crown the Balšićs did not recognize, most probably because of their own claims to the Serbian throne1. On his diplomatic initiative, the Ottomans invaded Bosnia in 1386. During a second attack, Đurađ even sent his own troops to support the Ottoman Beylerbey of Rumelia Lala Şâhin Paşa at the Battle of Bileća on 27 August 1388, where he suffered a defeat to the hands of Bosnian Duke Vlatko Vuković Kosača. This led to the suspicion that Đurađ was an Ottoman vassal. The Ragusan Republic was weary of this Ottoman expansion, so they wanted to negotiate with Đurađ some military protection. On 23 August 1388 Đurađ sent his envoy Žanin Bareli, Filip's son. Legends record Đurađ running with his forces to join the Serbian allied forces at the 1389 Battle of Kosovo and returning after he heard the news about the fall; however this is very improbable if his links to the Ottomans in that period are accounted for. The Epic telling records "Baoš" coming late on the 3rd day to the Kosovo Field after the battle and how he was furious at the alleged traitor "Duke Vukan Branković". Also the wrong daughter of "Emperor Lazar", Olivera Despina, was remembered as married to Đurađ. Most historians and scholars identify him as the Serbian Epic hero Banović Strahinja, due to the close similarities in name and characteristics. In any case, after the Battle of Kosovo, the Serbian Alliance crumbled and the last remains of the Serbian Empire dispersed, leaving Đurađ completely on his own. Zeta on its own In 1390 Vuk Branković sent envoys to Zeta and offered 500 liters of silver to Philip Bareli to hand over last Đurađ's bastion, the City of Ulcinj. Fearing the occasion, Đurađ had him immediately imprisoned together with his children. During his rule, Đurađ, like his predecessors, tried to find an effective modus vivendi for extending his rule over the City of Kotor. As the richest and most economically developed city on the southern Adriatic coast close to Zeta, it fueled the rivalry between King Tvrtko and Đurađ. For these reasons no friendship between the two was created, even after peaceful relations were concluded in early 1389 on mediation of the Republic of Ragusa. When Tvrtko died in the beginning of March 1391, the opportunity arose for Đurađ and he subsequently seized Kotor. From the start of Đurađ's reign he had to face with the