Saint Stefan Brankovi? Стефан Бранкови?
Despot of Serbia
from the Esphigmenou charter (1429)
Despot of Serbia
Reign	January 19, 1458 ? March 21, 1459
Predecessor	Lazar Brankovi?
Successor	Stephen Toma?evi?
Born	c. 1417 Belgrade
Died	( 1476-10-09 ) October 9, 1476 Belgrade Castle near Udine
Burial	Kupinovo
Spouse	Angelina of Serbia
Issue	đorđe Brankovi? Jovan Brankovi? Marija Brankovi?
House	Brankovi?
Father	đurađ Brankovi?
Mother	Eirene Kantakouzene
Religion	Orthodox Christian ( Serbian Church )

Stefan Brankovi? ( Serbian Cyrillic : Стефан Бранкови? ; c. 1417 ? 9 October 1476), also known in historiography as Stefan the Blind (Стефан Слепи), was briefly the despot (ruler) of the Serbian Despotate between 1458 and 1459, member of the Brankovi? dynasty .

Family [ edit ]

Stefan and his relations are named in Dell'Imperadori Constantinopolitani (also known as the "Massarelli manuscript" after the work was found in papers of Angelo Massarelli , the general secretary of the Council of Trent ^[1] ), a manuscript held in the Vatican Library . ^[2] This manuscript names him a son of đurađ Brankovi? and Eirene Kantakouzene . D. M. Nicol (1994) questioned his maternity, suggesting đurađ had a prior marriage to a daughter of John IV of Trebizond . However his theory presented no sources and failed to take into account that John IV was born between 1395 and 1417. He would be unlikely to be a grandparent by the 1410s. ^{[ citation needed ]}

On 11 September 1429, đurađ made a donation to Esphigmenou Monastery at Mount Athos . The charter for the document names his wife Irene and five children. The Masarelli manuscript also names the same five children of đurađ and Eirene. Other genealogies mention a sixth child, Todor Brankovi?. He could be a child who died young and thus not listed with his siblings. ^{[ citation needed ]} The oldest sibling listed in the Massarelli document was Grgur Brankovi? . The 1429 document mentions him with the title of Despot . Grgur was appointed governor of territories of southern Serbia associated to the House of Brankovi? . ^[3] He was reportedly appointed by Murad II of the Ottoman Empire in 1439. In April 1441, Grgur was accused of plotting against Murad and his governorship terminated. He was imprisoned in Amasya and blinded on 8 May 1441. ^[3] Grgur and his brothers co-signed a charter by which đurađ confirmed the privileges to the Republic of Ragusa ^[4] Grgur retired to a monastery under the monastic name "German". ^[5] According to Fine, Grgur resurfaced in 1458, claiming the succession of the vacant throne of Serbia for himself or his son. ^[6] The Massarelli manuscript mentioned Grgur as unwed. Later genealogies name his wife as "Jelisaveta". Vuk Grgurevi? , a son of Grgur, was later a titular Serbian despot (1471?1485). He was possibly an illegitimate. ^{[ citation needed ]}

The Massarelli next names an older sister of Stefan, Mara Brankovi? . She was one of the wives of Murad II. ^{[ citation needed ]} Stefan himself is listed third. His younger sister is listed as Cantacuzina, the Latinized version of their mother's last name. Later genealogies give her name as Katarina. She married Ulrich II of Celje . The last and youngest sibling listed was Lazar Brankovi? , successor to their father. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Reign [ edit ]

According to Nicol, Stefan had become a citizen of the Republic of Venice . He was blinded alongside his brother Grgur in 1441. ^{[ citation needed ]} Both blind brothers seem to have been omitted from considerations as possible heirs to their father. They could only claim the throne in 1458, since the death of Lazar left them the only male representatives of the Brankovi?.

According to Fine, Stefan secured the throne by co-operating with his sister-in-law Helena Palaiologina , widow of Lazar. She was a daughter of Thomas Palaiologos , Despot of the Morea , and Catherine Zaccaria of the Principality of Achaea . Helena however arranged the marriage of one of her daughters to Stjepan Toma?evi? , prince of Bosnia . She thus managed to secure the throne for her new son-in-law. ^{[ citation needed ]} Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Stjepan Toma? Kotromani? , King of Bosnia and father of Toma?evi?, dethroned Stefan on April 8, 1459. They enthroned Stjepan Toma?evi? as his replacement. At the end of 1459 Stefan decided to travel to Albania, where he had relatives. ^[7] In mid-1460 he travelled to Albania where he married Angelina Arianit Komneni in November 1460. Angelina was the sister of Donika , who married Skanderbeg . ^[8] Skanderbeg gave to Stefan Brankovi? an unknown estate as appanage. ^[9] At the beginning of 1461 Stefan Brankovi? went to Italy with Skanderbeg's written recommendation. ^[10]

When Serbian Despotate had been lost to Ottomans, Stefan's son Jovan led Serbian refugees to the Kingdom of Hungary . There Jovan was finally recognized as Serbian Despot, with a principality called Raitzen .

Marriage and children [ edit ]

In 1461, Stefan married Angjelina Arianit Komneni , daughter of Albanian voivode of Shkoder and Durres , Gjergj Arianit Komneni . ^{[ citation needed ]} They had four or five children: ^{[ citation needed ]}

• Jovan (d. 10 December 1502). Mentioned first in the Massarelli manuscript. Titular despot of the area of Raitzen, Kingdom of Hungary . Married Jelena Jaksi?. She is mentioned as "Helena, Serbiæ despotissa" in a charted dated to 1502.
• đorđe (d. 18 January 1516). Mentioned second in the Massarelli manuscript. Titular despot of the area of Raitzen, Kingdom of Hungary . Married Isabella del Balzo, daughter of Agilberto, Duke of Nardo . Later retired as a monk under the monastic name "Maxim". Resurfaced as Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia from 1508 to 1521. He also held the title of Archbishop of Belgrade .
• Irene. Mentioned third in the Massarelli manuscript. Considered to have died young.
• Marija (died 27 August 1495). Mentioned fourth and last in the Massarelli manuscript. Married Boniface III , Marquess of Montferrat (1424?1494, reign 1483?1494).
• Milica (died 30 January 1554). Not listed in the Massarelli manuscript, only later genealogies. Married Neagoe Basarab , Prince of Wallachia .

Legacy [ edit ]

He is venerated as a Saint Stefan the Blind by the Serbian Orthodox Church .

Ancestry [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

• List of Serbian monarchs

References [ edit ]

Sources [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stefan Brankovi? .

• Miklosich, Franz (1858), Monumenta Serbica Spectantia Historiam Serbiae, Bosniae, Ragusii
• Schwennicke, Detlev (1878), Europaische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europaischen Staaten , vol. 3, p. 180
• Odak, Marina I. (2015). "Ikonografija i simbolika predstava na srpskom srednjovekovnom novcu" . Belgrade: Filozofski fakultet.
• Por?i?, Neboj?a. "Документи Лазара и Стефана Бранкови?а о подиза?у поклада деспота ?ур?а." Иници?ал. Часопис за сред?овековне студи?е 2 (2014): 215?239.
• ?irkovi?, Sima (2004). The Serbs . Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN   9781405142915 .
• Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest . Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN   0472082604 .