Honour and the word given

Besa and the Kanun: the Albanian code of honour

Besa and the Kanun come up in every conversation about Albanian identity. This page sticks to what the sources say.

Updated

Short answer

Besa means keeping your promise. The Kanun is the customary law of the northern highlands, passed down orally, attributed to Lekë Dukagjini and first printed in full in 1933. It covers property, marriage, hospitality and, controversially, blood feuds.

Verified · checked on 25 Oct 2026

Source: Yad Vashem: Besa, a code of honor

What besa means

Verified · checked on 25 Oct 2026

Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, explains besa as a code of honour that means, literally, to keep the promise.

During the Second World War, Albanians sheltered Jews, and almost all Jews living in Albania survived. There were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than before it. As of 1 January 2024, Yad Vashem had recognised 75 Albanians as Righteous Among the Nations.

Sources: Yad Vashem: Besa, a code of honor · Yad Vashem: Righteous Among the Nations by country

What the Kanun is

Verified · checked on 25 Oct 2026

The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini is attributed to the nobleman of that name, but it more likely records the rules of the territory his family held, around today's Albania–Kosovo border. How old the rules are has not been determined.

It was passed down orally. Shtjefën Gjeçovi (1874–1929), a priest and folklorist from Janjeva in Kosovo, collected it. Parts appeared from 1913 in the journal Hylli i Dritës, and the full text was published in Shkodër in 1933, after his death. A bilingual edition with Leonard Fox's English translation came out in 1989.

It sets rules on property, marriage, hospitality and, most controversially, blood feuds.

Sources: University of Texas at Austin, LRC: the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini · Robert Elsie: Northern Albanian culture and the Kanun

Blood feuds today: the facts

Unknown · checked on 25 Oct 2026

We describe this because it is part of the history, not because it is a tradition to admire. In 2010 the UN expert on extrajudicial killings, Philip Alston, said feud killings in Albania have corrosive effects, with some families shutting themselves inside their homes for fear of revenge.

He also found that the number of feud killings had fallen and that some reported figures were clearly inflated. We have not found a reliable current count, so we do not give one.

Source: UN News, 23 Feb 2010: UN expert on blood feuds in Albania

Besa at home

Verified · checked on 25 Oct 2026

The best-known part of the Kanun for most families is its rules on guests, which still shape how Albanians welcome people. We cover them on the hospitality page.

Source: University of Texas at Austin, LRC: the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini

Frequently asked questions

What does besa mean?

Keeping your promise: your word of honour. Yad Vashem translates it literally as to keep the promise.

Did Albanians save Jews in the Second World War?

Yes. Almost all Jews in Albania survived, and by 1 January 2024 Yad Vashem had recognised 75 Albanians as Righteous Among the Nations.

Who wrote the Kanun?

No single author. It is customary law passed down orally, attributed to Lekë Dukagjini, and collected by Shtjefën Gjeçovi. The full text was published in 1933.

Are blood feuds still common?

A UN expert reported in 2010 that feud killings had fallen and some figures were inflated, while the fear still isolated some families. We have no reliable current count.

Sources

All sources checked on 25 Oct 2026. Anything we could not source was left out. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

More photos of Albanian traditions on Beatrika's Instagram: @traditat_shqiptaree ↗

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