| Spata Shpata Spatas | |
|---|---|
| Noble family | |
| Parent house | Bua |
| Country | Medieval Albania |
| Founder | Gjin Bua Shpata |
| Titles | count, despot |
| Connected families |  Arianiti family |
| Estate(s) |
|
The Spata family (Albanian : Shpata) was an Albanian noble family which rose to prominence in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, initially as Venetian vassals and later as Ottoman vassals. The family's progenitors were the brothers Gjin Bua Shpata and Skurra Bua Shpata. Shpata means "sword" in Albanian. [1]
In the first half of the 14th century, mercenaries, raiders and migrants known in Greek as Άλβανοί (Albanoi or "Albanians") flooded into Greece (specifically raiding Thessaly in 1325 and 1334). [2] In 1358, Albanians got regions of Epirus, Acarnania and Aetolia under their rule and established two principalities under their leaders, Gjin Bua Shpata and Pjetër Losha. [1] Naupactus (Lepanto) was later taken in 1378. [1] The Shpata family frequently collaborated with the Ottomans and saw them as protectors. [3]
Although German historian Karl Hopf provided a genealogy of the Shpata family, it is deemed by modern scholarship as "altogether inaccurate". [4]
According to Schirò, Shpata family was not kin (blood relatives) with the later Bua family. [6] However this theory is rejected and their first name was Bua, while the name Spata appears to them as a second name, creating a cadet branch of the Buas. [7] [8]
Thomas Preljubović was ruler of the Despotate of Epirus in Ioannina from 1367 to his death in 1384. Thomas was an unpopular ruler and is appraised very negatively by his contemporaries. On December 23, 1384 he was stabbed to death by his guards at dawn. The conspiracy of the faction which overthrew him involved his wife Maria Angelina who succeeded him.
Esau de' Buondelmonti was the ruler of Ioannina and its surrounding area from 1385 until his death in 1411, with the Byzantine title of Despot.
Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429.
Gjin Bua Shpata was an Albanian ruler in Western Greece with the title of Despot. Together with Pjetër Losha, he led raids into Epirus, Acarnania and Aetolia in 1358. He was recognized as Despot by the titular Eastern Roman Emperor in the early 1360s and ruled Aetolia (1360s–?), Angelokastron (?–1399), Naupactus (1378–1399), and Arta (1370s–1399). He was born sometime in the first half of the 14th century in Epirus, as his father was a ruler in the region.
The Despotate of Arta was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, after the defeat of the local Despot of Epirus, Nikephoros II Orsini, by Albanian tribesmen in the Battle of Achelous in 1359. The Despotate ceased to exist in 1416, when it passed to Carlo I Tocco.
Muriki or Maurice Shpata was the ruler of Arta from late 1399/early 1400 until his death in 1414 or 1415. Muriq’s reign was dominated by his wars with Carlo I Tocco. Muriq was able to defend his capital of Arta, but despite some victories failed to prevent the fall of Ioannina to Tocco. As a result, his brother Yaqub Shpata who succeeded him was defeated in October 1416, ending the Despotate of Arta.
Yaqub Spata or Shpata was the last Lord of Arta, ruling from 1414/15 until 1416, with a brief interval when he was evicted by the local population. His rule ended after his capture and execution by Carlo I Tocco, who proceeded to incorporate Arta to his domains.
The Bua were a medieval Albanian tribe. The name is first attested in 14th-century historical documents as one of the Albanian tribes living in the Despotate of Epirus. Later on, the Bua settled southwards in the Peloponnese, and a part of them found refuge in Italy in the Arbëreshë migrations that followed the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. A branch of the tribe regiments was ennobled in the Holy Roman Empire after its service in the Stratioti, a Balkan mercenary unit. Mërkur Bua, its most prominent member, was Count of Aquino and Roccasecca.
Pjetër Losha was an Albanian clan leader in medieval Epirus. He belonged to the Losha fis and was the leader of a combined force of his own clan and the fis of Mazaraki and Malakasi. In 1360, he became Despot of Arta, Rogoi and the area of Amphilochia. He died in 1374 and was succeeded by his close ally, Gjin Bua Shpata. The Chronicle of the Tocco is an important primary source for his life and the Albanians in medieval Epirus in general.
The term Albanian Principalities refers to a number of principalities created in the Middle Ages in Albania and the surrounding regions in the western Balkans that were ruled by Albanian nobility. The 12th century marked the first Albanian principality, the Principality of Arbanon. It was later, however, in the 2nd half of the 14th century that these principalities became stronger, especially with the fall of the Serbian Empire after 1355. Some of these principalities were notably united in 1444 under the military alliance called League of Lezhë up to 1480 which defeated the Ottoman Empire in more than 28 battles. They covered modern day Albania,western and central Kosovo, Epirus, areas up to Corinth, western North Macedonia, southern Montenegro. The leaders of these principalities were some of the most noted Balkan figures in the 14th and 15th centuries such as Gjin Bua Shpata, Andrea II Muzaka, Gjon Zenebishi, Karl Topia, Andrea Gropa, Balsha family, Gjergj Arianiti, Gjon Kastrioti, Skanderbeg, Dukagjini family and Lek Dukagjini.
John Zenevisi or Gjon Zenebishi was an Albanian magnate that held the estates in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër and Vagenetia.
After the weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire in the middle and late 13th century, the northern territory of modern-day Albania became part of Serbia. Firstly, as part of Serbian Grand Principality and later as part of Serbian Empire. Serb control in southern Albania is unclear. Some suggest they acquired towns, but others believe they only obtained submission, possibly nominal, from Albanian tribes. Central and southern Albanian towns were not conquered until 1343–45. Between 1272 and 1368, some areas of the modern-day state were also ruled by the Angevins as the Kingdom of Albania. In the late 14th century, Albanian Principalities were created throughout Albania.
Vonko was a "Serb-Albanian-Bulgarian-Vlach" who conquered Arta from the Shpata family in 1400, holding it until late 1401, when the Shpatas regained the town.
The Battle of Achelous took place in 1358 or 1359 near the river Achelous in Aetolia, modern Greece, between the forces of the Despotate of Epirus under Nikephoros II Orsini and Albanian tribesmen under Karl Thopia. The Albanians defeated Orsini's troops and inflicted heavy casualties upon his forces, and Orsini himself was killed during the battle. Epirus was then divided amongst the Albanian clans, which resulted in the establishment of two despotates from regions previously part of the Despotate of Epirus: the Despotate of Arta and the Despotate of Angelokastron and Lepanto. Within Epirus, only the city of Ioannina remained under Greek governance and was not under the control of the Albanians.
Sgouros Shpata was the Lord of Arta briefly in 1400, and the Lord of Angelokastron from 1401 until his death in 1403, during warfare in a civil war.
The Zenevisi, were an Albanian noble family. They governed territories in Epirus and were centred in Gjirokastër.
The Malakasi were a historical Albanian tribe in medieval Epirus, Thessaly and later southern Greece. Their name is a reference to their area of origin, Dangëllia in southern Albania, centered around the village of Malakas, on the Western slope of mount Radomir. They appear in historical records as one of the Albanian tribes which raided and invaded Thessaly after 1318 and throughout the 14th century were active in the struggles of the Albanian Despotate of Arta against the Despotate of Epirus.
The Mazreku, or alternatively, the Mazaraki, Mazarech and Masarachi, were a historical Albanian tribe in medieval Epirus and Thessaly. They appear in historical records as one of the Albanian tribes which raided and invaded Thessaly after 1318 and throughout the 14th century were active in the struggles of the Albanian Despotate of Arta against the Despotate of Epirus.
The Knights Hospitaller invasion of the Despotate of Arta was a military campaign conducted by the Knights Hospitaller, led by Grand Master Juan Fernández de Heredia. The campaign targeted the Despotate of Arta, ruled by Gjin Bua Shpata. The invasion was sanctioned by Pope Gregory XI.
The Albanian invasion of Epirus (1411–1412) was a military campaign led by Albanian chieftains Gjon Zenebishi, Lord of Gjirokastër, and Muriq Bua Shpata, Despot of Arta, against the Despotate of Epirus.
The Spata clan, however, continued to see the Ottomans as their protectors.