Đurađ Crnojević ( sr-cyr, Ђурађ Црноjeвић, cu, Гюргь Цьрноевыкь; d. 1514) was the last Serbian medieval

Lord of Zeta The Principality of Zeta ( sr, Кнежевина Зета, Kneževina Zeta) is a historiographical name for a late medieval principality located in the southern parts of modern Montenegro and northern parts of modern Albania, around the Lake of ...

between 1490 and 1496, from the Crnojevic dynasty. The son of

Ivan Crnojević Ivan Crnojević ( sr-Cyrl, Иван Црнојевић, italics=no, lit=Ivan the Black) was the lord of Zeta and Serbian leader from 1465 to 1490. Having formed an alliance with the Republic of Venice, he led the Serb resistance against the expandi ...

and Goisava

Arianiti The House of Arianiti were an Albanian noble family that ruled large areas in Albania and neighbouring areas from the 11th to the 16th century. Their domain stretched across the Shkumbin valley and the old Via Egnatia road and reached east to to ...

, he was the founder of the first South Slavic printing house. Crnojević styled himself ''"Duke of Zeta"''. He was well known by his great education, knowledge of astronomy, geometry and other sciences. During his short-term reign he became famous for making efforts to spread the cultural heritage rather than for his political successes. The

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

made him leave Zeta in 1496. His brother Stefan inherited his position of the Lord of Zeta. In 1497 Venetians imprisoned Đurađ for some time, accusing him to be an Ottoman collaborator. He again spent some time in Venetian prison in period between 30 July and 25 October 1498. This time the Ottomans insisted that Venetians should put him into prison, which they eventually did. On 22 October 1499 he wrote his testament, which is considered as valuable literature work of its time. In the spring of 1500 Đurađ Crnojević came to Scutari, based on the invitation of

Feriz Beg Firuz Bey ( 1495–1515) was a 15th and 16th-century Ottoman military officer, Sanjak-bey of the Sanjak of Scutari and Sanjak of Bosnia. Origin Firuz Bey belonged to the Mihaloğlu family, a noted Byzantine family which converted to Islam and ...

who instructed Crnojević to travel to Istanbul. In Istanbul Crnojević officially ceded his possessions to the sultan who granted him an estate (

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...

) in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

to govern it as its

sipahi ''Sipahi'' ( ota, سپاهی, translit=sipâhi, label=Persian, ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuks, and later the Ottoman Empire, including the land grant-holding (''timar'') provincial ''Timariots, timarli s ...

. Although he was removed from the historical scene, his books remained as a great contribution to the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

ian culture. With the help of

Hieromonk Makarije Hieromonk Makarije ( sr, Јеромонах Макарије; 1494–d. after 1528) is the founder of Serbian and Romanian printing, having printed the first book in Serbian and the first book in the territory of Walachia (part of modern-day Rom ...

he printed five books of importance to the Montenegrin cultural heritage: ''Oktoih prvoglasnik'' (1493/94), ''Oktoih petoglasnik'' (1494), ''Psaltir s posljedovanjem'' (1495), ''Trebnik'' (prayer book; 1495/96), and ''Četvorojevanđelje'' (probably 1496).

Ancestry

His grandmother from his father's side was a sister of

Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

. This made Đurađ Skanderbeg's grandnephew and through his mother he was the grandson of

Gjergj Arianiti Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the grand-uncle of Moisi Arianit Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was ...

and nephew of Scanderbeg's wife

Donika Kastrioti Andronika Arianiti, also known as Donika Kastrioti, (born 1428 – died 1506) was an Albanian noblewoman and the spouse of Albanian leader Skanderbeg (born Gjergj Kastrioti). She was the daughter of Gjergj Arianiti, an earlier leader in the ong ...

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crnojevic, Djuradj 04 15th-century births 1514 deaths 15th-century rulers in Europe 15th-century Serbian nobility 15th-century Venetian people Durad 4 Printers of incunabula Ottoman vassalage