RuÃÂina Balà ¡ià(, ; 1396âÂÂ1420) was a Zetan noblewoman and ruled upon today Montenegro and Albanian territory from the Balà ¡iàfamily. She married Mrkà ¡a à ½arkoviàand inherited his realm, the Principality of Vlorë, when he died in 1414. After unsuccessful negotiations to sell her duchy to the Venetians, the Ottomans captured it in 1417. She fled to Corfu, then to Zeta where she was governess of Budva from 1418. In 1420, during the Second Scutari War, she surrendered Budva to the Venetians without any resistance and moved to Dubrovnik with the town's treasury.
RuÃÂina (or Rugina, Rudina) was the daughter of Balà ¡a II, the lord of Zeta (1378âÂÂ85), and Comita Muzaka daughter of Andrea II Muzaka. In 1391 RuÃÂina married nobleman Mrkà ¡a à ½arkoviÃÂ. Their marriage was blessed by the Archbishop of Ohrid, although it was seen as noncanonical because they were close relatives. In 1397 she and her mother were given citizenship of the Republic of Ragusa.
After her husband's death in 1414, RuÃÂina inherited control over Vlorë and held it until it fell to the Ottomans in 1417. She offered Vlorë to the Republic of Venice in exchange for 10,000 ducats. The Venetians were interested in gaining control over Vlorë in order to prevent the Ottomans from controlling entrance into the Adriatic Sea. While the Venetians prolonged negotiations with RuÃÂina hoping to get a better price, the Ottomans captured Vlorë in June 1417.
After the Ottoman conquest of Vlorë, RuÃÂina had to flee, first to Corfu and then to Zeta, which was ruled by her nephew, Balà ¡a III, who entrusted her with the governorship of the coastal town of Budva in 1418. When the Venetians sent a naval squadron to the port of Budva in 1419 during the Second Scutari War, RuÃÂina surrendered the town without any resistance and fled to the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) with the town's treasury.