Spata family

The Spata family (Albanian: Shpata) was an Albanian noble family which rose to prominence in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, initially as Venetian vassals and later as Ottoman vassals. The family's progenitors were the brothers Gjin Bua Shpata and Skurra Bua Shpata. Shpata means "sword" in Albanian.^[1]

Spata Shpata Spatas
Noble family
Parent house	Bua
Country	Medieval Albania
Founder	Gjin Bua Shpata
Titles	count, despot
Connected families	Arianiti family
Estate(s)	Aetolia (Early 1360s–?) Angelokastron (?–1399) Acheloos (?–1399) Nafpaktos or "Lepanto" (1377–78; 1380–?) Arta (1377–99)

History

In the first half of the 14th century, mercenaries, raiders and migrants known in Greek as Άλβανοί (Albanoi or "Albanians") flooded into Greece (specifically raiding Thessaly in 1325 and 1334).^[2] In 1358, Albanians got regions of Epirus, Acarnania and Aetolia under their rule and established two principalities under their leaders, Gjin Bua Shpata and Pjetër Losha.^[1] Naupactus (Lepanto) was later taken in 1378.^[1] The Shpata family frequently collaborated with the Ottomans and saw them as protectors.^[3]

Although German historian Karl Hopf provided a genealogy of the Shpata family, it is deemed by modern scholarship as "altogether inaccurate".^[4]

• Gjin Bua Shpata, recognized as a ruler in Epirus and Aetolia by Simeon Uroš in 1359–1360.^[5]
  • Eirene Spata who married Esau de' Buondelmonti, the Despot of Ioannina, in 1396.^[4]
  • A daughter, name unknown, who married Gjon Zenebishi.
  • Unclear
    • Maurice Spata (fl. 1399–1414)
    • Yaqub Spata (fl. 1414–1416)
• Sgouros Spata (fl. 1399–d. 1403)
  • Paul Spata, Ottoman vassal
  • Sterina Spata, married Francesco Foscari, patrician of Venice.

According to Schirò, Shpata family was not kin (blood relatives) with the later Bua family.^[6] However this theory is rejected and their first name was Bua, while the name Spata appears to them as a second name, creating a cadet branch of the Buas.^[7][8]

References

Citations

1. Hammond 1976, p. 59.
2. Hammond 1976, pp. 39, 57.
3. Imber, Colin (1990). The Ottoman empire: 1300-1481. Isis. p. 113. ISBN 978-975-428-015-9. The Spata clan, however, continued to see the Ottomans as their protectors.
4. Luttrell 1982, p. 122.
5. Madgearu & Gordon 2008, p. 83: "The despots Gjin Buia Spata and Peter Liosha were recognized by Symeon Uroš in 1359–1360 as rulers in Epirus and Aetolia. Albanian historians consider Gjin (or Ghinu) Buia and Peter Liosha Albanian, but it is sure that at least the Buia family was of Aromanian origin..."
6. Schirò 1971–1972, p. 81.
7. Studime Historike, Volume 2. the University of California. 1965. p. 17.
8. Kollias 1990, p. 208-209. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFKollias1990 (help)

Sources

• Aleksić, Marko (2007). Mediaeval Swords from Southeastern Europe: Material from 12th to 15th Century. Belgrade: Marko Aleksić. GGKEY:UJ4HA53C8R7.
• Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1976). Migrations and Invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press. ISBN 0-8155-5047-2.
• Luttrell, Anthony (1982). Latin and Greece: The Hospitallers and the Crusades, 1291–1440. London: Ashgate Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-86078-106-6.
• Madgearu, Alexandru; Gordon, Martin (2008). The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula: Their Medieval Origins. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5846-6.
• Pipa, Arshi (1978). Albanian Folk Verse: Structure and Genre. Munich: Trofenik. ISBN 978-3-87-828119-1.
• Schirò, Giuseppe (1971–1972). "La genealogia degli Spata tra il XIV e XV sec. E due Bua sconosciuti". Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici. 28–29: 67–85.