Balša II.

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Balšić coat of arms

Balša II. ( Albanian  Ballsha II. , † September 18, 1385 in the Battle of Savra ) was a prince from the Balšić family .

Life

Zeta from 1372-1378

After the death of his father Balša I , the Lord of Zeta , in 1362, he ruled together with his brothers Stracimir and Đurađ I (in English Georg) over Shkodra (in today's northern Albania ), Bar , Kotor and Ulcinj (in today's Montenegro ), Trau and Šibenik (in today's Croatia ).

After the death of his brother Đurađ in 1378 he became sole ruler of the family property by imprisoning his nephew Đurađ II. Balšić , who was actually a co-heir. In the Zeta, Balša II put down a revolt of various nobles. He made the noble families Muzaka and Dukagjin in Albania his vassals .

Since 1382 Balša II waged war against his brother-in-law Karl Thopia , from whom he was able to wrest the important port city of Durrës in 1385 (in other sources: 1383) , which represented the high point of the Balšić . Balša adorned herself with the title Dux Dyrrachii . It seemed as if he could soar to the sole ruler of a principality that stretched from Montenegro to Himara in the south of what is now Albania.

In the battle of Savra in the Myzeqe on the Vjosa on September 18, 1385, however, Karl Thopia with Ottoman help got the upper hand. Balša II was killed and his head was brought to the Ottoman capital Edirne as a trophy .

The principality was divided between the widow Comita Muzaka (sister of Theodor II. Muzaka ) and Đurađ II, who had escaped from captivity. Comita ruled over Vlora , Kanina , Himara and Berat in the south, while the Zeta and the region around Skadar fell to Đurađ II (1385-1403). Comita Muzaka ruled from Berat until her death in 1396. Her daughter Ruđina Balšić, Duchess of Vlora, Kanina, Himara and Berat was able to hold the area until 1417, when it was conquered by the Ottomans and she had to flee to Corfu .

See also

Web links

literature

  • General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts . First Section A – G, Part 86. Hermann Brockhaus, Leipzig 1868, p. 42 f . ( Online version in Google Book Search).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edwin E. Jacques: The Albanians. An ethnic history from prehistoric times to the present . Ed .: MacFarland. Jefferson, 1995, ISBN 0-89950-932-0 , pp. 167 (English).
  2. ↑ a b General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts, p. 42
  3. ^ William Miller: Essays on the Latin Orient . University Press, Cambridge 2015, ISBN 978-1-107-45553-5 , pp. 435 (English, online preview in Google Book Search).
  4. ↑ Balšić in: Treccani , Enciclopedia Italiana online, accessed on November 8, 2016
  5. ↑ Revista bimestrale di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti . Ateneo Veneto, Venice 1908, p. 17 (Italian).
  6. ↑ a b Edwin E. Jacques, p. 169

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Balša II.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Zeta prince from the Balšić family
DATE OF BIRTH 14th Century
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1385
Place of death Savra