Balšić noble family

The House of Balšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Балшићи), or Balsha (Albanian: Balsha, Balshaj), were a noble family that ruled "Zeta and the coastlands" (current-day southern Montenegro and northern Albania), from 1362 to 1421, during and after the fall of the Serbian Empire. Balša, the founder, was a petty nobleman who held only one village during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331–1355), and only after the death of the emperor, his three sons gained power in Lower Zeta after acquiring the lands of gospodin Žarko (fl. 1336–1360) under unclear circumstances, and they then expanded into Upper Zeta by murdering voivode and čelnik Đuraš Ilijić (r. 1326–1362†). Nevertheless, they were acknowledged as oblastni gospodari of Zeta in edicts of Emperor Uroš the Weak (r. 1355–1371). After the death of Uroš (1371), the family feuded with the Mrnjavčevići, who controlled Macedonia.

Balšić Балшић Balsha Balshaj
Coat of arms of the Balsa based on an illustration found in the Fojnica Armorial, a mostly Slavic catalog of coats of arms which includes several prominent Albanian families, whereby the family name is inscribed using latin characters in a slavicized form.
Country	Lordship of Zeta (1355–1421)  Serbian Empire (1355–71)  Republic of Venice (1380s) Serbian Despotate (1405–21) League of Lezhë (1444–1479)
Founded	before 1355, by Balša I
Final ruler	Balša III (1403–1421)
Titles	gospodar (lord) autokrator (self-ruler)
Estate(s)	the Zeta and the coastlands (southern Montenegro, northern Albania)

When the last lord of the main branch of the family, Balša III died in 1421 without an heir, his possessions were passed on to his uncle, Despot Stefan the Tall.^[1][2] Later that year, the Republic of Venice took advantage of Balša's death and seized the towns of Bar and Ulcinj,^[3] and some of his other territories were seized by the Ottomans and Bosnians.^[4]

Origin

The origin of the eponymous founder of the Balšić family – Balša I – is obscure and several hypotheses about it have been put forward by modern scholars.^[5][6][7][8] The region the family ruled over was defined by highly porous borders and experienced high rates of intermarriage among the local peoples' aristocracies.^[9] Contemporary medieval sources provide evidence for the Albanian ethnic belonging of the Balšić family members,^[10][11] and the description of the Balšas as Albanian lords stands in current scholarship,^{[12][13][note 1]} while on the other hand a number of scholars consider them of Serbian or of otherwise Slavic origin. Both Serbian and Albanian authors claim them.^[14]

Contemporary sources

In medieval Serbian documents the Balšas are referred to as "Arbanas lords".^[15] The well-known Bulgarian biographer of the 15th century, Constantine the Philosopher, who lived in the court of the Serbian ruler Stefan Lazarević, refers to Đurađ II Balšić and Balša III as Albanian lords. Historical sources from Ragusa document the Albanian ethnic affiliation of the Balša family, mentioning "the Albanian customs of the Balša".^[16] In the funds of the Ragusan archives the Balsha are one of the extremely present Arbanon families.^[17] Furthermore, the Ottomans referred to Đurađ II Balšić as "ruler of Albanian Shkodra". Also the Hungarian king Sigismund, when he met him personally in 1396, called him "ruler of Albania".^[16] One contemporary archival source in Vienna Archives mentions Balša II as "ruler of Albanians" during the Battle of Kosovo 1389.^[18]

The fragmental assertions that their progenitor descended from "Emperor Nemanja", and that he held the area of Bojana river in the neighborhood of Shkodër are very uncertain.^[19]

Modern historiography

In current scholarship many historians consider the Balša as being part of the local Albanian nobility.^[20] According to Malcolm, the Balšići were probably of Albanian stock who had been but culturally Serbianized to a large degree.^[21] Ćirković concluded that they are of non-Slavic origin, being referred to in medieval Serbian documents as "Albanian (arbanas) lords".^[15] Murzaku says that the family had an Albanian origin.^[22] Madgearu mentions the Balšić as a noble Albanian family, however he states that their Albanian origin is unclear, due to the debate over the family's origin.^[23] Bartl mentions the Balšić as a noble family of probably Serbian origin.^[24] Elsie mentions them as of "probably Slavic origin".^[25] Gelichi considers them Serbian-Montenegrin.^[26] Winnifrith states that they were Slavs who fought other Albanians.^[27] Brendan Osswald has described them as Serbian, as does Iordachi.^[28][29] Bojka Djukanovic describes them as a "Montenegrin family" about whose origin there are no reliable sources.^[30] Other Montenegrin authors consider them to be a Montenegrin dynasty as well.^[31][32] According to Elizabeth Roberts, whether their origins were Serbian, Albanian, or both, has never been conclusively established, but they were "culturally Serbianized".^[9] According to Svetlana Tomin the Balšići probably originated from Slavicized Vlachs.^[33] In older scholarship, Karl Hopf (1832–1873) considered "unquestionably part of the Serb tribe".^[34] Ivan Stepanovich Yastrebov (1839–1894), Russian Consul in Shkodër and Prizren, when speaking of the Balšići, connected their name to the Roman town of Balletium (Balec) located near modern Shkodër which delivers from Illyrian, related to the Albanian term ballë.^[35] According to Serbian historian Ilarion Ruvarac, "The Balšić were in no way Serbs but Albanians, regardless of whether they were Albanians or Vlachs in their distant origins".^[36] Serbian historian Vladimir Ćorović (1885–1941) concluded, based on their name, that they had Roman (Vlach) origin.^[37] Croatian ethnologist Milan Šufflay (1879–1931) mentioned them as of "Romanian and Vlach origin".^[34] Croatian linguist Petar Skok considered them to have been of Vlach origin, and Serbian historian Milena Gecić supported his theory.^[38][39] Giuseppe Gelcich theorized on the origin in his La Zedda e la dinastia dei Balšidi: studi storici documentati (1899). The theory, which was later adopted by Čedomilj Mijatović, argued that they were descendants of the Frankish nobleman Bertrand III of Baux, a companion of Charles d'Anjou. It is regarded as highly improbable.^[40] German linguist Gustav Weigand (1860–1930) supported a mixed Albanian–Aromanian origin after he noted that the family name was included in a list of early Albanian surnames in Romania.^[41]

History

 

rough borders of the Serbian provincial lords during the fall of the Serbian Empire, 1373-1395 (Zeta in grey)

 

Zeta [Zoomed].

The oldest mention of any member of the family can be traced to a 1304 letter which Helen of Anjou sent to Ragusa through her trustee Matija Balšić. The earliest mention of the family itself can be traced to a charter of Serbian emperor Stefan Uroš V dated 29 September 1360,^[30] which is also the earliest known mention of its founder Balša.^[9] According to scholar Thomas Fleming, Balša was a "fairly obscure" magnate from the area surrounding Bar and Budva.^[42] Writing in 1601, Mavro Orbini describes him as a petty nobleman that held only one village in the area of Lake Skadar during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331-1355). Only after the death of the emperor, Balša and his three sons gained power in Lower Zeta after acquiring the lands of gospodin Žarko (fl. 1336-1360) and by murdering voivode and čelnik Đuraš Ilijić (r. 1326-1362†), the holders of Lower and Upper Zeta, respectively. Balša dies the same year, and his sons, the Balšić brothers, continue in ruling the province spanning Podgorica, Budva, Bar and Shkodër.^{[43][better source needed]}

The Balšići managed to elevate themselves from petty nobility to provincial lords.^[44] They created their own state or state-like entity, comprising Zeta, and the cities of Shkodër, Drisht, Tivar, Ulqin, and Budva. Subsequently they managed to expand their rule over a large portion of Albanian territory, from Tivari to Prizren, and from Vlorë to Berat. Hence they became the chiefs of the largest feudal polity in northern Albania during the 14th century to the 15th century. The administrative and political center of Balša's feudal entity between 1355 and 1396 was the city of Shkodër, which also became the main center of a wide interregional economic network.^[45]

Balšić family members founded and renovated several Eastern Orthodox monasteries and churches.^[46][47] Between 1368 and 1389 the Balsha owned their own ships and operated as Albanian pirates. Because of their anti-Ottoman attitude, the pirate activity of these Albanian lords was tolerated by the Republic of Venice. However, they limited Venice's operations.^[48]

In the Prince-Bishopric and Principality of Montenegro, supporters of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty claimed them to be descended from the Balšići, as well as the Nemanjić and Crnojević dynasties.^[49] Before World War II, the family was the namesake of the association football club GSK Balšić Podgorica.^[50]

Heads

• Balša I (fl. 1360–62)
• Đurađ I (1362–1378), [Lord of] Shkodër
• Balša II (1378–1385), [Lord of] Shkodër and Durrës
• Đurađ II (1385–1403), [Lord of] Shkodër, Budva, Podgorica, Durrës,
  Drisht and Lezhë, Autokrat of Zeta and the coastlands
• Balša III (1403–1421), [Lord of] Bar

Family tree

Further information: Balšić family tree

Simplified family tree:

• Balša I (fl. 1360–62)
  • Stracimir
    • Đurađ II Balšić
      • Balša III
  • Đurađ I, married Olivera Mrnjavčević (1st) and Teodora Dejanović (2nd)
    • Jelisaveta or Jelisanta (d. 1443), Olivera's daughter
    • Gojslava or Goisava (d. 1398), married Radič Sanković, lord of Nevesinje, Popovo Polje and Konavli
    • Jevdokija, married Esau de' Buondelmonti, the ruler of Epirus (1385–1411)
      • Giorgio de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus 1411
    • Konstantin, married Helena Thopia
      • Stefan Balšić "Maramonte" (fl. 1419–40), pretender to Zeta
    • Jelena or Elena
    • Đurađ or Gjergj (illegitimate)
      • George
      • Ivan
      • Gojko
  • Balša II
    • Ruđina
  • Vojislava or Voisava, married Karl Thopia, the "Prince of Albania", with whom she had one son, Gjergj Thopia, Duke of Durazzo, and two daughters, Helena Thopia, Lady of Krujë, married Konstantin Balšić, and Vojislava

Notes

1. e.g.: Tafilica, Baze & Lafe 2023, p. 74; Ivetic 2022, p. 25; Rojas Molina 2022, p. 90; Ćirković 2020, pp. 396–397; Muhadri 2020, pp. 38–39; Muhaj 2019, p. 205; Schmitt 2020, p. 18; Xhufi 2019, p. 50; Molla 2017, p. 211; Campobasso 2016, p. 17; Lee, Lubin & Ndreca 2013, p. 46; Vaccaro 2011, p. 224.

References

1. Pavlowitch 2002, p. 10.
2. Djukanović 2023, p. 30.
3. Ćirković 2004, p. 92.
4. Vaccaro 2011, p. 229.
5. Muhadri 2020, p. 38.
6. Soulis 1984, p. 254, "Various opinions have been expressed concerning the national origin of the Balšići family".
7. Rudić 2006, p. 99: "О њиховом пореклу не знамо ништа" ,, "Према Чедомиљу Мијатовићу Балшићи су пореклом били француска, односно провансалска породица. Од њих су настали италијански Балшићи, од којих потичу српски Балшићи, а од њих румунски. Ч. Мијатовић, Балшићи, генеалошка студија, 150"
8. Veselinović-Ljušić 2008, p. 91: "Пошто нам извори ништа поуздано не говоре о њиховим прецима, порекло ове породице је загонетно. Оно што је сигурно, то је да је име њиховог родоначелника несловенског порекла, па је то био повод историчарима да претке ..."
9. Roberts 2007, p. 73.
10. Ćirković 2020, pp. 396–397: "U tom svetlu ja ne mogu osporavati albanskim istoričarima da se bave Balšićima, koji su očigledno neslovenskog porekla, koji su u svim periodima gospodarili i delovima nesumnjivo albanske teritorije, i koje su srpski srednjovekovni izvori nazivali “arbanaškom gospodom”." transl. ["In this light, I cannot challenge Albanian historians to deal with the Balšićs, who are obviously of non-Slavic origin, who in all periods ruled over parts of undoubtedly Albanian territory, and whom Serbian medieval sources called “Albanian lords”."]
11. Muhadri 2020, pp. 38–39.
12. Muhadri 2020, pp. 38–39
13. Xhufi 2019, p. 50.
14. Judah, T. (2008). The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-14784-1. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
15. Ćirković 2020, pp. 396–397:U tom svetlu ja ne mogu osporavati albanskim istoričarima da se bave Balšićima, koji su očigledno neslovenskog porekla, koji su u svim periodima gospodarili i delovima nesumnjivo albanske teritorije, i koje su srpski srednjovekovni izvori nazivali “arbanaškom gospodom”. Za mene je sasvim razumljivo da se Balšići javljaju i u perspektivi albanske i u perspektivi srpske istorije. [In this light, I cannot challenge Albanian historians to deal with the Balšićs, who are obviously of non-Slavic origin, who in all periods ruled over parts of undoubtedly Albanian territory, and whom Serbian medieval sources called "Albanian lords". For me, it is quite understandable that the Balšićs appear both in the perspective of Albanian and in the perspective of Serbian history.]
16. Muhadri 2020, p. 39.
17. Berisha 2021, p. 660.
18. Selami Pulaha (1984). Popullsia shqiptare e Kosovës gjatë shekujve XV-XVI. Prishtinë, pp. 17: "Në koalicion Gjergj II Balsha, i cilësuar nga burimet e kohës "sundimtar i shqiptarëve", zinte një vend kryesore..."
19. Fajfric, 44. Oblasni gospodari: "O njihovom poreklu se zna veoma malo, tako da osim navoda koje je ostavio Mavro Orbin drugih podataka skoro i da nema. Postoje neki fragmentarni navodi koji ukazuju da je rodonačelnik ove porodice, Balša, zapravo rod od "cara Nemanje" te da je držao oblast Bojane (u susedstvu Skadra), no to je sve veoma nesigurno."
20. Tafilica, Baze & Lafe 2023, p. 74; Ivetic 2022, p. 25; Rojas Molina 2022, p. 90; Ćirković 2020, pp. 396–397; Muhadri 2020, pp. 38–39; Muhaj 2019, p. 205; Schmitt 2020, p. 18; Xhufi 2019, p. 50; Molla 2017, p. 211; Campobasso 2016, p. 17; Lee, Lubin & Ndreca 2013, p. 46; Vaccaro 2011, p. 224.
21. Malcolm 1998, p. 370: "The Balshas were probably of Albanian stock, but culturally Serbianized to a large degree: they had been Orthodox for a long time, and only converted to Catholicism once or twice for political reasons."
22. Catholicism, Culture, Conversion: The History of the Jesuits in Albania (1841-1946). Pontifical Oriental Institute (original from the University of California). 2006. p. 46.
23. Alexandru Madgearu (2008). The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula: Their Medieval Origins. Scarecrow Press. p. 83.
24. Bartl, Peter (1995). Albanien: vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (in German). Michigan: Pustet. p. 280. ISBN 9783791714516. Balsha ( Balša , Balšić ) Adelsfamilie wahrscheinlich serbischer Herkunft, die von etwa 1360 bis 1421 Montenegro und große Teile Albaniens beherrschte .
25. Elsie, Robert (2012), A biographical dictionary of Albanian history, London: I.B. Tauris, p. 27, ISBN 9781780764313, OCLC 801605743
26. Sauro Gelichi (1 September 2006). The Archaeology of an abandoned town. The 2005 Project in Stari Bar. All’Insegna del Giglio. p. 57. ISBN 978-88-7814-468-2.
27. Winnifrith, T.J. (2021). Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN 9781909930957. In Northern Albania it was the Balšič family who took over, but though they reigned for four generations they were not nearly as powerful as the Nemanjids and can hardly pass muster as a heroic Albanian family, being Slavs, fighting other Albanians and subservient at various times to Serbs, Turks and Venetians.
28. Osswald, Brendan (2018). "La révolution de 1411 à Iôannina : comment interpréter la "Chronique des Tocco" ?". Revue Historique. 685: 23–58.
29. Daskalov, R.D.; Marinov, T. (2013). Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies. Balkan Studies Library. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-25076-5. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
30. Djukanović 2023, p. 32.
31. Borozan, Đorđe (2017). Crnogorske dinastije Vojisavljevići, Balšići, Crnojevići. Podgorica: CID. ISBN 978-8-6495-0493-6.
32. Drašković, Čedomir Drašković. "Zeta / Crna gora u doba balšića (1360–1421)" (PDF). maticacrnogorska.me. Matica crnogorska. pp. 7–12.
33. Tomin, Svetlana (2017). Jelena Balšić e le donne nella cultura medievale serba (in Italian). Translated into Italian by Dragana Parlac. Perugia, Italy: Graphe.it Edizioni. ISBN 978-8-89372-013-7. La famiglia dei Balšić probabilmente traeva origine dai Valacchi slavizzati, ed era emersa tra le fila dei nobili e dei gran signori.
34. Slijepčević 1974, p. 43: "Према Карлу Хопфу и Балшићи и Црнојевићи »припадају без спора српскоме племену».34) Милан Шуфлај вели: »Балшићи су румунскога и влашкога подријетла;"
35. Malaj, Edmond (2016). "Baleci në Mesjetë (The Medieval Balezo and its diocese during the Middle Ages)". Studime Historike (3–4). P. 28: "Emri i Balecit, duket se ka origjinë ilire dhe na kujton fjalen ballë"
36. Muhadri 2020, pp. 38–39
37. Ćorović 2001, ТРЕЋИ ПЕРИОД, IX. Распад Српске Царевине
38. Rudić 2006, p. 99.
39. Grga Novak, Povijest Splita I, Split, 1978, p.335
40. Malcolm 1998, p. 368: "..the story that they were decended from a son of Bertrand de Baux, who accompanied Charles D'Anjou when he seized the kingdom of Naples, is probably pure legend.."
41. Malcolm 1998, p. 370.
42. Fleming 2002, p. 44.
43. Fajfrić, ch. 44, Oblasni gospodari: "Balša o kojem ćemo sada govoriti beše veoma siromašan zetski vlastelin i za života cara Stefana držao je samo jedno selo. Ali kad je umro car, a kako njegov sin Uroš nije bio valjan vladar, počeo je s nekoliko svojih prijatelja i sa svojim sinovima Stracimirom, Đurđem i Balšom da zauzima Donju Zetu." "Posle toga krenuo je sa svojim ljudima na osvajanje Gornje Zete, koju je držao Đuraš Ilijić i njegovi rođaci. Đuraša ubiše Balšini sinovi, neke njegove rođake zarobiše, a ostali napustiše zemlju. I tako su Balšini sinovi zagospodarili i Gornjom Zetom" "Isto tako pali su u njihove ruke Dukađini koji su imali mnogo poseda u Zeti. Neke su poubijali, a druge bacili u tamnicu. Pri osvajanju ovih i drugih pokrajina više su se služili lukavstvom i prevarama nego silom oružja"
44. Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études byzantines: Volume 21 1982, "За разлику од Лазаревића, Бранковића и Драгаша, ближих или даљих рођака Немањића и потомака најугледцијих властеоских породица, први Балшићи су прави скоројевићи који су из редова ситне властеле доспели ..."
45. Tafilica, Baze & Lafe 2023, p. 74.
46. Tomić Djurić, Marka (2016). "Artistic Trends on the Periphery – the Lands of the Balšić, Kosača and Crnojević families". Byzantine Heritage and Serbian Art. The Serbian National Committee of Byzantine Studies, P.E. Službeni glasnik, Institute for Byzantine Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts: 401–403.
47. Tomic Djuric, Marka (2012). "The Isles of Great Silence Monastic Life on Lake Scutari under the Patronage of the Balšićs". Balcanica (XLIII). Institute for Balkan Studies Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Belgrade: 81–99. doi:10.2298/balc1243081t.
48. Ivetic 2022, p. 25: "The Albanian Balsa held the castle of Budva and owned their own ships between 1368 and 1389. On the one hand, Venice tolerated the piracy of these Albanian lords because of their anti-Ottoman position; on the other hand, their activity restricted its operations. Under Balsa III, who died in 1421, Zeta gained considerable independence in relation to the Despotate of Serbia, which had reinforced its rule over short stretches of the coast, between the Venetian dominions, from 1421 to 1459, the year in which it declined under the Ottoman advance. The same happened to the Balsa family, between the Albanian Plain and the hills as far as Shkodra."
49. Pavlovic 2008, p. 46.
50. McCrery 2023, p. 170.

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External links

• Rodoslovlje, Balšić