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Maria Muzaka | |
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Princess of Arianiti | |
Princess consort of Arianiti | |
Tenure | c. 1420s - 1440s |
Predecessor | daughter of Nicholas Zaharia |
Successor | Pietrina Francone |
Born | c. 1410s Principality of Muzaka (today Southern Albania) |
Died | c. 1440s |
Spouse | Gjergj Arianiti |
Issue |
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House | Muzaka (paternally) Zenevisi (maternally) Arianiti (by marriage) |
Father | Andrea III Muzaka |
Mother | Chiranna Zenevisi, Lady of Grabossa |
Religion | Eastern Orthodoxy |
Maria Muzaka was an Albanian princess from the Muzaka family. She was a daughter of Andrea III Muzaka and his wife Chiranna Zenevisi, Lady of Grabossa. From her marriage to Gjergj Arianiti, Maria had eight daughters, most notably of them were Andronika, Queen of Albania, and Saint Angjelina, Empress of Serbia.
When it comes to Maria Muzaka's early life, written documents are limited. She is thought to have been born around the 1410s in the prominent Muzaka family. They were rulers of the Principality of Muzaka in southern Albania.
Her father was Prince Andrea III Muzaka, son of Gjin I Muzaka and Lady Suina Arianites Comneniates. Her mother, Chiranna "Anna" Zenevisi, is mentioned in Gjon Muzaka's Chronicles as Lady of Grabossa and a daughter of Giovanni Sarbissa (alb. Gjon Zenebishi), from the Zenevisi family who ruled Epirus, Zagoria and Argirocastron.
Maria was the eldest daughter of the couple. She had two brothers Gjin II and Theodore III, as well as a younger sister, Lady Helena.
Maria Muzaka married Gjergj Arianiti, ruler of the Arianiti Principality. The couple had eight daughters: [1]
After her death, around the 1440s, Arianiti married Italian noblewoman Pietrina Francone, with whom he went on to have five more children. One of his daughters with Francone was named Maria in her honor. [1]
Maria's eldest daughter, Andronika, is traditionally recognised as the first Albanian Queen through her marriage to Albania's national hero George Castriot Scanderbeg.
Another one of her daughters, Angjelina, is recognised as a Saint by the Serbian Orthodox Church, where she is known as "Saint Angjelina of Serbia" and "Mother Angjelina".
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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 the League of Lezhë before abandoning 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.
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John Zenevisi or Gjon Zenebishi was an Albanian magnate that held the estates in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër and Vagenetia.
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.
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.
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Chiranna Zenevisi was an Albanian noblewoman and member of the Zenevisi family, as the daughter of Count John Zenevisi. Upon marriage to Andrea III Muzaka, Chiranna was granted by her father the territory and title of Lady of Grabossa. She was the founder of the Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, an important cultural monument in Albania.
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