Progonos Sgouros

Progonos Sgouros (Albanian: Progon Skura, Greek: Πρόγονος Σγουρός;fl. 1294–1300) was a late 13th-century Byzantine senior military commander from Principality of Arbanon (Medieval Albania) with the rank of megas hetaireiarches.^[1] He was lord of Ohrid during the Byzantine Empire's territorial control over the city.^[2]

Gambros - Lord of Ohrid Progonos Sgouros
Inscription in Greek from the year 1295 mentioning Progonos and his wife Eudokia in the St. Mary Perivleptos church in Ohrid.
Native name	Progon Skura
Allegiance	Byzantine Empire
Years of service	late 13th century
Rank	megas hetaireiarches
Unit	Imperial Hetaireia
Spouse(s)	Eudokia

Biography

Progonos Sgouros was an Albanian from Durrës (Byzantine Dyrrhachion) and belonged to the prominent Skuraj family.^{[note 1][note 2][note 3][note 4]} He was married to Eudokia, a female relative of Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328), becoming a gambros of the Byzantine emperor.^[1]

Around 1294–1295, he restored the Church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid, at the time under Byzantine rule,^[7] which later came to be known as St. Clement after Saint Clement of Ohrid.^[8][9] Progonos donated an Iconostasis of 8 panels, together with an icon of the Virgin Peribleptos of which only a fragment survived, with the iconostasis depicting the main feasts of the Church.^[10] The works were painted by Eutychios and Michael Astrapas, from Thessaloniki.^[11] A portrait of Saint Astius in the church was likely donated by him as a symbol of the close ties between Durrës and Ohrid.^[5]

In 1296, during Stefan Milutins invasion of Northern Albania, Progonos would be given command of an Albanian-Byzantine army which would engage the Serbian king somewhere between Ohrid and Tetovo. The battle would result in a victory for Progonos.^[12]

Within the church, an inscription mentions Progonos and his wife Eudokia in Greek:^[13]

"This divine shrine of the most holy Lady Mother of God Peribleptos was built with the help and expenses of Monsignor Progon Zguros, the Great Etheriarch and his wife Mrs. Eudokia, the son-in-law of our most powerful and pious, the emperor of the Romans, Andronicus Palaeologus…”^[13]

References

Footnotes

1. "La chiesa della Madre di Dio Periblepta, chiamata oggi San Clemente, a Ocrida, fu decorata nel 1295 per cura del grande eteriarca bizantino Arbanas Progon Sgouros, strettamente imparentato con la famiglia imperiale tramite matrimonio." tr. "The church of the Mother of God Periblepta, today called St. Clement, in Ohrid, was decorated in 1295 by the great Byzantine heteriarch Arbanas Progon Sgouros, closely related to the imperial family by marriage."^[3]
2. "An Albanian by the name of Progon Sgouros (Πρόγονος τοũ Σγούρου) and with the title of hetaireiarches restored the church of St. Clement of Ochrida about 1295."^[4]
3. Gozdanov also notes, rightly, that the prominent position of St. Asteios' portrait at St. Clement of Ohrid may also be associated with Progon Sgouros, the commissioning patron originating from Dyrrachion, and with the intention to highlight visually the close ecclesiastical ties between Dyrrachion and Ohrid.^[5]
4. "Dieses Kloster befand sich eine Zeitlang im Besitz der Skuraj, einer bekannten albanischen Adelsfamilie. Ein Angehöriger dieses Geschlechts, Progon Skura, war Auftrag - geber der Fresken in der Klemens - Kirche in Ohrid" tr. "This monastery was for a time owned by the Skuraj, a well-known Albanian noble family. A member of this family, Progon Skura, commissioned the frescoes in the Church of St. Clement in Ohrid" ^[6]

Citations

1. Kalopissi-Verti (1994), p. 139; Nicol (1986), p. 161; Velmans (2006), p. 25.
2. Constantinides (1992), p. 283.
3. Velmans (2006), p. 25.
4. Nicol (1986), p. 161 (Note #87).
5. Christidou (2014), pp. 166.
6. Daum (1998), p. 105.
7. Nicol (1986), p. 161; Sakellariou (1992), p. 346.
8. The Hellenic Ministry of Culture (1998).
9. Kalopissi-Verti (1994), p. 139; Sakellariou (1992), p. 338.
10. Rice & Rice (1974), pp. 34, 45.
11. Constantinides (1992), p. 283; Sakellariou (1992), p. 346.
12. Historia e popullit shqiptar I, Mesjeta. Toena. 2002.
13. KOHA.net, Albanians facing their heritage (2024).

Sources

• Christidou, Anna (2014). "Political 'expedience' and peripheral saints: assimilating St. Asteios of Dyrrachion in the Byzantine Orthodox tradition". Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 38 (2). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (CUP): 141–167. doi:10.1179/0307013114Z.00000000042. ISSN 0307-0131. S2CID 153766631.
• Constantinides, Efthalia C. (1992). The Wall Paintings of the Panagia Olympiotissa at Elasson in Northern Thessaly. Vol. 1. Athens, Greece: Canadian Archaeological Institute at Athens. OCLC 27359497.
• Daum, Werner, ed. (1998). Albanien zwischen Kreuz und Halbmond [Albania between Cross and Crescent] (in German). München, Innsbruck: Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde ; Pinguin. ISBN 978-3-7016-2461-4. OCLC 43308320.
• Kalopissi-Verti, Sophia (1994). Grabar, André (ed.). "Les peintres de la société byzantine tardive : les traces des inscriptions religieuses" [Painters in Late Byzantine Society: The Evidence of Church Inscriptions]. Cahiers Archéologiques: Fin de l'Antiquité et Moyen Âge. 42. Paris, France: Picard: 139.
• "Albanians facing their heritage in neighboring countries". KOHA.net. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
• Nicol, Donald (1986) [1971]. "Byzantium and Greece". In Jeffreys, Elizabeth; Haldon, John; Cormack, Robin (eds.). Studies in Late Byzantine History and Prosopography. London: Variorum Reprints. pp. 2–20. ISBN 0-86078-190-9. LCCN 87134362. OCLC 13670265.
• Rice, David Talbot; Rice, Tamara Talbot (1974). Icons and their history. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. ISBN 978-0-87951-021-3. OCLC 1112962.
• Sakellariou, Michael (1992). Macedonia, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Historikoi Hellēnikoi chōroi. Translated by Turner, Hillary Louise; Athanassiadi-Fowden, Polymnia. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon. OCLC 66149663.
• Hellenic Ministry of Culture (1998). "Ohrid – St Kliment". Late Byzantine World, 1204–1453. Athens, Greece: Foundation of the Hellenic World. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
• Velmans, Tania (2006). L'Arte Monumentale Bizantina [Byzantine Monumental Art] (in Italian). Milan, Italy: Jaca Book. ISBN 978-88-16-60355-4. OCLC 181642392.