Sgouros Spata ( sq, Skurra Bua Shpata; 1399–1403) was the Lord of Arta briefly in 1400, and the Lord of Angelokastron from 1401 until his death in 1403, during warfare in a civil war.

Life

Shortly before

John Spata Gjin Bua Shpata (sometimes anglicized as ''John Spata'') ( 1358 – 29 October 1399) was an Albanian ruler in Western Greece with the title of Despot. Together with Peter Losha, he led raids into Epirus, Acarnania and Aetolia in 1358. He was ...

died on 29 October (1399, according to Nicol; 1400 according to others), he appointed his brother, Sgouros, ruler of

Naupactus Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latini ...

, as his successor as the ''despot'' of Arta. A few days after Sgouros took over Arta, however, the town was captured by the adventurer

Vonko Vonko (fl. 1400-1401) was a " Serb-Albanian- Bulgarian- Vlach" who conquered Arta from the Spata family in 1400, holding it until late 1401, when the Spatas regained the town. Not much is known of him.Ellis, p. 151 In a Greek monastic chronicle, ...

.According to a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

monastic chronicle from the Panteleimon monastery at

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the ...

, ''"October 29, on Wednesday (1400), Despot Spatas enters Eternity (dies). Immediately afterwards, his brother Sgouros holds Arta. After some days, the Serb-Albanian-Bulgarian-Vlach

attacked and expelled Sgouros, and started to round up all the chieftains/elders and imprisoned them in the fort, and he destroyed their possessions."'' see Banac 1988, p. 328; Stoianovich 1994, p. 132; Šufflay 1925, pp. 69-70 While Sgouros fled to Angelokastron, a short time after, possibly as early as December 1399 (or by the end of 1401),

Maurice Spata }); ) was the ruler of Arta from late 1399/early 1400 until his death in 1414 or 1415. Maurice's reign was dominated by his wars with Carlo I Tocco. Maurice was able to defend his capital of Arta, but despite some victories failed to prevent the f ...

, his grandnephew, managed to evict Vonko from Arta and took over the governance of the city himself, while Sgouros thus took over governance of Angelokastron. In 1402/3, Maurice came to Sgouros' aid when the latter was besieged at Angelokastron by the forces of

Carlo I Tocco Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429. Life Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Mad ...

. The attack, under Carlo's general Galasso Peccatore, was repulsed, but Sgouros died soon after, from wounds suffered in the war, leaving his possessions to his son

Paul Spata The Spata family ( sq, Shpata, gr, Σπάτα, Σπάτας) was an Albanian nobility, Albanian noble family active in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, initially as Venetian Empire, Venetian vassals and later as Ottoman Empire, Ottoman vassals ...

Aftermath

Sgouros was succeeded by his son

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

, who became an

Ottoman Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

vassal and was aided with a contingent that was defeated by Tocco in 1406, after the latter had turned on the offensive, Angelokastron was ceded to the Turks and Paul retired to

Naupaktos Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latinize ...

, however he sold it in 1407 to the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

. Because of Paul's withdrawal, Maurice Spata and Tocco divided

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia ...

and

Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today ...

between themselves. In 1408, Tocco holds Angelokastron.Fine (1994), pp. 355-356

Annotations

References

Sources

* * * *
Milan Šufflay, Srbi i Arbanasi (1925)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spata, Sgouros Bua 14th-century births 1403 deaths Medieval Albanian nobility 15th-century Albanian people 15th-century monarchs in Europe Despots of Arta Sgouros History of Aetolia-Acarnania