Progonos Sgouros (, ;) was a late 13th-century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

senior military commander from

Principality of Arbanon Arbanon ( Old Albanian: in Old Gheg, in Old Tosk; ) was a medieval principality in present-day Albania, ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanian state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was established in 1190 ...

(Medieval Albania) with the rank of ''

megas hetaireiarches The (), sometimes anglicized as Hetaeriarch, was a high-ranking Byzantine officer, in command of the imperial bodyguard, the . In the 9th–10th centuries there appear to have been several , each for one of the subdivisions of the , but in later ti ...

''. He was lord of

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

during the Byzantine Empire's territorial control over the city.

Biography

Progonos Sgouros was an

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 country ...

from

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

(Byzantine Dyrrhachion) and belonged to the prominent Skuraj family. He was married to Eudokia, a female relative of

Andronikos II Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos (; 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332), Latinization of names, Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. His reign marked the beginning of the recently restored em ...

(r. 1282–1328), becoming a '' gambros'' of the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

. Around 1294–1295, he restored the Church of the Virgin Peribleptos in

, at the time under Byzantine rule, which later came to be known as St. Clement after Saint Clement of Ohrid. Progonos donated an

Iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

of 8 panels, together with an icon of the Virgin Peribleptos of which only a fragment survived, with the iconostasis depicting the main feasts of the Church. The works were painted by Eutychios and Michael Astrapas, from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. A portrait of

Saint Astius Astius (died AD 98 AD; , Greek: Άστιος) is a 2nd-century Christian martyr venerated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He was the bishop of Dyrrhachium (now Durrës in Albania). According to legend, he was arrested ...

in the church was likely donated by him as a symbol of the close ties between Durrës and Ohrid.} Within the church, an inscription mentions Progonos and his wife Eudokia in Greek: ''"This divine shrine of the most holy Lady Mother of God Peribleptos was built with the help and expenses of Monsignor Progon Zguros, the Great Etheriarch and his wife Mrs. Eudokia, the son-in-law of our most powerful and pious, the emperor of the Romans, Andronicus Palaeologus…”''

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* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sgouros 13th-century Byzantine military personnel Byzantine generals Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown 13th-century Albanian people Megaloi hetaireiarchai Medieval Albanian nobility Medieval Albanian generals