Đurađ Branković

Illustration by Đurađ Branković from 1429

Coat of arms of Đurađ Branković

Đurađ Branković ( Hungarian Brankovics György , Cyrillic Ђурађ Бранковић ; * 1377 ; † December 24, 1456 ) was a Serbian despot who ruled from 1427 to 1456. He was the successor of his uncle Stefan Lazarević and was married to Jerina (Irene) from the house of Kantakuzenos .

Early years

When his uncle Stefan Lazarević recognized Hungarian sovereignty in 1402 , this fact led Branković as an Ottoman vassal to oppose Stefan Lazarević. From the second battle on the Amselfeld between Stefan and Hungarian auxiliaries on the one hand and himself and Ottoman auxiliaries on the other, Stefan emerged victorious. Stefan's policy of building a centralized government in his domain and thus putting an end to the arbitrariness of the nobility, which arose after the first battle on the Amselfeld (1389) , led many aristocrats, and ultimately his uncle Vuk Lazarević, Stefan's brother , to the court of Branković. The power struggle between Bayezid's sons , Mehmed , Süleyman and Musa, also brought Branković and Lazarević with it. Stefan Lazarević supported Mehmed. Branković and Vuk Lazarević supported Süleyman. Suleyman was strangled by his brother Musa, who became his successor. Vuk Lazarević met the same fate as Süleyman, while Branković escaped the assassination attempt by Musa in an adventurous way. The new common enemy reconciled him with his uncle Stefan. He recognized his uncle's supremacy, but ruled autonomously in his domain. Due to his good contacts with the Ottomans as well as with Byzantium , he was considered the best expert on Ottoman conditions, which is why Stefan entrusted him with more and more powers. Branković was considered the second man in the state. He successfully led the Serbian troops against Musa in 1413 and in the war against Venice 1421–1423, which ended with a status quo .

Serbian despot

Since Stefan Lazarević had no offspring, he designated Branković as his successor. Hungary, as the supreme liege lord of Lazarević, also agreed. However, Hungary viewed the unification of the countries of Lazarević and Branković and Branković's contacts with the Ottomans with displeasure, which is why it insisted that Belgrade and Golubac should be returned to Hungary after Lazarević's death . In return, Branković was allowed to keep all of his uncle's Hungarian fiefdoms. When Stefan Lazarević died in 1427, Branković became the new Serbian despot (the title was confirmed in 1429 by the Byzantine emperor John VIII ). His attempt to keep the capital, Belgrade, was thwarted by Hungary; King Sigismund himself appeared at the head of an army before Belgrade and demanded the surrender of the city. This was followed by a mass exodus of the Serbian population from Belgrade, while a voivode Jeremiah handed the Golubac fortress over to the Ottomans. The Ottomans attacked in 1428, three years after their last campaign against Serbia. Sultan Murad II did not recognize Branković as a Serbian despot and demanded the surrender of Serbia. With Hungarian help, the Ottomans could be pushed back, but they kept Niš and Kruševac and thus the most important traffic routes to the south.

With Belgrade, Niš, Kruševac and Golubac, Branković lost the most important fortresses of his state. He decided to build a new fortress, which would also be the new capital. Because of its proximity to Hungary, a fishing village was chosen, Smederevo . Even during Stefan Lazarević's lifetime there was a general tax for the fortification of Belgrade. Now this tax has been collected for Smederevo. After the Ottoman campaigns of 1425 and 1428, this tax hit the population hard.

Ottomans conquer Serbia

In 1439 the Ottomans launched a new offensive against Serbia. Branković could not offer any resistance worth mentioning, he also lacked the support of Hungary, which was not prepared for a new war against the Ottomans. His sons Lazar and Stefan were captured and blinded . He himself retired to Budva and then to Hungary via Dubrovnik . Taking advantage of the conquest of Serbia, Venice seized Budva and Bar , which until then had been under the rule of Branković. In exile in Hungary he campaigned for a war against the Ottomans.

Liberation of Serbia

In 1441, with the mediation of Giuliano Cesarini, a crusade against the Ottomans was formed, including with the Polish-Hungarian King Władysław III. , Johann Hunyadi and Branković. The Ottomans were defeated in Serbia in 1443. In the subsequent Peace of Szeged , the Ottomans agreed to the evacuation of Serbia and Branković as Serbian ruler, but the annual tribute payments were increased from 50,000 to 60,000 gold coins. By 1444 the Ottomans had evacuated all areas they had conquered in 1439. Branković ruled Serbia again. He couldn't get Venice to give back Budva and Bar.

1444-1456

After the liberation of Serbia, Branković pushed the building of Smederevo even harder. During the last enormous efforts to save Serbia from a renewed conquest by the Ottomans, the common people suffered the most. In Serbian legends, the memory of this suffering in Smederevo is kept alive as the cursed city of Jerinas , Mrs. Branković. The new conflict with Hungary arose when Władysław and Hunyadi broke the peace that had just been made and continued the crusade against the Ottomans. Fearing that a defeat of the Christian alliance would lead to the new conquest of Serbia, Branković refused to participate in the crusade. Władysław and Hunyadi saw this as a betrayal of Branković, and after the defeat in the Battle of Varna in 1444 they made him responsible, among other things.

Branković's relations with Hungary were already at their lowest point when Hunyadi, now the Imperial Administrator of Hungary, began a new crusade against the Ottomans in 1448. Since Branković was still considered a vassal of Hungary, asked Hunyadi of him to join the campaign. Branković refused, he had to carry the sovereignty of Hungary and that of the Ottomans at the same time, and foresaw a defeat Hunyadis. His attempts to dissuade Hunyadi from the crusade failed. He is also said to have urged Skanderbeg not to join Hunyadi. There was even a suspicion that he had warned the Ottomans about the new crusade. Hunyadi then tried to force Branković to participate in the crusade. He deliberately went to Serbia with his army and plundered the country. When the Ottomans were approaching, he moved south, where the third battle took place on the Amselfeld (1448) . A catastrophic defeat for the Christian army followed. Hunyadi fled but was caught and imprisoned by Branković. Hunyadi was released after pledging not to attack Branković's fiefs in Hungary and to pay for the damage his army had done in Serbia.

Back in Hungary, Hunyadi was released from his obligations by the antipope Felix V and confiscated all of Branković's fiefs. This de facto ended the Hungarian sovereignty over Serbia. From then on, Branković was completely at the mercy of the Ottomans. In 1453 his soldiers had to take part in the conquest of Constantinople , but guarded an outpost near Edirne because of their unreliability in the fight against the city . In the same year, the Crnojević in Montenegro turned away from him and asked for Venice's protection and suzerainty. Defeated by life, Branković withdrew more and more. In 1454 a new wave of conquests began by the Ottomans. They conquered large parts of Serbia. Branković moved to Hungary and Vienna and asked for assistance while his army was able to defend Smederevo. On his return he was attacked and captured near Belgrade by Hunyadis Mihály Szilágyi's brother-in-law , and in this attack he lost three fingers. He was only released with the mediation of King Ladislav . Mournful and gloomy about the future, Branković died in 1456. His son Lazar, blinded by the Ottomans, became the new Serbian despot.

rating

Đurađ Branković is described in Serbian historiography as one of the most capable Serbian rulers of the Middle Ages. He is said to have made enormous efforts to save Serbia from the conquest by the Ottomans, but could only postpone it, but not prevent it. His behavior towards Johann Hunyadi after his defeat on the Amselfeld in 1448 remains unclear, which is interpreted as his greatest political error. Hungarian historiography views Branković less positively and sees him as an unreliable vassal who only sought to pursue his interests, did not shy away from treason and worked against Hungary depending on his interests. However, this may have been the case with many Hungarian vassals at the time.

literature

• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 2: Baanes-Eznik of Kolb . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2008, ISBN 978-2-503-52377-4 , pp. 149-150.

Web links

Commons : Đurađ Branković  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography Đurađ Branković (Serbian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Monographs . Naučno delo, 1960, p. 188: “… jyrca 1429 г. издатом у Пожуну, kojим краль Жигмунд дaje деспоту (illustris Georgius despotus seu dux Rascie) у посед «Torbaagh vocata in comitatu…» "
2. ↑ Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études byzantines . Institute, 2006, p. 38.
3. ^ Charles Cawley: Serbia: Djuradj Vuković Branković, son of VUK Branković . In: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy . 2011 ( fmg.ac ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Stefan Lazarevic	Despot of Serbia 1427-1456	Lazar Branković