Đurađ II Balšić (), or Gjergj Balsha II () 1385 – April 1403), was the Lord of Zeta from 1385 to 1403, as a member of the Balšić noble family. He was the son of Stracimir Balšić, and succeeded his paternal uncle Balša II in ruling Zeta. He reigned from 1386 up to 1389 in the still officially undissolved Serbian Empire in the form of a family alliance, then up to 1395 as an Ottoman vassal. He ruled until his death in 1403, when he was succeeded by his only son, Balša III. He is known in Serbian epic poetry as Strahinja Banović. Background and early life His father was Stracimir, one of the three Balšić brothers who came to rule Zeta in the 1360s. His mother was Milica Mrnjavčević (Jerina), the daughter of Serbian King Vukašin Mrnjavčević. Accession On 18 September 1385, Đurađ's uncle Balša II was killed at the Battle of Savra, while fighting the Ottomans. Following the temporary rule under Balša II's widow Komnena and daughter Ruđina, Đurađ II inherited parts of Zeta and northern Albania, including the cities of Scutari, Drivast and Lezhë, as per the Balšićs' traditional rule of seniority, as "self-holder to the Zeta and Coast land". Đurađ II had his seat at Ulcinj, which also became the family seat. The remainder of the Balšić possessions, in southern Albania, passed in 1391 from Ruđina to her spouse Mrkša Žarković, the son of Žarko, Emperor Dušan's nobleman. The protovestijar Philip Bareli, the Venetian trader that handled Balša's financing, who was succeeded by Đurađ, is also mentioned as holding estates. According to Mavro Orbini, when Đurađ II started his rule, "the tribes of Upper Zeta and the Crnojević did not want to recognize him, answering that they were under the Bosnian King Tvrtko". Đurađ had succeeded leadership in the heats of disarray. Pal Dukagjini broke off allegiance to Đurađ, taking Lezhë and the Drin area. Finally the Jonima family seceded with their own lands between Durrës and the Drin, causing Đurađ to lose his very last possessions in Albania. Before even consolidating rule, Karlo Thopia conquered Durrës and assigned it to his son George, Nikola Sakat, the castellan of Budva, and his brother Andrija seceded the city after 1386 and Vuk Branković took Peć and Prizren. Đurađ asked Dukagjini for an advice, and according to it, he had the Sakat brothers imprisoned and blinded. In the