The Balšić was a noble family that ruled "Zeta and the coastlands", from 1362 to 1421, during and after the fall of the Serbian Empire. Balša, the founder, was a petty nobleman who held only one village during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty, and only after the death of the emperor, his three sons gained power in Lower Zeta after acquiring the lands of gospodinŽarko under unclear circumstances, and they then expanded into Upper Zeta by murdering voivode and čelnikĐuraš Ilijić. Nevertheless, they were acknowledged as oblastni gospodari of Zeta in edicts of Emperor Uroš the Weak. After the death of Uroš, the family feuded with the Mrnjavčevići, who controlled Macedonia. In 1421, Balša III, on his death, passed the rule of Zeta to his uncle, Despot Stefan the Tall.
History
Origin
The Balšić family was first mentioned in a charter of Emperor Stefan Uroš V, dated 29 September 1360. Due to sources having nothing reliable to say about their ancestors, there has been speculation on their origin, which some deem unknown. Apart from Mavro Orbini's tale, there are really no other accounts on their origin. In oral tradition, they descended via Grand Prince Vukan Nemanjić. There exist fragmental assertions that they descended from "Emperor Nemanja". The oldest mention of a Balšić is from 1304, when Serbian QueenHelen of Anjou sent a letter in Slavic through her trustee Matija Balšić from Bar to Ragusa. A theory is that this Balšić married a female member of the Nemanjić royal family, and thus established the noble family of Balšić. There has been various opinions about the family's origin. Karl Hopf considered "unquestionably part of the Serb tribe". Ivan Stepanovich Yastrebov, Russian Consul in Shkodër and Prizren, when speaking of the Balšići, connected their name to the Roman town of Balletium located near modern Shkodër. According to Čedomilj Mijatović, the Balšić family had ultimate origin in the House of Baux from Provence ; from that family sprung an Italian family, and from them the Balšići, and from them a Romanian family. Serbian historian Vladimir Ćorović concluded, based on their name, that they had Roman origin. Croatian ethnologist Milan Šufflay mentioned them as of "Romanian and Vlach origin". Croatian linguist Petar Skok considered them to have been of Vlach origin, and Serbian historian Milena Gecić supported his theory. Giuseppe Gelcich theorized on the origin in his . The theory asserting them as descendants of the Frankish nobleman Bertrand III of Baux, a companion of Charles d'Anjou is regarded as highly improbable. German linguist Gustav Weigand supported a mixed Albanian-Aromanian origin after he noted that the family name was included in a list of early Albanian surnames in Romania. In modern scholarship John Van Antwerp Fine Jr., Donald Nicol, Peter Bartl view the origin of the Balšić family as Serbian. According to Noel Malcolm, the Balsiči were a Serbo-Albanian family, while Robert Elsie mentions them as of "probably Slavic origin". Sauro Gelichi considers them Serbian-Montenegrin. Ines Angjeli Murzaku says that the family had an Albanian origin. Edgar Hösch mentions the Thopias and Balšići as native Albanian families that gained political power after 1355. Alexandru Madgearu mentions the Balšić as a noble Albanian family, however he states that their Albanian origin is unclear, due to the debate over the family's origin as either Serbian or Vlach. Wayne E. Lee, Matthew Lubin, Eduard Ndreca, Michael L. Galaty, Mentor Mustafa and Robert Schon mention the families of Balsha, along with Dukagjin, Topia and Kastrati, as local Albanian lords which held fragmented power in north of Albania. According to Sarajevo University historian Mehmed Hodžić, who studied the works of Konstantin Jireček, Vladimir Jovojovic, and Dragoje Zivkovic, the Balšićs originated from Shkodër and from Slavized Vlachs and that they rose to military nobility on military merit.
Early history
According to Mavro Orbini, Balša, the eponymous founder, was a petty nobleman that held only one village in the area of Lake Skadar during the rule of Emperor Dušan the Mighty. Only after the death of the emperor, Balša and his three sons gained power in Lower Zeta after acquiring the lands of gospodin Žarko and by murdering voivode and čelnik Đuraš Ilijić, the holders of Lower and Upper Zeta, respectively. Balša dies the same year, and his sons, the Balšić brothers, continue in ruling the province spanning Podgorica, Budva, Bar and Skadar. The Balšići managed to elevate themselves from petty nobility to provincial lords.
