Dagnum

Dagnum (Albanian: Danjë or Dejë, Serbian: Danj, Italian: Dagno) was a town, bishopric and important medieval fortress located on the territory of present-day Albania, which has been under Albanian, Serbian, Venetian and Ottoman control and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. It is close to the modern day town of Vau i Dejës.

In period 1081—1116 Dagnum belonged to the kingdom of Duklja.

The Ragusan-Serbian peace treaty was signed in Dagnum on 25 March 1326, attended by vojvoda (Slavic count) Mladen and čelnik Đuraš Ilijić.

Until 1395 Sati (whose castellan was Koja Zaharia) and Dagnum belonged to a fief of Kostadin Balšić and was part of the Lordship of Zeta under Đurađ II Balšić. In 1395 Balšić ceded Sati (with Dagnum) together with Scutari and Drivast to Venetian Republic (in order to create a buffer zone between remaining part of his Zeta and Ottoman Empire), but Zaharia refused to allow Venetians to take control over the Sati. He proclaimed himself the Lord of Sati and Dagnum ("dominus Sabatensis et Dagnensis") after he captured Dagnum in 1396 which became the seat of his domain.

In 1429 Stefan Maramonte, supported by Ottomans and forces of Gojčin Crnojević and Little Tanush, plundered the region around Scutari and Ulcinj and attacked Drivast in 1429, but failed to capture it. While Venetian forces were busy fighting to repel this attack, the Ottoman forces captured Dagnum and territory of Dukagjini and entrusted it to be governed by Ottoman voivode Ismail.

After receiving incorrect information about the death of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II, Gjergj Arianiti raised a large rebellion against the Ottomans in 1432. Nicholas Dukagjini, however, took advantage of this rebellion and conquered his family's former lands, accepting Venetian suzerainty. He yielded Dagnum to Venice. Venice soon learned that Sultan Murad was actually alive. Fearing that Venice would be provoking the Ottomans, they broke all relations with Dukagjini, and transferred Dagnum to Turkish hands by 1435.

Members of the Albanian League of Lezhë, Nikollë Dukagjini and Lekë Zaharia, lord of Dagnum, were in dispute over who should marry Irene Dushmani, the only child of Lekë Dushmani, prince of Zadrima. The Albanian princes were invited to the wedding of Skanderbeg's younger sister, Mamica, who was to wed Muzaka Thopia in 1445. Irene entered and hostilities soon began.

Text adapted from “Dagnum” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dagnum ranks #4,715 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #22 of the 27 mapped in Albania. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Shkodër, 11 km away. See how Albania compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗