Shirgj (, , ) was an important

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

on the left bank of the river Bojana, away from

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 ...

, in what is today northern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It was a medieval trading center, until it lost its population and ceased to exist in the early

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

Location

Shirgj emerged near the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Shirgj Monastery, an abbey dedicated to

Sergius and Bacchus Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus (Greek: Σέργιος & Βάκχος; ; , also called ) were fourth-century Syrian Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their ...

built in the 11th century. Due to its favorable geographical position near the mouth of the river Bojana, it grew to surpass other towns of the region.

History

Since the reign of

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince (Grand Župan#Serbia, Veliki Župan) of the Grand Principality of Serbia, Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška (region), Raš ...

in the

Serbian Grand Principality The Grand Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Великожупанска Србија, Velikožupanska Srbija, separator=" / "), also known by the anachronistic exonym Raška (region), Rascia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рашка, Raška, separator=" ...

, Shirgj was one of four markets allowed to trade salt (the other three being

Kotor Kotor (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian language, Italian: ), is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has ...

and Drijeva while

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

joined them after it was established as a republic in the mid 14th century) in the Serbian maritime. Although a lot of wood was transported by Bojana, Shirgj was not a trading place for wood, but instead for salt and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

. It was one of two customs areas of the region (the other one was

Dagnum Dagnum (, , ) 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 t ...

on the river Drin). In 1330 near Shirgj, the King of Serbia

Stefan Dečanski Stefan Uroš III, , known as Stefan of Dečani ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Дечански, Stefan Dečanski, ( – 11 November 1331), was King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of King Stefan Milutin (). He ...

met with envoys of Dubrovnik who congratulated him on his victory in the

Battle of Velbazhd The Battle of Velbazhd (; ) took place between Bulgarian and Serbian armies on 28 July 1330, near the town of Velbazhd (present day Kyustendil). The growing power of the Serbian Kingdom from the late 13th century raised serious concerns in the t ...

. On that occasion, Dečanski asked them to support his military campaigns with six galleys. After the collapse of the Serbian Empire in 1371, Shirgj belonged to

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...

until 1392 when Ottomans captured Zeta's lord

Đurađ II Balšić Đurađ II Balšić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ II Балшић; ) or George II Balsha 1385 – April 1403), was the Lord of Zeta from 1385 to 1403, as a member of the Balšić noble family. He was the son of Stracimir Balšić, and succeeded ...

. They soon released him after they first captured Dagnum, Shkodër and Shirgj. In autumn 1395 Balšić recaptured his towns including Shirgj. Knowing he would not be able to keep those towns if Ottomans decided to capture them he ceded them to the Venetians. Soon, in 1397, Danj was granted the right to trade salt. Thus, the Venetian takeover ended the monopoly on salt trading that Shirgj had held in the Bojana region for centuries while it was in Serbia. A peace treaty signed in Shirgj in 1423 ended the

Second Scutari War The Second Scutari War (; ) was an armed conflict in 1419–1426 between Zeta under the Balsha, Zeta (1419–1421) and then the Serbian Despotate (1421–1423) on the one side and the Venetian Republic on the other, over Shkodër and other former ...

waged between the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...

(initially

) and the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

over Shkodër and other former possessions of Zeta controlled by Venice. This treaty is known as the Peace of Shirgj. While it was in Venetian hands the salt traded in Shirgj had to be transported from, also Venetian controlled,

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

. After the Ottoman-Albanian wars ended and the last independent parts of Albania became part of

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, Shirgj, as some other important settlements in Albania, became unpopulated and ceased to exist.

Location

History

References

Further reading