Pjetër Spani: Dallime mes rishikimesh

His brother was [[Alessio Span]], who in the mid-15th century settled in Venice and served as a diplomat of the republic in the Ottoman Empire. Alessio Span claimed that they descended from several imperial [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] families. In [[Gjon Muzaka]]'s 1510 work ''Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi'' he is mentioned as a descendant of Emperor Theodosius, although it is unclear to whom it refers as there were three Byzantine emperors named ''Theodosius''. The Byzantine author Andreas Angelos Komnenos mentions the [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine Greek]] emperor [[Alexios III Angelos]] as his great-great-great grandfather in his work ''Constitutio Ordinis Constantiniani Equestris''. According to that account his father was Michael, Duke of Drivast and his mother Helena Span. The surname ''Span'' or ''Spani'' probably derives from the Greek word ''spanos'' (beardlesspa mjeker).<ref name="Stavrides2001">{{cite book|last=Stavrides|first=Théoharis|title=The Sultan of vezirs: the life and times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelovic̕ (1453–1474)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ptXG0uA70lAC&pg=PA230|accessdate= 23 March 2012|year=2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-12106-5|page=230}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Glas, Volume 338|year=1983|publisher=Serbian Academy of Science and Arts|url=http://books.google.rs/books?id=Uq0rAQAAIAAJ&q=%22%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80+%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%22&dq=%22%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80+%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fJ4ZT6raNqOM4gSKm9nUDQ&redir_esc=y|accessdate=20 January 2012|page=72|language=Serbian|quote= Петар Спан, господар краја између Скадра и Дриваста, чији су се преци, пореклом Грци,}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Šufflay |first=Milan |author=Milan Šufflay |authorlink=Milan Šufflay |title= Srbi i Arbanasi : (njihova simbioza u srednjem vijeku) |url=http://books.google.rs/books?ei=fJ4ZT6raNqOM4gSKm9nUDQ&id=qpMaAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80+%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%22&q=%22Toj+skup%C5%A1tini+pribiva+i+katoli%C4%8Dki+Arbanas+Petar+Span%2C+mo%C4%87an+pro*+nijar+oko+Skadra+i+Drivosta.+Obitelj+ova+Span%2C+de+Span%2C+Hi*+spanus%2C+Spanovi%C4%87+podrijetlom+je+gr%C4%8Dka+%28%3Efxav6g+zna%C4%8Di+%C4%87osat%2C+bezbrad%2C+pogrdna+rije%C4%8D+kod+sredovje%C4%8Dnih+Grka%29.%22#search_anchor|accessdate= 20 January 2012 |year=1925 |location= Belgrade |language= Serbian |oclc=440847167|quote= Toj skupštini pribiva i katolički Arbanas Petar Span, moćan pronijar oko Skadra i Drivosta. Obitelj ova Span, de Span, Hispanus, Spanović podrijetlom je grčka}}</ref>