Demetrio Reres or Demetrius Reres
( sq, Dhimitër Reres) is considered to have been a 15th-century
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
** Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the countr ...
and Calabrian nobleman.
Since he is mentioned only in a document dating from 24 September 1665, 217 years after the events of the subject, and the document seems to have been falsified, the historicity of Demetrio Reres is debated among scholars.
Origin
The only document that mentions Demetrio Reres
reports him as related to the "illustrious
Kastrioti
The House of Kastrioti ( sq, Dera e Kastriotëve) was an Albanian noble family, active in the 14th and 15th centuries as the rulers of the Principality of Kastrioti. At the beginning of the 15th century, the family controlled a territory in the ...
family" while no document of the period in question actually supports this assertion.
Military career
In 1448 troops under the command of Demetrio Reres and his two sons George and Basil went from Albania to the rural areas of the
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
to suppress a rebellion against
Alfonso V.
Many of the soldiers had requested to be allowed to settle in the area to avoid struggling against Ottomans in Albania. Alfonso V readily gave his approval to the loyal protectors of his rule so they formed the first
Arbëresh settlements in the area.
His brother and two sons also established several Albanian settlements in Sicily.
After the campaign Reres was awarded by Alfonso with the governorship of
Reggio province in
Calabria.
In some historical works these Albanian-populated regions governed by Reres and his two sons were referred to as military colonies.
Aftermath
He sired Joan and Vasil Reres.
Andrea Reres, a descendant of Demetrio, founded the Basilian Monastery in
Mezzojuso
Mezzojuso ( Sicilian: ''Menzijusu'' or ''Menziuso'', Arbëreshë: ''Munxifsi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a ...
with the provision that the Greek rite would be used.
The surname Reres is nowadays common among the
Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including:
* Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name
* Arbëresh ...
community.
See also
*
Renesi
Renesi was a historical Albanian tribe from the region around Lezhë, in northern Albania. The Renesi were Catholic. Some members of the Renesi migrated in Dalmatia and settled in the city of Zara. They became a numerous and important stradiotic f ...
References
Bibliography
*{{cite book, last=Petta, first=Paolo, title=Stradioti: soldati albanesi in Italia, sec. XV-XIX, publisher=Argo, year=1996, isbn=9788886211864, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JKu_AAAACAAJ
15th-century Albanian people
Albanian nobility
Albanian soldiers
15th-century Neapolitan people
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Albania
Albanian expatriates in Italy