The Bua (also Boua) were a medieval Albanian tribe. The name is first attested in 14th-century historical documents as one of the Albanian tribes living in the Despotate of Epirus. Later on, the Bua settled southwards in the Peloponnese, and a part of them found refuge in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the

Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name * Arbëresh ...

migrations that followed the

Ottoman conquest of the Balkans A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

. A branch of the tribe regiments was ennobled in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

after its service in the

Stratioti The Stratioti or Stradioti ( gr, στρατιώτες ''stratiotes''; sq, Stratiotë, Stratiotët;, it, stradioti, stradiotti, stratioti, strathiotto, strathioti; french: estradiots; sh, stratioti, stradioti; es, estradiotes) were mercenary u ...

, a Balkan mercenary unit. Mercurio Bua (1478 –c. 1542), its most prominent member, was

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Aquino and

Roccasecca Roccasecca is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is the birthplace of Thomas Aquinas. History The history of Roccasecca is tightly bound to its strategic position, a "dry '' rocca''" at ...

Name

''Bua'' appears in historical record as both a

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

and as a surname. It is often accompanied by the surname ''Spata''.

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under ...

's ''History'' written in second half of the 14th century is the first primary source about the Bua tribe. Kantakouzenos writes that the "Albanian tribes of Mazaraki, Bua, Malakasi were named so after the names of their leaders." Albanian clans traditionally bore the name of their first leader or progenitor, but after intermarriage between different leading families, the identification of the clans became intricate, as in the case of Muriki Bua Spata, who was perhaps the offspring of both Bua and Spata clans. According to the Greek historian

Constantine Sathas Constantine Sathas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Σάθας; Athens, 1842 – Paris, 25 May 1914) was a Greek historian and researcher. Sathas spent his life unearthing hitherto unknown material pertaining to the history of late medieval and ear ...

, the surname ''Bua'' derived from the name of the river '' Boiana / Buna'' in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, while poet Giuseppe Schirò suggested that the original form of the name was ''Buchia'', from which stem the two forms ''Bugia'' and ''Bokoi''. According to Schiró, from the latter derived the form ''Koboi'' attested in the '' Chronicle of the Tocco'', and from the indefinite form ''Kobua'', through

apheresis Apheresis ( ἀφαίρεσις (''aphairesis'', "a taking away")) is a medical technology in which the blood of a person is passed through an apparatus that separates out one particular constituent and returns the remainder to the circulation ...

of the initial syllable, ultimately derived ''Bua''. Another possible derivation is from Albanian '' bua'' (' buffalo').

History

They were semi-nomadic pastoralists, organized in ''katuns'' and had no central leadership. From that time, they appear in the history of the Despotate of Epirus and the involvement of

Gjin Bua Shpata Gjin Bua Shpata (sometimes anglicized as ''John Spata'') ( 1358 – 29 October 1399) was an Albanian ruler in Western Greece with the title of Despot. Together with Peter Losha, he led raids into Epirus, Acarnania and Aetolia in 1358. He was r ...

in the region. The Bua were not patrilineally kin (blood relatives) with the Spata tribe. The Meksi family is believed to be the first branch of Bua family. As a tribe, they were related to the Shpata via intermarriage. Many of the leaders of the

Despotate of Arta The Despotate of Arta ( sq, Despotati i Artës; el, Δεσποτάτο της Άρτας) was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, after the defeat of the local Despot of Epirus, Nikephoros II Orsini, by Albania ...

appears with ''Bua'' as a second surname in historical record. As such, in historiography the Bua are considered to have been among the rulers of the Despotate of Arta and the regions of

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia ...

and Acarnania to the south after the Battle of Achelous until 1416. After their loss, the Venetians invited the Bua tribe to settle in the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...

. In 1423, they appear in Venetian records in the Morea under the leadership of ''Rossus Bua, capu unius comitive Albanensium''. The Bua tribe established in Morea amounted to about one or two thousand people in 1423. After the fall of much of the Morea to the Ottomans, Venice invited them to settle in the Ionian Islands, in particular in

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Z ...

in 1473. Many branches of them settled in Italy after 1479 as part of the

migrations. In Italy, many of them joined

stratioti The Stratioti or Stradioti ( gr, στρατιώτες ''stratiotes''; sq, Stratiotë, Stratiotët;, it, stradioti, stradiotti, stratioti, strathiotto, strathioti; french: estradiots; sh, stratioti, stradioti; es, estradiotes) were mercenary u ...

regiments. Between 1481 and 1570, at least 44 Buas appear as stratioti captains. Among them two Gjin, Gjon, Bardh Bua. The best known was Mercurio Bua who in time was ennobled. In modern Greece, in 1504 a branch of the Albanian tribe of Bua who remained in the Ionian Islands were part of the colonization of the abandoned island of

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

. The Boua-Grivas as they came to be known in the late 16th century produced the anti-Ottoman rebel and

armatolos The armatoles ( el, αρματολοί, armatoloi; sq, armatolë; rup, armatoli; bs, armatoli), or armatole in singular ( el, αρματολός, armatolos; sq, armatol; rup, armatol; bs, armatola), were Christian irregular soldiers, or mi ...

Theodore Boua-Grivas who started a revolt in Epirus and Acarnania in 1585 with Venetian support.

Members

* Peter Bua ( 1450s), leader of the Albanian community in the Peloponnese after the fall of the

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

. * Theodore Bua ( 1479), Venetian mercenary captain * Mercurio Bua (1478–1542), Venetian mercenary captain, son of Peter Bua. * Andrés Bua, Stratiot of the Habsburg Empire of Charles V * Michele Bua, Stratioti captain in Flanders, France and Italy * Gianmattia Bua, italian businessman

Sources

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Albanian noble families Bua family Medieval Albanian nobility Tribes of Albania