Balša I

Balša I
Balša I
Lord of Zeta
	Coat of Arms
Died	ca. 1362
Issue	Đurađ I Balšić; Stracimir Balšić; Balša II

Balša (Serbian Cyrillic: Балша) or Balsha (Albanian: Balsha)[1] was a provincial lord of the Zeta in ca. 1362. He is the eponymous founder of the Balšić noble family.

Life

He was a nobleman and military commander during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331–1355) but managed to expand his power after the death of Dušan (20 December 1355) and gained control of the island of Mljet.[2] He began by taking lands previously held by Lord Žarko, in Lower Zeta (south of Lake Skadar, and is then recognized as a "provincial lord" in charters of Emperor Uroš the Weak (r. 1355–1371). In 1362 his sons defeated and killed Head of Upper Zeta Đuraš Ilijić and expanded further into Upper Zeta. He is believed to have died by this time.

He had three sons, Đurađ, Stracimir and Balša II, two of whom ruled the Principality of Zeta: Đurađ I and Balša II.

References

Catholicism, Culture, Conversion: The History of the Jesuits in Albania (1841-1946). Pontifical Oriental Institute (original from the University of California). 2006. p. 46.
Bartl, Peter (2001) [1995], Albanci : od srednjeg veka do danas (in Serbian), translated by Ljubinka Milenković, Belgrade: Clio, p. 31, ISBN 978-86-7102-017-6, OCLC 51036121, retrieved 1 February 2012, Род Балшића (Балша) био је српског порекла. Балша I... био је заповедник у војсци Сте-фана Душана и од 1357. године као српски намесник службоваоје на острву Мљет.

Sources

Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (2010), The Despotate of Epiros 1267–1479: A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-13089-9
Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
D. Živković, Istorija Crnogorskog Naroda, 1989, Cetinje

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[1] Catholicism, Culture, Conversion: The History of the Jesuits in Albania (1841-1946). Pontifical Oriental Institute (original from the University of California). 2006. p. 46.

[2] Bartl, Peter (2001) [1995], Albanci : od srednjeg veka do danas (in Serbian), translated by Ljubinka Milenković, Belgrade: Clio, p. 31, ISBN 978-86-7102-017-6, OCLC 51036121, retrieved 1 February 2012, Род Балшића (Балша) био је српског порекла. Балша I... био је заповедник у војсци Сте-фана Душана и од 1357. године као српски намесник службоваоје на острву Мљет.