Đurađ Crnojević ( sr-cyr, Ђурађ Црноjeвић, ; d. 1514) was the last Serbian medieval Lord of ZetaSlijepčević 1974, p. 43: "Према Карлу Хопфу и Балшићи и Црнојевићи »припадају без спора српскоме племену». between 1490 and 1496, from the Crnojević dynasty. The son of

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

and the

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

noblewoman Goisava Arianiti, he was the founder of the first Serbian 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 Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

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 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 (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

to govern it as its

sipahi The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding ('' timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the arm ...

. 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 a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

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

Family tree

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

Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

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

Gjergj Arianiti Gjergj Arianiti (13??–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 uncle of Moisi Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was Skanderbeg's ...

and nephew of Scanderbeg's wife Donika Kastrioti .

References

Sources

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