Gjini family

Gjini family (Croat: Ginni) (Italian: Gini, Ghini) was an Albanian medieval family who lived in Venetian Albania in the 16th and 17th century who played a major roll in social and military history in the eastern Adriatic coast.[1] The noble Mark Gjini belonged to the family.

Name

According to Krahe and Lambertz the noun Gjin may be an ancient Albanian name, a form of the anthroponym Gentius.[2] The name Gjin is generally associated by Albanian Christians to the figure of a saint.[2]

Origin

The Gjini family is mentioned for the first time in 1216 in a letter sent from Pope Innocent III to Demetrius Gjini, the Prince of Albania.[3]

Background

The Ginni family, amongst families like the Bruti, Bruni, Krutaj, Skuraj, fled to Venetian Albania due to Ottoman pressure in the 16th century, although migrations had already begun in 1479, after the fall of Shkodër. The Gjini family produced lawyers who lived and worked in Zadar and Dalmatia and also members who served in the Venetian military during the Cretan War (1645-1669).[4] M. Antonovic writes of a Clement Ginni, a possible ancestor of the Gjini family figuring in Shkoder in 1330. The family reappears again only in 1536 in the will of Nikola Murthe, a migrant from Bar, who resides in Venice. A certain Baron Stjepan is said to have fled after Shkodra fell. In 1598, lawyers Nikola and Marko Ginni, sons of John Paul, are recorded in Zadar. Nikola was a captain in the Venetian military in 1622 where he did business with the head of Zadar, Simon Celadic. In 1593, Captain Marko Ginni was recorded as commander of a naval unit with soldiers commanded by Ulcinj migrant and Zadar resident Nikola Mesili (Melili) from Ulcinj. In 1595, two lawyers were recorded - John and Paul Ginni, the latter being a captain in 1595 when he married a noblewoman Margaret, daughter of Bartol Ferr. In 1602, Paul was recorded as a commander of an Albanian unit. A soldier named Leka Fransi from the Bojana river, was under Paul's command. In 1610, Ginni was to navigate a merchant ship from Venice to Split. In the summer, Ginni returned to Istria, where along with Captain Petar Žarković, commanded a detachment of 38 soldiers. The last mentioning of Paul Ginni is recorded in 1612 where he captured five Senj narrows.[5]

References
  1. Čoralić, Lovorka (2007). The Albanian family Ginni in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century histories of Dalmatia and Istria: a contribution to the study of communications along the East Adriatic Coast (in Croatian). pp. 271–286. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  2. Riska, Albert (2013). "The Christian Saints in the (Micro)toponymy of Albania". Anglisticum Journal (IJLLIS) vol 2 issue 3. Pages 167-176. Page 174
  3. Durham, Mary Edith (1928). Some Tribal Origins, Laws and Customs of the Balkans. George Allen & Unwin. p. 65. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  4. Coralic, Lovka (2004). ZADARSKI KANONIK – SKADRANIN GIOVANNI CAMPSI (UDK 929:659.3 G. Campsi Izvorni znanstveni rad ed.). Hrvatski institut za povijest Zagreb. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  5. Čoralić, Lovorka (2007). Albanska obitelj Ginni u povijesti Dalmacije i Istre (xvi. i xvii. st.) – prilog poznavanju komunikacija duž istočnojadranske obale. UDK 929.5 Ginni, obitelj “15/16” 94 (497.5 Dalmacija) “15/16” Izvorni znanstveni rad Primljeno: 21. svibnja 2007. Prihvaćeno za tisak: 3. prosinca 2007.: Hrvatski institut za povijest Opatička 10 10000 Zagreb Republika Hrvatska. pp. 1–17. Retrieved 10 November 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)


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