Stracimir Balšić

Stracimir Balšić
Lord of Zeta
Seal of the Balšić brothers, January 17, 1368
Coat of arms
Spouse(s)	Irene Duklina Milica Mrnjavčević
Issue Đurađ II Gojko Ivaniš
Noble family	Balšić
Father	Balša I
Died	15 January 1373
Religion	Roman Catholicism, previous Serbian Orthodoxy
Occupation	monk (?-1373)

Stracimir Balšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Страцимир Балшић; fl. 1360 – 15 January 1373†) was a Lord of Zeta, alongside his two brothers Đurađ I and Balša II, in ca. 1362–1372. The Balšić family took over Zeta, by 1362, during the fall of the Serbian Empire. Stracimir took monastic vows and died in 1373. He left three sons, one of whom later became the Lord of Zeta (Đurađ II).

Stracimir was the eldest son of Balša I (his two brothers were Balša II and Đurađ I), a petty nobleman who held only one village during the rule of Serbian Emperor Stephen Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331–1355). Some years after the death of the Emperor, Balša I and his sons managed to expand their local power, beginning by taking lands previously held by Lord Žarko (south of Lake Skadar, Lower Zeta). In 1361, during a conflict between the Republic of Ragusa and Vojislav Vojinović, they supported Ragusa. For this, they became Ragusan citizens in May or 3 July 1361. In 1362, the three brothers killedčelnik Đuraš Ilijić, and expanded further into Upper Zeta. Their father died the same year. The brothers succeeded their father ruling Zeta together, though Đurađ I was the major figure. They were called "oblastni gospodari" ("provincial lords") in charters of Emperor Uroš V the Weak (r. 1355–1371). In 1368, after Đurađ I's attack on Kotor, the Serbian court deemed him a rebel. The brothers converted from Serbian Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in 1368/1369, in order to further their coastal ambitions.