The
Albanian nobility was an elite hereditary ruling class in
Albania, parts of the western Balkans and later in parts of the Ottoman world. The Albanian nobility was composed of landowners of vast areas, often in allegiance to states like the
Byzantine Empire, various
Serbian states, the
Republic of Venice, the
Ottoman Empire and the
Kingdom of Naples in addition to the
Albanian principalities. They often used Byzantine, Latin or Slavic titles, such as
sebastokrator,
despot,
dux,
conte and
zupan.