George Strez Balšić ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Стрезов Балшић; ) or Gjergj Strez Balsha ( 1444–57) and his brothers Gojko and

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the B ...

were the lords of Misia, a coastal area from the

White Drin The White Drin or White Drim (; , ) is a river in Kosovo and northern Albania, a ca. long headstream of the Drin. Course Kosovo The Kosovo section of the White Drin flows entirely in the semi-karst part of Kosovo, in an arc-shaped -long ...

towards the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. The brothers were members of the

Balšić noble family The House of Balšić ( sr-Cyrl, Балшићи; ), or Balsha, were a noble family that ruled " Zeta and the coastlands" (current-day southern Montenegro and northern Albania), from 1362 to 1421, during and after the fall of the Serbian Empire. ...

, which had earlier held

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...

. They participated in founding of the

League of Lezhë The League of Lezhë (), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League (), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The League of Lezhë is considered the first unif ...

, an alliance led by their maternal uncle

Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

. George later betrayed Skanderbeg, by selling a domain to the Ottomans, while his two brothers continued to support Skanderbeg until his death and then continued to fight for the Venetian forces.

Family

According to Fan S. Noli George and his brothers

and Gojko were nephews of

from his sister Jelena who married Pavle Balšić. Genealogy of Kastrioti family written by Karl Hopf does not present the information about George Strez Balšić being a son of Skanderbeg's sister Jelena.

League of Lezhë

The three Balšić brothers joined the

, an alliance formed by their maternal uncle Skanderbeg, after meeting in the St. Nicholas Church in

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

on 2 March 1444. The members included

Lekë Zaharia Lekë Zaharia Altisferi (died 1447) was an Albanian nobleman from the Zaharia family. He was the only son of his father Koja Zaharia and mother Bosa Dukagjini, and he had a sister named Bolia, who named her son Koja after her father. League of ...

, Peter Spani, Lekë Dushmani, Andrea Thopia,

Gjergj Arianiti Gjergj Arianiti (13??–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the uncle of Moisi Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was Skanderbeg's ...

, Theodor Musachi,

Stefan Crnojević Stefan Crnojević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Црнојевић), known as Stefanica (; 1426–1465) was the Zeta under the Crnojevići, Lord of Zeta between 1451 and 1465. Until 1441, as a knyaz he was one of many governors in Upper Zeta, whic ...

, and their subjects. Skanderbeg was elected its leader, and commander in chief of its armed forces numbering a total of 8,000 warriors. In 1451 after

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...

signed the

Treaty of Gaeta The Treaty of Gaeta was a political treaty signed in Gaeta on March 26, 1451, between Alfonso V for the Kingdom of Naples and Stefan, Bishop of Krujë, and Nikollë de Berguçi, ambassadors of Skanderbeg. In the treaty Skanderbeg recognized hi ...

with

, he signed similar treaties with George Strez Balšić and other chieftains from Albania:

, Gjin Muzaka, Peter Spani,

Pal Dukagjini Pal Dukagjini (, 1411–1458) was an Albanian nobleman, a member of the Dukagjini family. He and his kinsman Nicholas Dukagjini were initially subjects of Lekë Zaharia, a Venetian vassal who had possessions around Shkoder. Nicholas murdered ...

, Thopia Muzaka, Peter of Himara,

Simon Zenebishi Simon Zenebishi () was an Albanian aristocrat and vassal of the Kingdom of Naples, who held the castle of Strovilo (Castrovilari), near Butrint, and was a member of the Zenebishi family of southern Albania. He probably dwelled in Corfu, and was l ...

and

Carlo II Tocco Carlo II Tocco (died 1448) was the ruler of Epirus from 1429 until his death. Life Carlo II was the son of Leonardo II Tocco, the younger brother and co-ruler of Carlo I Tocco, count of Cephalonia and Zante, duke of Leukas, and ruler of Epirus. ...

. According to Albanian historians Kristo Frashëri and

Fan Noli Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian Americans, Albanian-American writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, bishop, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albania ...

, Strez Balšić betrayed Skanderbeg by selling the fortress he controlled (Modritza) to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in spring 1457., Skanderbeg was betrayed by another of his nephews,

Hamza Kastrioti Hamza Kastrioti () was a 15th-century Albanian nobleman and the nephew of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Probably born in Ottoman territory, after the death of his father Stanisha he was raised by Skanderbeg, who took him in his military expediti ...

, who deserted to the Ottomans.

Issue

Karl Krumbacher believed that the first daughter of

Muriq Shpata {{Infobox noble, type , name = Muriq Shpata , title = Lord of Arta , image = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , reig ...

married ''Giorgio'', a son of "George Balšić and Eudokia".

Annotations

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balsic, George Strez George Strez 15th-century lords in Europe