Mara Branković

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Mara Branković (also Mara Hatun , Despina Hatun , Amerissa ; * 1412 ; † 1487 ) was a Serbian princess from the noble family of Branković .

Life

Mara was a daughter of the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković and married Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire .

Her marriage to the Turkish sultan did not result in any children, but she had a good relationship with her stepson, Mehmed II , to whom she often gave advice on political issues after the death of her husband. She immediately withdrew to Serbia and held court in Ježevo , a city in what is now Macedonia , where she surrounded herself with exiled Serbian aristocrats.

In 1451 she called her sister, the widow of the late Count Ulrich II , Katharina Branković , who strengthened her position in Macedonia and with the Serbian nobility. In the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice from 1463–1479, they played an important role as mediators and were used by both sides for diplomatic missions.

In 1471 she personally accompanied a Venetian ambassador to negotiations with the Sultan, she also remained influential with the leaders of the Orthodox Church , as well as with the successor of Mehmed II, Sultan Bayezid II. After the Battle of Vaslui in 1475 in the Principality of Moldova , Mara noticed that the Battle was one of the greatest defeats for the seemingly invincible Ottoman Empire.

literature

• Mihailo Popović: Mara Branković. A woman between the Christian and Islamic cultures in the 15th century . Franz Philip Rutzen Verlag, Ruhpolding 2010 (Peleus), ISBN 978-3-447-06124-7 (not evaluated).