Muzaka family
The Muzaka were a noble Albanian family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe (southern Albania) in the Late Middle Ages. The Muzaka are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan.[4][1] The earliest historical document that mentions the Muzaka family (around 1090) is written by the Byzantine historian Anna Komnene. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century members of the Muzaka family controlled a region between the rivers of Devoll and Vjosë. Some of them were loyal to the Byzantine Empire while some of them allied with Charles of Anjou who gave them (and some other members of Albanian nobility) impressive Byzantine-like titles (such as Sebastokrator) in order to subdue them more easily. In the 1340s, Stefan Dušan pressed further south into Albania, and by 1343-45 had taken central towns and territories in southern Albania, including domains of the Muzaka family. However, they would fall back under local control after his death in 1355. After the Battle of Savra in 1385 the territory of Albania came under the Ottoman Empire; they served the Ottomans until 1444 when Theodor Corona Musachi joined Skanderbeg's rebellion. When the Ottomans suppressed Skanderbeg's rebellion and captured the territory of Venetian Albania in the 15th century many members of the Muzaka family retreated to Italy. Those who stayed in Ottoman Albania lost their feudal rights, some converted to Islam and achieved high ranks in the Ottoman military and administrative hierarchy.
Muzaka
Muzakajt
13th century
Notable members of the family include Andrea II Muzaka, Gjon Muzaka, Theodor Corona Musachi and Andrea I Muzaka, among others. The last notable member of Muzaka family who found refugee in Italy died in Naples in 1600.
History[edit]
Origin[edit]
The Muzaka were one of the most important families of Albanian origin.[5] The family came from the lower Opar region (Lekas). In the area of the village of Lavdar and nearby hamlets are many of the ancestral burial grounds of the family.[6] Gjon Muzaka claimed that the family received its name from the Myzeqë region, named after its population, the Molossians, through the corruption of the name Molossi (into Molosachi and finally Musachi).[7] The coat of arms of Muzaka family was a two-headed eagle.[8]
Late Middle Ages[edit]
The earliest mention of the Muzaka family, as a loyal commander of Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118) circa 1090, was in the work of Byzantine historian Anna Komnene.[9] One of the first notable members of the family was Andrea I Muzaki who was, like some other members of the Albanian nobility, given impressive Byzantine-like title like sebastokrator by Charles of Anjou in order to subdue them more easily.[10][2] In 1279, Gjon I Muzaka, who remained loyal to the Byzantines and resisted the Angevin conquest of Albania, was captured by the forces of Charles of Anjou, but under the pressure of local Albanian nobles he was later released. The Muzaka family continued to remain loyal to the Byzantine Empire and resisted the expansion of the Serbian Kingdom. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century members of the Muzaka family controlled a region between the rivers of Devoll and Vjosë. Andrea I ruled in the period of 1280—1319; Andrea II ruled, with some interruptions, in the period between 1319 and 1372.[11] In 1319 three members of the Muzaka family even tried to get help from the Pope. For their loyalty to Byzantium, the head of the family Andrea II Muzaka gained the title of Despot in 1335, while other Muzakas continued to pursue careers in the Byzantine government in Constantinople.[12]
As soon as Andrea II Muzaka had obtained the title of despot, he endorsed an anti-Byzantine revolt (1335-1341) in his domains, and also formed an alliance with the Anjou from Naples on 30 December 1336, whereas he was recognized as a vassal of Robert, Prince of Taranto. As proof of his fidelity to the Capetian House of Anjou, Andrea II Muzaka had to leave one of his sons as hostage in Durazzo.[12]
Muzaka nobility waged against Serbian forces was around 1340 when forces of Andrew II Muzaka defeated the Serbian army at the Pelister mountain.[13] After the death of Stefan Dušan in 1355 and collapse of the Serbian Empire, the Muzaka family of Berat regained control over parts of the south-eastern modern-day Albania and also over northern Greece with Kastoria[12][14] that Andrew II Musachi captured from Prince Marko after the Battle of Marica in 1371.[15]
After the death of Andrew II Muzaka in 1372 his descendants inherited control over his former domains. Theodor II Muzaka inherited control over Muzaqeya and Berat while Kastoria was inherited by his son Gjin (1337—1389).[16] According to chronicle of Gjon Muzaka (repeated in some historical works) Comita, one of the daughters of Andrew II Muzaka, married Balša II. Other authors confirm that Balša II married in 1372 and gained control over the territory south of Durazzo, including Valona and Kanine, as dowry. Still, many scholars believe that Balša II did not marry Comita Muzaka but Komnena, daughter of John Komnenos Asen who succeeded control over Valona and Kanine after the death of her brother Alexander in early 1372. The same chronicle mentions Theodor II Muzaka as one of participants of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, together with Prince Marko.[7] The Muzaka family was in conflict with Prince Marko before his death in 1396 which is probably why Theodor Corona Musachi is commemorated in south Slavic and Serbian epic poetry as Korun Aramija, Marko's enemy.[17]
A Greek Orthodox church (Church of St Athanasius of Mouzaki) located in Kastoria, Greece was built in 1383–84 by Teodor II Muzaka[18] and dedicated to St. Athanasius. Teodor II Muzaka died in 1389 against the Ottomans in the battle of Kosovo.[19]