Yakup Bois Shpat

Yakup Bois Shpat grew up and was raised in the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Mehmed I , where he converted to Islam and got his name ^[2] . After the death of his elder brother Murik Bois Shpaty , he became the heir to his possessions. However, the inhabitants of the despot did not trust Yakup because of his Muslim faith and wanted to make Spaty Charles Marchesano the ruler of Arta. Yet with the support of his mother Irina, Yakup achieved success and took the throne of the Arts despotat , while Charles Marchesano became the ruler of the neighboring fortress of Rogoy ^{[2] [3]} .

Soon the Albanian nobility provoked an uprising of citizens against the power of Yakup. The magnates, playing on their lack of confidence in the Muslim faith, which Yakup Shpat accepted, aroused the fear of the locals that the despot would give them over to the Ottoman Empire. They overthrew Shpatu, elevating to the throne of Arta his half-brother Charles Marcesano. Yakup also found refuge in the Ottoman Empire. There he enlisted the help of Sultan Mehmed I , and with the support of the Turkish army, he returned to the throne of Arta in the same year, after a short siege. His stepbrother was exiled, while the Albanian nobles who participated in his overthrow were executed ^{[4] [3]} .

After returning to Art, Yakup Shpat faced the invasion of the ruler of Epirus, Carlo I Tokko, into his territory ^[2] . During the reign of Murike Bois Špat, in 1408, Carlo captured Angelokastron and, using the fortress of Voblian as his base, Tokko made constant raids on Arta ^[3] . Yakup attempted to capture Vaudlian, but was defeated near Nikopol by his brother Carlo, Count Zakynthos Leonard II Tokko , but Leonardo could not gain success, being defeated by the Albanians, trying to capture Rogoia ^{[4] [5]} .

At the same time, Carlo I besieged Art, but Yakup managed to defend the capital of the despot. Tokko retreated back to Epirus, and shortly thereafter he was able to lure Yakup into an ambush, in which the despot was captured and immediately executed on October 1, 1416 ^{[4] [5]} . After his death, the magnates Arta seized control of the despotat and offered to transfer him to Carlo I Tokko if he retained their rights and privileges. Carlo accepted these conditions and entered Artu on 4 October. At the same time, his brother Leonardo II captured Rogoia ^{[4] [6]} .

• History of Albanian People. - Albanian Academy of Science. - ISBN 99927-1-623-1 .
• Fine, John Van Antwerp. Twilight Century to the Ottoman Conquest . - Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994. - ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5 .
• Nicol, Donald MacGillivray. The Despotate of Epiros 1267–1479: A Contribution to the Middle Ages . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. - ISBN 978-0-521-13089-9 .
• Trapp, Erich. Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit: [] . - Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1978. - ISBN 3-7001-3003-1 .