Niketa Thopia

Niketa Thopia (? - 1415) was an Albanian lord member of Thopia family. After the death of Karl Topia, he ruled in the region south of Durrës. In 1403, Niketa Thopia managed to capture the city of Krujë from his cousin, Helena Thopia, thus gaining another part of the territory previously held by the Thopia family.^[1]

He had good relations with the Republic of Venice, which was interested in having some buffer zone between them and the advancing Ottoman army. His daughter Mara married Balša III in 1407 and had a daughter Jelena, named after her grandmother Jelena Balšić.^[2] Niketa then started to be a mediator between Balša and Venetians during the First Scutari War.^[3] At the end of 1411, Niketa Thopia suffered a heavy defeat from the forces of Teodor II Muzaka during one skirmish. He himself was held prisoner and with the intervention of the Ragusan Republic was released, but only after conceding some territories around the Shkumbin river to the Muzaka family. Upon his death in 1415, the castle of Krujë felt in Ottomans' hands.^[1]

Notes

Sources

• Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994), The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5 
• Spremić, Momčilo (2004) Ćulibrk, Jovan, ed. Crkvene prilike u Zeti u doba Nikona Jerusalimca (in Serbian) Cetinje, Belgrade: Svetigora, Publikum pp. 73–108