The Gropa family was an Albanian

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

which ruled the region between

Pogradec Pogradec () is the eleventh most populous city in Albania and the capital of the eponymous municipality. It is located on a narrow plain between two mountain chains along the southwestern banks of the Lake of Ohrid. Its climate is profoundly in ...

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

and

Debar Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has ...

in the period 12th — 14th century.Vlora 1956
5. Gropa
: "The sphere of influence of the Gropas was no doubt concentrated in the region between Pogradec, Ohrid and Dibra. They seem to have ruled in that area for more than 3 centuries" In the 13th century members of Gropa family were thought to be Catholics, but in the 14th century they reconverted to Orthodoxy because of the political relations with

Archbishopric of Ohrid The Archbishopric of Ohrid, also known as the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid *T. Kamusella in The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe, Springer, 2008, p. 276 *Aisling Lyon, Decentralisation and the Management of Ethni ...

History

At the beginning of the 13th century,

Pal Gropa Pal (Paulo, Paulo) Gropa () was an Albanian feudal ruler of Ohrid and Debar from the 13th century. Biography Pal Gropa from Ohrid is known as the lord of Debar. It belongs to the medieval Gropa family. Chroniclers call him "a vassal of the C ...

, an Albanian nobleman, held the Byzantine title of Sevast. As part of the Kingdom of Albania, Pal Gropa was given extended privileges by

Charles I of Naples Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...

on May 18, 1273: "nobili viro sevasto Paulo Gropa »casalia Radicis maioris et Radicis minons, пeс non Cobocheste, Zuadigorica, Sirclani et Craye, Zessizan sitam in valle de Ebu". A member of Gropa family,

Andrea Gropa Andrea Gropa was a 14th-century Albanian nobleman who ruled the region and the city of Ohrid, first as a minor vassal for a very short time (župan) to Serbian King Vukašin Mrnjavčević (r. 1365–1371), then as independent after 1370. He was a ...

, ruled the region and the city of

as an ally of ''King of Serbia'' Vukašin Mrnjavčević until his death in 1371 and later was in rivalry with his son

Prince Marko Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...

. Ruling as an independent ruler since the time of Vukasin he became de juro independent from Prince Marko in 1371 and was referred to as

Župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrative unit župa (or zhupa, županija) ...

and Gospodar of Ohrid (Lord of Ochrid). He joined the Albanian ruler and noble Andrea II Muzaka, and managed to take Kostur,

Prilep Prilep ( mk, Прилеп ) is the fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 and is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko. Name The name of Prilep appea ...

and all Dibër region from Marko by that year. During Andrea's reign, the Gropa family forged their own coins. The Gropa family were believed to have taken part in the Balkan coalition of the Battle of Kosovo against the Ottomans. Zacharia Gropa is mentioned by Athanase Gegaj as one of the military commanders of Skanderbeg's forces. The Gropa family's descendants were located in Sicily at the end of the 15th century, and would later be found all over southern Italy and in Zakynthos in Greece.

Members

(

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1273), vassal to

in Kingdom of Albania *

(

1377–1385), vassal to Serbian King Vukašin and Marko, later

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

* Zacharia Gropa (

1457), associate of

Moisi Dibra Moisi Golemi, also known as Moisi of Dibra ( sq, Moisiu i Dibrës), was an Albanian nobleman and a commander of the League of Lezhë. In 1443–44 he captured all Ottoman holdings in the area of Dibër region. For a brief period in the 1450s h ...

. * Aidin Gropa, Lord of Vrezhda sometime during the 14th century.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Medieval Albanian Principalities Gropa family Medieval Ohrid People from medieval Macedonia