George Strez Balšić Explained

George Strez Balšić
Gjergj Strez Balsha
Ruler of Balšić
Lord of Misia[1]
More:no
Spouse:Eudokia Balšić[2]
Issue:Giorgio Balšić[3]
Mara Balšić[4]
Full Name:George Strezov Balšić
Noble Family:Balšić family
Father:Pavle Balšić
Mother:Jelena Kastrioti
Birth Date:Before 1400[5]
Death Date:1468
Death Place:Šas (Present-day Montenegro)
Death Cause:Starvation
Occupation:Member of the League of Lezhë (1444-?)

George Strez Balšić (Serbian: Ђурађ Стрезов Балшић; Albanian: Gjergj Balsha) or Gjergj Strez Balsha (1444–57) 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.

Family

According to Fan S. Noli George and his brothers Ivan and Gojko were nephews of Skanderbeg from his sister Jelena who married Pavle Balšić.[6] Genealogy of Kastrioti family written by Karl Hopf does not present the information about George Strez Balšić being a son of Skanderbeg's sister Jelena.

League of Lezhë

The three Balšić brothers joined the League of Lezhë, an alliance formed by their maternal uncle Skanderbeg, after meeting in the St. Nicholas Church in Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The members included Lekë Zaharia, Peter Spani, Lekë Dushmani, Andrea Thopia, Gjergj Arianiti, Theodor Musachi, Stefan Crnojević, and their subjects. Skanderbeg was elected its leader, and commander in chief of its armed forces numbering a total of 8,000 warriors.

In 1451 after Alfonso signed the Treaty of Gaeta with Skanderbeg, he signed similar treaties with George Strez Balšić and other chieftains from Albania: Gjergj Arianiti, Gjin Muzaka, Peter Spani, Pal Dukagjini, Thopia Muzaka, Peter of Himara, Simon Zenebishi and Carlo II Tocco.

According to Albanian historians Kristo Frashëri and Fan Noli, Strez Balšić betrayed Skanderbeg by selling the fortress he controlled (Modritza) to the Ottoman Empire in spring 1457.[7] Skanderbeg was betrayed by another of his nephews, Hamza Kastrioti, who deserted to the Ottomans.[7] [8]

Issue

Karl Krumbacher believed that the first daughter of Muriq Shpata married Giorgio, a son of "George Balšić and Eudokia".[9]

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Gopčević 1914, pp. 74–75: "in Misia"
  2. Book: Krumbacher, Karl . Byzantinische Zeitschrift . C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung . 1988 . 75 . Nerata, wife of Spata, Muriki, had three daughters; one married Giorgio, son of George Balsic and Eudokia; one married Zenevesi, Symeon; one married Carlo II Tocco (also known as Leonardo), son of Leonardo II Tocco.
  3. Book: Krumbacher, Karl . Byzantinische Zeitschrift . C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung . 1988 . 75 . Nerata, wife of Spata, Muriki, had three daughters; one married Giorgio, son of George Balsic and Eudokia; one married Zenevesi, Symeon; one married Carlo II Tocco (also known as Leonardo), son of Leonardo II Tocco.
  4. Book: Houghton, H.G. . The History of the Balsha Family . East European Publishing . 1962 . 145.
  5. Book: Hodgson, Marshall G.S. . The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization . University of Chicago Press . 1974 . 9780226346779 . 145.
  6. Book: Spandouginos, Theodōros. On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors. 1997. Cambridge University Press. United Kingdom. Donald MacGillivray Nicol. 25 March 2012. 96. 9780521585101. Skanderbeg... sisters...Iella, who married Paul Balša.
  7. ,
  8. Book: Skendi, Stavro. Balkan cultural studies. 1980. East European Monographs. 9780914710660. 24 March 2012. 175. ..Arianiti's nephew,...Nicholas and Paul Dukagjini and Hamza Kastrioti deserted to the Ottomans.
  9. Book: Karl Krumbacher. Byzantinische Zeitschrift. 1988. C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. 75. Nerata, wife of Spata, Muriki, had three daughters; one married Giorgio, son of George Balsic and Eudokia (62 jo); one married Zenevesi, Symeon (6522); one married Carlo II Tocco (also known as Leonardo), son of Leonardo II Tocco ....