Besa

What besa means

Besa is a promise that carries a person's honour with it. Once given, it is expected to hold whatever happens; the Albanian language even builds other words on it, such as besnik, meaning faithful or trustworthy. Boys have been named Besnik and girls Besa for a long time. A besa can be a small matter between two people or an agreement that binds whole tribes, and it asks for discretion as well as loyalty, since those who share it keep their business from outsiders. Sayings say the besa of an Albanian is not for sale and that Albanians would die before they break it.

Inside customary law

The Kanun, Albania's body of customary law, gives besa a central place. In the tribal society of the Malisors, the highlanders, it worked as an institution rather than a private virtue. It regulated dealings between tribes and inside them, and it let tribes swear joint oaths, for instance to resist a government or to defend their own autonomy. Assemblies could also stop feuds by agreeing to a besa. Ottoman officials understood its force and tried to turn it to their own ends, using it to enlist tribes in state policies or to close agreements.

Oaths and politics

From the late nineteenth century, besa became a tool of Albanian political life. In 1878 Albanians met at Prizren in Kosovo and swore a besa to form the League of Prizren, which sought to hold Ottoman territory together and stop neighbouring Balkan states from dividing Albanian lands. Other oaths followed: a rebellion in 1881, a league at Peja in 1899, pledges at Ferizaj in 1908 and 1910. Delegates at the Congress of Manastir in 1908 bound themselves to secrecy with a besa before choosing two alphabets for written Albanian. The Ottoman state watched such gatherings closely, worried about a general besa against it.

Wartime rescue

During the Second World War, when German forces occupied Albania, Albanians hid and saved more than 2,000 Jews who were being hunted by the Nazi authorities. Those who sheltered them pointed to besa as one reason: the pledge asks a person to help and protect others in danger and to keep that help secret. The story has since travelled far beyond Albania. The photographer Norman H. Gershman made an exhibition of portraits called Besa: A Code of Honor, and a documentary, Besa: The Promise, told the same story on film.

After the war

Besa has kept its place in public life. At Tuzi in Montenegro, families of the Malesia region met on 28 June 1970 as Beslidhja e Malësisë, the Pledge of the Highlands, with Catholic and Muslim clergy present, and agreed to end blood feuding and let state courts decide the fate of victims and offenders. Writers have returned to the idea: Sami Frashëri based an 1874 play on it, and Ismail Kadare used it as a theme in his 1980 novel Doruntine. From the 1980s to 1994 the Arvanite community in Greece put out a bimonthly paper carrying the name Besa, and in 2015 a party called Lëvizja Besa was founded in North Macedonia.

How Besa is kept

Anyone can give a besa, from one person to a whole assembly, and the pledge is spoken aloud rather than written down. A group that wants to act together gathers, often through representatives or notable men, and each side states what it is promising: to fight, to stop a feud, to keep a secret or to shelter someone. Once the word is given, breaking it brings shame, and the duty passes to the family as well as the individual. Kin and neighbours are expected to help hold the person to it, and the pledge lasts until what was promised has been done.

When and where

Besa has no season and no fixed day; it is given when it is needed. In the past that meant tribal assemblies, congresses over the Albanian alphabet, or the moment a stranger asked for shelter. One gathering in Montenegro chose 28 June 1970 for a public pledge to end blood feuds.

Besa belongs to Albania, where it grew inside the customary law of the tribes, and to Kosovo, where it was sworn at Prizren, Peja and Ferizaj during the late Ottoman years. Highlander families in Montenegro also keep it, as the 1970 pledge at Tuzi shows. Albanian communities elsewhere know the word as well.

What Besa means

To those who keep it, besa is more than a promise. It is a way of measuring a person: someone who gives it and keeps it is trusted, and someone who breaks it is not. The pledge is said to be sacred and inviolable, and it is treated as a bond that outlives the individual, since a family can inherit the duty to see it carried out. It also marks who is inside a group and who is not, because discretion toward outsiders is part of what it demands.

Questions people ask about Besa

See also

As-salamu alaykumA traditional Arabic greeting of peace exchanged in daily life and prayerKanunAlbanian customary law kept by word of mouth, centred on honour and the given wordBread and saltBread and salt offered to a guest: a welcome kept from Russia to AlbaniaSerbian ChristmasA three-day midwinter observance focused on oak logs, floor straw and family gatherings

Good reading and sources

• Besa (Albanian culture) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.