Sebastokrator in the context of "Autokrator"

The Albanian nobility was an elite hereditary ruling class in Albania, parts of the western Balkans and later in parts of the Ottoman world. The Albanian nobility was composed of landowners of vast areas, often in allegiance to states like the Byzantine Empire, various Serbian states, the Republic of Venice, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Naples in addition to the Albanian principalities. They often used Byzantine, Latin or Slavic titles, such as sebastokrator, despot, dux, conte and župan. Notably, they also constructed religious sites, castles and had powerful courts. The Albanian principalities were usually divided in history except during the Principality of Arbanon when there was only one Albanian state ruled by one dynasty, and also during the League of Lezhë where most of the Albanian nobility and peasant communities unified under a military alliance against the Ottoman Empire.

Sebastus (Ancient Greek: σεβαστός lit. 'venerable one, augustus', [sevasˈtos]) was an honorific used by the ancient Greek to render the Roman imperial title of Augustus. The female form of the title was sebaste (σεβαστή). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th century Byzantine Empire and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title sebastos and variants derived from it, like sebastokrator, protosebastos, panhypersebastos, and sebastohypertatos.
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This is an archontological list of Albanian monarchs, containing monarchs of the medieval Albanian principalities, Albanian kingdoms and to heads of state of modern Albania. Starting from the first established monarch Progon of Kruja from the Progoni family who ruled the Principality of Arbanon starting in 1190. Throughout history, the monarchs of Albania have held multiple different titles, often Latin or Byzantine, and in rare instances, Slavic. Some of these titles include King of Albania, Prince of Albania, Despot, and Sebastokrator. Members of the medieval Albanian monarchy were integral to the formation of the Albanian nobility. The monarchy in Albania was abolished on the 8th of September, 1943.

The Muzaka were a noble Albanian family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe (southern Albania) in the Late Middle Ages. They are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan. The earliest historical document that mentions the Muzaka family (around 1090) is written by the Byzantine historian Anna Komnene. 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. In the 1340s, Stefan Dušan pressed further south into Albania, and by 1343-45 had taken central towns and territories in southern Albania, including domains of the Muzaka family. However, they would fall back under local control after his death in 1355. After the Battle of Savra in 1385 the territory of Albania came under the Ottoman Empire; they served the Ottomans until 1444 when Theodor Corona Musachi joined Skanderbeg's rebellion. 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. Those who stayed in Ottoman Albania lost their feudal rights, some converted to Islam and achieved high ranks in the Ottoman military and administrative hierarchy.

Notable members of the family include Andrea II Muzaka, Gjon Muzaka, Theodor Corona Musachi and Andrea I Muzaka, among others. The last notable member of Muzaka family who found refugee in Italy died in Naples in 1600.

Strez (Bulgarian and Macedonian: Стрез; original spelling: Стрѣзъ; fl. 1207–1214) was a medieval, semi-independent Bulgarian sebastokrator. He was a member of the Asen dynasty and a cousin or a brother of Boril of Bulgaria. A major contender for the Bulgarian throne, Strez initially opposed the ascension of his close relative Tsar Boril. He fled to Serbia, where he accepted the vassalage of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanjić, and Serbian support helped him establish himself as a largely independent ruler in a large part of the region of Macedonia. However, Strez turned against his suzerains to become a Bulgarian vassal and joined forces with his former enemy Boril against the Latins and then Serbia. Strez died amidst a major anti-Serbian campaign under unclear circumstances, sometimes described as a Serbian plot.