Tanush Thopia or Tanusio Thopia (, la, Tanusas Thopius; d. 1467) was an

Albanian nobleman The Albanian nobility was an elite hereditary ruling class in Albania, parts of the western Balkans and later in parts of the Ottoman world. The Albanian nobility was composed of landowners of vast areas, often in allegiance to states like the ...

and one of the closest collaborators of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Thopia descended from the Thopia family that converted from Orthodox Christianity to Catholicism. In 1444, together with his uncle

Andrea Thopia Andrea Thopia or Andrew Thopia ( sq, Andrea Topia; died before March 1445) was a 15th century Albanian noble man whose domains included the territory of Scuria (between Durazzo and what would later become modern day Tirana). He was a member of t ...

, he participated in the founding of the

League of Lezhë The League of Lezhë ( sq, Lidhja e Lezhës), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League ( sq, Lidhja Arbërore), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The Lea ...

, the military alliance led by

Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

. He was a commander of the infantry of the

, and his garrison became famous for their resistance during the Second Siege of Krujë. After that siege he is no longer mentioned in historical sources, and some suppose that he might have been killed in the end of that battle or died soon afterwards. He was a skillful commander and his loyalty to

was undeterred and that was the reason why he was appointed in that delicate position.Noli, Fan Stylian, George Castroiti Scanderbeg (1405–1468), International Universities Press, 1947 The name ''Tanush'' is an Albanian

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...

for ''Athanassius''.

References

15th-century Albanian people 1460s deaths Tanush Year of birth unknown Skanderbeg Albanian Roman Catholics {{Albania-bio-stub