Đurađ Crnojević

This article is about the Lord of Zeta (1490–1496). For the military commander, see Đurađ Đurašević.
Đurađ Crnojević
Lord of Zeta
Probably the earliest surviving western depiction of a Serbian noble (workshop of Vittore Carpaccio) - Đurađ Crnojević, c.1506
Coat of arms
Reign1490–1496
PredecessorIvan I Crnojević
Succeeded by his brotherStefan II Crnojević
Died1514 (1515)
Noble familyCrnojević noble family
SpousesYela Thopia
Elisabetta Erizzo
IssueLord Solomon Crnojević
Lord Constantine Crnojević
Ivan Crnojević
Antonia Crnojević
Unknown Daughter
Unknown Daughter
FatherIvan Crnojević
MotherVoisava Arianiti

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.

Early life and ancestry

Born into the House of Crnojević, rulers of the Principality of Zeta, he was the eldest son of Ivan Crnojević and his wife, Voisava Arianiti, member of the Albanian nobility.

His grandmother from his father's side, Mara Kastrioti, was a sister of Skanderbeg. This made Đurađ Skanderbeg's grandnephew and through his mother he was the grandson of Gjergj Arianiti, member of the Arianiti family, and nephew of the Scanderbeg's wife, Andronika Kastrioti, herself a member of the Arianiti family.

First Serbian printing house

He was the founder of the first Serbian printing house.[2] Crnojević styled himself "Duke of Zeta". He was well known by his great education, knowledge of astronomy, geometry and other sciences.

Life and reign

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).

Marriages and children

Đurađ Crnojević was married twice. His first wife was Yela Thopia, daughter of Karl Muzaka Thopia. They had one son:

His second marriage, in 1490, was to Isabetha (Elisabetta) Erizzo (d. 1522). She was the daughter of the noted Venetian nobleman and diplomat Antonio Erizzo, member of the San Moisè branch of the Erizzo family. Antonio held numerous high-ranking state offices and eventually attained the honor of Procurator, a position that often preceded election to the office of Doge. In 1478, he was one of five candidates for this highest honor in the Republic, although Giovanni Mocenigo was ultimately elected. At the time of his daughter’s marriage, Antonio served as Vicedomino of Ferrara. During their exile in Venice, Đurađ and Elisabetta lived in the Palazzo Zaguri. They had five children:

The Testament of Đurađ Crnojević

A notarial facsimile of the official procedure for the proclamation of Đurađ Crnojević's last will is preserved (Appendix of the autograph). The document, copied in 103 densely written lines by the ducal notary, constitutes the full testament. It is composed of three distinct, yet legally closely related, parts that were created over a period of eighteen years.

On 22 October 1499, Đurađ Crnojević personally wrote his last will in the Serbian language using the Cyrillic script.[10] As translations from all foreign languages were required in Venice, a statement was added by the late Stefano Pasquale, dated 20 April 1514 in the office of the Gastaldo, confirming that the text of the testament’s translation “from the Slavic language and script,” which was presented to him, was indeed authentic and personally written by Đurađ Crnojević “faithfully word for word… without altering or distorting the meaning of any matter.”

Pasquale’s Italian translation was later copied in 1517 by the ducal notary Jacopo Grasolari and incorporated into the full document, granting it official legal force and formally recognizing Đurađ Crnojević’s last will as a valid testament. This constitutes the second part of the document.

The third part consists of the procedural introduction and concluding text in Latin, which outlines the process by which the testament was officially proclaimed. On the official notarial document of the testament, the first witness was the Venetian Doge Leonardo Loredan himself, and the other two witnesses were the councilors Paolo Trevisan and Nicola Cornaro. The procedure was only completed at the beginning of January 1517, and the testament was declared valid and given full legal force.[10]

Family tree

Ancestry of Đurađ Crnojević
8. Đurađ Đurašević Crnojević
4. Stefan Crnojević
9. Busha Zaharia
2. Ivan Crnojević
10. Gjon Kastrioti
5. Mara Kastrioti
11. Voisava Kastrioti
1. Đurađ Crnojević
12. Komnen Arianiti
6. Gjergj Arianiti
13. Daughter of Nicholas Zaharia
3. Voisava Arianiti
14. Andrea III Muzaka
7. Maria Muzaka
15. Chiranna Zenevisi, Lady of Grabossa

References

  1. ^ Slijepčević 1974, p. 43: "Према Карлу Хопфу и Балшићи и Црнојевићи »припадају без спора српскоме племену».
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Veselinović & Ljušić 2008, p. 129.
  4. ^ Plamenac & Bojović 1997, p. 503.
  5. ^ Likovna 1990, p. 353.
  6. ^ Plavšić 1959, p. 52.
  7. ^ Emecen 2021, p. 1.
  8. ^ Martinović 1983, p. 12.
  9. ^ Milosević, Dmitar M. Rodoslovi srpskih dinastija. Delfi knjižare. pp. 110–119.
  10. ^ a b "Млетачки извори: Тестамент Ђурђа Црнојевића писан ћирилицом, на српском језику". 26 October 2019.

Sources

Further reading

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90ura%C4%91_V_Crnojevi%C4%87