Lale Drekalović

Lale Drekalov
voivode of Kuči
Noble family	Drekalović
Father	Drekale
Religion	Roman Catholic Orthodox Christianity

Lale Drekalov (Serbian Cyrillic: Лале Дрекалов, fl. 1608-1614) was a chieftain of the Kuči tribe in the Zeta nahija. His father was chieftain Drekale and his mother, the daughter of a local chieftain. Raised Catholic, he converted to Serbian Orthodoxy following an agreement with Ruvim III, Metropolitan of Cetinje. Soon afterward, the majority of his clansmen in Kuči followed suit. He participated in the two councils of Serbian Patriarch Jovan II Kantul, in which the Serbian clan chiefs met and planned war on the Ottoman Empire; in the Morača monastery (1608), and in Kuči (1613). According to Mariano Bolizza (1614), he and Niko Raičkov held 490 houses of the Chuzzi Albanesi ("Albanian Kuči", a village of predominantly Roman Catholic religion), with 1,500 soldiers, described as "very war-like and courageous". They were among the 11 highland villages that actively fought against the Ottoman Empire; others included Vasojevići, Bjelopavlići, Kelmendi and Hoti. He was first married to unnamed wife from Kastrati with whom he had a son Vuko. He then married a daughter or sister of a Bratonožići voivode, Pejo Stanojev Balević, with whom he had four sons: Vujoš, Iliko, Čejo and Mijo, progenitors of dominant Kuči brotherhoods Vujoševići, Čejovići and Mijovići. Brotherhood of Ilikovići was further diversified thus the surname disappeared, whilst Vuko because of the dispute with his half-brothers left for Podgorica and converted to Islam, his descendants being known as Turkovići. He was first succeeded by his oldest son Vujoš as Voivode, but the title was later transferred to Iliko His father Drekale is the eponymous founder of the Drekalovići, a brotherhood of the Kuči clan.

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