Ruđina Balšić

Ruđina Balšić
Руђина Балшић

Rugjina Balsha
Princess of Zeta
Lady of Vlorë, Berat, Kaninë and Himarë
Coat of Arms of the Balšić family
Lady of Vlorë, Berat, Kaninë and Himarë
Reign1414–1417
PredecessorMrkša Žarković
Born14th century
Spouse
(m. 1391; died 1414)
HouseBalšić
FatherBalša II
MotherComita Muzaka

Ruđina Balšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Руђина Балшић, Albanian: Rugjina Balsha; fl. 1396–1420) was a Zetan noblewoman and ruled upon today Montenegro and Albanian territory from the Balšić family. She married Mrkša Žarković and inherited his realm, the Principality of Vlorë, when he died in 1414. After unsuccessful negotiations to sell her duchy to the Venetians, the Ottomans captured it in 1417. She fled to Corfu, then to Zeta where she was governess of Budva from 1418. In 1420, during the Second Scutari War, she surrendered Budva to the Venetians without any resistance and moved to Dubrovnik with the town's treasury.