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Đurađ Crnojević
Serbian medieval Lord of Zeta From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Đurađ Crnojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђурађ Црноjeвић, Church Slavonic: Гюргь Цьрноевыкь; d. 1514) was the last Serbian medieval Lord of Zeta[1] between 1490 and 1496, from the Crnojević dynasty.
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Early life and ancestry
Born into the powerful House of Crnojević, Đurađ was the son of Ivan Crnojević and his wife, Voisava Arianiti, an Albanian noblewoman. His grandmother from his father's side was a sister of Skanderbeg. This made Đurađ Skanderbeg's grandnephew and through his mother he was the grandson of Gjergj Arianiti and nephew of Scanderbeg's wife Donika Kastrioti.
He was the founder of the first Serbian printing house.[2]
Crnojević styled himself "Duke of Zeta". During his life, he was well known by his great education, knowledge of astronomy, geometry and other sciences.
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Life and reign
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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.[3] 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.[4] On 22 October 1499 he wrote his testament, which is considered as valuable literature work of its time.[5]
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[6] [7] to govern it as its sipahi.[8]
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 Serbian cultural heritage: Oktoih prvoglasnik (1493/94), Oktoih petoglasnik (1494), Psaltir s posljedovanjem (1495), Trebnik (prayer book; 1495/96), and Četvorojevanđelje (probably 1496).
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Personal life
Đurađ was married firstly to Yela Thopia, the daughter of Karl Muzaka Thopia by his first wife, Zanfina Muzaka, member of the Muzaka family.
In 1490, he married secondly to Elisabetta Erizzo, member of the Venetian nobility, the daughter of Antonio Erizzo. Their marriage was recounted in a book "Historia Veneta" by Cardinal Pietro Bembo, published in 1551.[9]
Together, they had:[10]
- Solomon Crnojević (d. 1521)
- Konstantin Crnojević (d. 1536); married Maria Contarini and had issue, living in Venice. With the death of his direct descendant Ivan (Giovanni) Crnojević (d. 1660) the House of Crnojević went exinct in male line. Ivan's sister Faustina Crnojević married on 24 February 1636 to Gasparo Luigi Delfin.
- Ivan (Giovanni) Crnojević (d. 1526/1527); a prison Governor in Padua.
- Antonija (Antonia) Crnojević; married Jerolim (Girolamo) Zagurović, Lord of Kotor (d. 1571). They were the parents of Anđelo and Ivan (Giovanni) Zagurović
- unnamed daughter; married unknown in the Kingdom of Hungary
- unnamed daughter; married unknown in the Kingdom of Hungary
Death
Đurađ Crnojević died in 1514, during his exile in Anatolia, Ottoman Empire. Before his death, he wrote his testament as a letter to his wife Elisabetta (Milan, 22 October 1499), instructing her to return all valuables they took from the Cetinje Monastery when they fled before the Turks, to request from the Venetian government the payments it owes to Đurađ and his father Ivan, and to manage all of his property and take care of their children. The testament was offically approved and entered the registry only four years later, in January 1518.[11]
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Ancestry
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References
Sources
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