Zeta, Principality of: Information

The Principality of Zeta (Serbian Cyrillic: Књажевина Зета), in modern-day Montenegro, is the historiographical name for a medieval state centered around Lake Skadar, ruled by the families of Balšić, Lazarević, Branković and Crnojević in succession from the second half of the 14th century until Ottoman conquest in 1498. The Serbian crown land of Zeta had become virtually self-governed during the fall of the Serbian Empire, when the Balšić family wrestled the region by eliminating opponents in the area after 1360.