo Crocefisso", a society for mutual benefit, religious instruction, and the building of an Italian Greek church. There are some ten or twelve Italo-Albanese societies, having branches in various parts of the United States, but devoted mostly to secular objects. There is also a small weekly Italian paper, "L'Operaio", for the Italo-Albanese and their Greek Rite, but it is also devoted to Socialism and the wildest labour theories, so that its usefulness is doubtful.

Burimi: Enciklopedia Katolike
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06744a.htm

[Albo]

Emri i Gjergj Kastriot - Skenderbeut zihet ne goje edhe ne artikullin historik mbi Konstandinopojen, dhe perpjekjet e Vatikanit per clirimin dhe unifikimin e saj me Romen.

Constantinople

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Scarcely had Manuel II heard of the Turkish disaster when he pulled down the mosque in his capital and abandoned his negotiations at Rome, where he had initiated proposals of peace, but only for political reasons. However, the Turkish power had not been destroyed on the plain of Angora. From June to September, 1422, Sultan Murad II laid siege to Constantinople, which he nearly captured. Though finally repulsed, the Turks tightened daily their control over all approaches to the city, which only a new crusade could have relieved. At the Council of Florence, therefore (1439), the Greeks again declared themselves Catholics. This formal reunion, however, imposed by the emperor and again rejected by the Greek nation, could not in the beginning be proclaimed even at Constantinople, in spite of the election of a patriarch favourable to Rome, and of Western promises to help the Greeks with men and money. Mark of Ephesus and after him Gennadius Scholarius were omnipotent with clergy and people, and infused into them fresh hatred of the Latins. Nevertheless, the promised crusade took place under the direction of Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini. János Hunyady and Iskender-Beg (Scanderbeg) performed miracles of valour, but in vain. The crusaders were completely defeated at Varna in 1444, and nothing was left to Constantinople but to perish honourably. The reunion with Rome, as accepted at Florence, was at last proclaimed officially in St. Sophia by Cardinal Isidore, Metropolitan of Kiev (12 Dec., 1452). It was thus fated that Emperor Constantine Dragases, the last heir of the great Constantine, was to die in the Catholic Faith.

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Burimi: Enciklopedia Katolike
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04301a.htm

[Albo]

Akoma me interesant eshte pershkrimi i Enciklopedise katolike per Shqiperine ku ze ne goje edhe Gjergj Kastriotin. Jo vetem qe ai nuk shitet si katolik, por nxirren ne drite ne menyre te pavullnetshme dhe terthorazi dhe fakti se shumica e shqiptareve nuk i perkasin ritit latin, por jane muslimane e ndjekes se "ritit grek", sic e etiketon Vatikani.


Albania

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After the dismemberment of the Roman Empire, the Illyrian population, gradually driven southward by the invading Slavs, became known as Albanians, were long subject to schismatic Constantinople, then fell under the sway of the Serbs, and finally became (1336-56) a province of the medieval Servian Empire under Tsar Stephen Duschan. (See SERVIA.) On its dismemberment, after the battle of Kosovo which took place (1389), the victorious Turks overran the country, but Prince George Castriota, the famous Scanderbeg who was known also as Iskander Bey, or Prince Alexander, maintained an independent rule in Upper Albania for a quarter of a century (1443-67). This hero, whose feats of valour are almost legendary, was bred as a Moslem at the court of Murad II to whom he had been given as a hostage by his father, an Albanian chief; but after having won fame and honour in the Sultan's service, his race asserted itself, and he broke away to place himself at the head of his own people and embrace Christianity. He defeated the Turkish army in several engagements and secured an honourable peace on his own terms. But, encouraged by the Pope and the promise of help from the Venetians, he again attacked the Turks and gained numerous victories. On his death at Alessio (1467), the Sultan exclaimed: "Now that the infidels have lost their sword and buckler, who can save them from my wrath?" The Albanians became disorganized and were finally subjected (1479) to Mussulman dominion. They have, however, never been subdued, and are, even to-day, treated more like allies than subjects. They now supply the Turkish army with its best soldiers as they once did the legions of Rome, and are exempted from taxes and from compulsory military service. As volunteers, they receive high pay and many privileges. While several tribes have embraced Islam and others belong to the Greek schism, the best of the population is Catholic, and while guarding traditional customs and a primitive manner of life, practise their religion devoutly. The purity of their morals is proverbial throughout the Balkan peninsula, and the zealous Austrian and Italian missionaries have met with conditions most favourable for their teaching. Schools have been opened in all the villages of note by Franciscan and Jesuit Fathers, but the spread of education is hindered by the lack of a gramatically organized language. Many attempts have been made to decide upon an alphabet, but none has yet succeeded owing to the difficulty of expressing the oral sounds by any known combination of European letters. A cultured Albanian, therefore, takes Roumanian, Greek, Servian, or Italian, for his medium of intercommunication. An Albanian journal is published in Bukarest and another in Belgrade. In the country itself there is no attempt at a newspaper, and the periodicals most prevalent in the towns are Italian publications of a religious tone. The tribes which have resisted Mussulman rule successfully and retained their creed have, notwithstanding this, adopted many Moslem customs.


RELIGION

For four centuries the Catholic Albanians have defended their faith with bravery, greatly aided by the Franciscan missionaries, especially since the middle of the seventeenth century, when the cruel persecutions of their Mussulman lords began to bring about the apostasy of many villages, particularly among the schismatic Greeks. The College of Propoganda at Rome was especially prominent in the religious and moral support of the Albanian Catholics. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly, it educated young clerics for service on the Albanian missions, contributed then as now to their support and to that of the churches, in which good work it is aided by the Austrian Government, which gives yearly to those missions about five thousand dollars, in its quality of Protector of the Christian community under Turkish rule. The Church legislation of the Albanians was reformed by Clement XI, who caused a general ecclesiastical visitation to be held (1763) by the Archbishop of Antivari, at the close of which a national synod was held. Its decrees were printed by Propaganda (1705), and renewed in 1803 (Coll. Lucensis Conc. Recent., I, 283 sq.). In 1872, Pius IX caused a second national synod to be held at Scutari, for the renovation of the popular and ecclesiastical life. Apropos of the Austrian interest in Albania, it may be stated that it is the Austrian ambassador who obtains from the Sultan the Berat, or civil document of institution for the Catholic bishops of Albania (Neber, in K. L., XI, 18, 19).

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Burimi: Enciklopedia Katolike
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01253b.htm

Akoma me interesant eshte fakti se Enciklopedise katolike i shpeton pa permendur referenca ne Bible e Apostull Pavli, se ai e "shperndau Lajmin e Mire nga Jeruzalemi ne Iliri", ashtu si te bien ne sy datat e dhena, qe u perkasin vetem 4 shekujve te fundit.

Albo

[Chingy]

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/gj...ti-skanderbeg/

Rejoined Faith of His Father

In 1443, at the same time the 41-year-old Kastrioti- Skanderbeg broke his political allegiance to the Ottomans, he renouncing the Turkish faith of Islam and reconverted to the Roman Catholic faith of his father. With his military successes against the Turks now well known, Catholic leaders at the Vatican quickly saw an opportunity to gain a valuable ally. Hoping that the Albanian general could provide some protection for the Catholic faith in Western Europe, Pope Eugenius IV also dreamed of beginning a new crusade against Islam, this time to be led by Kastrioti-Skanderbeg. With some assistance from the Vatican, as well as from the powerful lords of Naples and Venice, Kastrioti- Skanderbeg continued to repulse successive efforts by the Turks to invade Albania over the next 25 years, including at Dibër and at Ochrida in 1462. His major supporter, King Alfonso of Naples (1416-1458), made the Albanian general his vassal in 1451. Alfonso supplied the Albanian army with needed funds, military equipment, and additional troops, and also acted as a protector by extending sanctuary to Kastrioti-Skanderbeg and his family.

After Pope Eugenius's death in February of 1447, this crusade against Islam was inherited by a series of successors, among them Popes Nicholas V, Callistus II, and, most notably Pius II. The crusades were also fueled by news of the fall of Constantinople to militant Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. At Pope Pius's death in August of 1464, Paul II was appointed pope of the Roman Catholic Church; because Pope Paul put art and antiques above any attempts to regain the city of Constantinople, no further help came to Kastrioti-Skanderbeg and his Albanian army from Rome. A battle against the Turks in 1467 left Kastrioti- Skanderbeg victorious but concerned; because of his advancing years he was finding warfare increasingly difficult. Steps to replace the 63-year-old general as commander-in-chief proved in vain; the Albanian commander contracted malaria and died in Lezhë on January 17, 1468.

[Albo]

Chingy ke harruar te sjellesh nje thenie te Volterit per Gjergj Kastriotin ne ate artikull qe citon me lart:

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Despite these dark years of Turkish rule, the memory of Kastrioti-Skanderbeg served to buoy the Albanian spirit and fuel that country's desire for independence. A statue of the Albanian hero was eventually erected in the capital city of Tirana, joining others erected elsewhere in the country. A museum dedicated to his honor was eventually installed in the family castle in Krujë. More recent generations have continued to marvel at Kastrioti-Skanderbeg's accomplishments: 16th-century French poet Pierre Ronsard honored the Albanian national hero in verse, while two centuries later Ronsard's compatriot, noted Enlightenment-era novelist and essayist François Marie Arouet de Voltaire maintained that the Byzantine Empire might have survived the Ottoman onslaught had it such a leader as Kastrioti-Skanderbeg. Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi's opera Scanderbeg also was written to honor the Albanian hero.
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Volteri ka thene: Perandoria Bizantine do ti kishte bere balle luftes me turqit nese do te kishte nje lider si Gjergj Kastriot - Skenderbeu.

Cfare e shtyn Volterin te bej nje krahasim te tille, kur ju besoni se Gjergji ishte Katolik?!

Albo

[Albo]

Nje reference tjeter interesante, kesaj here jo nga Vatikani por nga Italia, nuk sjell ndonje detaj te ri historik qe nuk e njohim tashme, por ve pikat mbi i per ato qe une kam shprehur me pare ne kete teme. Eshte me shume nje biografi e shkurter mbi familjen e Kastrioteve.

Albania

Gules, a double-headed eagle sable. The eagle goes back to George Kastriotialso known as Iskander Bey, or Skanderbeg (see below), who led the fight of the Albanians against the Turks in the 1440's. He used the Byzantine two-headed eagle on his seals, hence the modern flag. The modern flag had at various times a crown or a star above the eagle. the star Gules lined Or dates to the Communist takeover in 1946, and has been recently removed.

The violation of the usual tincture rule may not necessarily be due to the fact that it is a flag rather than "real" arms: see the Subic arms of Bosnia, which were Gules, a wing displayed sable.


The Castriota Family

The Kastrioti or Castriota family, of Albanian origin, begins with certainty with John Castriota, lord of Mat and Vumenestia, who died in 1443. He resisted Turkish attempts at conquering the Albanian region. At one point, he had to give his four sons as hostage to the Turks. One of them, George Castriota (1403-68), was raised at the Ottoman court and given the name Iskander-Bey (Skanderbeg). He became Christian again, and led Albanian resistance to the Turks to become prince of Albania. He was allied with Venice, which inducted him in its nobility in 1463, but also with the king of Naples, who gave him the lordships of Monte S. Angelo and S. Giovanni Rotundo in the Gargano region of Naples in 1463.

He left a son by Andronica Arianiti Comnena, Giovanni Castriota (ca. 1450-1514), who ceded his rights in Albania to Venice in 1474 and retired in the kingdom of Naples. He exchanged his possessions for the marquisate of Soleto and the county of San Pietro in Galatina (both near Lecce) in 1485. In 1497, he was elevated to the rank of duca di San Pietro. He married Irene Palaiologa, daughter of Lazare despot of Serbia, and left 3 or 4 sons: Costantino, bishop of Isernia (died 1500), Ferrante who succeeded as duke, Giorgio (died 1540, leaving one son without issue), and perhaps Federico. It is said that this line died with Irene, sole surviving child of Ferrante, married in 1539 to Pietrantonio Sanseverino, prince of Bisignano. Among the illegitimate children of Ferrante, two had issue: Achille, born of Dianora, a Greek slave from Corone freed by the duke, whose descendants now live in Naples; and Pardo, son of Porzia de Urrisio, made a patrician of the city of Lecce, whose descendants live in Lecce and Ruffano. A member of that branch was Isabella Castriota Scanderbeg (1704-49), a poet.

The family still exists. The current (or at least recent) head of the family of Castriota-Scanderbeg lives at "Napoli: via G. Cotronei 2", while his uncle lives at "Napoli: villa Scanderbeg, via Napoli 119 bis; La Pietra- Bagnoli (Napoli)". They bear the arms d'oro all'aquila bicipite, coronata sulle due teste di nero, col volo abbassato, alla punta d'azz., movente dal lembo superiore dello scudo, rovesciata e caricata di una stella (6) d'oro (which translates into Or an double-headed eagle, wings abaisse, crowned on both heads sable, on a pile azure a mullet or.)

A brother of George Castriota Scanderbeg was Stanisha (Staniscia), who left a son Branilo. Raised as an Ottoman under the name of Hamsa, he became Christian in 1443, count of Mat, governor of Croia in Albania, was made duke of Ferrandina in the kingdom of Naples and died in 1463. By Maria Zardari he had Giovanni, duke of Ferrandino who left a daughter Maria; and Alfonso, marquis of Altripalda in 1512 (died 1544). Some source give him a son Antonio Branai who married his cousin Maria and became duke of Ferrandina. Antonio had no legitimate issue, but a natural son Alessandro d'Altripalda whose descendants formed a prominent family of the Napolitan aristocracy ad were were given the name Castriota in 1803. Others say that this is a confusion, and that this Castriota family descends from Bernardo Granai, a lieutenant of Scanderbeg.

Recently (according to the Electronic Telegraph of May 8, 1997) Giorgio Castriota Scnaderbeg, a bank employee near Naples, has made a claim to the Albanian throne. Isabella Stasi Castriota Scanderbeg, an Italian TV documentary writer and producer who lives in Rome and Cadaqués;, may belong to the Catriota d'Altripada family.

Sources:

Enciclopedia Italiana.
Enciclopedia Storico-Nobiliare Italiana.
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani.
Charles Hopf: Chroniques Gréco-Romaines. Berlin, 1873.
Foscarini, Amilcare: l' Armerista delle famiglie nobili e notabili in terra d'Otranto, 1927.

Burimi: http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/albania.htm


Interesante jane referencat nga eshte nxjerre ky informacion, qe jane enciklopedi italiane. Asnje fjale as ne kete artikull ne lidhje me katolicizmin e Gjergj Kastriotit, por autori nuk harron ta filloje pershkrimin me shkabonjen me dy krena, simbol i Perandorise Bizantine, simbol i flamurit te familjes se Kastrioteve, simbol edhe i vules se tyre.

Albo

[Tiras]

Volteri -Per Skenderbeun:
"De la prise de Constantinople par les turcs,
Si les empereurs grecs avaient été des
Scanderbegs , l' empire d' orient se serait
conservé." f.231

Persa i takon marrjes se Konstandinopojes nga turqit,
Neqoftese perandoret greke do te kishin qene si Skenderbeu,
Perandoria do te kishte shpetuar.

E qarte perse behet krahasimi? Po flitet per renien e Kostandinopojes ne nje kapitull te tere.

Vazhdon:
"était donc bien mal fortifiée ; elle ne fut guères
mieux défendue. L' empereur accompagné d' un
cardinal de Rome nommé Isidore , suivait
le rit romain, et par là irritait et décourageait
les grecs, qui ne voulaient pas seulement entrer
dans les églises qu' il fréquentait. nous aimons
mieux , s' écrièrent-ils, voir ici le turban
qu' un chapeau de cardinal .

Perandori (Bizantit) shoqerohej nga nje kardinal i Romes i quajtur Isidor, qe ndiqte ritin romak, me te cilin i dekurajoi greket. qe nuk deshironin te hynin ne kishat qe ai frekuentonte. Ne deshirojme me mire, berstisnin ata, te shikojme Turbanin se sa Kapelen e nje Kardinali" f.235

[Albo]

Nje prej doreshkrimeve me me vlera te njerit prej bashkohesve te Skenderbeut eshte edhe amaneti qe Gjon Muzaka u le femijeve te tij, pergatitur nga Robert Elsie. Po ju percjell vetem disa pjese qe kane lidhje me temen nga amaneti i tij.

I, Lord John (Giovanni) Musachi, Despot of Epirus, having been expelled from my home by the Sultan and having been deprived of the said country, arrived in the Kingdom of Naples where King Ferdinand of Aragon, caring for my essential needs and those of my family, promised to assist me and give me land in Apice as well as other things. He also accepted us at his court. It was my misfortune, however, that he perished and that unexpected wars began. I was left like a ship without a rudder in the midst of a great storm, not even knowing the Italian language. But as it please God, I was able to raise you and ensure that you were nourished in that country, you my children, Lord Theodore, Lord Adrian, Lord Constantine and your two sisters Lady Helena and Lady Porphida, though this was not accomplished without trial and tribulation. When I arrived in this country, you, Lord Theodore, were one and a half years old, and you, Lord Adrian, were one and a half months old, whereas you, Lord Constantine, were born in this kingdom.
I wish you to know that the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, which also meant our own destruction, began with a disagreement between Palaeologus and Cantacuzene. This led to Palaeologus asking assistance from Murad I, the King of the Turks. The latter set foot in Europe, it is said, in 1363.

The said Scanderbeg married the daughter of Lord Arianiti Comnenus and this lord sent my father, Lord Gjin, as a match-maker because the said Lord Arianiti was the brother-in-law of my father. He was married to Maria Musachi, the sister of my father, by means of whom, as I said, the marriage was concluded. He took Lady Andronica Comneniates for his wife, who was my cousin, and she adopted the surname Scanderbeg from her husband. Later, the said lord, by means of his virtue, his courage and with assistance from these other lords, carried out many an onslaught against the Turks and won many victories, though not without losses on the part of our lords and cavalrymen.

For this reason, I beg you, my children, to fear and to love God, and I appeal to you to be good Christians, if you wish to have my blessing, for it was the sins of the rulers of the Greeks, and indeed our own ones, too, which first plunged us into this abyss of pain and suffering. Be humble and devout and always avoid sin. Have faith in the Holy Trinity and in the Most Sacred Mother of our Saviour, who will save your souls and give you good health. Take to heart Christian teachings, do good and righteous deeds and return to your homeland.

I am leaving you with this brief chronicle, so that when God in his mercy should deign to return you to your homeland, you will at least know some details of your country and of your forefathers. From the little information I have, I would like to inform you of the names of your forefathers, who held sway and who were expelled from your land and country by the sultan. Alas, I cannot tell you anything of the first ruler in ancient times because the chronicles of this country have been lost, but I do wish to bring to light the little I know and what people have told me.
They say in fact that our dynasty stems from the city of Constantinople and came to rule over Epirus in Albania.
From the start, it is important that you learn our family name, and what the reason was that we are called Molosachi. You should know that our family name comes from the land of the Molossi, known as such since ancient times. We were rulers of that land and thus they called us. The word Molosachi was then corrupted into Musachi.

You should also know that the emblem of our dynasty since ancient times has been a flowing fountain which flows in two streams, one on each side. This is the fountain of Epirus about which many authors have written that it extinguishes a lit torch and lights an extinguished torch. Later, we also had a two-headed eagle crowned with a star in the middle, and as you know, we have cherished this fountain ever since that time for undertakings and ceremonies.
These arms of ours are ancient, and both the arms and the family name come from that country.
The emblem of your mother’s dynasty is a white eagle. She comes from the Dukagjini family, a noble dynasty, so do not forget where you come from.

I can confirm to you that Andrew Molosachi or Musachi was the sebaston cratos and ruler of Epirus, which in Albanian is called pylloria. He ruled all of Myzeqe and other districts.
This Myzeqe is the country of the Molossi and was thus named after them. We have been the rulers of that country from ancient times to the present day and took on the family name Molosachi, but the word Molossia was corrupted and is pronounced Mosachia and in Albanian it is called Myzeqe. This Molossia is in actual fact Epirus, as was mentioned above. It is a part of the whole land to be described below, which today is part of Epirus as far as I remember. I am telling you what I know and what I have heard.
May you know that sebaston cratos means commander-in-chief of the emperor. It is one of the five titles which the emperor accorded. Lord Andrew Musachi held this title.
When you come upon the city of Belgrade (Berat), you should know that it is the one in Epirus and in Myzeqe, and not the one in Hungary.
When you come upon the name Theodore Musachi Chiscetisi (Kishetisi), know that Kishetisi means long-haired. And indeed they wore their hair long. In Albanian, the word ‘kishet’ (gërshet) means ‘braids’ and that was the way they were accustomed to wearing their hair, as far as I remember. Even in our times, they usually wore their hair down to their shoulders in our principality. This is why I mention this.
And when you come across the term despot, be aware that this means prince and is the foremost title given by the emperor.
I must explain in particular what this post or title means, which in spoken Greek is called sevastocrator. In written Greek, they say sebaston cratos. The meaning is as follows: sebaston means ‘consecrated, honourable, venerable, worthy of honour, reverence and respect,’ in Latin augustem et venerabile thus sebasto civitas Augusti nomine dedicata, cum antea Samaria diceretur (Strabo, book 16). The word cratos means ‘power, government or reign,’ in Latin potentia, imperium. Such is the meaning of the title sebaston cratos. This is explained in the dictionary and the Greeks have explained it in the same way. Thus, as I have stated, sebaston cratos or in the spoken language sevastocrator, has the significance of the aforementioned dignitary, being a combination of two words, sebaston and cratos.

As far as I remember and have heard, the forefathers of our Musachi dynasty are the ones referred to here below:
Lord Andrew Sevastocrator, and after Andrew comes
Lord Theodore Kishetisi, and after Lord Theodore comes
Lord Andrew the Despot, and after Lord Andrew the Despot comes
Lord Gjin, and after Lord Gjin comes
Lord Andrew, and from Lord Andrew comes
Lord Gjin, my father, and from Lord Gjin I come
myself, Lord John, and from me come
you, Lord Theodore, Lord Adrian and Lord Constantine, my sons.
I have informed you in this written chronicle of the forefathers of our family in direct lineage. Now I would like to make known what regions they governed, as far as I am aware.

Shikoni se mos gjeni ndonje emer "katolik" ne te paret e tij.

I would also like you to know the titles of the Byzantine Empire. There are five major titles. The [b]first title is that of emperor[b]. The second title which has been accorded is despot which is the same in Greek as the Latin word for king. It is unique and sacred, similar to the status of a king. The emperor was wont to bestow this title upon his brothers, his sons-in-law, his brothers-in-law, his sons and other great nobles seen to be worthy of this title. It was accorded also in inheritance to their descendants, as it was to us in perpetuity. The third title was sevastocrator. The fourth title was magacissate (megas domestikos). The fifth title was pagnipersevastos (panhypersebastos). These, after the despot, are high courtly titles, as I have said. Those who held any of these five titles were also addressed with the title ‘holy majesty’ (sacra maestà). They all had the right at receptions to bear their double-headed eagle in various forms and colours, as can be seen clearly in the seal of the pope, devised by a Greek called Gemisto.
In the Byzantine Empire, there were the following despots. The first one was the Despot of Serbia who was called Despot Vuk Vukoviƒ. He was succeeded by the Despot George, and George was succeeded by the Despot Lazar with his two brothers, but this despot did not survive long because his country was overrun by the sultan and their lineage was wiped out with his death. The second one was Despot Codrilli, the Despot of Sagorana. The third one was the Despot of Nicopolis and of Adrianopole. The fourth one was the Despot Andrew Musachi, Despot of Epirus. The fifth one was Despot Charles Tocco, Despot of Larta, the first despot of this family. From him stems Lord Charles who resides in Rome, the son of Leonard, who was the grandson of the said first Despot Charles. He had no legitimate children and his inheritance was taken over by the said Lord Charles the Second.

Despots of the Palaeologus dynasty

The sixth one was Lord Andrew, Despot of Risa. The seventh one was Despot Andronicus, Despot of Salonika. The eighth one was Despot Theodore, Despot of Silvera. The ninth one was Despot Demetrius, Despot of Mistra. The tenth one was Despot Thomas, Despot of Patras.
The first five aforementioned despots were the sons of the Emperor Emanuel of the house of Palaeologus. Thereafter came John Cantacuzene and there were other despots, too, but I don’t remember their names.

Djali i Gjergj Kastriotit, Gjon Kastrioti II, nusen e tij e mori Princeshen Irene Paleologu, vajzen e njerit prej despoteve te Bizantit te zene ne goje me siper.

Know also that Lord John Castriota, the father of Lord Scanderbeg, was married to Lady Voisava Tribalda, with whom he had four sons and five daughters.
The first son was called Repossio, the second Stanisso (Stanisha), the third Constantine, and the fourth George. The said Repossio was a religious man and journeyed to Mount Sinai where he became a monk and died. The other three were given by their father to the sultan, as you learned earlier.
The first daughter was Lady Maria, the second Lady Yela, the third Lady Angelina, the fourth Lady Vlaica and the fifth Lady Mamiza (Mamica).
The first daughter, Lady Maria, was married to Lord Stephen Cernojeviƒ. The second, Lady Yela, was married to [...]. The third, Lady Angelina, was married to Lord Vladino Arianiti Comnenus. The fourth, Lady Vlaica, was married to Lord Balsha, and the fifth, Lady Mamica, was married to Lord Musachi Thopia.
From the said third daughter, Lady Angelina and the said Lord Vladino Comnenus or Comneniates was born the aforementioned Musachi Comnenus, commonly known as Dangelino. He was the nephew of Scanderbeg. He was married, as I have said, to my sister Maria, and from them was born Donna Porphida Comneniates who, as noted above, was with the queen. For this reason, she was called the Great Donna Porphida.

Lidhjet e fisit te tij me deren e Kastrioteve. Babai i tij mundesoi martesen e Gjergjit me Donika Arianitin, vajzen e Gjergj Arianitit.


Burimi: http://www.albanianliterature.com/ht...e/musachi.html
(mund ta lexoni te plote fragmentin e vitit 1515)

[Albo]

Po cfare shkruajne arbereshet, pasardhesit e Kastrioteve dhe princerve te tjere shqiptare, per jeten e tyre ne Itali e me gjere, dhe per maredheniet me fqinjet e tyre italiane. Ja si refehen nje arberesh ne nje faqe te tij ne Internet, per komunitetin e tij te vendosur ne Siçili:


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The Arbreshe differ racially from the Sicilians. They spoke a foreign language. And perhaps most importantly they followed a different religious rite.

The Arbreshe were Byzantine Catholics. Their bearded "papas" resembled the priests of the Greek Orthodox Church. They wore tall mitre-like headdresses and were permitted to marry.

All this appeared exotic, if not openly heretical, to the native Sicilians. But the Arbreshe were heroes of the faith who had stood as bulwarks against the armies of Islam. Their rite was protected by the pope to whom they declared themselves obedient, though autonomous.

The Arbreshe were never assimilated. There was some mixing with the native population, but the taboo against intermarriage was strict.

One older woman of Arbreshe descent remembers an aunt who married a Sicilian and was so ostracized she was forced to leave Contessa.

Asked to describe themselves, the Arbreshe in Contessa Entellina would not respond "Io Sono Italiano" - I am Italian - "U nam Geg" - I am a Geg, in reference to the Gegaria region Albania.

This gave rise to that inevitable badge of the minority - the racial slur. "Geg-geg" (pronounced gay-gay), the Sicilians called them. And the Arbreshe responded by calling the Sicilians "Leti," or Latins.

For over 400 years, the Arbreshe remained in Sicily. And then in the middle of the century, they began a second great migration. The Arbreshe started to come to New Orleans.
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Burimi: http://members.tripod.com/womanola/articles.html

Jo vetem qe nuk jane asimiluar nga vendasit latine, por Vatikani u ka njohur edhe autoqefaline si komunitet i krishtere i ritit bizantin. Dhe me lart, shoku Tiras ke edhe nje prove me shume qe Gegnia dhe mbare Shqiperia ka qene e besimit te Krishtere Orthodhoks, dhe jo katolik. (te kujtohet Mirdita?)

Albo

[Qafir Arnaut]

Kjo histori e Skenderbeut it takon fundit te shek 18-te nga Edward Gibbon (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire). Eshte interesant qe Gibbon ne shenimet e tij e ekspozon Barletin si genjeshtar ne disa raste.

Sidoqofte per sa i perket fese te Skenderbeut: Gibbon e thote troc qe ai s'ishte fetar hic.


In the list of heroes, John Huniades and Scanderbeg are
commonly associated; ^35 and they are both entitled to our
notice, since their occupation of the Ottoman arms delayed the
ruin of the Greek empire. John Castriot, the father of
Scanderbeg, ^36 was the hereditary prince of a small district of
Epirus or Albania, between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea.
Unable to contend with the sultan's power, Castriot submitted to
the hard conditions of peace and tribute: he delivered his four
sons as the pledges of his fidelity; and the Christian youths,
after receiving the mark of circumcision, were instructed in the
Mahometan religion, and trained in the arms and arts of Turkish
policy. ^37 The three elder brothers were confounded in the crowd
of slaves; and the poison to which their deaths are ascribed
cannot be verified or disproved by any positive evidence. Yet
the suspicion is in a great measure removed by the kind and
paternal treatment of George Castriot, the fourth brother, who,
from his tender youth, displayed the strength and spirit of a
soldier. The successive overthrow of a Tartar and two Persians,
who carried a proud defiance to the Turkish court, recommended
him to the favor of Amurath, and his Turkish appellation of
Scanderbeg, (Iskender beg,) or the lord Alexander, is an
indelible memorial of his glory and servitude. His father's
principality was reduced into a province; but the loss was
compensated by the rank and title of Sanjiak, a command of five
thousand horse, and the prospect of the first dignities of the
empire. He served with honor in the wars of Europe and Asia; and
we may smile at the art or credulity of the historian, who
supposes, that in every encounter he spared the Christians, while
he fell with a thundering arm on his Mussulman foes. The glory of
Huniades is without reproach: he fought in the defence of his
religion and country; but the enemies who applaud the patriot,
have branded his rival with the name of traitor and apostate. In
the eyes of the Christian, the rebellion of Scanderberg is
justified by his father's wrongs, the ambiguous death of his
three brothers, his own degradation, and the slavery of his
country; and they adore the generous, though tardy, zeal, with
which he asserted the faith and independence of his ancestors.
But he had imbibed from his ninth year the doctrines of the
Koran; he was ignorant of the Gospel; the religion of a soldier
is determined by authority and habit; nor is it easy to conceive
what new illumination at the age of forty ^38 could be poured
into his soul. His motives would be less exposed to the
suspicion of interest or revenge, had he broken his chain from
the moment that he was sensible of its weight: but a long
oblivion had surely impaired his original right; and every year
of obedience and reward had cemented the mutual bond of the
sultan and his subject. If Scanderbeg had long harbored the
belief of Christianity and the intention of revolt, a worthy mind
must condemn the base dissimulation, that could serve only to
betray, that could promise only to be forsworn, that could
actively join in the temporal and spiritual perdition of so many
thousands of his unhappy brethren. Shall we praise a secret
correspondence with Huniades, while he commanded the vanguard of
the Turkish army? shall we excuse the desertion of his standard,
a treacherous desertion which abandoned the victory to the
enemies of his benefactor? In the confusion of a defeat, the eye
of Scanderbeg was fixed on the Reis Effendi or principal
secretary: with the dagger at his breast, he extorted a firman or
patent for the government of Albania; and the murder of the
guiltless scribe and his train prevented the consequences of an
immediate discovery. With some bold companions, to whom he had
revealed his design he escaped in the night, by rapid marches,
from the field or battle to his paternal mountains. The gates of
Croya were opened to the royal mandate; and no sooner did he
command the fortress, than George Castriot dropped the mask of
dissimulation; abjured the prophet and the sultan, and proclaimed
himself the avenger of his family and country. The names of
religion and liberty provoked a general revolt: the Albanians, a
martial race, were unanimous to live and die with their
hereditary prince; and the Ottoman garrisons were indulged in the
choice of martyrdom or baptism. In the assembly of the states of
Epirus, Scanderbeg was elected general of the Turkish war; and
each of the allies engaged to furnish his respective proportion
of men and money. From these contributions, from his patrimonial
estate, and from the valuable salt-pits of Selina, he drew an
annual revenue of two hundred thousand ducats; ^39 and the entire
sum, exempt from the demands of luxury, was strictly appropriated
to the public use. His manners were popular; but his discipline
was severe; and every superfluous vice was banished from his
camp: his example strengthened his command; and under his
conduct, the Albanians were invincible in their own opinion and
that of their enemies. The bravest adventurers of France and
Germany were allured by his fame and retained in his service: his
standing militia consisted of eight thousand horse and seven
thousand foot; the horses were small, the men were active; but he
viewed with a discerning eye the difficulties and resources of
the mountains; and, at the blaze of the beacons, the whole nation
was distributed in the strongest posts. With such unequal arms
Scanderbeg resisted twenty-three years the powers of the Ottoman
empire; and two conquerors, Amurath the Second, and his greater
son, were repeatedly baffled by a rebel, whom they pursued with
seeming contempt and implacable resentment. At the head of sixty
thousand horse and forty thousand Janizaries, Amurath entered
Albania: he might ravage the open country, occupy the defenceless
towns, convert the churches into mosques, circumcise the
Christian youths, and punish with death his adult and obstinate
captives: but the conquests of the sultan were confined to the
petty fortress of Sfetigrade; and the garrison, invincible to his
arms, was oppressed by a paltry artifice and a superstitious
scruple. ^40 Amurath retired with shame and loss from the walls
of Croya, the castle and residence of the Castriots; the march,
the siege, the retreat, were harassed by a vexatious, and almost
invisible, adversary; ^41 and the disappointment might tend to
imbitter, perhaps to shorten, the last days of the sultan. ^42 In
the fulness of conquest, Mahomet the Second still felt at his
bosom this domestic thorn: his lieutenants were permitted to
negotiate a truce; and the Albanian prince may justly be praised
as a firm and able champion of his national independence. The
enthusiasm of chivalry and religion has ranked him with the names
of Alexander and Pyrrhus; nor would they blush to acknowledge
their intrepid countryman: but his narrow dominion, and slender
powers, must leave him at an humble distance below the heroes of
antiquity, who triumphed over the East and the Roman legions.
His splendid achievements, the bashaws whom he encountered, the
armies that he discomfited, and the three thousand Turks who were
slain by his single hand, must be weighed in the scales of
suspicious criticism. Against an illiterate enemy, and in the
dark solitude of Epirus, his partial biographers may safely
indulge the latitude of romance: but their fictions are exposed
by the light of Italian history; and they afford a strong
presumption against their own truth, by a fabulous tale of his
exploits, when he passed the Adriatic with eight hundred horse to
the succor of the king of Naples. ^43 Without disparagement to
his fame, they might have owned, that he was finally oppressed by
the Ottoman powers: in his extreme danger he applied to Pope Pius
the Second for a refuge in the ecclesiastical state; and his
resources were almost exhausted, since Scanderbeg died a fugitive
at Lissus, on the Venetian territory. ^44 His sepulchre was soon
violated by the Turkish conquerors; but the Janizaries, who wore
his bones enchased in a bracelet, declared by this superstitious
amulet their involuntary reverence for his valor. The instant
ruin of his country may redound to the hero's glory; yet, had he
balanced the consequences of submission and resistance, a patriot
perhaps would have declined the unequal contest which must depend
on the life and genius of one man. Scanderbeg might indeed be
supported by the rational, though fallacious, hope, that the
pope, the king of Naples, and the Venetian republic, would join
in the defence of a free and Christian people, who guarded the
sea-coast of the Adriatic, and the narrow passage from Greece to
Italy. His infant son was saved from the national shipwreck; the
Castriots ^45 were invested with a Neapolitan dukedom, and their
blood continues to flow in the noblest families of the realm. A
colony of Albanian fugitives obtained a settlement in Calabria,
and they preserve at this day the language and manners of their
ancestors. ^46

[Footnote 35: They are ranked by Sir William Temple, in his
pleasing Essay on Heroic Virtue, (Works, vol. iii. p. 385,) among
the seven chiefs who have deserved without wearing, a royal
crown; Belisarius, Narses, Gonsalvo of Cordova, William first
prince of Orange, Alexander duke of Parma, John Huniades, and
George Castriot, or Scanderbeg.]

[Footnote 36: I could wish for some simple authentic memoirs of a
friend of Scanderbeg, which would introduce me to the man, the
time, and the place. In the old and national history of Marinus
Barletius, a priest of Scodra, (de Vita. Moribus, et Rebus gestis
Georgii Castrioti, &c. libri xiii. p. 367. Argentorat. 1537, in
fol.,) his gaudy and cumbersoms robes are stuck with many false
jewels. See likewise Chalcondyles, l vii. p. 185, l. viii. p.
229.]

[Footnote 37: His circumcision, education, &c., are marked by
Marinus with brevity and reluctance, (l. i. p. 6, 7.)]

[Footnote 38: Since Scanderbeg died A.D. 1466, in the lxiiid year
of his age, (Marinus, l. xiii. p. 370,) he was born in 1403;
since he was torn from his parents by the Turks, when he was
novennis, (Marinus, l. i. p. 1, 6,) that event must have happened
in 1412, nine years before the accession of Amurath II., who must
have inherited, not acquired the Albanian slave. Spondanus has
remarked this inconsistency, A.D. 1431, No. 31, 1443, No. 14.]

[Footnote 39: His revenue and forces are luckily given by
Marinus, (l. ii. p. 44.)]

[Footnote 40: There were two Dibras, the upper aud lower, the
Bulgarian and Albanian: the former, 70 miles from Croya, (l. i.
p. 17,) was contiguous to the fortress of Sfetigrade, whose
inhabitants refused to drink from a well into which a dead dog
had traitorously been cast, (l. v. p. 139, 140.) We want a good
map of Epirus.]

[Footnote 41: Compare the Turkish narrative of Cantemir (p. 92)
with the pompous and prolix declamation in the ivth, vth, and
vith books of the Albanian priest, who has been copied by the
tribe of strangers and moderns.]

[Footnote 42: In honor of his hero, Barletius (l. vi. p. 188 -
192) kills the sultan by disease indeed, under the walls of
Croya. But this audacious fiction is disproved by the Greeks and
Turks, who agree in the time and manner of Amurath's death at
Adrianople.]

[Footnote 43: See the marvels of his Calabrian expedition in the
ixth and xth books of Marinus Barletius, which may be rectified
by the testimony or silence of Muratori, (Annali d'Italia, tom.
xiii. p. 291,) and his original authors, (Joh. Simonetta de Rebus
Francisci Sfortiae, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. tom. xxi. p.
728, et alios.) The Albanian cavalry, under the name of
Stradiots, soon became famous in the wars of Italy, (Memoires de
Comines, l. viii. c. 5.)]

[Footnote 44: Spondanus, from the best evidence, and the most
rational criticism, has reduced the giant Scanderbeg to the human
size, (A.D. 1461, No. 20, 1463, No. 9, 1465, No. 12, 13, 1467,
No. 1.) His own letter to the pope, and the testimony of Phranza,
(l. iii. c. 28,) a refugee in the neighboring isle of Corfu,
demonstrate his last distress, which is awkwardly concealed by
Marinus Barletius, (l. x.)]

[Footnote 45: See the family of the Castriots, in Ducange, (Fam.
Dalmaticae, &c, xviii. p. 348 - 350.)]

[Footnote 46: This colony of Albanese is mentioned by Mr.
Swinburne, (Travels into the Two Sicilies, vol. i. p. 350 -
354.)]