Maria Muzaka

Last updated
Maria Muzaka
Princess of Arianiti
Stema e Muzakajve.png
Coat of arms of the Muzaka Despotate
Princess consort of Arianiti
Tenurec.1420s - 1440s
Predecessordaughter of Nicholas Zaharia
Successor Pietrina Francone
Bornc.1410s
Principality of Muzaka (today Southern Albania)
Diedc.1440s
Spouse Gjergj Arianiti
Issue
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.

Contents

Early life

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.

Marriage and issue

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]

Legacy

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".

Ancestry

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gjergj Arianiti</span> 15th-century Albanian military leader

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arianiti family</span> Albanian noble family

The Arianiti were a noble Albanian family that ruled large parts of Albania and neighboring territories from the 11th to the 16th century. Their domain stretched across the Shkumbin valley and the old Via Egnatia road and reached east to today's Bitola.

<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">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">Voisava Kastrioti</span> 14th-15th Albanian noblewoman

Voisava 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.

Angelina Branković, née Arianiti, was an Albanian princess who served as Despotess Consort of Serbia through her marriage to Despot Stefan Branković. She was a daughter of Prince Gjergj Arianiti, an important military leader against Ottoman invasion, and Princess Maria Muzaka, his first wife. For her pious life she was proclaimed a saint and venerated as such by the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable Mother Angelina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thopia family</span> Albanian noble family

The Thopia were one of the most powerful Albanian feudal families in the Late Middle Ages, part of the nobility of the Angevin Kingdom of Albania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niketa Thopia</span> Lord of Krujë

Niketa Thopia was the Lord of Krujë between 1392—1394 and 1403–1415. He was a member of the Albanian Thopia family and an illegitimate son of Karl Thopia, the Prince of Albania.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Strez Balšić</span>

George Strez Balšić or Gjergj Strez Balsha and his brothers Gojko and Ivan were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the White Drin towards the Adriatic. The brothers were members of the Balšić noble family, which had earlier held Zeta. They participated in founding of the League of Lezhë, an alliance led by their maternal uncle Skanderbeg. George later betrayed Skanderbeg, by selling a domain to the Ottomans, while his two brothers continued to support Skanderbeg until his death and then continued to fight for the Venetian forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodor Corona Musachi</span> 14th-15th century Albanian nobleman

Theodor Corona Musachi or Teodor III Korona 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.

The Zenevisi, were an Albanian noble family. They governed territories in Epirus and were centred in Gjirokastër.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesca of Montferrat</span> 15th-century Italian noblewoman

Francesca of Montferrat was a noblewoman of the Palaeologus-Montferrat family, a cadet branch of the Byzantine Palaiologos dynasty. She married Costantino Arianiti Comneno of the Arianiti family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiranna Zenevisi, Lady of Grabossa</span> Medieval Albanian noblewoman of the Zenevisi family

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea III Muzaka</span> Albanian prince

Andrea III Muzaka was a 14th century Albanian prince and Lord of Deabolis from the Muzaka family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gjin I Muzaka</span> Lord of Tomorniza

Gjin I 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. As well as the Lord of Kastoria after his younger brother Stoya Muzaka died after 1384 leaving no heirs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Balsha, Countess of Muro</span> Albanian noblewoman

Maria Balsha, , was an Albanian noblewoman from the houses of Balsha and Arianiti. She was Countess of Acerenza and Muro from her marriage to Giacomo Alfonso Ferrillo.

<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 princess and member of the Mataranga family.

References

  1. 1 2 Shuteriqi, Dhimitër (2012). Zana Prela (ed.). Aranitët: Historia- Gjenealogjia -Zotërimet. Toena. p. 66. ISBN   978-99943-1-729-5.

Sources