The Kanun, also known as Kanû/-ja in Gheg Albanian, is a collection of traditional laws from Albanian tribal society. These laws have influenced many areas of life in Albanian communities for centuries.
For at least five hundred years, these laws were passed down only through spoken words by tribal elders. This oral tradition shows the laws are very old. The Kanun includes ideas from before Christianity and from the Christian era, showing how it has changed over time. It has been respected by Albanians as a powerful and unchanging set of rules, even though it is not religious. This respect may come from an older pagan system shared by all Albanian tribes. Scholars studying ancient languages, like those in Indo-European studies, see the Kanun as an important historical document. It includes legal practices that are similar to those of other ancient cultures, possibly from a shared early culture.
Over time, Albanian customary laws have been updated to match changes in society and the economy. Concepts like Besa and nderi, which mean honor, are central to these laws and guide how people behave personally and socially.
The first written version of these oral laws was created by the Ottoman government in the 19th century. In the 20th and 21st centuries, different regional laws were collected and published, including The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, The Kanun of Skanderbeg, and The Kanun of Labëria. During the communist era, the Albanian government banned these customs by law. However, after the 1990s, when government systems in Albania and Kosovo weakened, people began using these laws again. In Albania, these customs were especially common in matters related to property rights.
Name
The word "kanun" comes from the Greek word "kanon," which means "pole" or "rule." This term was passed from Greek to Arabic and then into early Turkish. It became widely used during the Ottoman Empire's rule. Among Albanians, "kanun" was used to describe something that was legal. If something was not legal, people would say, "the kanun doesn't give it." Customary law was called "kanun." Baroness Von Godin believed the Ottomans introduced the name "kanun," and the Albanian name "Lek" (similar to the Latin word "lex") was later seen as a name for a nobleman from the Dukagjini family.
Other terms from Turkish, such as "usull," "itifak," "adet," and "sharte," were also used. In Albanian, phrases like "rrugë" or "udhë" (meaning "way" or "path") were sometimes used. In areas like Martanesh and Çermenikë, the law was called "kanun." In Toskëria, it was known as "The Kanun of the Adet." In Labëria, it was called "The sharte of Idriz Suli." In the Bregu district, it was referred to as "Venomet e Himarës." However, in regions like Dibër, Kurbin, Bendë, and Tamadhe, it was called "zakon," which comes from the Slavic word "zakonъ." According to scholars like Çabej, Camaj, and Schmidt-Neke, the oldest Albanian word for customary law was "dokë," meaning "custom," "usance," or "tradition."
Origin
The Albanian customary law is an important part of Albanian literature that interests scholars studying Indo-European languages and cultures. It shows many old legal practices that were shared by other Indo-European peoples, possibly inherited from the Proto-Indo-European culture. Scholars have noted that laws about hospitality, family rights, marriage, blood feuds, and paying for harm are similar to laws found in ancient India, Greece, and Rome.
The Albanian Kanun, a set of customary laws, includes ideas from different time periods. It has traditions from before Christianity, such as ancestor worship, animism, and totemism, as well as influences from the Christian era. Comparing the Kanun to ancient Greek texts like the Iliad and Odyssey, Japanese scholar Kazuhiko Yamamoto found that both the Homeric Age in Greece and Albanian tribal society shared similar values, such as faith, honor, blood, revenge, food, and guest respect. British anthropologist Edith Durham believed the Kanun may have started during the Bronze Age. Some researchers think it may have developed from ancient Illyrian tribal laws.
Over time, Albanian customary laws changed and added new rules to match the needs of society during different periods, including classical times, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Some scholars describe the Kanun as a collection of traditions common in the Balkans and Mediterranean, but it should be seen as a unique "customary code" created by Albanian people to govern themselves, separate from laws imposed by rulers. This system can be called the "constitution" of a society without a formal government.
For at least 500 years until today, the Kanun was passed down only through spoken word by Albanian tribal elders. Keeping these laws orally for so long suggests they have ancient roots. When Shtjefën Gjeçovi wrote down the Kanun, he added notes that referenced Roman laws. Earlier laws from before the Roman Empire, still visible in the doke, show that an indigenous legal system survived the Roman rule.
History
Albanian traditions have been passed down through generations using memory systems that have remained unchanged even in modern times. This happened because Albanians and their ancestors, the Illyrians, never formed a central government and instead lived in societies organized by tribes. This made them different from ancient civilizations like Egypt, the Minoans, and the Mycenaeans, which created governments and changed their traditional practices. Some historical records show that the Roman and Byzantine empires allowed local communities to follow their own customs for self-governance. Over time, Albanian customs existed alongside Roman, Byzantine, religious, and later Ottoman laws. This helped mountain tribes keep their way of life, identity, and independence from outside rulers.
In religious matters, historical records show connections between Greco-Roman religious beliefs and Albanian customs. These links are visible during the rule of Illyrian emperors, such as Aurelian, who promoted the worship of the Sun; Diocletian, who helped stabilize the empire through a system called the Tetrarchy; Constantine the Great, who allowed religious freedom and held the First Council of Nicaea with leaders from Illyricum; and Justinian, who created the Corpus Juris Civilis and tried to establish an Illyrian Church, building cities like Justiniana Prima and Justiniana Secunda as centers of Byzantine rule.
The Byzantine Empire ruled over Albanians for many years, influencing them and other Balkan groups like the Serbs. In the 11th century, the Albanioi were mentioned as having the same legal rights as the Byzantines.
In the late Middle Ages, Albanian cities created laws that included rules from old customs, forming their own legal traditions and achieving local self-government. In the Statutes of Scutari, the word bessare is thought to be from Old Albanian and linked to the early Besa tradition. Historical records from Ragusa mention "the Albanian customs of the Balsha." Some scholars suggest that an article in Dušan's Code might have been an early attempt to control Albanian mountain customs, showing that such laws existed. Syrja Pupovci notes that while Dušan's Code and the Kanun share some similarities in rules about pastoral communities, the Kanun developed separately. She does not rule out the possibility of shared influences between tribal laws in Montenegro and Herzegovina.
In 1492, the Ottoman government officially recognized the Venome (Albanian customary law) in Himara for self-government, as it was the center of uprisings against the Ottomans. Around 1550, the Ottomans noted the local Canun of the Mountains as a customary law. In the 17th century, an anonymous writer in Venetian prepared a study titled Informazioni sopra origine e metodo delle arbitrarie in affari di sangue in Albania to help the Republic of Venice understand Albanian customs and align its laws with the Kanun. The Venetian Senate rejected the study, as it refused to recognize other laws in its provinces. At the same time, English travelers visiting Himara wrote about a strong customary law practiced by locals.
In his autonomous region, the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha enforced his own laws alongside Sharia for Muslims and Canon law for Christians. He rarely used local tribal laws. After taking control of Suli and Himara in 1798, he aimed to create a fair judicial system for all, replacing blood feuds with punishments like blood payments or expulsion. He also made an agreement with the Kurveleshi people to avoid trespassing on their lands, which were larger than their current territory. Since the 18th century, councils of elders have limited blood feuds in Labëria. The Kurveleshi region remains the last example of a tribal system among southern Albanians, governed by the Code of Zuli (Kanuni i Papa Zhulit/Zulit or Kanuni i Idriz Sulit).
During the Tanzimat reforms, the Ottoman government established the "Shkodra Mountains Commission" (Turkish: Iskodra Xhibali Komisi) in 1856–1858 to manage local customs in Shkodra and surrounding areas. The Commission focused on the Kanun of the Mountains with some Ottoman administrative elements. In 1863, the bylykbashi of Gruda requested the Kanun-i Jhibal, suggesting a codified version in Ottoman Turkish existed. Parts of this codification were published in 1894 in the salname of the Shkodra Vilayet, translated into Italian and French. Key issues addressed by the Ottoman administration included murder, blood feuds, reconciliation, blood money, hospitality, theft, and tribal disputes.
Development and usage
The Kanun of Lek Dukagjini is named after Lekë Dukagjini, a medieval prince who ruled in northern Albania. He organized the customary laws of the highlands. The code was written down in the 19th century by Shtjefën Gjeçovi. It was first published in the Hylli i Drites periodical in 1913. The complete version was released in 1933 after Gjeçovi's death in 1926.
Some historians believe that Gjeçovi's version is the only one that is accepted and written by Lekë Dukagjini. However, this is not correct. The Kanun has been debated for many years, and its rules have changed a lot since the 15th century. Lekë Dukagjini was the one who organized and named the Kanun.
The laws are said to belong to Lekë Dukagjini, but they have changed over time to help manage life in these areas. The Kanun is divided into 12 sections. Gjeçovi's version has 1,262 rules that cover many parts of mountain life, such as how families are organized, hospitality, family relationships, land use, and marriage. The values of Besa (personal honor) and nderi (family honor) are very important in the code. These values guide how people behave. The Kanun applies to both Christian and Muslim Albanians.
Some of the Kanun's most debated rules, especially in Book 10, Section 3, explain how to handle murder. In the past, and sometimes now, this led to long-lasting blood feuds where families would fight until all men from both families were dead. According to tribal laws, the family of the victim must seek blood vengeance, following the rule "head for a head." Women are often not treated as important targets in these rules. In some areas, the Kanun is similar to the Italian vendetta. These rules became
Codifications
The first known written version of Albanian oral customary law is called Lek Dukagin Kanunu ("The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini"), created by the Ottoman administration and published in 1872 in Prizren. It was written in Ottoman Turkish. During the 20th and 21st centuries, Albanian oral customary laws were collected from different regions and published as follows:
- The Old Kanun (Kanun i vjetër, Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit); The Kanun of Mirdita (Kanuni i Mirditës); The Kanun of Pukë (Kanuni i Pukës);
- The Kanun of Skanderbeg (Kanuni i Skënderbeut), also called The Kanun of Arbëria (Kanuni i Arbërisë); The Kanun of Dibra (Kanuni i Dibrës);
- The Kanun of Çermenikë (Kanuni i Çermenikës);
- The Kanun of Labëria (Kanuni i Labërisë), also called The Kanun of Papa Zhuli (Kanuni i Papa Zhulit) or Kanun of Idriz Suli (Kanuni i Idriz Sulit).
Translations
German Baroness Marie Amelie von Godin worked with Eqrem Vlora to translate the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini into German, starting in 1938. This translation was based on an earlier Albanian version created by Gjeçovi. The German version was published in the 1950s, near the time of von Godin's death. In 2001, her work was republished by Robert Elsie, with an introduction by Michael Schmidt-Neke. An Italian translation of the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini was published in 1941, translated by Franciscan Pal Dodaj and edited by Gjergj Fishta and Giuseppe Schirò. It included an introduction by Federico Pateta and was republished in 2009 with an introduction by Donato Martucci. A dual English-Albanian version of the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini was published in 1989 and again in 1992. An Italian translation of the Kanun of Skanderbeg was published in 2017, translated by Genc Lafe and edited by Donato Martucci.
Content
The Kanun is built on four main ideas:
- Honour (Albanian: Nderi)
- Hospitality (Albanian: Mikpritja)
- Right Conduct (Albanian: Sjellja)
- Kin Loyalty (Albanian: Fis)
The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini has 12 books and 1,262 articles. Each book has sections that cover different topics.
Kanun in literature and film
Albanian writer Ismail Kadare mentions the Kanun in several of his books. The Kanun is the main topic in his novel Broken April. He also talks about the Kanun in his novel Komisioni i festës (The Celebration Commission), where he describes the Monastir massacre of 1830 as a conflict between the Albanian Kanun and the Ottoman Empire. In his book Eskili, ky humbës i madh (Aeschylus, this big loser), Kadare notes that the Kanun has similarities to revenge traditions in Mediterranean countries.
Barbara Nadel’s book Deep Waters refers to the Kanun and Gjakmarrja.
Joshua Marston’s 2011 film The Forgiveness of Blood is a drama set in modern-day Albania. It shows a blood feud between two families in northern Albania and focuses on how the feud affects the children of one family.
In season 6, episode 9 of Law & Order: Criminal Intent ("Blasters"), the Kanun is mentioned as a reason for a group of Albanian assassins to suddenly retreat.
The Kanun plays an important role in the Belgian movie Dossier K.
Elvira Dones’ book Sworn Virgin discusses the Kanun and the practice of women swearing to remain celibate in exchange for being accepted as men by their village.
During one of his TV shows, Reizen Waes, Belgian TV maker Tom Waes visited Albania. He was served spit-roasted goat, and he was offered the goat’s head, following Kanun rules about honoring guests.
The Kanun is mentioned in The Closer; season 6, episode 14, which covers an investigation into an Albanian blood feud.