progonos

Progonos, also known as Progoni, refers to the Progon family, a medieval Albanian noble dynasty that established the Principality of Arbanon in central Albania and is widely regarded as the first known Albanian ruling dynasty. The dynasty is named after its earliest known member, Progon, who, in the late 12th century, founded a local polity centered in Krujë. His successors—most commonly identified as Gjini Progoni (Gjin Progoni) and his son Dimitri Progoni—continued to rule Arbanon and to develop its institutions, maintaining a degree of autonomy amid the competing claims of the Byzantine successor states and neighboring powers.

Under the Progon rulers, Arbanon engaged in diplomacy with major powers of the region, including the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), and the Kingdom of Serbia, and developed ecclesiastical ties with the Catholic Church. The material record of their rule is fragmentary, but it indicates a consolidation of control over central Albanian territories and a degree of regional influence during the early 13th century.

The Progon line is believed to have waned in the first half of the 13th century as larger political entities expanded into the area, with Arbanon eventually losing its independence to the succession of neighboring states. The dynasty’s legacy lies in its being the earliest documented Albanian polity and in furnishing a dynastic nucleus for later Albanian political formations. Primary sources are medieval Latin and Greek chronicles and charters, supplemented by later scholarly syntheses on Albanian medieval history.