Blinishti family was an Albanian

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 feudal family from Northern Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 that appears in several documents of the 13-14th century AD. They were in control of a territory from Blinisht

Blinisht

Blinisht is a municipality in the Lezhë District, Lezhë County, northwestern Albania....

 (a settlement, that now belongs to the Lezhë District

Lezhë District

The District of Lezhë is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Lezhë County. It has a population of 77,184 , and an area of 479 km². It is in the north-west of the country, and its capital is Lezhë....

) to the highlands of northern Albania.

Its founder, Vlad Blinishti, first appears on sources in 1274 as a Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 stratiot

Stratioti

The Stratioti or Stradioti , were mercenary units from the Balkans recruited mainly by states of southern and central Europe from the 15th until the middle of the 18th century.-Name:The Greek term "στρατιώτης/-αι" and its various latinized forms, were in use since classical antiquity with...

. He allied himself with the Serbian King, and in 1279 was arrested from the captain of Durrës, which was then under Angevin rule. Later he was released and sent to Brindisi

Brindisi

Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...

 with the title "comes". His son, Gulielm Blinishti

Gulielm Blinishti

Gulielm Blinishti was an Albanian nobleman of the 13th and early 14th century from the Blinishti family.In 1304 after the proclamation of alliance between Albanians and Philip IV of France, he became marshal of the Angevin armies in Albania.-Sources:...

, became marshal of the Angevin armies in Albania. Another member of this family Kalojan Blinishti appears on sources with the title "comes". This feudal family was extinguished around 1330 as a result of various conflicts with neighboring Serbian kingdom and then emerging Dukagjini Family

Dukagjini Family

-Origins:The term "Ducagini d'Arbania" is first mentioned in a seventh-century document from Ragusa . According to this document, the Ducagini instigated a revolt against Byzantine rule in Bosnia and, in particular, in the city port of Ragusa where they were said to have intervened twice, coming de...

.