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Stjepan Berislavić

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Stjepan Berislavić
Despot of Serbia
Reign1520–1535 (titular)
PredecessorIvaniš Berislavić
SuccessorPavle Bakić
Bornc. 1505 (1505)
Died1535 (aged 29–30)
SpouseCatherine Batthyany
HouseBerislavići Doborski
MotherJelena Jakšić

Stjepan Berislavić (Serbian: Стефан Бериславић, Hungarian: Beriszló István; c. 1505 – 1535) was a Croatian nobleman[1] and titular Despot of Serbia from 1520 until his death in 1535. He was a prominent nobleman in several counties (Syrmia, Vukovar and Požega) of Kingdom of Hungary.[2][3][4]

Family

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Siege of Belgrade (1521)
Ruins of Kupinik fortress, once court of Stjepan Berislavić, destroyed by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1521 during the Siege of Belgrade
Ruins of strategic Dobor fortress, Stjepan Berislavić's Bosnian court near Modriča, besieged by Sigismund nine times from 1394-1410, destroyed finally by Austria in 1716

Stjepan Berislavić was member of the noble family Berislavići Doborski,[5] that expanded from Bosnia into the Požega County of Kingdom of Hungary.[1] According to the family tradition Ban Borić of Bosnia, who ruled from 1154 until c.1167, was an ancestor of the family.[6]

Their royal title was Ban of Bosnia (Ban de Bosna), while noble titles were Lord of Posavina (Signor de Posava) and Perpetual Count of Dobor (Comes Perpetuus de Dobor).[7]

Stjepan was the elder son of Ivaniš Berislavić (d. 1514), who was Ban of Jajce (1511–1513) and titular Despot of Serbia (1504–1514).[8]

Stjepan's mother was Jelena Jakšić, a member of the Serbia's prominent Jakšić noble family, who had previously been married to Jovan Branković, the last Serbian Despot of the Branković dynasty (1496–1502). As Jelena and his first husband had no male issue, the title of Serbian Despot became vacant upon Jovan's death in 1502. When Jelena remarried to Ivaniš Berislavić in 1504, he received the title, from king Vladislaus II (d. 1516), and held it until his death in 1514.[9][10]

Regnal ascensions

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From 1529, he has controlled regions in Slavonian Posavina, centered in Brod. During 1532 and 1533, he negotiated with king Ferdinand Habsburg, but no agreement was reached.

Serbia (titular)

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Since Stjepan was c. nine years old when his father died, the title of Serbian Despot was granted to him only in 1520, by king Louis II (d. 1526).[11] After the Ottoman conquest of Belgrade in 1521, he tried to hold his fortress of Kupinik in Syrmia county, but the region was eventually lost to Ottoman invasion.[12]

After the defeat at the Battle of Mohács (1526), Kingdom of Hungary became divided between two rival fractions, one led by King Ferdinand Habsburg and the other by John Zápolya, the Duke of Transylvania, who was also proclaimed King. At first, Stjepan Berislavić supported Zápolya (1526), but then pledged allegiance to Ferdinand, at the beginning of 1527. Learning of that, Zapolja tried to suppress Stjepan's authority over Serbs by appointing Serbian nobleman Radič Božić as titular Despot (1527–1528). In spite of that, Stjepan continued to act as Serbian Despot, and was recognized as such by King Ferdinand. In 1529, Stjepan fell out of Ferdinand's favor and was confined in Buda, but soon escaped.[13][14]

At that time, Ferdinand's territories in Hungary were invaded again by the Ottomans, who acted as allies of rival king John Zápolya, ruler of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom. Stjepan decided to join them, and in return received confirmation of his domains.

Death and legacy

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During the invasion, Stjepan was killed by janissary on the orders from the Turkish governor of Bosnia Gazi Husrev Bey, and his domain was conquered by the Ottomans.[15][16]

In a letter written from Stoni Beograd, dated 1 May 1542, his widow, Catherine Batthyany (d. after 1542), former Despotess of Serbia informs her brother, Ferenc Batthyány, former Ban of Croatia, that Murat Bey Tardić already conquered Orahovica and that she fears she will soon fall into the hands of the Ottomans.[17]

Ancestors

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Regnal titles
Preceded by titular Despot of Serbia
1520–1535 		Succeeded by

Annotations

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  • Name: Serbian historiography uses Stefan or Stevan, while Croatian historiography uses Stjepan.[18] In Hungarian historiography, his full name is written as Beriszló István.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b Berislavići - Croatian Biography Lexicon Biography of Petar Berislavić (reprint from 1620). Croatian Institute for History, Zagreb.
  2. ^ Ивић 1929.
  3. ^ Ћирковић 1982, p. 479–490.
  4. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 79-84.
  5. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 71-85.
  6. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 72.
  7. ^ Bojanovski, Ivo (1981) Dobor in Usora (Northern Bosnia) (Results of 1969-1973 archaeological digs). Naše Starine XIV XV, p.11 (noble titles listed in footnote 51 on p.27)
  8. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 76-78.
  9. ^ Jireček 1918, p. 256.
  10. ^ Krstić 2017, p. 152.
  11. ^ Jireček 1918, p. 257.
  12. ^ Fodor & Dávid 2000, p. 80-81.
  13. ^ Ћирковић 1982, p. 484, 487.
  14. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 80-82.
  15. ^ Ћирковић 1982, p. 488.
  16. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 82-84.
  17. ^ https://d-nb.info/366893718/04
  18. ^ Karbić 2006, p. 79-85.
  19. ^ Thallóczy & Áldásy 1907, p. 47-48, 110-113, 357-362.

Sources

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