Voisava Kastrioti Explained

Voisava
Spouse:	Gjon Kastrioti
Issue:	Reposh Kastrioti Stanisha Kastrioti Kostandin Kastrioti Mara Kastrioti Gjergj Kastrioti Jelena Kastrioti Mamica Kastrioti Angelina Kastrioti Vlajka Kastrioti
Noble Family:	Kastrioti (by marriage)
Birth Place:	Polog, likely a reference to the Polog valley
Other Names:	Jella (Gjela), Vojsava, Vojislava

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.^[1]

Early life

The wife of Gjon Kastrioti is mentioned for the first time by Albanian authors Marin Barleti and Gjon Muzaka about 70–80 years after her death as Voisava. Both authors lived in the immediate generation after Skanderbeg's death and mention her origin as being in the Polog area. Barleti explicitly states that "Polog" stretched from the mountains of Mokra in Southern Albania, to Skopje.^[2] It has also been argued that another Polog, closer to the town of Bitola in the plain of Pelagonia, may be the location of the Polog mentioned by Barleti. The only archival reference to her name is a notary act from the archives of the Republic of Ragusa dated July 10, 1439, which names Gjon Kastrioti's widow Jella.

Origin

The issue of the origin of Voisava has been a matter of debate among scholars. Based on a statement by Marin Barleti who described her father nobilissimus Tribalorum princeps (most noble prince of the Triballians) which was adopted in another form by Muzaka several theories have been proposed. As such, a number of scholars believe that Voisava was of South Slavic descent. A number of other historians propose that she came from the Albanian Muzaka family based on Gjon Muzaka's assertion that she was related to his family. A modern theory interprets the reference to a nobilissimus Tribalorum princepsas referring a Serbian origin and some modern scholars consider her as coming from the Branković dynasty. Although there are no primary or archival sources that connect Voisava to the Branković. Other scholars interpret the same statement to be referring to a Bulgarian background. The name Voisava is a feminine rendition of the Slavic name Vojislav from voj (war, struggle) and slava (fame, glory).^{[3] [4]} The name was in use among Albanian nobility; Karl Thopia and Gjergj Arianiti both had daughters named Voisava, indicating that the name didn't have a particular ethnic affiliation in the region.

Family

Voisava married the Albanian feudal landowner Gjon Kastrioti, who ruled in a region of Albania (dominus partium Albanie) which corresponds roughly to the areas between Mat and Dibër.^{[5] [6]} The marriage happened likely around 1390. closely linked to Orthodoxy, as shown by the foundation of the so-called "Albanian Tower" (Serbian: Arbanaški pirg) in Hilandar and the monastic life of Gjon's son Reposh.^{[7] [8]} She bore 9 children to Gjon, four sons and five daughters:

• Reposh Kastrioti (1426–d. 1431), retired as an Orthodox monk in the Serbian monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos. Reposh died and was buried in the monastery,^[9] in King Stefan Milutin's narthex, beside the north wall,^[10] his tomb bearing the inscription "duks ilirski" (Illyrian duke).^[11]
• Stanisha (fl. 1426–d. 1445), commander who was sent by Gjon to help the Serbs against the Venetians during the Second Scutari War.
• Konstandin (fl. 1426),
• Mara, married Stefan Crnojević, Lord of Zeta (r. 1451–65)
• Skanderbeg (Gjergj Kastrioti, 1405–1468), Albanian magnate and general; Ottoman subaşi of Krujë, sanjakbey of Dibra, later organizer of the League of Lezhë, and Neapolitan vassal as of 1451
• Jelena (or Jela), married Pavle Balšić^[12] with whom she had, according to Noli, three sons.
• Mamica, married Karl Muzakë Thopia on January 26th, 1445^{[12] [13]} with whom she had six children, four sons and two daughters.^{[14] [15] [16]}
• Angelina, married Vladan Arianiti, brother of Gjergj Arianiti.^[17]
• Vlajka, married Gjin Muzaka,^[12] secondly Stefan Strez Balšić with whom she possibly had sons Ivan and Gojko.^[18]

Early sources

The earliest works mentioning Voisava are:

• Marin Barleti, the Albanian-Venetian historian, wrote in his biography of Skanderbeg (published between 1508 and 1510), that her father was "a noble prince (or ruler) of the Triballi" (pater nobilissimus Triballorum princeps).^[19]
• Gjon Muzaka, a member of the Albanian Muzaka family in Italy, mentioned her in his chronicle first as Visava Tribalda and then as Voisava Tripalda, and says that she "came from a beautiful place". Furthermore, Muzaka states that his mother's side is related to Voisava's father. This led Fan Noli and Harry Hodgkinson to theorize that Voisava was a Muzaka. According to William Miller, and Johann Georg von Hahn, the surname (Tripalda) added by Muzaka is a corruption, a derivative from Barleti's quote on the Triballi.^[20]
• Andrea Angelo Comneno, a member of the Albanian Engjëlli family from Drisht mentioned her in his 1551 work titled "Genealogia d'imperatori romani et constantinopolitani et de regi prencipi et signori che da Isatio Angelo & Vespasiano imperatore suo nipote son discesi, per infino al presente anno 1551" links her to the Muzaka family. This medieval Italian text, preserved in the National Central Library of Florence, states: "Coi de Musachia ha generato Voissaua ch'hebbe Iuuam Castriotto signor di Croia et del conta do detto Emathia," meaning, "From the house of Muzaka descends Voisava, the wife of Gjon Kastrioti, Lord of Krujë and Count of Emathia (Mat)."^[21]

In historiography

Albanian Origin

• Johann Georg von Hahn (1811-1869), an Austrian expert in Albanian studies, had several theses on the genealogy of Albanian noble families in Albanesische Studien (1854). In Reise durch die Gebiete von Drin und Wardar (1867/69), he theorized that if one of Vrana Konti's descendants held the title "Marchese di Tripalda", that Vrana and Voisava Tripalda were related by blood.
• Fan S. Noli, an Albanian-American writer, in his biography of Skanderbeg (1947), adopted the view that Vojsava came from the Muzaka family.
• Harry Hodgkinson (1913–1994) British writer and Balkans expert ^[22] considered her a member of the Muzaka family as well.^[23] Oliver Schmitt stated that Hodgkinson had done no archival research.
• Boško Bojović, a medievalist with a research focus on the relations of the Kastrioti family to Mount Athos (Hilandar) considers her a member of the Muzaka family.

Bulgarian Origin

• Strashimir Dimitrov, a Historian (1892–1960) said that she was a daughter of a local Bulgarian lord (boyar) from Macedonia.^[24]
• Kasëm Biçoku states that in Barleti's work, the term "Triballian" is used as a synonym for "Bulgarians". He notes that there is no archival evidence that Voisava was part of the Brankovic family.
• Tatomir Vukanović, an ethnologist of the Balkan region, states that Voislava was of Slavic descent from the Polog region.

Serbian Origin

• Karl Hopf (1832–1873), a German historian and expert in Byzantine studies, in Chroniques Greco-romanes (1873) concluded that Voisava was daughter of a Serbian lord from Polog.
• William Miller (1864-1945), an English medievalist, criticized in his review the claim that Skanderbeg was purely Albanian. He pointed out that Skanderbeg's mother had a Slavic name and that the epithet 'Tripalda' is derived from 'Triballi', a term used by Byzantine historians for Serbs. Miller also questioned why Skanderbeg would donate villages to the Serbian monastery Hilandar on Mount Athos if "he had no connection to Serbia".
• Vasil Zlatarski, a historian-medievalist (1866-1935), mentioned her as the daughter of a Serbian nobleman.^[25]
• Oliver Schmitt, a professor of South-East European history at Vienna University, in his biography Skanderbeg: Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan (2009) writes that she was a Serbian noblewoman, probably of the Branković family and sister to Mara Branković.^[26]
• Robert Elsie, an Albanologist, mentioned her as "a Slavic woman ... related to the noble Serbian Brankovići family".^[27]

Ambiguous Origin

• Boban Petrovski, a Macedonian historian and author of Voisava Tribalda (2006), hesitantly concluded that there is a chance Voisava was of Slavic origin, most likely Serb, as she was possibly the daughter of a lord of the "Triballians" (Serbs) in Polog, that had ruled before the Ottoman conquest. He had several theses on the ultimate identity of Voisava's father: "If the Branković family indeed governed Polog in the last decade of the 14th century, it arises the chance that Voisava was a daughter of Grgur Branković or even Vuk Branković." However, he says, "the word "Tribalda" associated with Scanderbeg's mother's name does not necessarily mean ethnic determination, but could represent a state qualification, or could refer to his father's service to Đurađ Branković, king and heir of medieval Serbia".

Sources

• Biçoku . Kasëm . Peshkopata e Arbnit dhe Kastriotët [The bishopric of Arbni and the Kastriots] ]. Studime Historike . 2007 . 03-04 .
• Hahn. Johann Georg von. Reise durch die Gebiete von Drin und Wardar. Denkschriften. 16. 1869. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. de. 117, 121.
• Book: Hopf, Karl. Chroniques gréco-romanes: inédites ou peu connues, pub. avec notes et tables généalogiques. 1873. Bibliopoleion. 301, 533. Dominicus alias Moncinus [genuit]: 1. Agnese Andre Angeli mater, & 2. Voisava Ivani uxorem. (Karl Hopf: Chroniques gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues, Berlin, p. 308). Uxor is Latin for "wife, spouse".
• Book: Noli, Fan Stilian. Fan Stilian Noli. 1947. George Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405–1468). International Universities Press. 732882. sq.
• Web site: Petrovski. Boban. Воисава Трибалда (Voisava Tribalda). 2006. makedonika.org. mk.
• Book: Schmitt, Oliver Jens. Skanderbeg: Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan. 2009. Verlag Friedrich Pustet. Regensburg. de. 441151026.
• Vukanović. Tatomir P.. 1971. Словенска симбиоза породице Ђурђа Кастриота Скендербега. Врањски гласник. VII. Народни музеј Врање.
• Omari. Jeton. 2014. Scanderbeg tra storia e storiografia [Skanderbeg between history and historiography] ]. University of Padua.
• Bojović . Boško . Byzance et les Slaves méridionaux : alliances dynastiques matrimoniales (Xe –XVe siècles) . . Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes . 2020 . LVIII . 1–4 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Skanderbeg | Albanian hero. Encyclopedia Britannica. 13 January 2024 .
2. Book: Barletius, Marinus. Historia De Vita Et Gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarvm Principis. 1508. 90v.

3. JSTOR: The English Historical Review, Vol. 53, No. 209 (Jan., 1938), p. 129

4. Book: Šimundić, Mate . Rječnik osobnih imena . . 1988 . 9788640100373 . Zagreb . 370 . hr . "VOISAVA".
5. Web site: Ndreca . Ardian . Gjon Kastrioti në arkivat e murgjve serbë . exlibris.al . 2021 . Letra në fjalë përfundon me një fjali, e cila, e vetme, na tregon shumë. Të gjithë ata që kanë studjuar sadopak rusisht në Shqipërinë e dikurshme do të jenë krejtësisht në gjendje ta kuptojnë atë: Милостію божіею іоаннь кастріоть господинь албанскіи. Shqip mund ta përkthejmë kështu: «Falë hirit të Zotit, Gjon Kastrioti zot arbëror.»" (The letter in question ends with a sentence which, alone, tells us a lot. All those who have studied even a little bit of Russian in ex-[Comunist] Albania will be perfectly able to understand it: Милостію божіею іоаннь кастріоть господинь албанскіи. We can translate it ... as follows: "By the grace of God, Gjon Kastrioti, Albanian lord)"..
6. Book: Korablev, B. . Actes de Chilandar II . 1915 . 561–562 . 6945 AM/1426 AD: Titre de donation de Jean Castriote d'Albanie et de ses fils: ...Милостію божіею іоаннь кастріоть господинь албанскіи (By the grace of God, Ioan Kastriot, Albanian lord)..
7. Book: Schwarcz . Andreas . Soustal . Peter . Tcholakova . Antoaneta . Das mittelalterliche Bulgarien, Byzanz und Europa . 2014 . LIT Verlag Münster . 9783643505910 . 113 .
8. Book: Šufflay . Milan . Srbi i Arbanasi: njihova simbioza u srednjem vijeku . 1925 . Seminar za arbanasku filologiju . 94–95 . U drugoj, bez datuma, iguman tog monastira prodaje pirg Sv. Gjurdja Ivanu Kastriotu i trima sinovima njegovim Repošu, Konstantinu i Djurdju za »šestdeset florina«. taj toranj Sv. Djurdja još danas nosi naziv »Arbanaski pirg«. Repoš... doista je pokopan u narteksu saborne crkve hilandarske. Natpis naziva ga »duks ilirski«..
9. Book: Fischer . Bernd . A Concise History of Albania . Schmitt . O.J. . Cambridge University Press . 2022 . 9781107662186 . English . having donated a tower in the Serbian monastery [...] as a result, became known as the Albanian Tower..
10. Book: Bogdanović . Dimitrije . Đurić . Vojislav J. . Medakovich . Dejan . Chilandar . 1997 . Monastery of Chilandar . 9788674131053 . 130 . Albanian tower still stands, though in ruined condition. While staying at Chilandar, one of his four sons, Reposh, died, and was buried in King Milutin's narthex, beside the north wall.
11. Book: Dragić Kijuk . Predrag R. . Catena mundi: Srpska hronika na svetskim verigama . 1992 . Ibarske novosti . 9788663430709 . 299 .
12. Book: Nicol, Donald M.. Theodore Spandounes: On the Origins of the Ottoman Emperors. 1997. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-58510-1. 96.
13. Book: Noli, Fan Stylian . George Castrioti Scanderbeg (1405-1468) . 1945 . Boston University Libraries . 124 . ...This year of 1445 began with a wedding. Mamitza Castrioti, Scanderbeg's youngest sister, was married to Musachi Thopia. The wedding took place in Musachiana, between Croya and Durazzo, on January 26. All the chieftains of Albania were invited to attend....
14. Book: Elsie, Robert. Early Albania A Reader of Historical Texts, 11th-17th Centuries . 2003 . Harrassowitz . 978-3-4470-4783-8 . 52 . ...and I have told you that Lord Scanderbeg broke up the marriage of the said Lord Musachi and Lady Zanfina Musachi, against the wishes of God and everyone and against the wishes of the children they had had, and forced him to marry his sister Lady Mamica. This lord had four sons and two daughters by his second wife. The sons turned Turk and the one daughter, Lady Yela, married Lord Andrew Musachi....
15. Book: Pritchett Post, Susan E. . Women in Modern Albania . 1998 . the University of Virginia . 978-0-7864-0468-1 . 57 . ...Mamica Kastrioti was Skanderbeg's youngest sister. She was married to Muzak Topia, one of the princes of Albania in 1445....
16. Book: Karl Hopf. Chroniques Gréco-Romaines. 1873. Weidmann. 533.
17. Book: Johann Samuel Ersch. Allgemeine encyclopädie der wissenschaften und künste in alphabetischer folge von genannten schrifts bearbeitet und herausgegeben von J. S. Ersch und J. G. Gruber .... 1868. J. f. Gleditsch. 123. Angelina den Vladin Arianites KomnenoS, deS "Großen" Bruder.
18. Book: Gopčević, Spiridon. Spiridon Gopčević. 1914. Geschichte von Montenegro und Albanien. F.A. Perthes. Gotha. 9968504. 29 March 2012. de. 460. Kastriota-->,Bezüglich der Strez herrscht Verwirrung. Hopf macht Ivo und Gojko BalSid zu Söhnen des Stefan Strez, welcher Vlajka Kastriota geheiratet hätte und Sohn des Gjuragj Balšić gewesen wäre, eines Bastards des Gjuragj I..

19. Barletius, l. I, fo 2: "... Triballorum princeps"

20. Book: Hahn, Johann Georg von. Reise durch die Gebiete von Drin und Wardar. 1867. de. 305. Skanderbeg's Mutter wird von dem Despoten einmal Visava Tribalda (*), ein andersmal Voisava Tripalda genannt, ...". (*)(Footnote 3) "Dieser Name mag vielleicth Anlass zu der sonderbaren Angabe des Barletius S. 4 gegeben haben, dass ihr Vater nobilissimus Tribalorum princeps gewesen sei." ["Tribalda" or "Tripalda" is a corruption or derivative from Barleti's quotation on Triballi].
21. Book: Angelo Comneno, Andrea. Genealogia d'imperatori romani et constantinopolitani et de regi prencipi et signori che da Isatio Angelo & Vespasiano imperatore suo nipote son discesi, per infino al presente anno 1551 . 1551 . National Central Library of Florence. 55. ...Coi de Musachia ha generato Voissaua ch'hebbe Iuuam Castriotto signor di Croia et del conta do detto Emathia....
22. News: Obituary: Harry Hodgkinson. James Pettifer. James Pettifer. 2008. The Independent. London, United Kingdom. 27 November 2010. throughout his life he fought for the Albanian cause and took up strong anti-Serb and anti-Bulgarian positions.
23. Book: Hodgkinson, Harry. Scanderbeg: From Ottoman Captive to Albanian Hero. I. B. Tauris. 978-1-85043-941-7. 240. 24 December 2004.
24. Димитров, Страшимир: Георги Кастриоти-Скендербег и неговата освободителна борба, В: Г. Кастриоти Скендербег 1468-1968 г. София, сп. "Балкани", БАН, No2, 1970, стр. 11: "It is known that his mother, Voisava, was of Slavic-Bulgarian origin, "daughter of the lord of Polog, which is part of Macedonia and Bulgaria", says one anonymous Venetian chronicle..."
25. Book: Васил Николов Златарски. България през XIV и XV век: Лекционен курс. 2005. Изток-Запад. Иван Кастриот, храбър противник на турците, женен за Воислава, дъщерята на сръбския властител [daughter of a Serbian nobleman]. 9789543211722.
26. Skanderbeg verband mit Mara wahrscheinlich auch Verwandtschaft; denn Skanderbegs Mutter Voisava war wohl eine Branković.; Andreas Künzli. Rezension: Skanderbeg: Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan. November 2009. 44. osteuropa. Skanderbegs Mutter Vojsava war eine Serbin aus der Dynastie Branković, also eine Slavin.. Osteuropa.ch. 13 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110707001154/http://www.osteuropa.ch/Rezensionen/Rez_Pustet_Skanderbeg.pdf. 7 July 2011. dead.
27. Book: Robert Elsie. A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. 2012. I.B.Tauris. 978-1-78076-431-3. 76.