Đurađ Branković

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Đurađ Branković, from one of the coins he struck

Đurađ Branković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђурађ Бранковић; Hungarian: Brankovics György; 1377 – 1456), also known under the patronymic (Đurađ) Vuković, was a Serbian despot from 1427 to 1456 and a baron of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was the first of the House of Branković to hold the Serbian monarchy. Note that, at the time, "despot" was the title of the Serbian monarch, not a description of his method of rule.

1 Family
2 Reign
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Family

His father was Vuk Branković and his mother was Mara, daughter of Knez Lazar Hrebeljanović, popularly known as Tsar Lazar. His wife was a Byzantine princess, Eirene Kantakouzene, a granddaughter of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos.

[edit] Reign

Coat of Arms Brankovic

During his reign the Serbian capital was moved to Smederevo (near Belgrade) after the Second Battle of Kosovo.

After he was appointed as a successor for his uncle, Despot Stefan Lazarević, Branković's rule was marked by new conflicts and the fall of Kosovo and Metohia to the Ottoman Empire. Branković allied himself with the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1439 the Ottomans captured Smederevo, the Branković's capital. The prince fled to the Kingdom of Hungary where he had large estates, which included Zemun, Slankamen, Kupinik, Mitrovica, Stari Bečej, Kulpin, Čurug, Sveti Petar, Perlek, Peser, Petrovo Selo, Bečej, Arač, Veliki Bečkerek, Vršac, etc.

Branković had a significant role of concluding the Peace of Szeged (1444) between Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottomans. This peace restored his Serbian rule, but he had to bribe John Hunyadi with his vast estates. On 22 August 1444 the prince peacefully took possession the evacuated town of Smederevo.

The peace was broken in the same year by Hunyadi and king Władysław during the Crusade of Varna, which culminated in the Battle of Varna. Because of this he estranged from his Hungarian allies. A crusading army led by Regent John Hunyadi of Hungary was defeated by Sultan Murad II's forces at Kosovo Polje in 1448. This was the last concerted attempt in the Middle Ages to expel the Ottomans from southeastern Europe. Although Hungary was able to successfully defy the Ottomans despite the defeat at Kosovo Polje during Hunyadi's lifetime, the kingdom fell to the Ottomans in the 16th century. Branković also captured Hunyadi at Smederevo for a short time when he was going home from Kosovo in 1448.

Branković was deemed by contemporaries as the richest monarch in all of Europe; the French knight Bertrand de la Broquierre stated the despot's annual income from the gold and silver mines of Novo Brdo (near Gnjilane in Kosovo) amassed to about 200,000 Venetian ducats. Among other of the Despot's sources of income, there are his possessions in the Kingdom of Hungary, for which expenses were covered by the Hungarian crown. The annual income from them alone was estimated to 50,000 ducats.