tribute for the cities. These acts introduced Venetian presence in the region, which would henceforth remain as an important local political factor. In 1402 his long-term Balšić rival Konstantin was killed by Venetian agents in Dyrrhachium under unknown circumstances. Returning from the Battle of Angora, Đurađ's brother-in-law, the newly crowned Despot Stefan Lazarević, stayed at his court in the late Summer of 1402. Đurađ prepared him and organized an army to battle his rival Đurađ Branković in Ottoman service at the Battle of Tripolje near Gračanica in November 1402, to help his cousin with all means possible, ending in full victory. In April 1403, Đurađ II Stracimirović died of the injuries suffered in the battle. He was buried in the Church of Saint Catherine in his hometown of Ulcinj, where he still remains. Seventeen-year-old Balša, Đurađ II's only child, inherited his lands. He ruled with his mother as Chief adviser until she remarried in 1411, to Bosnian Duke Sandalj Hranić from Herzegovina. She gave a significant impact to Zetan foreign policy, tying it strongly with the newly created Serbian Despotate as a former important part of the Empire. Miscellaneous Đurađ continued using the currency of his predecessors, coins forged with the wolf, chest, and shield symbols of the Balšićs, Dinars, used in the lands of the Serbian Empire, though he didn't mint many new coins, similar to his predecessor, due to continuous weakening of the Balšićs' economic power. One of the two versions featured heads of wolves and the Balšićs' coat of arms, each with a surrounding inscription: "M.D. GORGI STRACIMIR" on one side, and "S.STEFAN SCUTARI" on the other. The other version had the character "M" next to the coat of arms and the presentations of Balšićs' patron Saint Lawrence along with an inscription below him "S LAVRENCIUS M". According to some sources, he also issued several coins inscribed in Cyrillic; however, later sources attribute these to Đurađ I Balšić. Đurađ founded for the Serbian Orthodox Church a Church of Saint George and the Beška Monastery on the island of Beška in Lake Skadar, near Starčevo. After his death, his wife Jelena expanded it in 1438/1439 with another church, the St Mary's Church, where she was buried in 1443. The monastery became a significant cultural and spiritual center of the Serbian Church, actively working in scribing and nourishing the Nemanjić heritage. Đurađ's wife Jelena became a deeply religious and