Georg Crnojević

Born into the Serbian nobility 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.

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. 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. On 22 October 1499 he wrote his testament, which is considered as valuable literature work of its time.

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 to govern it as its sipahi.

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).

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

Solomon Crnojević (d. 1521); as the eldest son, he was sought by the Montenegrins from the Highlands to govern a part of Montenegro, but the Republic of Venice did not allow it so as not to offend the Ottoman authorities. He was married to Elisabetta and had no children. Solomon was killed in Hungary in 1521 during the Hungarian–Ottoman War.

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:

Konstantin (Constantine) Crnojević (1491-1536); he was married to Maria Contarini, daughter of Giovanni Matteo Contarini. They lived in Venice and had a son Ivan (Giovanni), with written records of their descendants existing up until the second half of the 17th century, when the family line became extinct.

Ivan (Giovanni) Crnojević (b. 1493); he never married and held the position of prison governor in Padua.

Antonija (Antonia) Crnojević (b. 1495); she married Girolamo Zaguri, member of the Zaguri family.

Unknown daughter; married into the Venetian nobility.

Unknown daughter; married into the Hungarian nobility.