Gjin Bua Shpata

John Spata
Despot (vassal of Simeon Uroš (1359–71) and of Thomas Preljubović (1375–79)
Noble family	Spata family
Born	First half of the 14th century
Died	29 October 1399

John Spata (fl. 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 recognized as Despot by titular Serbian Emperor Simeon Uroš in the early 1360s and ruled Aetolia (1360s–?), Angelokastron (?–1399), Naupactus (1378–99), and Arta (1370s–99).

The word spata, in Albanian shpatë, pl. shpata, 'sword', is borrowed from Latin spāta, to an unattested Greek σπάθη, spáthe thus, Hammond believes that he was called "John the Sword".Karl Hopf's genealogy of the Spata family is "altogether inaccurate"; according to it, his father was Pietro, the lord of Angelokastron and Delvina (1354) during the reign of Serbian emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55). It is known that Spata had a brother, Sgouros Spata.

The migration wave into Epirus and Thessaly in the first half of the 14th century included Albanians and Vlachs; Albanian historians consider him Albanian, while a Vlach (Aromanian) origin has also been given by historians; Croatian historian Milan Šufflay (1879–1931) spoke of an Albano-Aromanian symbiosis in the Pindus, and discussed the nationality of the Losha, Bua and Shpata.

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