Kastrioti, Ivan

Gyon Castioti was born in the city of Debar (modern Republic of Macedonia ). One of the three sons of Pal Kastrioti, who owned two villages in the Mati region, northwest of Debar. Gyon Kastrioti was able to expand the territory of the Principality of Kastrioti and subjugated the Mati region to his power.

Like other Albanian feudal lords, Gyon Kastrioti also became a vassal of the Ottoman sultan after 1385 , when the Ottoman Turks defeated the army of Balsha II and Ivan Mrnyavchevich in the Battle of Savre . In 1402, he, along with other Ottoman vassals from Albania, supported Sultan Bayazid I at the battle of Ankara .

In June 1408, Gyon Castrioti was one of the nobles who acted as guarantors during the armistice between the Montenegrin ruler Balsha III and the Republic of Venice during the First War of Shkodra (1405-1413). In 1412, the Venetians offered Gyon Castrioti a bribe in the amount of 1,000 ducats, and in return demanded that he stop supporting Balsa III, but he refused.

In 1413, Gyon Castrioti recognized suzerainty and became a citizen of the Republic of Venice with his sons. Between 1415 and 1417, Castrioti, while maintaining good relations with the Venetians, recognized his vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire. In 1419, the Venetians unsuccessfully tried to bribe the princes Kastrioti and Dukadin to fight against the Principality of Zeta .

In the years 1419-1426 , Gyon Kastrioti was an ally of the despot of Serbia Stefan Lazarevich, who was also a vassal of the Ottoman sultan. In 1421, after the death of his nephew Balsa III, Stefan Lazarevich inherited the Principality of Zeta , but the Venetians did not recognize this and continued to keep their garrisons in a number of coastal cities of Zeta. In August 1421, Stefan Lazarevich with the army entered Zeta and occupied the cities of Sveti Srdzh, Drivast and Bar . The Venetians made a ceasefire, retaining Shkodra , Ulcinj and Budva . Stefan Lazarevich demanded that the Venetians surrender these cities, and the war resumed. An Albanian detachment under the command of one of the sons of Gyon Kastrioti participated in the campaign of Stefan Lazarevich in Zeta . In June 1422, Stefan Lazarevich besieged the main Venetian fortress of Shkodra , but in December 1422, the Venetians, with the support of some Albanian princes, were able to break the blockade of the city. In January 1423, the Venetians bribed the princes Kastrioti, Dukadin and Zakharia, who left the Serbian despot with their troops. In April 1423, Venetian Admiral Francesco Bembo offered 300 ducats to Gyon Castrioti for his assistance in the war against Serbia, but the latter refused.

From time to time, Gyon Castrioti was forced to send one or more sons as hostages to the court of the Ottoman sultan.

During the siege by the Ottoman Turks of Thessaloniki (1422-1430), the Venetians persuaded Gyon Castrioti to revolt against the power of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II . In August 1428, Gyon sent his embassy to Venice, where his representatives showed letters from Sultan Murad II over the past five years. In these letters, the Sultan ordered Kastrioti to attack the Venetian possessions in Albania. Since he refused to comply with the order of the Sultan, he asked Venice through his ambassadors to provide him with asylum in case of an attack by the Ottoman Turks on his principality. In April 1430, after the capture of Thessaloniki, a large Turkish army under the command of Ishaq Bey entered Albania and captured most of the domain of Gyon Kastrioti. Ishaq Bey left the Turkish garrisons in two castles of Kastrioti, and destroyed the rest. Gyon Castrioti recognized himself as a vassal of the Ottoman Sultan and retained part of his principality.

In 1432 - 1436, Gyon Kastrioti participated in the unsuccessful uprising of the Albanian princes under the leadership of George Arianiti against Turkish rule. Turkish troops under the command of Ishaq Bey crushed the uprising in Albania.

In May 1437, Gyon Castrioti passed away. After his death, the lands of the Kastrioti clan were included in the Turkish possessions.

Gyon Kastrioti was married to Voisawa Tripalde from the region of Polog in Macedonia (the area of ​​the modern city of Hostivar in Macedonia). The couple had nine children, four sons and five daughters:

• Stanisha (d. 1446)
• Repos (d. 1430/1431)
• Konstantin
• George (Skanderbeg) (1405-1468)
• Mara, husband - Stephen I Chernoevich (d. 1465), Prince of Zeta (1451-1465)
• Elena, husband - Pavel Balsha
• Angelina, husband - Vladino Arianito
• Vlajka, 1st husband - Gyon Muzaki, 2nd husband - Stefan Balsic
• Mamika, husband - Muzaki Topia.

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