Konstantin Balšić

Who was Konstantin Balšić?

Konstantin Balšić, was a lord of the House of Balšić, who ruled over lands in Albania.

Konstantin Balšić was the son of Đurađ I and his wife, Theodora. After his father's death in 1378, he inherited a small parchment of land between the rivers of Bojana and Drin.

To expand links in the western Balkans, he married his sister Eudokia to the Florentine Despot of Ioannina Esau de' Buondelmonti.

In late 1394, Konstantin was installed as governor of Krujë by the Ottomans and married Marco Barbadigo's first wife, former Albanian princess, Helena Thopia, daughter of Karlo Thopia. He was sent to become the Balšićs head as an Ottoman protégé and apparently failed, losing his stronghold, Dagnum, to his cousin, Đurađ II, in 1395.

Konstantin was very faithful to Sultan Bayezid I. On 17 May 1395 he fought in the Battle of Rovine and witnessed the deaths of some Serb noblemen but managed to survive himself. Of those who died included his cousin Konstantin Dejanović, according to whom he was named after, and King Marko Mrnjavčević. In 1402, he was executed in Dyrrhachium for unknown reasons, but it is generally believed that his absence at the Battle of Angora may have had something to do with this. After Konstantin's death his wife Helena and their son Stefan first went to Venetians and then lived with her sister Maria. Since Maria was married to Filip Maramonte Venetians and Ragusans often referred to Stefan Balšić as Stefan Maramonte.