Heraldry, as a scholarly discipline that deals with the study and origin of various symbols and elements, emerged in Albania towards the end of the 13th century. Over time, it evolved as an inseparable component of European heraldry, encompassing its advancements, shifts and accomplishments.
The earliest evidence in the usage of coats of arms can be traced to the formative period of the Principality of Arbanon, with the Gropa ruling family. This practice continued in uninterrupted succession across several medieval Albanian lineages and patronymic families, namely the Albani, Angeli, Arianiti, Balsa, Becichemo, Dukagjini, Durazzo, Dusmani, Kastrioti, Matranga, Muzaka, Scura, Thopia and numerous others.
Medieval period Ambiguitatem Coat of arms Description Within the marble beam that held the gate of the monastic cell, at the old abbey of Ndërfandina in Gëziq, the Austrian consul in Shkodër, Theodor Ippen, unearthed an epigraphic inscription from the architrave of the Basilica along with a heraldic coat of arms which featured a stone-carved hawk, with one head and two wings outstretched in flight, clutching a ring on its beak. In 1967, digging through the broken fragments which had been stored at the local museum of Rrëshen, researcher Dhimitër Shuteriqi became convinced that the pieces on the inscription formed the words DIMITRI and PROGON, in reference to the princes of the Progonate family of lords that ruled over the territory now known as the Principality of Arbanon.
The fragments discovered in Gëziq were transferred at the Archaeological Museum of Tirana in 1981, to be further examined by conservation specialist Koço Zheku. After meticulously reconstructing the eight pieces of marble, which collectively measured 1.6 meters in length, Zheku managed to decipher the inscription as follows:
His conclusive work, refuting the earlier findings by Shuteriqi, was published in the scientific periodical "Iliria", issue nr.2, p. 219–225, year 1984.
At the insistence of communist officials, the inscription, unreadable in its entirety, was given a new interpretation by scholar of antiquity Injac Zamputi, reaffirming Shuteriqi's previously ambiguous claims. Not far from the gates of the citadel of Drivasto, a hewn stone bearing a coat of arms was found by local peasants among the rubble and blocks of stone.
No inscription has been found to give clues as to whether the coat of arms belonged to a Venetian or an Albanian lord. One can only assume that the stone was immured in the gate and tumbled down when the wall collapsed. The coat of arms is one of the few remnants of value where once stood the medieval city of Drivasto.
Excavations carried out in 1987 at the Rozafa Fortress uncovered a stone block displaying a similarly carved coat of arms, with archaeological evidence pointing to the period of the Balsa rule. First discovered by Austrian archaeologist Carl Patsch, details of the tombstone relief were published in the 1919 work titled "Archäologische Forschungen in Albanien und Montenegro" by Camillo Praschniker and Arnold Schober: Opposite the town of Alessio, above a hill on the right bank of the Drin river, stands the small Franciscan monastery of St. Antonius. Tradition of the Franciscan order alludes to the founding of this monastery being ascribed to its founder, Francis of Assisi, going back to the 13th century. At the entrance, embedded on the pavement, a tombstone decorated with a coat of arms was found and later removed, placed alongside the interior wall. The coat of arms is surmounted by an inscription, which is, unfortunately, incomplete. It reads:
The name of the person buried here is not clear from the inscription. The tombstone probably belongs to a Venetian lord, dating from the 15th century, since Alessio was Venetian property at the time.
In contemporary Albanian history, this coat of arms is speculatively attributed to one Anton Skura, a supposed patriarch of the noble Scura family, which held sway over the territories in nearby Delbnisht, present-day Kurbin. Sources from antiquity do not provide any reliable records of an Anton Skura; although, an educator and author named Antonio Scura, from the Arbëreshë settlement of Vaccarizzo Albanese, is mentioned in the early 20th century. In 1912, he published a folk collection of lyrics titled "Gli albanesi in Italia e i loro canti tradizionali".
To date, no known descendants of the Scura lineage have laid claim to such coat of arms.
Regnum Albaniæ Coat of arms Description Charles I d'Anjou, brother of King Louis IX of France, governed the Kingdom of Naples (and Sicily), during the 13th century. Following the Norman invasion, he extended his rule into Albania, capturing Dyrrhachium and bringing Albanian feudal lords under his control. The Despot of Epirus, who had nominal authority over this region, became his vassal. Charles (I) established the first Albanian kingdom, Regnum Albaniæ and was declared its King in 1272.
The symbols in the Angevin coat of arms are attributed to his grandson and future heir, Philip I, Prince of Taranto. The Manessy family traces its noble lineage to Andrea, an Albanian captain in the service of the French monarchy, who was ennobled by royal decree on November 24, 1599. Historian Ambroise Pelletier, in his "Nobiliaire ou armorial général de la Lorraine et du Barrois", writes that Andrea was granted nobility and tax exemption in recognition of his military service against the Ottomans. The decree references an earlier document from 1580, issued by Emperor Charles V, which acknowledged the Manessy family’s noble status in Coron and Lipari.
Andrea was likely the father of a christian named Manessy, resident of Nancy, who was appointed the king's judge in Goudreville, in August 1623. Over the following centuries, the family remained influential in Lorraine, with François serving as head of the cavalry and later as master-counselor of the Chamber of Finance, in 1668. His son, Charles, became the king’s judge and shortly after, a forestry officer in Chaligny. Another prominent member, Nicolas-François, carried the title Lord of Mage.
As the family expanded, several branches of the Manessy settled in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Haute-Savoie, Nancy, Chambéry, Annecy, Chaumont and Saint-Maurice-de-Rumilly, where they continued to hold military and judicial offices. Claude-Joseph, Lord of Maxe, was a cavalry captain and king’s judge in Chaligny, while his nephew, Charles-Christophe, served as judge, captain and chief of police in the county of the same name.
The Manessy wielded significant authority within the Church. Antoine Gabriel entered the clergy, becoming superior of the Congrégation des Sœurs, in 1740 and eventually a canon of the Toul Cathedral. During the French Revolution, he went into hiding to escape persecution, as many clergy members fell victim to revolutionary tribunals.
Charles-François, a royal attorney and mayor of Nancy from 1783 to 1790, bearing the title of “Messire”, was among the last of the family to hold an official post before the political upheaval.
Feudal lords Coat of arms Description The Gropa were a noble Albanian family who ruled over the eastern shore of Lake Ochrida as early as the 13th century.
In recognition of the services rendered, Sevasto Paulo Gropa was granted dominion over several lands by Charles I of Anjou through a royal decree, dated May 18, 1273. Encompassing parts of the Ebu Valley, they included the villages of Radicis, Cobocheste, Zuadigorize, Sirclani and Crave Zessizane.
Grand Zupan Andrea Gropa assumed control of Ochrida following the decline of the Prilep Lordship in 1371. Under his rule, the region remained an independent domain until 1380, when Karl Thopia, another prominent Albanian lord, took over governance.
Zaccaria Gropa distinguished himself as a commander in several battles against the Turks and was head of the colony that migrated to Sicilia in 1465.
The coat of arms of the Gropa lineage is depicted in the 1680 catalogue "La Universita delle Insegne Ligustiche Delineate da Gio Andrea Musso" (p. 13) The Dukagjini were a noble Albanian family of feudal lords that ruled parts of northern Albania and western Kosovo throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. A branch of the family fled Ottoman rule and settled in the Venetian-controlled city of Capodistria, joining other Albanian nobility, the Borisi, Bruni and Bruti. Their extensive lineage is documented in Prospero Petronio's manuscript titled "Memorie istoriche sacre e profane dell'Istria e sua metropoli (1680–1681)", which traces the family's roots to Iginus Comnenus, of the Arianiti Comneni clan. Lek Dukagjini, a strong tribal chieftain, gained prominence for his work The Kanun, a set of traditional customary laws that regulated clan relations between the highlanders of northern Albania. His nephew, Giovanni, son of Demetrio, became castellan lord of San Servolo.
Other members of the family gradually integrated into Ottoman suzerainty, finding their way to Istanbul where they would achieve high ranks, beginning with Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha who served as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1514 to 1515 CE. His son, Dukaginzade Mehmed Pasha, went on to great feats of his own, becoming governor of Egypt from 1554 to 1556 CE. The city of Aleppo even has a Mosque complex bearing his name. Dukaginzade Yahya Bey, a warrior-poet, or sâhib-i seyf ü kalem (master of the sword and pen), took part in key battles, including Chaldiran (1514), the Ottoman-Mamluk War (1516–1517) and the Siege of Szigetvár (1566). Yahya Bey was celebrated as a prolific diwan poet during his lifetime.
The earliest known artistic depiction of the Dukagjini coat of arms appears in a 14th-century manuscript, later featured in a correspondence article by scholar of antiquity Dhimtri Pilika, titled "Shqiponja Arbërore si Simbol i Dukagjinëve", published in issue no.6 (ed.VII) of the monthly socio-political and literary arts magazine YLLI.
A somewhat comparable coat of arms is found in a colored miniature from the 17th century Fojnica Armorial.
Pilika's article presents an alternate coat of arms, derived from a marble carving found in the residence of Demetrio Lecca, one of the last family heirs, who served as lieutenant general in the Neapolitan Army. Arbëresh poet Girolamo de Rada (1814–1903) dedicated his 1836 work "Il Milosào" to him.
The Bulletin of Central Archaeological Studies "Sylva Mala", published a similar illustration of the coat of arms in its 8th annual edition (1987). The Cernovich or Crnojević, were a noble family of feudal lords that ruled over the territory in what is now southern Montenegro and northern Albania, during the late 15th century.
Their coat of arms is depicted in the 17th century Fojnica Armorial. The Balsa were a medieval dynasty of sovereigns that held ownership over the region around the east shore of Lake Scutari. In 1362, Balsa the Elder bequeathed to his sons the territory of Zeta and the coast from Budua down to Antivari, extending to Scutari, which would later become their capital. Efforts to expand south were met with opposition by the Thopia (1364), a noble family from Central Albania, who were related to the Balsa (Karl Thopia had wed Vojsava, a daughter of Balsa the Elder). Balsa II, "Sovereign of Albania", acquired Avlona and Berat by way of marriage. The Thopia eventually defeated him at the Battle of Savra in 1385. Georgio II had to relinquish his main territory, Scutari, to Venetia in 1396, unable to withstand the Ottoman incursions and the continuous internal friction.
In Du Cange's work, the Balsa are described as nobles of Albania. Johann Siebmacher classifies them as Albanian under the Dulcigno list of families, in his catalog of coats of arms, (vol.4) reissued in 1873.
The Balsa coat of arms is depicted in successive order, after those of the Kastrioti and Cernovich, in the 17th century Fojnica Armorial.