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Đurađ Stracimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђурађ Страцимировић), also called Đurađ Balšić, or Đurađ II (spelled also as Djuradj II) was the Lord of Zeta from 1385 to 1403, as a member of the Balšić noble family. He was the son of Stracimir Balšić, and succeeded his paternal uncle Balša II in ruling Zeta. He reigned from 1386 up to 1389 in the still officially undissolved Serbian Empire in the form of a family alliance, then up to 1395 as an Ottoman vassal. He ruled until his death in 1403, when he was succeeded by his only son, Balša III. He is known in Serbian epic poetry as Strahinja Banović.
On 18 September 1385, Đurađ's uncle Balša II was killed at the Battle of Savra, while fighting the Ottomans. Following the temporary rule under Balša II's widow Komnena and daughter Ruđina, Đurađ II inherited parts of Zeta and northern Albania, including the cities of Scutari, Drivast and Lezhë, as per the Balšićs' traditional rule of seniority, as "self-holder to the Zeta and Coast land". Đurađ II had his seat at Ulcinj, which also became the family seat. The remainder of the Balšić possessions, in southern Albania, passed in 1391 from Ruđina to her spouse Mrkša Žarković, the son of Žarko, Emperor Dušan's nobleman. The protovestijar Philip Bareli, the Venetian trader that handled Balša's financing, who was succeeded by Đurađ, is also mentioned as holding estates.
Đurađ continued using the currency of his predecessors, coins forged with the wolf, chest, and shield symbols of the Balšićs, Dinars, used in the lands of the Serbian Empire, though he didn't mint many new coins, similar to his predecessor, due to continuous weakening of the Balšićs' economic power. One of the two versions featured heads of wolves and the Balšićs' coat of arms, each with a surrounding inscription: "M.D. GORGI STRACIMIR" on one side, and "S.STEFAN SCUTARI" on the other. The other version had the character "M" next to the coat of arms and the presentations of Balšićs' patron Saint Lawrence along with an inscription below him "S LAVRENCIUS M". He also issued several coins inscribed in Cyrillic. |
