A figure attested as
Kastriot of Kanina in southern Albania who appears in a letter sent on September 2, 1368 by
Alexander Komnenos Asen to the
Ragusan senate has been hypothesised by a number of authors, mostly in the early 20th century, as an ancestor of the Kastrioti family.
Heinrich Kretschmayr argued that this Kastriot may have been in fact
Pal or Gjergj Kastrioti,
John Fine considered it "probable" that this Kastriot was an ancestor of
Gjon Kastrioti and
Aleks Buda tried to bridge the geographical discrepancy between the Kastriot of Kanina who lived in southern Albania and the Kastrioti who were active in north-central Albania by arguing that after the fall of the
Balšić, they returned to their ancestral lands in the
Dibër valley. In contemporary historiography, the figure recorded as Kastriot of Kanina in 1368 is considered to be unrelated to the Kastrioti family. The Kastrioti so far remain absent from historical or archival records in comparison to other Albanian noble families until their first historical appearance at the end of the 14th century. The historical figure of
Konstantin Kastrioti Mazreku is attested in Giovanni Andrea Angelo Flavio Comneno's
Genealogia diversarum principum familiarum. Angelo mentions Kastrioti as
Constantinus Castriotus, cognomento Meserechus, Aemathiae & Castoriae Princeps (Constantinus Castriotus, surnamed Meserechus, Prince of Aemathia and Castoria). The toponym Castoria has been interpreted as
Kastriot, Kastrat in Has, Kastrat in Dibra or the microtoponym "Kostur" near the village of Mazrek in the Has region. In connection to the Kastrioti family name, it is very likely that the name of one the different Kastriot or Kastrat which were fortified settlements as their etymology shows (
castrum) was as their family name. The Kastrioti may have originated from this village or probably had acquired it as
pronoia. Angelo used the cognomen
Meserechus in reference to Skanderbeg and this link to the same name is produced in other sources and reproduced in later ones like
Du Cange's
Historia Byzantina (1680). These links highlight that the Kastrioti used Mazreku as a name that highlighted their tribal affiliation (
farefisni). The name Mazrek(u), which means horse breeder in Albanian, is found throughout all Albanian regions. The Kastrioti themselves were organised in a tribal structure and formed a
fis or clan/tribe. Konstantin Kastrioti's son, who was the father of
Gjon Kastrioti and grandfather of
Skanderbeg, appears in two historical sources,
Gjon Muzaka's
Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi (1510) and Andrea Angelo's
Genealogia diversarum principum familiarum (1603/1610) who was later largely reproduced by
Du Cange (1680). Angelo calls Gjon Kastrioti's father "Georgius Castriotus" (Gjergj), lord (princeps) of "Aemathiae, Umenestria" (
Mat and probably
Ujëmisht) and "Castoriae". Muzaka calls him "Paulo Castrioto" (Pal) and asserts that "he ruled over no more than two villages, called Signa and Gardi Ipostesi" (
Sinë and Gardhi i Poshtëm, in Çidhën of
Dibër). His first name is disputed. Neither name can be characterized as the correct version because of an extreme lack of sources. The name "Paulo" (Pal) is mentioned only by one author (Muzaka) and wasn't used as the name of any of his grandsons (Reposh, Konstantin, Stanisha, Gjergj) or great-grandsons (Giorgio, Costantino, Ferrante). His rule over "only two villages" as described by Muzaka has been disputed because if true, it would mean that his son, Gjon Kastrioti who ruled over a much larger area rose to power in the span of one generation. This is considered a very unlikely trajectory in the context of Albanian medieval society because
noble families had acquired their area of influence over multiple generations. Historian Kristo Frashëri considers it likely that he ruled over his region "in the third quartier of the 14th century" between 1350-75 based on the fact that when his grandson Gjergj Kastrioti was born, his son Gjon had already fathered eight children. His son,
Gjon Kastrioti (died 1437), became the lord of Matia (
Mat). He managed to expand his territory but was ultimately subdued by the invading Ottomans. The most notable member was Gjergj Kastrioti, better known as
Skanderbeg (1405–1468), declared an Albanian national hero, renowned in Albanian folklore for uniting the
Albanian principalities in a military and diplomatic alliance, the
League of Lezhë, which fought against
Mehmed the Conqueror's efforts to further expand the Ottoman Empire into
Europe. ==Titles==