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Jelena Balšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Балшић, Albanian: Jelena Balsha; 1411 – 1453) was a member of the Balšić noble family who married the Bosnian nobleman Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. She was the daughter of Balša III and Mara Thopia.

Life

Jelena was born in 1411 as the daughter of Balša III of Zeta and Mara Thopia of Albania. She was named after her grandmother Jelena. Jelena's lineage is traced back to the Balšić and Thopia noble families. In 1424, at the age of 13, Jelena married Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, a significant political figure of the time. The union between Jelena and Stjepan Vukčić played a crucial role in shaping the political landscape of the region. Jelena was not only a wife and mother but also a central figure in the complex power dynamics of the time. Through her marriage to Stjepan Vukčić, she became the mother of several notable children, each leaving a mark on the history of the Balkans. Jelena died in 1453.

Issue

• Catherine of Bosnia (1424–1478), in 1446 she married King King Tomaš of Bosnia, and leaving Bosnian Church converted to Catholicism;
• Vladislav Hercegović (c. 1427–1489), Grand Duke of Bosnia, Lord of Krajina, married Kyra Ana, daughter of Georgios Kantakuzenos in 1455;
• Vlatko Hercegović (c. 1428–1489), Herceg of St. Sava, married an Apulian noblewoman;
• Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha (c. 1430–1515), baptized Stjepan; the youngest son of Stjepan Vukčić, whom Sultan Mehmed II took to his court, became a Muslim in the Sultan's service. He became the Grand Vizier and Grand Admiral to the Sultan, married Sultan Bayezid II's daughter, Fatima, in 1482; and had descendants by her.

Family tree

References

1. Fine, Jr, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 512. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...Early in 1407 Balsa married the daughter of Nikola Thopia, a Venetian vassal...
2. Djukanovic, Bojka (2023). Historical Dictionary of Montenegro. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-5381-3915-8. ...Mara, a daughter of Niketa Topia, the lord of Kruje and the son of Karl Topia, Prince of Albania...
3. Spremić 2004, pp. 73–108

   У јеку сукоба, Балша III. се 1407. оженио Маром, кћерком арбанашког господара Никете Топије. Брзо је добио кћер, којој је, по мајци, дао име Јелена.

4. Djukanovic, Bojka (2023). Historical Dictionary of Montenegro. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-5381-3915-8. ...Jelena (named after Balsa's mother)...
5. Spremić 2004, pp. 73–108

   У јеку сукоба, Балша III. се 1407. оженио Маром, кћерком арбанашког господара Никете Топије. Брзо је добио кћер, којој је, по мајци, дао име Јелена.
   In the midst of the conflict, in 1407, Balša III married Mara, the daughter of the lord of Arbaná, Niketa Topija. He soon had a daughter, whom he named Jelena after her mother

6. Fine, Jr, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. p. 516. ISBN 978-0-4720-8260-5. ...But Balsa was in no position to lead a major campaign. He was much sicker and, realizing that death was approaching, was concerned with his succession. His one son had died as an infant. His eldest daughter–who was to marry Sandalj's nephew Stefan Vukcic in 1424—was then only about thirteen...
7. Ćirković 1964, p. 388.
8. Vrankić 2017, pp. 10–16.
9. Regan 2010, p. 15.
10. Nakaš 2011, p. 135.

Sources

• Ćirković, Sima (1964). Историја средњовековне босанске државе [History of the medieval Bosnian state] (in Serbian). Srpska književna zadruga. OCLC 494551997.
• Nakaš, Lejla (2011), Konkordancijski rječnik ćirilskih povelja srednjovjekovne Bosne [Concordance Dictionary of Cyrillic Charters of Medieval Bosnia] (in Bosnian) (Posebna izdanja, knjiga X, svezak 1 ed.), Društvo za proučavanje srednjovjekovne bosanske historije, OCLC 1166792149
• Regan, Krešimir (2010), Bosanska kraljica Katarina (in Serbo-Croatian), Breza, ISBN 978-9537036553
• Spremić, Momčilo (2004), Jovan Ćulibrk (ed.), Crkvene prilike u Zeti u doba Nikona Jerusalimca (in Serbian), Cetinje, Belgrade: Svetigora, Publikum, pp. 73–108, archived from the original on 11 December 2013
• Vrankić, Petar (5 October 2017). "Stjepan/Ahmedpaša Hercegović (1456.?-1517.) u svjetlu dubrovačkih, talijanskih i osmanskih izvora". Hercegovina: Časopis za kulturno i povijesno naslijeđe (in Croatian) (3): 9–67. doi:10.47960/2712-1844.2017.3.9. ISSN 2566-3429. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

• 15th-century births
• 15th-century Serbian people
• 15th-century Albanian people
• 15th-century Albanian women
• Balšić noble family
• Medieval history of Montenegro
• Principality of Zeta
• Thopia family
• Albanian princesses