Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the grand-uncle of Moisi Arianit Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was Skanderbeg's ally within League of Lezhë before abandoneding the alliance after the defeat in Berat in 1450. He later returned. Robert Elsie emphasizes that Arianiti was often Skanderbeg's rival. He allied with the Kingdom of Naples in 1446, left his alliance with Skanderbeg by 1449 and allied with Venice in 1456. However his daughter married Skanderbeg and he remained officially part of the League of Lezhe, continuing to fight Ottomans successfully up to his death in 1462.
The Myzeqe is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands.
The Principality of Muzaka was an independent realm ruled by the Albanian Muzaka family with its capital at Berat, covering territories in Central and Southern Albania, Western Macedonia and Northern Greece. One of the first rulers was Andrea I Muzaka whose reign was recognized by the Byzantine Emperor. During the Battle of Savra, the Ottomans captured Berat from Balša II, together with Kruja and Ulcinj. They soon retreated from all of those towns keeping only Castoria under their permanent control. Some sources explain that Ottomans probably remained in Berat with intention to use it as foothold to capture Valona. By 1396 Muzaka family took over control of Berat. In 1417 the territories of the Principality, including Vlorë and Berat, became a part of the Ottoman Empire.
Donika Arianiti, was an Albanian noblewoman and the spouse of Albanian leader and national hero Skanderbeg. She was the daughter of Gjergj Arianiti, an earlier leader in the ongoing revolt against the Ottomans.
The Muzaka were a 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 The earliest historical document that mentions the Muzaka family is written by the Byzantine historian Anna Komnene.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.
Voisava, also known as Voisava Tripalda, was a noblewoman and wife of Gjon Kastrioti, an Albanian feudal lord from the House of Kastrioti. They had nine children together, one of whom was the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, better known as Skanderbeg.
Maria Muzaka was an Albanian princess from the Muzaka family. She was a daughter of Andrea III Muzaka and his wife Anna Zenevisi, Lady of Grabossa. From her marriage to Gjergj Arianiti, Maria had eight daughters, most notably Andronika, Queen of Albania and Saint Angelina, Empress of Serbia.
Angelina Branković, née Arianiti, was the Albanian Despotess consort of Serbian Despot Stefan Branković, and a daughter of Prince Gjergj Arianiti and his first wife Maria Muzaka. For her pious life she was proclaimed a saint and venerated as such by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable Mother Angelina.
Teodor II Muzaka (1337-1389) was member of the Muzaka family, Albanian nobles who ruled the Principality of Muzaka. He died fighting during the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 on the side of the anti-Ottoman coalition led by Lazar of Serbia.
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.
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.
Maliq-Opar is a community in the Korçë County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform, it became part of the municipality Maliq.
Nicholas Dukagjini was an Albanian nobleman of the Dukagjini family in the 15th century. He was the son of Pal Dukagjini, one of the founding members of the League of Lezhë. Nicholas Dukagjini fled to Italy after the second Siege of Shkodra in 1479, but is well known for the return to his homeland two years later, together with Skanderbeg’s son Gjon Kastrioti and other noblemen to lead the armed movement against the Ottomans.
Gojko Balšić or Gojko Balsha and his brothers George Strez and John were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the White Drin towards the Adriatic. The brothers were members of the house of Balšić, which earlier held the Lordship of Zeta. They participated in founding the League of Lezhë, an alliance led by their maternal uncle Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Gojko supported Skanderbeg until the latter's death in 1468, and then continued to fight against the Ottomans within Venetian forces.
Theodor Corona Musachi or Teodor III Muzaka, was an Albanian nobleman who led the 1437–38 revolt against the Ottomans and was one of the founders of the League of Lezhë in 1444.
Family tree of the Balšić noble family
Andrea I Muzaka was an Albanian prince of the Muzaka family and the ruler of the Principality of Muzaka.
Andrea II Muzaka (1318-1372) 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.
Domenico (Moncino) Musachi or Muzaka is the father of Vojsava Kastrioti, according to the genealogy provided in Gjon Muzaka's "Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi". Nothing more is known about him, except he was the brother of Gjin Maria Musachi. Domenico had another daughter, Agnese, the mother of Andrea Angeli. Judging by the name Domenico, he must have been baptized into Catholicism. That the Angeli family were relatives of Kastrioti-Skanderbeg, is attested in historical records:
Zanfina Muzaka, also know as Suina Muzaka, was a 15th century Albanian noblewoman from the Muzaka family, who ruled under the title of Despots in southern Albania. She is known for her unwanted and controversial divorce from her first husband Karl-Muzak Thopia, as commanded by Skanderbeg, Lord of Albania.
