Giorgio de' Buondelmonti

Giorgio de' Buondelmonti (Greek: Γεώργιος Μπουοντελμόντι, romanized: Geōrgios Bouontelmonti, c. 1403–after 1435) was the ruler of Ioannina for twenty days in 1411, under the regency of his mother Jevdokija Balšić.

[1] Giorgio's father ruled the city of Ioannina in Epirus, Greece (1385–1411), having assumed that position through marriage to Maria Angelina, widow of the earlier ruler Thomas Preljubović.

[1] Around 1410, Esau betrothed Giorgio to a daughter of Maurice Spata, the ruler of Arta and a dangerous neighbor, seeking to seal a political alliance.

[1] A regency council was set up to govern the city and Giorgio's mother Jevdokija attempted to hold on to her position of power as regent.

At the same time, Maurice Spata sought to take control in Ioannina for himself, sending troops to intimidate the local authorities and ravage the city's outskirts.

[1] In 2008, the French historian Thierry Ganchou identified Giorgio de' Buondelmonti with the Byzantine official George Izaoul, mentioned in a few scattered sources from the 1420s onward.

[5] At this point in time, Giorgio was not merely a possible claimant to Ioannina but also to Zeta, given that a series of deaths had left him and his brother as the last heirs of the Balšić family.

Their arrival in Ragusa and demands for aid caused diplomatic incidents and forced Ragusan authorities to negotiate both with Jevdokija and her sons, as well as with the incumbent ruler of Zeta, Stefan Lazarević.

The family perhaps sought to join up with Emperor John VIII Palaiologos and his brother Constantine, who were in the Peloponnese at the time, fighting against Carlo I Tocco.