Jelena Balšić

Jelena was born in 1407 as the daughter of Balša IIIofZeta and Mara Thopia. She was named after her grandmother Jelena.^[1] Jelena's lineage is traced back to the Balšić and Thopia noble families. In 1424, at the age of 17, Jelena married Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, a significant political figure of the time. The union between Jelena and Stjepan Vukčić played a crucial role in shaping the political landscape of the region. Jelena was not only a wife and mother but also a central figure in the complex power dynamics of the time. Through her marriage to Stjepan Vukčić, she became the mother of several notable children, each leaving a mark on the history of the Balkans.^[2] Jelena died in 1453.^[3]

• Catherine of Bosnia^[4] (1424–1478), in 1446 she married King King Tomaš of Bosnia, and leaving Bosnian Church converted to Catholicism;
• Vladislav Hercegović (c. 1427–1489), Grand Duke of Bosnia, Lord of Krajina,^[5] married Kyra Ana, daughter of Georgios Kantakuzenos in 1455;
• Vlatko Hercegović (c. 1428–1489), Herceg of St. Sava, married an Apulian noblewoman;
• Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha (c. 1430–1515), baptized Stjepan; the youngest son of Stjepan Vukčić, whom Sultan Mehmed II took to his court, became a Muslim in the Sultan's service. He became the Grand Vizier and Grand Admiral to the Sultan, married Sultan Bayezid II's daughter, Fatima, in 1482; and had descendants by her.

• Ćirković, Sima (1964). Историја средњовековне босанске државе [History of the medieval Bosnian state] (in Serbian). Srpska književna zadruga. OCLC 494551997.
• Nakaš, Lejla (2011), Konkordancijski rječnik ćirilskih povelja srednjovjekovne Bosne [Concordance Dictionary of Cyrillic Charters of Medieval Bosnia] (in Bosnian) (Posebna izdanja, knjiga X, svezak 1 ed.), Društvo za proučavanje srednjovjekovne bosanske historije, OCLC 1166792149
• Regan, Krešimir (2010), Bosanska kraljica Katarina (in Serbo-Croatian), Breza, ISBN 978-9537036553
• Spremić, Momčilo (2004), Jovan Ćulibrk (ed.), Crkvene prilike u Zeti u doba Nikona Jerusalimca (in Serbian), Cetinje, Belgrade: Svetigora, Publikum, pp. 73–108, archived from the original on 11 December 2013
• Vrankić, Petar (5 October 2017). "Stjepan/Ahmedpaša Hercegović (1456.?-1517.) u svjetlu dubrovačkih, talijanskih i osmanskih izvora". Hercegovina: Časopis za kulturno i povijesno naslijeđe (in Croatian) (3): 9–67. doi:10.47960/2712-1844.2017.3.9. ISSN 2566-3429. Retrieved 28 April 2023.