At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century members of the Muzaka family controlled a region between the rivers of Devoll and Vjosë.

Some of them were loyal to the Byzantine Empire while some of them allied with Charles of Anjou who gave them (and some other members of Albanian nobility) impressive Byzantine-like titles (such as Sebastokrator) in order to subdue them more easily.

When the Ottomans suppressed Skanderbeg's rebellion and captured the territory of Venetian Albania in the 15th century many members of the Muzaka family retreated to Italy.

[8] The earliest mention of the Muzaka family, as a loyal commander of Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118) circa 1090, was in the work of Byzantine historian Anna Komnene.

[10][2] In 1279, Gjon I Muzaka, who remained loyal to the Byzantines and resisted the Angevin conquest of Albania, was captured by the forces of Charles of Anjou, but under the pressure of local Albanian nobles he was later released.

At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century members of the Muzaka family controlled a region between the rivers of Devoll and Vjosë.

[12] As soon as Andrea II Muzaka had obtained the title of despot, he endorsed an anti-Byzantine revolt (1335-1341) in his domains, and also formed an alliance with the Anjou from Naples on 30 December 1336, whereas he was recognized as a vassal of Robert, Prince of Taranto.

As proof of his fidelity to the Capetian House of Anjou, Andrea II Muzaka had to leave one of his sons as hostage in Durazzo.

[13] After the death of Stefan Dušan in 1355 and collapse of the Serbian Empire, the Muzaka family of Berat regained control over parts of the south-eastern modern-day Albania and also over northern Greece with Kastoria[12][14] that Andrew II Musachi captured from Prince Marko after the Battle of Marica in 1371.

[17][18][19][20][21] Other authors confirm that Balša II married in 1372 and gained control over the territory south of Durazzo, including Valona and Kanine, as dowry.

[31] Although they were often left to rule lands they inherited from their ancestors, the new Ottoman regime obliged them to abandon part of their territories and their feudal rights.