Gjin Bue Shpata, a ruler in the lands of Epirus, passed away. In the second half of the 14th century, he was proclaimed despot of Akelout and Angelokastron, and after the death of Peter Ljoshi (1374), ruler of the Albanian despotate of Arta. The boundaries of his dominions extended over a compact territory stretching from the Gulf of Ambracia to the Gli River in Chameria, where the possessions of Gjin Zenevisi began. Throughout his rule, Gjin Bue Shpata was openly in conflict with the rulers of Ioannina, Toma Preljubović, and Esau Buondelmonte, who managed to withstand his pressure on Ioannina only by seeking help from the Ottomans from Thessaly. Another opponent he encountered was the Kingdom of Naples, which sought to extend its own dominion over the Ionian coast and the lands of the Despotate of Arta. In 1379, Gjin Bue Shpata achieved a victory in front of the walls of Arta by defeating an expedition from Naples led by the commander of the Johanite of Rhodes, who was captured. The conflict continued with further battles with the Toko brothers, vassals of Naples on the islands of Lefkada and Cephalonia, against whom Gjin Bue Shpata successfully used his fleet. A third front opened for Gjin Bue Shpata with the invasion of the Ottomans in 1384 and 1388 from Thessaly and Macedonia, whom he managed to defeat at the Drisk site in 1396. Although engaged in conflicts on multiple fronts, the Despotate of Arta under the rule of Gjin Bue Shpata was able to withstand for some time the disruptive effect of external forces and achieve its greatest strengthening. (In the photo: Despotate of Arta under the rule of Gjin Bua Shpata)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2521.
Graphic processing: AHCF
