Lekë III Dukagjini (died after 1481), commonly known as Lekë Dukagjini, was a 15th-century Albanian nobleman who ruled the Principality of Dukagjini from 1446 until the Ottoman conquest in 1479. A member of the Dukagjini family, he was a contemporary of Skanderbeg and participated in the Albanian resistance against the Ottoman Empire. Dukagjini is best known for the Code of Lekë Dukagjini, a code of customary law that bears his name and governed the tribes of northern Albania for centuries.
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Lek Dukagjini in the context of Albanian principalities
The term Albanian Principalities refers to a number of principalities (although they functioned more like a series of kingdoms) created in the Middle Ages in Albania and the surrounding regions in the western Balkans that were ruled by Albanian nobility. The 12th century marked the first Albanian principality, the Principality of Arbanon. It was later, however, in the 2nd half of the 14th century that these principalities became stronger, especially with the fall of the Serbian Empire after 1355. Some of these principalities were notably united in 1444 under the military alliance called League of Lezhë up to 1480 which defeated the Ottoman Empire in more than 28 battles. They covered modern day Albania, western and central Kosovo, Epirus, areas up to Corinth, western North Macedonia, southern Montenegro. The leaders of these principalities were some of the most noted Balkan figures in the 14th and 15th centuries such as Gjin Bua Shpata, Andrea II Muzaka, Gjon Zenebishi, Karl Topia, Andrea Gropa, Balsha family, Gjergj Arianiti, Gjon Kastrioti, Skanderbeg, Dukagjini family and Lek Dukagjini.