Summary: A document preserved in the archives of the Republic of Dubrovnik, dated 24 June 1784, describes how a violent conflict between the communities of Paštrovići and the Albanians of Spičani (Spizza, Spiç or Spica) in the region of Crmnica was resolved. Although the area lies within what is today Montenegro, the procedures and rituals described in the judgment closely resemble the Kanun tradition known from northern Albania. This suggests that the wider region around Crmnica formed part of a shared Albanian–Montenegrin sphere of customary law.

18th century customary law

Crmnica and the coastal–hinterland zone south of Cetinje historically formed a borderland between Slavic-speaking and Albanian-speaking populations. Several tribal communities in this zone, including Paštrovići, Spičani, and groups further south toward Shkodër, maintained legal practices that were almost identical to those later recorded in the Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit.
The 1784 settlement is a clear example of this continuity.

Elements of the 1784 settlement and similarities in the Albanian Kanun

In the village of Satonići, twenty-four local elders assembled beneath a poplar tree to investigate the blood feud and issue a formal decision. The procedures described match the rules of the Kanun on several points:

1. Assembly of elders (pleqësi).
   The case was judged by respected elders, just as the Kanun assigns the resolution of serious matters to a council of wise men. The involvement of a priest as scribe reflects the traditional coexistence of Christian religious authority and customary law.
   
2. Strict equivalence in blood compensation.
   The verdict declared “three dead heads for three,” a direct expression of the Kanun rule that a life must be matched by a life unless a settlement is negotiated.
   
3. Symbolic rituals of admission and reconciliation.
   The requirement that a maidservant appear with a rifle across her shoulders corresponds to rituals of public submission found in Kanun practices of reconciliation.
   
4. Monetary compensation.
   The payment of 120 ducats and an additional “brother’s gift” corresponds to the Kanun’s detailed system of fines, compensation, and ritual gifting.
   
5. Establishment of ritual brotherhood.
   The verdict required the giving of multiple godfathers to renew social bonds between the communities. This is directly comparable to the Kanun institution of ritual brotherhood, intended to prevent renewed violence.
   
6. Gift-giving in precious metals and other items.
   Items such as sequins appear frequently in highland settlements across northern Albania and its border regions, suggesting common cultural practice.

Implications

The 1784 settlement demonstrates that Kanun-type customary law was not limited to ethnically Albanian regions, but extended northward into Montenegro, especially in border zones such as Crmnica, Kuči, and the areas around Lake Skadar. Historians have long noted that before the consolidation of the Montenegrin state, the region’s communities relied on systems of customary justice and clan-based norms that were functionally identical across ethnic lines.

The Crmnica document shows that these communities conceived justice, honor, and reconciliation in terms that align far more closely with Albanian highland legal tradition than with medieval Slavic legal codes or early Montenegrin princely decrees. It highlights that the Montenegrin–Albanian frontier was never a rigid cultural boundary but a shared legal zone where similar customary mechanisms regulated conflict.

Conclusion

The blood-feud settlement of 24 June 1784 stands as clear evidence of Kanun-influenced customary law operating in Crmnica. The rituals, procedures, and compensatory mechanisms in the document align with northern Albanian legal tradition and point to a wider customary culture shared across the borderlands.

Footnotes

1. Dubrovnik (Zagreb: JAZU), archival record dated 24 June 1784.
2. Erdeljanović, Stara Crna Gora (1926), pp. 312–330.
3. Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, §§ 846–850.
4. Dubrovnik manuscript excerpt.
5. Backer, Berit, Behind Stone Walls (1996), pp. 43–45.
6. Kanun, §§ 604–610.
7. Backer, Behind Stone Walls, pp. 63–66.
8. Bogišić, Pravni običaji u Slovena (1898), pp. 112–115.
9. Duijzings, Religion and Identity in Kosovo (2000), pp. 24–27.
10. Lane, Venice: A Maritime Republic (1973), pp. 105–107.
11. Popov, Balkanski svetovi (1989), pp. 201–205.