Skenderbeg Crnojević
| Skenderbeg Crnojević | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Staniša Crnojević | ||||
| Died | 1528/1530 | ||||
| Cause of death | sickness | ||||
| Nationality |
 Venetian (before 1485) Ottoman (after 1485) |
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| Title | Sanjakbey of Montenegro | ||||
| Parent(s) | Ivan I Crnojević | ||||
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| Coat of arms |  |
|---|---|
| Noble family | Crnojević noble family |
Staniša "Stanko" Crnojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Станиша „Станко“ Црнојевић; 1457–1528) was a member of the Crnojević noble family that held the Lordship of Zeta; Stanko was the heir to Ivan I Crnojević, who ruled from 1465 to 1490. In 1485 his father sent him to the Ottoman sultan to guarantee his loyalty, as an Ottoman vassal. Stanko converted into Islam and received the name Skender, hence he is also known as Skenderbeg Crnojević, and became the Ottoman sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Montenegro in 1514–1528. He is enumerated in Montenegrin epic poetry, in which he is sometimes known as Maksim.
Staniša (nickname: "Stanko") was born in Upper Zeta (corresponding roughly to the southern half of Cetinje municipality, Montenegro), which at the time was a nominal vassal of the Republic of Venice, under Great Voivode Stefan I Crnojević (r. 1451–1465), Stanko's grandfather. The Crnojević family was Serbian Orthodox Christian.
His father Ivan I Crnojević succeeded as the Lord of Zeta from 1465 to 1490. His mother Gojisava was a daughter of George Arianites. Stanko was the youngest of three brothers, his elder brothers were Đurađ Crnojević (Đorđe) and Stefan II Crnojević. By 1474, the Ottomans, who had already conquered Serbia and much of Albania, took Upper Zeta. Ivan failed to obtain Venetian military supplies, and to sustain an alliance with Vlatko Vuković, which saw his domains in Herzegovina fell to the Turks with the siege of Herceg Novi. Vlatko then turned against Ivan, and overran much of Zeta, including Žabljak in 1478, and Scutari in 1479. Ivan fled to his coastline in 1479, and managed to return in 1481 following the death of Mehmed the Conqueror. The new Ottoman sultan Bayezid II faced revolts in Albania, and did not want to face the same in the recently conquered Zeta.
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