Balšić noble family

Balšić
Балшићи
Country  Serbian Empire (1355-1371)
 Republic of Venice
Serbian Despotate (1405-1421)
Estates (southern Montenegro, northern Albania)
Zeta and the coastlands:
  • Scodra
  • Durazzo
  • Dulcigno
Titles gospodar (lord)
autokrator (self-ruler)
Founded before 1355, by Balša I
Final ruler Balša III (1403–1421)
Dissolution 1421 (possessions passed to Despot Stephen)
Ethnicity Serb[1][2][3]

The Balšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Балшић, pl. Балшићи, Balšići) was a noble house that ruled Zeta and the coastlands (southern Montenegro and northern Albania), from 1362 to 1421, during the fall of the Serbian Empire. Balša, the eponymous founder, was a petty nobleman that held only one village during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331-1355), 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) and by murdering voivode and čelnik Đuraš Ilijić (r. 1326-1362†), the holders of Lower and Upper Zeta, respectively. Nevertheless, they were acknowledged as oblastni gospodari of Zeta in edicts of Emperor Uroš the Weak (r. 1355-1371). The family is known to have seized control through trickery, such as against the Dukađini, and many people were deported or murdered. After the death of Uroš (1371), the family feuded with the Mrnjavčevići, a prominent noble family that controlled Macedonia. In 1421, Balša III, upon his death, passed the rule to his uncle Despot Stephen the Tall Lazarević.

Contents

History

Early

Balša, the eponymous founder, was 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 aqcuiring 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.[4] Balša dies the same year, and his sons, the Balšić brothers, continue in ruling the province spanning Podgorica, Budva, Bar and Skadar.[4] Through tradition, they descended via Vuk Nemanjić.[2]

Heads

There were 5 rulers:

Family tree

References

  1. ^ Nicol, p. 160.
  2. ^ a b Gleichen, p. 108
  3. ^ Fine, 2006, p. 292
  4. ^ a b 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"

Sources