Stefan Lazarević
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| Despot Stefan Lazarević | |
|---|---|
| Despot | |
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| Fresco of Despot Stefan Lazarević in Manasija monastery | |
| Reign | Prince (1389 – 1402) Despot (1402 – 1427) |
| Born | 1374 |
| Birthplace | Kruševac |
| Died | 1427 |
| Buried | Koporin monastery |
| Predecessor | Lazar of Serbia |
| Successor | Đurađ Branković |
| Royal House | House of Lazarević |
| Father | Lazar of Serbia |
| Mother | Princess Milica of Serbia |
Stefan Lazarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Лазаревић; 1374 – 19 July 1427) was a Serbian Despot. He was the son and heir to Prince Lazar (Serbian: Knez Lazar, Кнез Лазар), who died at the Battle of Kosovo against the Turks in 1389, and Princess Milica (Милица) from the subordinate branch of the Nemanjić (Немањић) dynasty. His sister, Princess Olivera Despina, married the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, his brother-in-law, with whom he sided in a number of battles. Despot Stefan was a poet and a moderniser. His reign and his personal literary works are sometimes associated with early signs of the Renaissance in Serbian lands. He introduced knight tournaments, modern battle tactics, and firearms to Serbia.
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[edit] Sources
One of the main sources for the life and career of Stefan Lazarević is the biography written for him by Constantine the Philosopher in c. 1431. Constantine was a Bulgarian scholar who following his arrival in Serbia in 1411, made a career for himself at Stefan's court.[1]
[edit] Life
Stefan was the son of Prince Lazar,[2] whom he succeeded in 1389. He participated as an Ottoman vassal in the Battle of Karanovasa in 1394, the Battle of Rovine in 1395, the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, and in the Battle of Ankara in 1402. He became the Despot of Serbia in 1402 after the Ottoman state temporarily collapsed following Timur's invasion of Anatolia with the Battle of Ankara, and in 1403 proclaimed Belgrade his capital. He built a fortress with a citadel which was destroyed during the Great Turkish War in 1690; only the Despot Stefan Tower remains today. Stefan defeated and killed his brother-in-law Bayezid I's son Musa during the Battle of Despotovac in 1406. After the battle, Serbia had peace with the Ottomans for a long time.
Stefan II became an ally of the Kingdom of Hungary and a knight of a special order, so when the Hungarian king Sigismund renewed the Order of the Dragon (Societas draconistrarum) in 1408, Despot Stefan Lazarević was the first on the list of members. In 1404, Sigismund gave Lazarević land in the present-day Vojvodina (and Pannonian part of present-day Belgrade), including Zemun (today part of Belgrade), Slankamen, Kupinik, Mitrovica, Bečej, and Veliki Bečkerek. In 1417, Apatin is also mentioned among his possessions. Under his rule, he issued a Code of Mines in 1412 in Novo Brdo, the economic center of Serbia. In his legacy, Resava-Manasija monastery (Pomoravlje District), he organized the Resava School, a center for correcting, translating, and transcribing books.
Stefan Lazarević died suddenly in 1427, leaving the throne to his nephew Đurađ Branković. His deeds eventually elevated him into sainthood, and the Serbian Orthodox Church honors him on August 1. Despot Stefan is buried in the monastery Koporin which he had built in 1402., as he did the bigger and more famous Manasija monastery in 1407.. In fact, Manasija was intended as his own burial place, but due to a sudden nature of his death in perilous times it was his brother Vuk that is buried there.
Apart from the biographical notes in charters and especially in the Code on The Mine Novo Brdo (1412), Stefan Lazarević wrote three original literary works: The Grave Sobbing for prince Lazar (1389); The Inscription on the Kosovo Marble Column (1404); and A Homage to Love (1409), a poetic epistle to his brother Vuk.
[edit] Marriage
In 1405, Stefan married Helena Gattilusio. She was a daughter of Francesco II of Lesbos and Valentina Doria. They had no known children.
[edit] Gallery
 Stefan Lazarević Despotate 1422 |
 Despot Stefan Lazarević's Seal, 1415 AD |
 Lazarević dynasty coat of arms |
 Monument in Despotovac |
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Stefan Lazarević
Born: circa 1372/77 Died: 19 July 1427 |
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| Royal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Lazar of Serbia |
Serbian Knez 1389–1402 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Đurađ Branković |
| New creation | Serbian Despot 1402–1427 |
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[edit] See also
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[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Fine, John V.A. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1987.
[edit] External links
- Despot Stefan Lazarević, a fresco from the monastery of Manasija from the year 1418
- His listing in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley. The project "involves extracting and analysing detailed information from primary sources, including contemporary chronicles, cartularies, necrologies and testaments."
