Vojsava Kastrioti: Dallime mes rishikimesh

There is a debate on the ethnicity of Voisava.

 

The first works providing information on Voisava's origins are:

*[[Marin Barleti]] (1450-1513), the Albanian-Venetian historian, wrote in his biography of Skanderbeg (published between 1508-1510), that she was the "daughter of a lord of the [[Triballi]]ans".<ref name=BarletiuslIfo2>Barletius, l. I, fo 2: «uxori Voisavae nomen erat non indignam eo viro tum pater nobilissimus Triballorum princeps, tum forma...»</ref><ref>Gegaj 1937, [http://books.google.com/books?id=usxBAAAAYAAJ&q=%22uxori+Voisavae+nomen+erat%22&dq=%22uxori+Voisavae+nomen+erat%22&hl=en p. 40]</ref> In another chapter, when talking about the inhabitants of Upper [[Debar]] that defended Svetigrad, he calls them "Bulgarians or Triballi".<ref>Barletius, l. V, fo. 62: "Superior Dibra montuosa est et aspera, ferax tarnen et Macedoniam tum ipsa loci vicinitate, tum similitudine morum contingens. Bulgari sive Tribali habitant"</ref> However, the term "Triballians" (Triballoi) appears frequently in Byzantine and other European works of the Middle Ages, referring exclusively to [[Serbs]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/?id=jFPQAAAAMAAJ&q=triballians The Journal of Hellenic studies] Page 48: "Byzantine historians [...] calling [...] Serbs ''Triballians''"</ref><ref>Stuck 1577, [http://books.google.gr/books?id=vRZKISETNi0C&pg=PR79&lpg=PR79 p. 51]</ref><ref>Foxe 1837, p. 27</ref>

*[[Gjon Muzaka]] (fl. 1510), an Albanian nobleman of the [[Muzaka family]], alleged in his ''Muzaka Chronicle'' (published in 1510) that the "Marquis of Tripalda" was maternally related to the Muzaka.<ref>Musachi, [http://books.google.com/books?id=xTvPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22e+venne+da+bona+parte%22&dq=%22e+venne+da+bona+parte%22&hl=en p. 301]: "Accio sappiate, in che modo c'era parente il Signor marchese della Tripalda, ve dico, che l'e per parte de donna... (Know that the Marquis of Tripalda is related to us by a female line);</ref> Furthermore, in another chapter, he assigns the "Triballi" to the Serbs.<ref>Muzachi, p. 313: "...Tribali overo Misii ch' hoggi se nominato Serviani."</ref>

 

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*[[Oliver Schmitt]] (b. 1973), professor of South-East European history at [[Vienna University]], in his biography ''Skanderbeg. Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan'' (2009) supports that she was Serbian, from the Branković, close relative to [[Mara Branković]].<ref>Schmitt (2009), pp. 44, 45.; [http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/buecher/Schweizer-Historiker-beleidigt-Albaner/story/19392466 "Skanderbegs Mutter Vojsava war eine Serbin aus der einflussreichen Familie Brankovic."]</ref>

 

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Voisava married [[Gjon Kastrioti]], the "Lord of a part of Albania" (dominus partium Albanie). She bore 9 children with Gjon, 4 sons and 5 daughters:

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*{{Citation |author=Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien|title=Denkschriften, Vol 16|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ri3mAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA117|year=1869|publisher=Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse|edition=University of Michigan|language=German}}

[[Category:Kastrioti family]]

[[Category:Skanderbeg]]

 

[[en:Voisava Tripalda]]