Balšić

Coat of arms of the Balšići

The Balšići ( Serbian - Cyrillic Балшићи or Albanian Balsha ) were a south- east European noble family from the Zeta . They played an important role in the history of the region on the southeastern Adriatic coast in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Origin and boom

The first Balsha mentioned in 1304 was a Matteo at the Serbian royal court. The house appears around 1350 as followers of Tsar Stefan. A member of the sex is the owner of a village as a minor nobleman in the Zeta. This Balša I. served as a commander in the army of the Serbian tsar.

Little is known about the origin of the family, so there are different opinions about it. You see certain sources in the French Provence . Robert Elsie speaks of a “probably Slavic descent”. The German linguist Gustav Weigand assumes a mixture of Albanian and Aromanian origins after finding the surname on a list of old Albanian names in Romania, while Noel Malcolm mentions an Albanian-Slavic mixture of the family. This corresponds to the presentation by Oliver Jens Schmitt :

“Soon, however, the dominant position of the Balsha emerged, who, from dark beginnings, gained control over the confessional and ethnic symbiosis of the Zeta. They themselves were a product of this amalgamation of Albanian with Slavic and Romance elements, which is precisely why their ethnic origin can hardly be determined by modern science. It is pointless to speculate about an ethnic Albanian, Serbian or Wlachian origin if the result serves more today's interests than the understanding of the northern Albanian cultural area. "

Ivan Stepanovich Yastrebov (1839-1894), Russian consul in Shkodra and Prizren , associated the name with the ancient Roman city of Balec , which was near present-day Shkodra.

Balša I. knew how to use the turmoil after the death of Stefan Dušan and the collapse of the empire. By 1360 he had built up a larger area of rule in the Shkodra area ; In 1362 he left this territory in the Zeta to his three sons Stracimir, Georg and Balša II .

Expansion of power

The three sons of Balša I, Stracimir, Đurađ (Georg) and Balša II, ruled the inherited principality together since 1362. In addition to the capital Shkodra, this also included the cities of Ulcinj and Kotor , as well as Trogir and Šibenik in southern Dalmatia , with the latter three only being more or less loosely dependent on the Balšići. 1365-1367 the Balšić brothers were allied with the Republic of Ragusa and war was successfully waged against other local feudal lords of the Zeta.

The Balšići "wavered" between Orthodox and Catholic beliefs. In order to be more politically respected in the Holy See , the Balšići decided in 1368 to adopt the Roman Catholic faith. Therefore they contacted Pope Urban V on. After pledging allegiance to the Roman Church and undertaking to protect the rights of the Catholic Bishop of Kotor , they were admitted to the Roman Church in 1369. In the following years the Roman Church negotiated several times with the Balšići about the reorganization of the church system in their principality.

As head of the family, Đurahaupt Balšić (Stracimir had since died) concluded an alliance with the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović , the Bosnian King Tvrtko I , Nikola Gorjanski and King Ludwig I of Hungary, who was directed against Nikola Altomanović , Prince of Herzegovina , his army completely defeated the allies in 1373. Đurađs profit from this war were the places Trebinje , Konavlje and Dracevica . Later it came because of these places to disputes with Tvrtko, who made the Balšići the spoils of war dispute.

Dominion of the Balšić from 1372 to 1378

In the seventies of the 14th century, the Balšići expanded their power through various campaigns to central and southern Albania, where they were able to conquer the port city of Vlora , among other things . Ottoman attacks and Venetian intrigues weakened the power of the dynasty, so that Djuradj II ceded his most important areas and the city of Skadar to Venice in 1396 . After Đurađs death, Balša II ruled alone from 1378. He made an unsuccessful attempt to take Kotor and waged war in the south against Karl Thopia , who called the Ottomans against Balša II to help. In 1385 he died in the Battle of Savra . Balša III. (1403–1421), the last male descendant of the family, tried unsuccessfully to gain influence.

In the Zeta, the Balšići ruled until 1421, when with Balša III. the direct male line of the sex died out. Balša III. bequeathed his domain to his uncle Stefan Lazarević . The decline of the Balšići favored the rise of the Crnojević dynasty .

In 1444 members of the family took part in the League of Lezha under the leadership of Skanderbeg . They were probably the descendants of another Balšić named Gjergj, an illegitimate son of the aforementioned Georg Balšić. This second Gjergj is attested as a citizen of Venice in 1393 .

Family relationships

Balša I († 1362), prince of Zeta
1. Stracimir , prince of Zeta ⚭ 1) Irene Duklina, daughter of Progon Dukagjini , Albanian prince, 2) Milica, daughter of Vukašin , king of the Serbs and Greeks
  1. Đurađ II. († 1403), prince of Zeta ⚭ 1386 Jelena, daughter of Lazar , prince of Serbia
    1. Balša III. (1386–1421), Prince of Zeta ⚭ Mara, granddaughter of Karl Thopia (see below)
      1. Jelena († around 1453) ⚭ Stjepan Vukčić Kosača , Prince of Herzegovina
        
        Vladislav Hercegović (1426 / 27–1487 / 89), Prince of Herzegovina
        
        Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić (1424–1478) ⚭ Stjepan Tomaš Kotromanić , King of Bosnia († 1461)
        
        Vlatko Hercegović (1426 / 26–1489), Prince of Herzegovina
      2. Son, name has not been passed down
      3. Theodora (Dorothea)
2. Đurađ I. († 1378), prince of Zeta ⚭ 1) before 1364 Olivera, daughter of Vukašin, king of the Serbs and Greeks, 2) after 1371 Theodora Dragaš, daughter of Dejan and sister of Konstantin Dragaš , Serbian prince
  1. Jelisaveta († 1443)
    1. Child, name not passed down
    2. Jelena
  2. Goisava († 1398) ⚭ Radič Sanković , Bosnian prince
  3. Jevdokija ⚭ Esau de 'Buondelmonti , Prince of Epirus († 1411)
    1. Giorgio de 'Buondelmonti († after 1453), Prince of Epirus
  4. Konstantin Balša († 1402), Ottoman vassal in Kruja , who called himself "King of Albania" ⚭ Helena Thopia , daughter of Karl Thopia (see below)
    1. Child, name not passed down
      1. Stefan Balša (Stefan de Maramonte)
    2. Đorđe
    3. Child, name not passed down
  5. Đurađ / Gjergj (illegitimate)
3. Balša II. (* 1362; † September 18, 1385 in the Battle of Savra ), Prince of Zeta ⚭ Comita Muzaka († 1396), daughter of Andrea II. Muzaka
  1. Ruđina, Duchess of Vlora , Kanina , Himara and Berat ⚭ 1391 Mrkša Žarković († 1414)
4. Vojisava ⚭ Karl Thopia , Albanian prince († 1387)
  1. Georg Thopia , Albanian prince
  2. Helena Thopia , Albanian princess
  3. Voislava Thopia

literature

Greek history , in: Johann Samuelersch, Johann Gottfried Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste . Leipzig 1868. Theil 86, here pp. 42–43 ( digitized version )
Peter Bartl: Balšići , in: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Vol. 1. Munich 1974, pp. 130-132

Web links

Commons : Balšić noble family - collection of images, videos and audio files

Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Montenegro, Balšići
Balša II Balšić - Family tree. Accessed March 19, 2018 (English).
Zeta (Duklja) under the second Montenegrin dynasty, the Balsic (1356-1427)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Peter Bartl: Balšići. In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe. Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, accessed on January 2, 2018 .
↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt : The Venetian Albania (1392–1479) (= Southeast European Works . Volume 110 ). Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-56569-9 , pp. 185 .
^ Robert Elsie: A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History . IB Tauris, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3 , pp. 27 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
^ Noel Malcolm: Kosovo: a short history . Macmillan, 1998, ISBN 978-0-333-66612-8 , pp. 62, 368 (accessed June 7, 2016).
↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 189
↑ Albanian Academy of Sciences (ed.): The Albanians and Their Territories . 8 Nëntori, Tirana 1985: "Whereas, JS Jastrebov when speaking of the Balshaj of Shkodra calls then Balesium, Balezza, Balezum, Balezo and adds that the Greeks in Dukel74 called them Barizi."
↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 90
↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 186 f.
^ Edwin E. Jacques: The Albanians. An ethnic history from prehistoric times to the present . Ed .: MacFarland. Jefferson, 1995, ISBN 0-89950-932-0 , pp. 174 .

[leibniz-1] Peter Bartl: Balšići. In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe. Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, accessed on January 2, 2018 .

[2] Oliver Jens Schmitt : The Venetian Albania (1392–1479) (= Southeast European Works . Volume 110 ). Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-56569-9 , pp. 185 .

[3] Robert Elsie: A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History . IB Tauris, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3 , pp. 27 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[Malcolm-4] Noel Malcolm: Kosovo: a short history . Macmillan, 1998, ISBN 978-0-333-66612-8 , pp. 62, 368 (accessed June 7, 2016).

[5] Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 189

[6] Albanian Academy of Sciences (ed.): The Albanians and Their Territories . 8 Nëntori, Tirana 1985: "Whereas, JS Jastrebov when speaking of the Balshaj of Shkodra calls then Balesium, Balezza, Balezum, Balezo and adds that the Greeks in Dukel74 called them Barizi."

[7] Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 90

[8] Oliver Jens Schmitt, p. 186 f.

[9] Edwin E. Jacques: The Albanians. An ethnic history from prehistoric times to the present . Ed .: MacFarland. Jefferson, 1995, ISBN 0-89950-932-0 , pp. 174 .