Đurađ Crnojević

Đurađ Crnojević
Lord of Zeta
Coat of arms
Reign	1490–1496
Predecessor	Stefan I Crnojević
Succeeded by his brother	Stefan II Crnojević
Noble family	Crnojević noble family
Father	Ivan Crnojević
Mother	Goisava Arianiti
Died	1514
Religion	Serb Orthodox Christian

Đurađ Crnojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђурађ Црноjeвић, Old Church Slavonic: Гюргь Цьрноевыкь; d. 1514) was the Lord of Zeta between 1490 and 1496. The son of Ivan Crnojević and Goisava Arianiti, he was the founder of the first South Slavic printing house.^[1] 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 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.^[2] 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.^[3] On 22 October 1499 he wrote his testament, which is considered as valuable literature work of its time.^[4]

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) in Anatolia^[5] to govern it as its sipahi.^[6]

Although he was removed from the historical scene, his books remained as a great contribution to the Serbian culture. With the help of Hieromonk Makarije 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

Ancestors of Đurađ Crnojević

16. Radič Crnojević               8. Đurađ Đurašević                       4. Stefan I Crnojević                             9. Jelena                       2. Ivan Crnojević                                   20. Pal Kastrioti               10. Gjon Kastrioti                       5. Mara                             11. Voisava Tripalda                       1. Đurađ Crnojević                                         12. Komnen Arianiti                       6. Gjergj Arianiti                             3. Gojislava or Voisava                                   7. Maria Muzaka

His father was Albanian on his mother's side and Serbian on his father's side, and his mother was Albanian, a sister of Skanderbeg. This made Đurađ Skanderbeg's grand-nephew.

See also

• National Library of Montenegro "Djurdje Crnojevic"

References

1. Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 603. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
2. Veselinović & Ljušić 2008, p. 129.
3. Bojović 1997, p. 503.
4. Likovna 1990, p. 353.
5. Plavšić 1959, p. 52.
6. Martinović 1983, p. 12.

Sources

• Veselinović, Andrija; Ljušić, Radoš (2008). Srpske dinastije. Službene glasink. ISBN 978-86-7549-921-3.
• Plamenac, Rade Turov; Bojović, Jovan R. (1997). Memoari. CID.
• Likovna (1990). Зборник Матице српске за ликовне уметности. Матица.
• Martinović, Dušan J. (1983). Portreti: bio-bibliografski pregled. Centralna narodna biblioteka SR Crne Gore "Đurđe Crnojević".
• Plavšić, Lazar (1959). Srpske štamparije: od kraja XV do sredine XIX veka. Udruženje grafičkih preduzeća Jugoslavije.