The Bruni were a Venetian-Albanian medieval family dating back to the 13th century in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

The family fled when the city was occupied by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. Part of the family was located in modern day

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

in Slovenia.

Giovanni Bruni Archbishop John VIII, also known as Giovanni Bruni () ( - 7 October 1571) served as an archbishop of Antivari in the mid-16th century. Originally from Ulcinj (present-day Montenegro), from the Albanian Bruni family. He was related to Antonio ...

is mentioned as the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Ulcinj Ulcinj () is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 11,488. As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast, it was founded in 5th ...

in 1581. He became the archbishop in 1551 and participated in the council of Trent in 1563. He died from the Spanish who boarded his ship and killed him after the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

despite yelling ”''I am a Christian, I am a bishop''”. In 1537, Antonio II of the Bruti-family married with Maria of the Bruni family in Ulcinj. Gasparo Bruni is mentioned as the first knight of Malta, servant of

Sultan Murad III Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used ...

. The family was ”trans-imperial subjects” with members working as translators, merchants, and men of the church making them valuable to the Venetians and Ottomans.

References

{{Albania-stub Albanian noble families