Vonko

Vonko[a] (fl. 1400-1401) was a "Serb-Albanian-Bulgarian-Vlach" who conquered Arta from the Spata family in 1400, holding it until late 1401, when the Spatas regained the town.

Not much is known of him.[1] In a Greek monastic chronicle, the Chronicle of Proktos and Comnenus[2] (Chronicle of Ioannina[1]) from the Panteleimon monastery at Ioannina,[3][4] the last inclusion mentions: "October 29, on Wednesday (1400), Despot Spatas enters Eternity (dies). Immediately afterwards, his brother Sgouros holds Arta. After some days, the Serb-Albanian-Bulgarian-Vlach[b] Bokoes (Vonko) attacked and expelled Sgouros, and started to round up all the chieftains/elders and imprisoned them in the fort, and he destroyed their possessions."[5] He treated the citizens badly, and they called on the Republic of Venice for help.[1]

By the end of 1401, Vonko had been driven out from Arta. Sgouros did not retain the town, instead his nephew Maurice Spata took over Arta and Sgouros took over Angelokastron.[6] No more is mentioned of him.[1]

G. Schiro, who studied the genealogy of Spata, assumed that the name (Bokoes in the original text) is a variant of Bua, based on linguistic data and the fact that Bua initially had the form of Buchia.[7]

Annotations

  1. ^ Name: His name appears in the "Chronicle of Ioannina" as Μποκόης (Bokoes) and has been transliterated as Vonko,[5][3][4] or Vango,[6][2]
  2. or Bokoi[8] in other languages.

  3. ^ The wide designation of his ethnicity (Serv-Alvanito-Voulgaro-Vlahos) gives the notion that there was a known symbiosis in that region in the 14th century, comparable with that of Macedonia.[5]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ellis, p. 151
  2. 2.0 2.1 Vakalopoulos, p. 154
  3. 3.0 3.1 Banač, p. 328
  4. 4.0 4.1 Stoianovich, p. 132
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Šufflay 1925, pp. 69-70
  6. 6.0 6.1 Fine 1994, pp. 355-356
  7. Schiró Giuseppe, La genealogia degli Spata tra il XIV e XV sec. e due Bua sconosciouti, Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici, Universita di Roma, Roma, 1971-1972, pp. 84-85.
  8. Schiró G. p. 71

References

Preceded by
Sgouros Spata
Ruler of Arta
14001401
Succeeded by
Maurice Spata