By: Valter Shtylla
The history of Albania is filled with various and often impressive events. Characters who are already known not only from the history of Albania, but also from the histories of other countries have been present in many of them.
One of these figures is Angelina, the daughter of the well-known feudal lord of the c. XV, George Arianiti. The latter's long name was Gjergj Arianit Komnen Topia. He had two brothers, Muzaka Komneni and Vladani. The latter was married to Skenderbeu's sister, Angjelina, with whom he had a son - Angjelina's Muzak. Gjergj Arianiti lived with his family in Durrës and died at the beginning of 1461. This Albanian feudal lord was among the first local chieftains, who rose up against the Turkish invasion at the beginning of the 1432th century. In cooperation with other local feudal lords, Gjergj Arianiti managed to resist the Turks in the summer of 1432. In the winter between 1433-XNUMX, Gjergj Arianiti again defeated the Turkish troops in the Shkumbin river valley.
The Turks, commanded by Ali Bey Evrenozi, were sent by Sultan Murat II himself. The victory of Shkumbin was considered in Europe as a great victory of Arian Comnenus (George). In 1443, this Albanian leader reaped another victory in the gorges of Labëria. After this victory, congratulations poured in from Europe. Pope Eugene IV, King Alfonso V of Naples, German Emperor Sigismund and the Republic of Ragusa, in addition to congratulations, promised George Arianitis help. This euphoria did not last long, since in 1435 the Turkish forces led by Beylerbeu Sinan Pasha suppressed the Albanian revolt and forced Gjergj Arianiti to withdraw to what was left of his possessions. At this point, he again became a vassal of the sultan. Gjergj Arianit Komnen Topia had many children. With his first wife, Maria Muzaka, he had only daughters, while with his second, the Italian Petrinela Frankone, a widow with two daughters, Gjergji also had three sons.
Regarding the possessions of Gjergj Arianit, there are different versions. In a Muzakai source it was said that Gjergj Arianit Komnen Topia was lord of Čermenika, Mokra and Shpati up to the river Devoll, where this part is separated from the possessions of the Muzakai. Eight daughters were born from Gjergj Arianiti's first marriage. The eldest daughter was Andronika or Donika. This girl, as is known, had as her husband Gjergj Kastriot Skënderbeu, the lord of Dibra, Mati and Kruja all the way to the coast. Gjergj Kastriot Skenderbeu and Donika gave birth to Gjon. He was appointed Duke of St. Peter in Galatia and married Duchess Erin Paleologa (Elena) – daughter of the lord of Serbia, Lazar. John had many children, who did not live long except Prince Ferrant Kastrioti – Duke of Saint Peter in Naples and Princess Maria Kastrioti. These died in 1551 and 1540 respectively.
The second daughter of Gjergj Ariani Komneni, Vojsava, married Gjon Crnojevic, ruler of Montenegro and Zeta, with whom she had two sons: Lord Gjergjin and Lord Skenderbeu.
The third daughter of Gjergji, Kirana (Anna), the fourth Elena and the fifth Despina took sons from the large tribe of Dukagjinas, namely Nikollin, Gjergjin and Tanushi. Anna had two sons, one of whom became the Sultan's pasha. Elena had many children, one of whom was named Skenderbe.
Despina had a son and a daughter. The seventh daughter, Mrs. Komita, married Gojko Balsha, ruler of Musje (between Kruja and Lezha), with whom she had two sons and a daughter.
The sons died in Hungary while the daughter, Lady Maria, married the Count of Mur, Jakopo Alfonso of Mazeu of Farrile. After Maria died in 1459, the count married Maria, daughter of Vrana Count of Skanderbeg. The last daughter of Gjergj Arianiti, Katerina, first married a boy from the door of Spanve from Northern Albania with whom she had a daughter who left for Hungary with her husband. In her second marriage, Katerina was married to Nikola Bokal and they had two sons and two daughters.
The subject of the article is the sixth daughter of Gjergj Ariani Komnen Topija, named Angjelina. Angelina married a much older man, blind or nearly blind, the dethroned despot of Serbia, named Stefan. This was one of the three sons of the Serbian despot, Gjergj Brankovic (father), who had existed inconspicuously, but not without dignity, among the Catholic Hungarians and the Turks, who had him as vassals. After his father's death, Stephen was declared despot for a while, only to eventually lose his independence. Blind Stephen made many pilgrimages. In one of his trips, the one he made to Albania in 1461, he met and married Angjelina, thus establishing family ties with Skënderbeu.
Then, with the recommendation of Skanderbeg to the Duke of Milan, he left for Italy, where in 1472 he ended up in Friuli. In Friuli the Stefan-Angelina couple, accompanied by Angelina's stepmother, lived with the help of the Venetian Lordship, but not without difficulties. In October 1476, Stephen died. In 1478, Angelina was in Vienna, where Emperor Frederick III took her fate to heart and gave her a castle in Carinthia-Veissenfels. In this castle, Angelina and her sons John and George, on October 9, 1479, pledged their loyalty to Emperor Federico. Then Angelina returned to Italy, where she was again helped by the Pope, as evidenced by the Apostolic Registers between the years 1479-84.
After a complicated attempt to sell the Belgrade castle in Pordenone/Italy, Angelina and the boys move back to Austria. Thanks to the protection of the emperor, Angelina's daughter, Maria, marries a person of the name, the Marquis of Monferrata, the last heir of that branch of the Paleologues, which since the 1485th century moved to Piedmont. This marriage, in some details, resembles that of the mother, but in contrast, it provided the daughter with relative peace. Maria was only 18 years old in 59, while her husband was 1485. The Emperor himself was concerned about the Marquis of Monferrata, who had the Marquis as his loyal vassal south of the Alps. It is understood under these conditions, the young, honorable lady, daughter of Angelina, could not refuse a marriage of this type. After XNUMX, Angelina and her sons settled in the Kupinovo castle, an island in the Sava River, where they brought with them the remains of Stefan, which became an object of pilgrimage for Orthodox believers.
After that, Angelina's life continued with unpleasant events. The son, the despot George, perhaps disappointed by the failure of his marriage with a noble Neapolitan, who came to Hungary after Beatrice of Aragon, suddenly abandoned the castle where he lived and turned into a monk, taking the name Maxim. The second son, John, more combative, in later years took part in battles against the Turks, penetrating several times into Bosnia. Priest Maxim, with his mother Angelina, who became a nun, and with his father's remains, went to Wallachia where he helped to organize the local Orthodox church, collaborating among others with the former Patriarch of Constantinople, Niphon, also with Albanian origin. The latter was the son of an Albanian, who worked near Gjergj Brankovic and who then moved to the Peloponnese, probably with Gjergj's son-in-law, Tomas Kantakuzeni. Later, Maxim (George), returned to Hungary and in 1502 he went to Venice on a diplomatic mission to help his brother John, who died soon after this time. Angelina and priest Maksim lived for many years in the Krushedol Monastery where they died.
Angelina died as a nun in 1516 as a result of poor health, while her son, under the office of the Metropolitan of Belgrade.
The Frushka Gora mountains are located between the Danube and Sava rivers, near the town of Karlovci i Srem in Vojvodina. There are many monasteries in Frushka Gora, among which is the Monastery of Krushedol village, located in the southeastern part of the mentioned mountains. This monastery represents a complex that includes two-story mansions, which form the sides of a square in the center of which is the church with the bell tower.
The monastery of Krushedol is known as the spiritual center of the family of the despot Brankovic. It was built between the years 1509 and 1516 by Mrs. Angjelina, the daughter of Gjergj Ariani Komnen Topia and the wife of Stefan Branković, as well as by her son, Gjergji (Maxim after ordination). Vojvoda, Vlach Jovan Njegoja, helped with this construction.
In this monastery are the remains of Stephen the Blind, those of Saint John, namely the father and brother of Bishop Maxim (George), the remains of Maxim and those of Mother Angelina. The remains of this family were preserved there until 1716, i.e. fully 200 years after the death of Saint Angelina, until the monastery was burned and damaged, suffering significant losses.
During the 40th-1745th centuries, Krushedol Monastery became a well-known ecclesiastical center. During the 1750s of the XNUMXth century, the first wall paintings were made. After the burning of the monastery, the renovation of the church and the mural painting was completed in XNUMX. Today's church has a triangular shape with a dome in the center. The wall painting with the family scene where Gjergj Brankoviqi, Gjoni, Maksimi and Angjelina are painted is preserved in its premises. This painting was made in XNUMX by the Russian-Ukrainian painter Jovan Vasiljevic, with the financing of the merchant Racko Jovanovic from Novi Sad in Vojvodina. In addition, in the iconostasis of the Krushedol Monastery church, in the lower row, to the right of the beautiful doors, there is a family icon where you can see the four characters of this church: Maxim, Angelina, John and Stephen the Blind.
The story of St. Angeline of Albania, the daughter of the well-known Albanian leader of the 15th century Gjergj Arianit Komnen Topië, embodies one of the many stories of prominent figures of the Albanian lands, which are waiting to be identified and to which the Albanian scholarly opinion feels very obliged . Today, the Albanian nation is very sensitive to the recognition of its historical figures. Among other things, the need to discover and study them also comes from the appreciation given to these historical characters by the international community. /GSH/
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