Spani family
| Members | Peter Spani, Alessio Span |
|---|---|
| Estate | Drivast |
The Spani or Span family was a northern Albanian noble family and clan. The center of the family was Drivast, which it ruled holding the titles of Duke and Count. In the late 15th century, a large part of it settled in Venetian territories, primarily Venice itself and Dalmatia. Members of this family lived in a wider region ranging from northern Albania and Montenegro to western Kosovo.
The Spani family was of Greek origin. The surname Span or Spani probably derives from the Greek word spanos (beardless). In Croatia and Serbia, the surname is transliterated as Spanić and Spanović. Serbian historians including J. Erdeljanović and Petar Šobajić linked the surname with the descendants of the Romanized Illyrian population of Montenegro, although that is considered unlikely as the name is neither related to a particular population nor are all its bearers related.
As a family with noble status, the Spanis first appear in 1304–1305 as part of the nobility of the Angevin Kingdom of Albania. The territories the family ruled varied from time to time, but Drivast seems to have been their center. In the 1380s, the Balšići had taken over Spani territory, along with much of the rest of northern Albania, all the way to Mirdita and Alessio.
After Alfonso V (r. 1416–1458) signed the Treaty of Gaeta with the Albanian leader Skanderbeg in 1451, he signed similar treaties with other chieftains from Albania: Gjergj Arianiti, Gjin Musachia, George Strez Balšić, Peter Spani, Paul Dukagjini, Thopia Musachi, Peter of Himara, Simon Zenevisi and Carlo Tocco who were all, like Skanderbeg, recognized as vassals of the Kingdom of Naples. In the early subdivisions of Albania during the Ottoman era, the region ruled by Pjetër Spani was known in Ottoman Turkish as Petrishpani or I-shpani. Of the branches that migrated to Venetian territories, the one in Venice became extinct by the late 16th century, while the Dalmatian branch mainly found in Korčula was elevated into the ranks of local nobility. In 1455, during the Ottoman conquest of Novo Brdo, Alessio Spani (Serbian: Љеш Спановић) was the last Serbian despot's voivode in the town.
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