Helena Thopia

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Helena Thopia (* after 1363 ; † after 1402 ) was an Albanian princess from the Thopia noble family . She was the daughter of Karl Thopia and Voisava Balšić ', a daughter of the powerful dynast Balša I.

Life

Kruje fortress

She was married to Marco, son of Marino Barbarigo (also Barbadigo), a Venetian patrician, and had received the important Kruja Castle as a dowry . The stronghold was considered the avant-garde of Durrës , where a fire was lit day and night. She and her husband proved to be friends of Venice by signaling the arrival of Ottoman troops. Therefore, after the death of Helena's brother Georg in 1392 , the Republic of Venice was ready to give Barbarigo as their vicar his fief . Barbarigo became an Ottoman vassal in May 1394 . This act caused the republic to declare the Barbarigo unworthy of remaining in the rule of Kruja. Venice gave Barbarigo three months to appear before the Signoria and threatened him if he refused to take strict action against him (July 1394). A Venetian document dated September 25, 1394 shows that the captain of Durrës was asked by the Venetian Senate to take action against Helena, "uxorem Marci Barbadico". In the meantime, Barbarigo had found refuge in the lands of Đurađ II. Balšić and thus temporarily escaped the Venetian criminal justice system , but finally came as a prisoner to Durrës, where he was executed as a rebel by the Venetians in 1402.

Konstantin Kastrioti (son of Pal Kastrioti ), Helena’s second husband, appears as the new master of Kruja in 1394 . On February 14, 1395, Venice commissioned a nuncio to have Kruja returned from the "dominum Croyae". But Constantine was probably in a good relationship with the Ottomans, in whose hands he probably gave the stronghold, because in a document of June 8, 1395 it is mentioned "in manibus Turcorum". On July 8th, Venice informed the captain of Durrës that a certain Antonio from Civitate Nova offered to regain the castle of Kruja, which was in Constantine's hands. But the negotiations did not lead to any goal, because on September 25, 1396 the Venetian Provveditore , who was sent to Albania, was instructed, among other things, to see whether the stronghold of Kruje, which was in the hands of the Protovestiarius [Constantine], could be got back . Constantine was executed as a rebel by the Venetians in Durrës in 1402.

Until July 8, 1403, nothing more was heard of the stronghold than Count Niketa Thopia (also Niketta or Nicheta), second cousin of Helena, father-in-law of Balša III. Stracimirović , Mr. von Kruje, was named in a document from the Venetian Senate to a monk, Ambassador of Niceta. From this document it emerges that Niketa, who unjustly occupied the castle of Kruja, was to receive an annual pension of 100 ducats on condition that, as a loyal friend of Venice, he hoist the flag of San Marco and as a sign of vassalage to the captain of Durrës to deliver two hawks a year on Saint Michael's Day . When Niketa died in 1415, Kruja fell into the hands of the Ottomans and was ruled by the Ottoman governor Balabanbeg, Subaša (Ottoman governor's title) of Kruja, while the nearest neighborhood was ruled by Gjon I. Kastrioti .

literature

  • Skënder Anamali, Kristaq Prifti: Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime . Botimet Toena, Tirana 2002, ISBN 99927-1-622-3 , p. 251-252 .
  • Ludovicus de Thallóczy , Constantinus Jireček, Emilianus de Sufflay: Acta and Diplomata Res Albaniae Medien Aetatis illustrantia 1344–1406 . tape II . Adolphi Holzhausen, Vienna 1916 (Latin, bnf.fr ).

Remarks

  1. ↑ Konstantin was, Protovestiario (politician), lord of Signa (Serin) in 1391, lord of Kruja from 1395 to 1401 and was beheaded in Durrës in 1402.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Johann Georg von Hahn: Journey through the areas of the Drin un Wardar . Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1867, p. 304 ( online version in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ Ateneo Veneto: revista di scienze, lettere ed arti . A. Pellizzato, Venice 1908, p. 20 (Italian, archive.org ).
  3. ^ Ateneo Veneto: revista di scienze, lettere ed arti, p. 86
  4. ↑ General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts . First Section AG. Hermann Brockhaus, Leipzig 1868, p. 93 ( online preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ Acta and Diplomata Res Albaniae Medien Aetatis illustrantia 1344–1406, Volume II, p. 137
  6. ^ A b c Ludwig von Thallóczy : Illyrisch-Albanische Forschungen . tape 2 . Duncker & Humblot, Munich 1916, p. 134 ( archive.org ).
  7. ^ Medieval lineage of the Kastrioti. castriotascanderbeg.it, accessed October 6, 2011 (Italian).
  8. ↑ Acta and Diplomata Res Albaniae Medien Aetatis illustrantia 1344-1406, Volume II, p. 139
  9. ↑ a b Acta and Diplomata Res Albaniae Medien Aetatis illustrantia 1344-1406, Volume II, p. 141
  10. ↑ Acta and Diplomata Res Albaniae Medien Aetatis illustrantia 1344-1406, Volume II, p. 156
  11. ^ Archives for Slavic Philology . tape 17 . Weidmann, Berlin 1895, p. 566 .
  12. ^ Ateneo Veneto: revista di scienze, lettere ed arti, p. 87
personal data
SURNAME Thopia, Helena
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Elena Thopia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION albanian princess
DATE OF BIRTH after 1363
DATE OF DEATH after 1403