Balšić noble family
Balšić Балшићи | |
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Country |
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Estates |
(southern Montenegro, northern Albania)
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Titles |
gospodar (lord) autokrator (self-ruler) |
Founded | before 1355, by Balša I |
Final ruler | Balša III (1403–1421) |
Dissolution | 1421 (possessions passed to Despot Stephen) |
The BalÅ¡ić (Serbian Cyrillic: Балшић, pl. Балшићи/BalÅ¡ići; Latin: Balsich ; Albanian: Balsha) was a noble family that ruled "Zeta and the coastlands" (southern Montenegro and northern Albania), from 1362 to 1421, during and after the fall of the Serbian Empire. BalÅ¡a, the founder, was a petty nobleman who held only one village during the rule of Emperor DuÅ¡an the Mighty (r. 1331-1355), and only after the death of the emperor, his three sons gained power in Lower Zeta after acquiring the lands of gospodin Žarko (fl. 1336-1360) under unclear circumstances, and they then expanded into Upper Zeta by murdering voivode and Äelnik ÄuraÅ¡ Ilijić (r. 1326-1362†). Nevertheless, they were acknowledged as oblastni gospodari of Zeta in edicts of Emperor UroÅ¡ the Weak (r. 1355-1371). The family is known to have seized control through trickery, such as against the Dukagjini family, and many people were deported or murdered. After the death of UroÅ¡ (1371), the family feuded with the MrnjavÄevići, who controlled Macedonia. In 1421, BalÅ¡a III, on his death, passed the rule of Zeta to his uncle, Despot Stephen "the Tall"' Lazarević.
History
Origin
The Balšić family was first mentioned in a charter of Emperor Stephen Uroš V of Serbia, dated 29 September 1360. Due to sources having nothing reliable to say about their ancestors, there has been speculation on their origin, which some deem unknown.[1][2][3] Apart from Mavro Orbini's tale, there are really no other accounts on their origin.[4] In oral tradition, they descended via Grand Prince Vukan Nemanjić.[5] There exist fragmental assertions that they descended from "Emperor Nemanja".[4] The oldest mention of a Balšić is from 1304, when Serbian Queen Helen of Anjou sent a letter in Slavic through her trustee Matija Balšić from Bar (Mata de Balsich de Antibaro) to Ragusa.[6] A theory is that this Balšić married a female member of the Nemanjić royal family, and thus established the noble family of Balšić.[7] There has been various opinions about the family's origin.[8]
Karl Hopf (1832-1873) considered "unquestionably part of the Serb tribe".[9] Ivan Stepanovich Yastrebov (1839–1894), Russian Consul in Shkodër and Prizren, when speaking of the BalÅ¡ići, connected their name to the Roman town of Balletium (BaleÄ) located near modern Shkodër.[10] According to ÄŒedomilj Mijatović (1842–1934), the BalÅ¡ić family had ultimate origin in the House of Baux from Provence (southeastern France); from that family sprung an Italian family (del Balzo), and from them the BalÅ¡ići, and from them a Romanian family.[11] Serbian historian Vladimir Ćorović (1885-1941) concluded, based on their name, that they had Roman (Vlach) origin.[12] Croatian ethnologist Milan Å ufflay (1879–1931) mentioned them as of "Romanian and Vlach origin".[9] Croatian linguist Petar Skok considered them to have been of Vlach origin, and Serbian historian Milena Gecić supported his theory.[11] Giuseppe Gelcich theorized on the origin in his La Zedda e la dinastia dei BalÅ¡idi: studi storici documentati (1899). The theory asserting them as descendants of the Frankish nobleman Bertrand III of Baux, a companion of Charles d'Anjou is regarded as highly improbable.[13] German linguist Gustav Weigand (1860–1930) alleged a mixed Albanian-Aromanian origin after he noted that the family name was included in a list of early Albanian surnames in Romania.[13]
In modern scholarship John Fine,[14] Donald Nicol,[15] Peter Bartl[16] view the origin of the Balšić family as Serbian, while Robert Elsie mentions them as of "probably Slavic origin".[17] Noel Malcolm suggests a dual Serbo-Albanian identity.[13]
Early history
According to Mavro Orbini (writing in 1601), BalÅ¡a, the eponymous founder, was a petty nobleman that held only one village in the area of Lake Skadar during the rule of Emperor DuÅ¡an the Mighty (r. 1331-1355). Only after the death of the emperor, BalÅ¡a and his three sons gained power in Lower Zeta after acquiring the lands of gospodin Žarko (fl. 1336-1360) and by murdering voivode and Äelnik ÄuraÅ¡ Ilijić (r. 1326-1362†), the holders of Lower and Upper Zeta, respectively.[18] BalÅ¡a dies the same year, and his sons, the BalÅ¡ić brothers, continue in ruling the province spanning Podgorica, Budva, Bar and Skadar.[18]
The Balšići managed to elevate themselves from petty nobility to provincial lords.[19]
Heads


Zeta [Zoomed].
- Balša (I) (fl. 1360–62)
- ÄuraÄ‘ I (1362–1378), [Lord of] Skadar (Shkodër)
- BalÅ¡a II (1378–1385), [Lord of] Skadar and DraÄ (Durrës)
- ÄuraÄ‘ II (1385–1403), [Lord of] Skadar, Budva, Podgorica, DraÄ, Drivast and LjeÅ¡ (Lezhë), Autokrat of Zeta and the coastlands
- Balša III (1403–1421), [Lord of] Bar
Family tree
Simplified family tree:
- Balša (I) (fl. 1360–62)
- Stracimir
- ÄuraÄ‘ I, married Olivera MrnjavÄević (1st) and Teodora Dejanović (2nd)
- Jelisaveta or Jelisanta (d. 1443), Olivera's daughter
- Gojslava or Goisava (d. 1398), married RadiÄ Sanković, lord of Nevesinje, Popovo Polje and Konavli
- Jevdokija, married Esau de' Buondelmonti, the ruler of Epirus (1385–1411)
- Giorgio de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus 1411
- Konstantin, married Helena Thopia
- Stefan Balšić "Maramonte" (fl. 1419–40), pretender to Zeta
- Jelena
- ÄuraÄ‘ (illegitimate)
- Balša II
- Ruđina
- Vojislava, married Karl Topia, the "Prince of Albania", with whom she had one son, Gjergj Thopia, Duke of Durazzo, and two daughters, Elena Thopia, Lady of Krujë, married Konstantin Balšić, and Vojislava
References
- ↑ Rudić 2006, p. 99: "О њиховом пореклу не знамо ништа" ,, "Према Чедомиљу Мијатовићу Балшићи Ñу пореклом били француÑка, одноÑно прованÑалÑка породица. Од њих Ñу наÑтали италијанÑки Балшићи, од којих потичу ÑрпÑки Балшићи, а од њих румунÑки. Ч. Мијатовић, Балшићи, генеалошка Ñтудија, 150"
- ↑ Veselinović-LjuÅ¡ić 2008, p. 91: "Пошто нам извори ништа поуздано не говоре о њиховим прецима, порекло ове породице је загонетно. Оно што је Ñигурно, то је да је име њиховог родоначелника неÑловенÑког порекла, па је то био повод иÑторичарима да претке ..."
- ↑ Vladimir Nikolic-Zemunski (1927). Istorija cara Stevana Dušana. Narodna prosveta. p. 238.
- 1 2 Fajfric, 44. Oblasni gospodari: "O njihovom poreklu se zna veoma malo, tako da osim navoda koje je ostavio Mavro Orbin drugih podataka skoro i da nema. Postoje neki fragmentarni navodi koji ukazuju da je rodonaÄelnik ove porodice, BalÅ¡a, zapravo rod od "cara Nemanje" te da je držao oblast Bojane (u susedstvu Skadra), no to je sve veoma nesigurno."
- ↑ Gleichen, Lord Edward (1923), Yugoslavia, Hodder and Stoughton, limited, p. 108
- ↑ СрпÑко учено друштво 1886, p. 151, "ÐајÑтарија лиÑтина у којој има помен о једном Балши на ÑрпÑком земљишту од године је 1304 ("). 2. Ðије без значаја да Ñе он ... „Regina misit unam suam literan slavonicam per Mata de Balsich de Antibaro". Monumenta Serbica, GT.".
- ↑ СрпÑко учено друштво 1886, p. 210, "1266 и 1300 године, на двор краљице Јелене, родом ФранцуÑкиње, рођаке анжујÑкој динаÑтији на преÑтолу напуљÑком; 2. Тај Балшић, или његов Ñин, оженио Ñе једном од кћери краљевÑког дома Ðемањића, те тако оÑновао дом ....
- ↑ Soulis 1984, p. 254, "Various opinions have been expressed concerning the national origin of the Balšići family".
- 1 2 SlijepÄević 1974, p. 43: "Према Карлу Хопфу и Балшићи и Црнојевићи »припадају без Ñпора ÑрпÑкоме племену».34) Милан Шуфлај вели: »Балшићи Ñу румунÑкога и влашкога подријетла;"
- ↑ Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë 1985, p. 323: "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."
- 1 2 Rudić 2006, p. 99.
- ↑ Ćorović 2001, ТРЕЋИ ПЕРИОД, IX. РаÑпад СрпÑке Царевине
- 1 2 3 Malcolm, Noel (1998). Kosovo: a short history. Macmillan. pp. 62, 368. ISBN 978-0-333-66612-8. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ↑ Fine 2006, pp. 292, 389.
- ↑ Nicol 2010, p. 173.
- ↑ Bartl, Peter (2001) [1995], Albanci : od srednjeg veka do danas (in Serbian), translated by Ljubinka Milenković, Belgrade: Clio, p. 31, ISBN 9788671020176, OCLC 51036121, retrieved 1 February 2012,
Род Балшића (Балша) био је ÑрпÑког порекла.
- ↑ Elsie, Robert (2012), A biographical dictionary of Albanian history, London: I.B. Tauris, p. 27, ISBN 9781780764313, OCLC 801605743
- 1 2 Fajfrić, ch. 44, Oblasni gospodari: "BalÅ¡a o kojem ćemo sada govoriti beÅ¡e veoma siromaÅ¡an zetski vlastelin i za života cara Stefana držao je samo jedno selo. Ali kad je umro car, a kako njegov sin UroÅ¡ nije bio valjan vladar, poÄeo je s nekoliko svojih prijatelja i sa svojim sinovima Stracimirom, ÄurÄ‘em i BalÅ¡om da zauzima Donju Zetu." "Posle toga krenuo je sa svojim ljudima na osvajanje Gornje Zete, koju je držao ÄuraÅ¡ Ilijić i njegovi roÄ‘aci. ÄuraÅ¡a ubiÅ¡e BalÅ¡ini sinovi, neke njegove roÄ‘ake zarobiÅ¡e, a ostali napustiÅ¡e zemlju. I tako su BalÅ¡ini sinovi zagospodarili i Gornjom Zetom" "Isto tako pali su u njihove ruke DukaÄ‘ini koji su imali mnogo poseda u Zeti. Neke su poubijali, a druge bacili u tamnicu. Pri osvajanju ovih i drugih pokrajina viÅ¡e su se služili lukavstvom i prevarama nego silom oružja"
- ↑ Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études byzantines: Volume 21 1982, "За разлику од Лазаревића, Бранковића и Драгаша, ближих или даљих рођака Ðемањића и потомака најугледцијих влаÑтеоÑких породица, први Балшићи Ñу прави Ñкоројевићи који Ñу из редова Ñитне влаÑтеле доÑпели ..."
Sources
- Books
- Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë (1985). The Albanians and their territories. "8 Nëntori" Pub. House. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- Fajfrić, Željko (2000) [1998], Sveta loza Stefana Nemanje, Belgrade: Tehnologije, izdavastvo, agencija Janus
- Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
- Jovanović, J. (1947), Stvaranje Crnogorske Države i Razvoj Crnogorske Nacionalnosti, Cetinje, pp. 18, 28, 36, 43, and 54–55
- Malcolm, Noel (1998). Kosovo: a short history. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-66612-8. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (2010), The Despotate of Epiros 1267–1479: A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-13089-9
- Rudić, Srđan (2006), Vlastela Ilirskog grbovnika, Istorijski institut
- Soulis, George Christos (1984). The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331-1355) and his successors. Dumbarton Oaks Library and Collection. ISBN 978-0-88402-137-7. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- Veselinović, Andrija and Ljušić, Radoš (2008). "Балшићи" Srpske dinastije. Službene glasink. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- Journals
- СрпÑко учено друштво (1886). ГлаÑник СрпÑкога ученог друштва. 65-66.
External links
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