page_title: Đurađ II Balšić
section_title: Zeta's rebirth
hierarchical_section_title: Đurađ II Balšić / Background and early life / Zeta's rebirth
caption_attribution_description: English: Beška island, Lake Skadar (Montenegro) Deutsch: Insel Beška, Skutarisee (Montenegro)
context_page_description: Đurađ Stracimirović, or Đurađ II was the Lord of Zeta from 1385 to 1403, as a member of the Balšić noble family. He was the son of Stracimir Balšić, and succeeded his paternal uncle Balša II in ruling Zeta. He reigned from 1386 up to 1389 in the still officially undissolved Serbian Empire in the form of a family alliance, then up to 1395 as an Ottoman vassal. He ruled until his death in 1403, when he was succeeded by his only son, Balša III. He is known in Serbian epic poetry as Strahinja Banović.
context_section_description: At the end of April 1396, Radič and his brother Dobrivoje Crnojević had made a significant move against Đurađ. They took Grbalj and laid siege to Kotor. Đurađ became disliked by the Orthodox Serb commonfolk, so the excessively Orthodox religious Crnojevićs' takeover was looked upon nicely by the people, resulting in Paštrovićs' cross to Radič's side. In May 1396 they moved to battle Đurađ himself, however Đurađ completely defeated the Crnojevićs and killed Radič, managing to get a hold over a part of the Crnojević domain. Soon a new enemy arose at the west; Bosnian nobleman Sandalj Hranić Kosača seized large parts of land quickly and conquered Budva and Kotor, made a deal with the Paštrovićs, also managing to win Venetian protection, who proclaimed him the legitimate ruler of Budva and Zeta itself. In Upper Zeta the Đurašević subgroup of the Crnojevićs came to prominence, though they made an agreement and joined Đurađ, seeing a common enemy in Duke Sandalj. They aided him in the wars against Sandalj, taking the first fronts by retaking all the lands from Budva to Spič as well as the Churchland of Saint Miholj in the Bay of Kotor, the Serbian Orthodox religious center in Zeta. In December 1396, the Hungarian King Sigismund lost the Battle of Nicopolis. During his return across the sea, he stayed in Đurađ's lands. To honor Đurađ for his fights against the Ottomans, Sigismund made him Prince of his Dalmatian islands of Hvar and Korčula.
  The Most Serene Republic of Venice led an economic policy that soon introduced Venetian monetary domination in the region, fully replacing that of the Balšićs', and ever since Spring 1396 clearly showed pretensions to take the remaining lands of Đurađ. The Venetian monopoly introduced by lowering customs and other taxes in Scutari and Drivast greatly diminished the Balšićs' income so the relations between the two deteriorated. It is so that in 1399 when in the Venetian-administered Balšić lands the oppressed peasants raised a rebellion, all the guilt was attributed to Đurađ. As a result, in early 1401 Venice ceased paying the annual thousand ducat tribute for the lands. Another reason claimed were the frequent robberies by suspects from Đurađ's domain of Venetian storehouses of salt in the region, a crucial resource in that time. This caused Đurađ to renew links with the Ottoman Turks again, but wars in Asia Minor have made them impossible to intervene, which finally forced Đurađ to succumb to Venetian demands. As per the new deal, he paid for all the damage done by the robbers and agreed to give free passage and special privileges to Venetian traders, while Venice continued to pay the tribute for the cities. These acts introduced Venetian presence in the region, which would henceforth remain as an important local political factor. In 1402 his long-term Balšić rival Konstantin was killed by Venetian agents in Dyrrhachium under unknown circumstances.
  Returning from the Battle of Angora, Đurađ's brother-in-law, the newly crowned Despot Stefan Lazarević, stayed at his court in the late Summer of 1402. Đurađ prepared him and organized an army to battle his rival Đurađ Branković in Ottoman service at the Battle of Tripolje near Gračanica in November 1402, to help his cousin with all means possible, ending in full victory. In April 1403, Đurađ II Stracimirović died of the injuries suffered in the battle. He was buried in the Church of Saint Catherine in his hometown of Ulcinj, where he still remains. Seventeen-year-old Balša, Đurađ II's only child, inherited his lands. He ruled with his mother as Chief adviser until she remarried in 1411, to Bosnian Duke Sandalj Hranić from Herzegovina. She gave a significant impact to Zetan foreign policy, tying it strongly with the newly created Serbian Despotate as a former important part of the Empire.
caption: The Beška island on Lake Skadar, where Balšić founded the monastery
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