Re: Kanuni
Ne po flasim per Kanunin e Lek Dukagjinit dhe jo Kanunin e Maleve .Kanuni i Lekes eshte nje prej kater kanuneve shqiptare .
Disa referenca :
(J.G. von Hahn) “Who was this (Lekë) Dukagjini? He was he ruler of this country, as well as its law-maker after putting together the Dukagjini Kanun, i.e. the provisions, according to which live even today not only Dukagjini people but also the people coming from north Drini river ……, who attribute the name of the code to their national hero”.
(Edith Durham) “Lekë Dukagjini with a very influential personality, had influenced the people to the extend that “This is what Lekë said” is more compulsory than the ten commandments of the Bible, the lessons of Islam and Christianity.
The Laws of the Seriate and the Church, all of them, should respect the Kanun of Lekë …… His fame amongst the groups of population that preserve his name has surpassed the fame of Skënderbeg as well.”
Lekë Dukagjini is a very complex historical figure. Furthermore, he is a figure depicted in legends, if we use this term in the same way as we have done for our National Hero Gjergj Kastrioti (Skënderbeg).
Lekë Dukagjini (1410 – 1481) was a co existent of Skënderbeg (1405 – 1468).
The history recognizes both of them as crown princes, who were illuminated when they took over the two counties that hold the same names as their surnames: Lekë – took over the county of Dukagjini, after his father’s death (Pal Dukagjini in 1446); and Gjergj took over the county of Kastrioti in 1443, eight years after his father’s death, Gjon Kastrioti. The County of Dukagjini had its center in Lezhë, and included Zadrima, the areas North and East-north Shkodra, and expanded far north up to the territories of what today constitutes Serbia, having as the second center the town of Ulpiana, close to Prizren.
The County of Kastrioti, with its center in Kruja, included the area of Mat, Dibër, starting from the Rodon castle in the Adriatic.
Until he took over the ruling of his county, Lekë Dukagjini had gained an overall knowledge, inspired by the European Renaissance humanism, in towns such as Venice, Raguza and Shkodër; meanwhile Skenderbeg had done a very rapid and excellent military career in the court of Sultan Murat II.
As leader of the Albanian Union (established in Lezhë in 1444) Skenderbeg always had Lekë next to him (initially his father Pal Dukagjini), because both of them fought next to each-other until Skënderbeg’s death in 1468. It was Lekë Dukagjini to take Skënderbeg’s work further by leading the Albanians during the most difficult period of Ottoman resistance, until his death in 1481.
When Kanun was being conceived
By the end of the 50s in the XV century, the County of Dukagjini has lost both of its developed centers: Lezhë was given to Venedic (1393), Ulpiana, the capital of the county, was completely destroyed by the Turks before they took over Prizren (1458), which was another developed center of Dukagjini county. In these conditions, Lekë Dukagjini conquered the castle of Shati in Zadrimë to use it as royal residence, but Skënderbeg attacked it and returned it to the Veniceians. Without a royal residence and in the middle of three fires for some time (Turks, Veniceians and Skënderbeg), Lekë Dukagjini built his shelter in the mountains of his county, building fortresses and residences with the helpof the free people living in those areas – these people respected and welcomed their leader, coming from the court of Dukagjini, and his wife, Teodora of Muzakaj from Berati, as well as all the court members following them.
Together with the people of Dukagjini County, well known for their courage (M. Barleti: 98), Lekë was able to build his fortresses and bring up fighters who played an important role in the troops of Lezhë Union, under the command of Skënderbeg. In return to the devotion given by his people, Lekë Dukagjini ensured to the members of his county and to all who joined him seeking protection, in particular after Skenderbeg’s death, freedom within their organizational groups, which in those conditions was institutionalized by the reorganization of wise-councils at the village and area level.
During this period (1459-1481), while he lead all the gatherings and wise-councils, it was conceived Kanun – this code was inherited from generation to generation as a practice of judgment and wise sayings formulated or repeated by him in judicial sessions. Although Kanun did not take a written form, it was used in centuries as common law, until it was collected and put into a code by Shtjefën Gjeçovi between XIX-XX century
At the time when Gjeçovi was working on the code materials, all Albanians, independently of their religion, had sanctified Kanun and its author. The name of Lekë Dukagjini was not simply pronounced by common people; on the contrary he became a hero.
The fact that a ruler became a true, popular and national hero can be explained by a theory which states “ when popular masses accept their rulers and leaders and heroes, they identify themselves with the values and nobility of the leader, or at least, because they need to organize their world according to the models given by the ruling group” (P. Burke:169).
The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini is a unique piece of work with European Renaissance humanist spirit, written in the Albanian language. Even though it was and continues to be pronounced even up to date, Kanun considered by important local and foreign researchers as a “monumental piece of work” (A. Buda / Gjeçovi – Kryeziu: 22), “contribution to the worldwide culture” (C. Von Schwerin / Ylli i Dritës 1939:502); while its author, Lekë Dukagjini, was recognized as “an influential personality” (E Durham: 116) and “National Hero of its people” (J. Hahn: 114).
Many writers and artists have dedicated to Lekë their works, including Dritëro Agolli (“The defeat of Lekë Dukagjini” poetry 1969), Henrik Laçaj (“Two princes for one girl” historical drama put on stage and directed by the author himself and interpreted by the theatre group “Rozafat” in Shkodra in 1937, where the role of Lekë Dukagjini was played by Loro Kovaçi), the arbëresh writer Anton Santori (“Alessio Ducagini”, melodrama, written between 1855-1860 and published in 1983), the painter Naxhi Bakalli (“Dukagjini meeting”, mural table 4x3.2m in the Historic Museum of Burrel, 1986); the Kosovar painter Engjëll Berisha (“Dukagjini Roots”, drawings 1950-1956); the painter Simon Rrota (“Lekë Dukagjini”, portrait, private collection in Shkodra); the sculptor Sotir Kosta (“Lekë Dukagjini”, portrait in bronze – GKA Tiranë and National Museum of Skënderbeg in Krujë, 1982), etcWhen historians describe the Florentine noble, Lorenzo de’ Medici, having “an extraordinary personality and a genius politician:” we like to compare Lekë Dukagjini with him. The preface of his book describes Lorenzo in the streets of Florence, dressed up as a common citizen, surrounded by girls who sing his ballads …. In reality, Lorenzo was a poet and the most generous supporter of other poets, scientists and philosophers” (K. Clark: 106). We can try to draw parallelisms between Lorenzo and Lekë, up to a certain extend, because the poems of Lekë would be the sentences in Kanun. If this parallelism isn’t be very appropriate, as any other parallelism, at least the county of Dukagjini can resemble small courts in northern Italy at the end of XV century, “and the Renaissance owes to these courts almost as much as it owes to Florence” (K. Clark: 107). And may be Lekë may resemble the Duke of Urbino, Frederigo Montefeltro, who “wasn’t only an extraordinary educated and wise man, but he was also the biggest leader of his times, who knew how to protect his territory against the villains that surrounded him. He was very fond of collecting books and precious portraits. He is dressed up in a shield and all the fighting gear…. His palace was built as a castle on an almost inaccessible rock, and only after he was secure enough, it was allowed to give to the palace a more refined look, which makes it one of the most architectural monuments in the world” (K. Clark: 107)
fortresses and flourished (Albanian) towns …….. with palaces and monuments ….. vanished from the surface of the earth …….and they remained as shadows of the beauty and glamour of old times” (F S Noli: 591-592).
But the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini is the most important monument of the Albanian culture during the period of European Renaissance, which has lived through six centuries and has played an immense role in the life of the people and the language in which it was written.
note: per ate pjese te anetareve qe nuk lexon anglisht kur te kem pak me teper kohe do ta perkthej.
Diku vazhdo me MTV .
ipiripi: