Jelena Lazarević
Jelena Lazarević (; 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 upon his death by Balša III. 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 .
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