Konstantin Balšic
Encyclopedia
Konstantin Balšić was a lord of the House of Balšić
House of Balšic
The Balšić was a noble house that ruled Zeta and the coastlands , from 1362 to 1421, during the fall of the Serbian Empire. Balša, the eponymous founder, was a petty nobleman that held only one village during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty The Balšić was a noble house that ruled Zeta and...

, who ruled over lands in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

.

Konstantin Balšić was the son of Đurađ I and his wife, Theodora. After his father's death in 1378, he inherited a small parchment of land between the rivers of Bojana
Bojana River
The Bojana or Buna , is a 41 km long river in Albania and Montenegro which flows into the Adriatic Sea. An outflow of Lake Skadar, measured from the source of the lake's longest tributary, the Morača, the Morača-Lake Skadar- Bojana system is 183 km long.- The river in Albania :The river...

 and Drin
Drin River
The Drin is the longest river in Albania with a total length of . It has two distributaries, one going directly into the Adriatic Sea, the other one into the Bojana River .- Origin :...

.

To expand links in the western Balkans, he married his sister Eudokia to the Florentine Despot of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...

 Esau de' Buondelmonti
Esau de' Buondelmonti
Esau de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus in Ioannina from 1385 to his death in 1411.Esau was the son of the Florentine nobleman Manente Buondelmonti and Lapa Acciaiuoli, sister of Niccolò Acciaiuoli of Corinth and the grandson of the great Χρηστόφορxοςστασία XXIV...

.

In late 1394, Konstantin was installed as governor of Krujë
Krujë
Krujë is a town in north central Albania and the capital of the municipality and the Krujë District. It has a population of about 15,900. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km from the capital of Albania, Tirana....

 by the Ottomans and married Marco Barbadigo's first wife, former Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 princess, Helena Thopia
Helena Thopia
Helena Thopia was an Albanian princess from Thopia family. She was married to Marco Barbarigo, a Venetian nobleman. After the death of her father, Karl Topia, in 1388, she inherited the castle of Krujë and the surrounding region...

, daughter of Karlo Thopia. He was sent to become the Balšićs head as an Ottoman protege and apparently failed, losing his stronghold, Dagnum
Dagnum
Dagnum was an important medieval fortress in contemporary Albania.- History :It is known that in 1395, Konstantin Balšić captured Dagnum, however, lost it to his relative, Đurađ II Balšić, Lord of Zeta...

, to his cousin, Đurađ II, in 1395.

Konstantin was very faithful to Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

 Bayezid I
Bayezid I
Bayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Valide Sultan Gülçiçek Hatun.-Biography:Bayezid was born in Edirne and spent his youth in Bursa, where he received a high-level education...

. On 17 May 1395 he fought in the Battle of Rovine
Battle of Rovine
The Battle of Rovine took place on 17 May 1395 between the Wallachian army led by Voivod Mircea cel Bătrân against the Ottoman invasion led by sultan Bayezid I. The Ottoman army, numbering approximately 40,000 men, faced the much smaller Wallachian army, which was about 10,000 men...

 and witnessed the deaths of some Serb noblemen but managed to survive himself. Of those who died included his cousin Konstantin Dejanović
Constantine Dragas
Constantine Dragaš Dejanović was a Serbian magnate that ruled the area around Kyustendil from 1378, during the fall of the Serbian Empire, until his death on May 17, 1395 at the battle of Rovine...

, according to whom he was named after, and King Marko Mrnjavčević
Prince Marko
Marko Mrnjavčević was de jure the Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while de facto he ruled only over a territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep...

). In 1402, he was executed in Dyrrhachium for unknown reasons, but it is generally believed that his absence at the Battle of Angora may had something to do with this.
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