Gjin I Muzaka

Last updated
Gjin I Muzaka
Gjin Muzaka
Lord of Tomorniza
Lord of Kastoria
Coat of arms of the Muzaka Family.svg
Coat of arms of the Muzaka Family
Lord of Tomorniza
Reign1372 - 1389
Predecessor Andrea II Muzaka
SuccessorUnknown
Lord of Kastoria
Reign1384 - 1389
Predecessor Stoya Muzaka
SuccessorUnknown
Born1337
Died1389
Spouse Lady Suina Arianiti-Comneniates
Issue Andrea III Muzaka
Materango Muzaka
Blaise Muzaka
Bogdan Muzaka
Laldi Muzaka
Helena Muzaka
Condisa Muzaka
Dynasty Muzaka
Father Andrea II Muzaka
Mother Euphemia Mataranga
Religion Eastern Orthodoxy

Gjin I Muzaka (Albanian : Gjin Muzaka), was an Albanian Prince from the House of Muzaka. He held the majority of his father's holdings after his father's death and was the Lord of Tomorniza. [1] [2] As well as the Lord of Kastoria after his younger brother Stoya Muzaka died after 1384 leaving no heirs. [3] [4]

Contents

Life

Gjin I Muzaka was born into the House of Muzaka as the first and oldest son of Andrea II Muzaka and Euphemia Mataranga, who was from the Mataranga family. [5] [6]

Upon the death of his father Andrea II, his lands were divided among his three sons, Gjin, Teodor II and Stoya. [7] Gjin inherited the majority of his father's holdings, except for Berat, Myzeqe, and Kastoria. Teodor received Berat and Myzeqe, while Stoya inherited Kastoria along with its associated villages and estates. [8]

Issue

Gjin I Muzaka married Lady Suina Arianiti-Comneniates who was the daughter of Lord Materango Arianiti Comneniates. [9] The pair had seven children: [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balša II</span> Lord of Zeta

Balša Balšić died September 18, 1385) or Balša II was the Lord of Lower Zeta from 1378 to 1385. He was a member of the Balšić noble family, which ruled Zeta from ca. 1362 to 1421.

The Battle of Savra or the Battle of the Vjosë was fought on 18 September 1385 between Ottoman and much smaller Zetan forces, at the Savra field near Lushnjë. The Ottomans were invited by Karl Thopia to support him in his feud against Balsha II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hélène of Anjou</span> Daughter of the King of Naples (died 1342)

Hélène of Anjou, was a member of the House of Anjou. She was an illegitimate daughter of Robert, King of Naples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Zenevisi</span> Ruler of Epirus (died 1418)

John Zenevisi or Gjon Zenebishi was an Albanian magnate that held the estates in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër and Vagenetia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donika Kastrioti</span> 15th century Albanian Queen

Andronika "Donika" Arianiti, commonly known as Donika Kastrioti, was an Albanian noblewoman and Grand Princess of Albania from her marriage to Skanderbeg. She was the daughter of Gjergj Arianiti, an earlier leader in the ongoing revolt against the Ottomans, and Maria Muzaka, whose family ruled under the title of despots in the southern part of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gjon Muzaka</span> Albanian noble

Gjon Muzaka was an Albanian nobleman from the Muzaka family, that has historically ruled in the Myzeqe region, Albania. In 1510 he wrote the Muzaka chronicles (a Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi. The work was published in Karl Hopf's Chroniques gréco-romaines, Paris 1873, pp. 270–340.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muzaka family</span> Noble family from Albania

The Muzaka family was an noble Albanian family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe in the Late Middle Ages. The Muzaka are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan. The earliest historical document that mentions the Muzaka family is written by the Byzantine historian Anna Komnene. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century members of the Muzaka family controlled a region between the rivers of Devoll and Vjosë. Some of them were loyal to the Byzantine Empire while some of them allied with Charles of Anjou who gave them impressive Byzantine-like titles in order to subdue them more easily. In the 1340s, Stefan Dušan pressed further south into Albania, and by 1343-45 had taken central towns and territories in southern Albania, including domains of the Muzaka family. However, they would fall back under local control after his death in 1355. After the Battle of Savra in 1385 the territory of Albania came under the Ottoman Empire; they served the Ottomans until 1444 when Theodor Corona Musachi joined Skanderbeg's rebellion. When the Ottomans suppressed Skanderbeg's rebellion and captured the territory of Venetian Albania in the 15th century many members of the Muzaka family retreated to Italy. Those who stayed in Ottoman Albania lost their feudal rights, some converted to Islam and achieved high ranks in the Ottoman military and administrative hierarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teodor II Muzaka</span> 14th-century Albanian prince and warlord

Teodor II Muzaka, was an Albanian Prince from the House of Muzaka, he was the Lord of Berat and Lord of Myzeqe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teodor I Muzaka</span> 14th century Albanian prince and warlord

Teodor I Muzaka was an Albanian nobleman that ruled the Lordship of Berat between 1319 and 1331. According to John Musachi, he had the nickname "këshetesi", meaning the one with braided hair. He had a brother Count Mentula Muzaka of Clissura or today called Kelcyra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Anthony Church, Durrës</span> Cultural Monument in Albania

The ruins of St. Anthony Church is located at Rodon Cape in Durrës County, is a Cultural Monument of Albania. It became a Cultural Monument in 1963. It is also the location where Andrea II Muzaka and his wife Euphemia Mataranga got married most likely around 1328, then buried later on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar</span>

Holy Trinity Church of Lavdar, also known as the Holy Trinity Church of Tudas is a 15th century Albanian orthodox church built in the Byzantine style by the medieval Albanian noble family of Muzaka. It is located near the villages Lavdar and Tudas in the region of Opar in Korçë county, southeastern Albania. Noted for its distinguished architecture and frescoes, it was declared a Cultural Monument of Albania in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruđina Balšić</span> Medieval Zetan noblewoman of the Balšić family

Ruđina Balšić was a Zetan noblewoman and ruled upon today Montenegro and Albanian territory from the Balšić family. She married Mrkša Žarković and inherited his realm, the Principality of Vlorë, when he died in 1414. After unsuccessful negotiations to sell her duchy to the Venetians, the Ottomans captured it in 1417. She fled to Corfu, then to Zeta where she was governess of Budva from 1418. In 1420, during the Second Scutari War, she surrendered Budva to the Venetians without any resistance and moved to Dubrovnik with the town's treasury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea II Muzaka</span> 14th-century Albanian prince and warlord

Andrea II Muzaka was an Albanian nobleman of the Muzaka family and the ruler of the Principality of Muzaka in the 14th century. He inherited the principality from his father, Teodor I Muzaka, who died around 1331. Andrea II is known for having expanded the Principality of Muzaka to its greatest extent, from the southern Adriatic coastline of Albania in the west to Kastoria in the east by the time of his death in 1372.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea I Thopia</span> Albanian nobleman

Andrea I Thopia died in 1342 in Naples was an Albanian nobleman. In 1338 he inherited the county of Mat from his predecessor Tanusio Thopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoya Muzaka</span> Lord of Kostur

Stoya Muzaka, also known as Stoja Muzaka, was an Albanian nobleman, the Lord of Kastoria, and a member of the influential Albanian Muzaka family, which played a significant role in ruling parts of Southern Albania and Epirus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euphemia Mataranga</span> Medieval Albanian Noblewoman of the Mataranga family

Euphemia Mataranga, also known as Euthymia, Eythvmia, Etinia or Onorata was an Albanian noblewoman and member of the Mataranga family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiranna Muzaka</span> Medieval Albanian noblewoman of the Muzaka family

Chiranna Muzaka, also known as Kyranna or Anne was an Albanian princess and member of the Muzaka family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comita Muzaka</span> Medieval Albanian noblewoman of the Muzaka family

Comita Muzaka, also known as Komnena or Komnene was an Albanian princess and member of the Muzaka family.

The Muzaka Chronicles also known as the Memoire of Gjon Muzaka was a Chronicle written by Albanian nobleman Gjon Muzaka of the noble Muzaka family from Albania. It was written in 1510 during the late Middle Ages. It contains important information about the history of Albania as well as a glimpse into the life and reign of Albanian nobility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Mataranga</span> Medieval Albanian Lord of the Mataranga family

Paul Mataranga, also known as Paul Matarango or Paolo Matarango was an Albanian Lord and member of the Mataranga family.

References

  1. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...He left all of his land, with the exception of Berat, Myzeqe and Castoria, to his first-born son, Lord Gjin Musachi...
  2. Hopf, Carl (1873). Chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues, pub. avec notes et tables généalogiques. Weidmann. p. 532. ...héritier de la Tomorniza...
  3. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 47. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...You should also know that the town of Castoria which was formerly ruled by King Marco, from whom it was taken by force of arms by Lord Andrew Musachi the Despot, is a beautiful town with a broad entrance. The said Lord Andrew left it to his last son called Lord Stoya, who died leaving no heirs. It thus fell to his brother called Lord Gjin, your great-grandfather, so it has always been part of our dynasty, until it and other land fell to the sultan...
  4. Anamali, Skënder (2002). Historia e popullit shqiptar Volume 1. Harrassowitz. p. 295. ISBN   978-9-9927-1622-9. ...Stoja vdiq në vitin 1384...
  5. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...Lord Andrew Musachi, the said second despot, and his wife, Euthymia...
  6. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...From the said Lord Andrew Molosachi the Despot were born three sons and two daughters. The first-born was called Lord Gjin, the second Lord Theodore and the third Lord Stoya. Of the daughters, the first one was called Lady Comita Musachi and the second Lady Chiranna....
  7. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...The first-born was called Lord Gjin, the second Lord Theodore and the third Lord Stoya...
  8. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...He left all of his land, with the exception of Berat, Myzeqe and Castoria, to his first-born son, Lord Gjin Musachi. To his second son, Lord Theodore, he left Berat and Myzeqe, and to his third son, Lord Stoya, he left Castoria with all the villages and estates belonging to it...
  9. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...To the said Lord Andrew, the second, was first born the said Lord Gjin, who married Lady Suina, the daughter of Lord Materango Arianiti Comneniates...
  10. Elsie, Robert (2003). Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries. Harrassowitz. p. 42. ISBN   978-3-4470-4783-8. ...The first born, the said Lord Gjin, had five children, the first of whom was called Andrew Molosachi, the second Lord Materango, the third Lord Blaise, the fourth Lord Bogdan and the fifth Lord Laldi...
  11. Hopf, Carl (1873). Chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues, pub. avec notes et tables généalogiques. Weidmann. p. 532.