Jelena Hranić Balšić

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelena_Lazarevi%C4%87

Jelena Lazarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Лазаревић; 1365/1366 – 1443), also known, by marriages, as Jelena Balšić or Jelena Hranić or Jelena Kosača, was a medieval Serbian princess, daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia and Princess Milica Nemanjić. She had a very strong personality and significantly influenced the way her husbands, first Đurađ II Balšić and second Sandalj Hranić Kosača, and her son Balša III governed their realms. Jelena encouraged them to resist Venetian encroachment on territory belonging to Zeta, the medieval Serbian state ruled by Đurađ II and then by Balša III after Đurađ II's death. She is also known as a writer in epistolary literature, particularly her correspondence with Nikon of Jerusalem, a monk in the Gorica monastery on Lake Skadar (Montenegro). Her three epistles are part of the Gorički zbornik, a medieval manuscript collection.

Jelena Lazarević je kćerka srpskog oblasnog gospodara kneza Lazara Hrebljanovića, supruga Đurađa II Stratimirovića i Sandalja Hranića. Prvi brak imala je sa zetskim vladarem Đurađom II Stracimirovićem Balšićem. Kao udovica upravljala je Zetom u ime malodobnog sina Balše III Balšića. U svoj drugi brak sa bosanskim vojvodom Sandaljem Hranićem ulazi 1411. Sa Sandaljem nije imala djece. Imala je depozite sa dragocjenostima u Dubrovniku. Njen brat je bio despot Stefan Lazarević. Umrla je 1443. Poznata je po svojoj kulturnoj i vjerskoj djelatnosti u krilu pravoslavnog svijeta. Sagradila je crkvu u Bešci na Skadarskom jezeru.