page_title: Jelena Lazarević
section_title: First Scutari War
hierarchical_section_title: Jelena Lazarević / Life / First Scutari War
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Černá Hora, Ulcinj - hradby starého města Српски / srpski: Ulcinj, sjedište Djuradja II Stracimirovića Balšića
context_page_description: Jelena Lazarević, also known, by marriages, as Jelena Balšić or Jelena Kosača, was a medieval Serbian princess, daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia and Princess Milica Nemanjic. She had a very strong personality and significantly influenced the way her husbands, first Đurađ II Balšić and second Sandalj Hranić Kosača, and her son Balša III governed their realms. Jelena encouraged them to resist Venetian encroachment on territory belonging to Zeta, the medieval Serbian state ruled by Đurađ II and then by Balša III after Đurađ II's death. She is also known as a writer in epistolary literature, particularly her correspondence with Nikon of Jerusalem, a monk in the Gorica monastery on Lake Skadar. Her three epistles are part of the Gorički zbornik, a medieval manuscript collection.
context_section_description: In 1405, Balša III, supported by Jelena, launched a ten-year war against Venice. At the beginning of the war, Balša managed to capture the whole Scutari region except for the Scutari fortress. The Venetians offered a 2,000-ducat reward for anyone able to kill both Balša and Jelena. When the Venetians in return captured Bar, Ulcinj and Budva, three of the most important ports of Zeta, Balša and Jelena fled from Ulcinj to Drivast Castle.
  In 1409, Jelena decided to travel to Venice to negotiate peace in person. At the end of May, she arrived in Dubrovnik but had to wait for almost two months because her hosts warned her that there were Napolitan galleys in the Adriatic Sea. On 9 July 1409, while she was still waiting in Dubrovnik, Venice purchased the entire Dalmatian coast from Ladislaus of Naples for 100,000 ducats. The Kingdom of Naples was not a threat to Venetians anymore. By gaining the Dalmatian coast, Venetians further increased their influence and power in the region of the Adriatic Sea, which made Jelena's negotiating position difficult. When she finally arrived in Venice at the end of July, she was financially broken because of her long voyage. The Venetians had to support her with three ducats a day during negotiations which lasted for the next three months. On 26 October 1409, a year-long peace agreement with the Venetian doge, Michele Steno, was signed without territorial changes for any of the parties. Jelena traveled back to Zeta through Dubrovnik where she received 100 ducats worth of presents. Although both she and the Venetian representative swore on the Gospel to respect the truce, in reality there was no peace.
caption: Wall of Ulcinj, the seat of  Đurađ II
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