House of Sanković

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House of Sanković of Nevesinje, Popovo Polje and Konavli
Image:Sankovic.jpg
Country:	Herzegovina, Dalmatia
Titles:	Duke
Founder:	Sanko Miltenović
Final ruler:	Radič Sanković
Current head:	extinct
Founding year:	14th century
Dissolution:	1404
Ethnicity:	Serbian
Cadet branches:	none

The House of Sanković was a medieval Serbian noble family from Herzegovina. Their family estates included Nevesinje and Popovo Polje in Herzegovina and Konavli in southern Dalmatia.

[edit] History

The earliest known ancestor of the Sanković family, Dražen Bogopenec was first mentioned in 1306. Milten Draživojević, son of Bogopenec, was first mentioned in 1332 as a henchman for Stjepan II Kotromanić, Ban of Bosnia. Draživojević was a prince (župan) and his estates were Nevesinje and Zagorje. He had two sons and a daughter: Sanko, Gradoje and Radača.

Sanko Miltenović was first mentioned in 1335 and on 22 October 1348, Dubrovnik granted citizenship to Sanko as an aristrocrat of the Bosnian Ban. From 11 August 1366 on, Sanko was mentioned as a judge. When Nikola Altomanović waged war on Dubrovnik, Sanko helped guide the Bosnian army. However, in one of these wars, Sanko was killed, but the date is unknown. Sanko had four sons and a daughter: Beljak, Radič, Budelja, Sančin and Dragana.

Sanko's sons Prince Beljak and Duke Radič Sanković succeeded him. Beljak became the manager of the family's estates. Immediately after Bosnian Ban Tvrtko I's death in 1391, Beljak and Radič decided to sell their family's estate of Konavli to Dubrovnik. A council meeting, however, was convoked as a result by the noblemen who objected the sale. Vlatko Vuković and Pavle Radenović rebelled against Radič in December of 1391 after receiving the council's blessings. They captured Konavli and occupied it, dividing it up for themselves, despite protests fro Dubrovnik. When Vuković died, his nephew, Sandalj Hranić, succeeded him, continually struggling against Radič after being released in late 1398. In 1399, Radič became a member of the Great Council of the Dubrovnik Republic. Radič participated in the Bosnian-Dubrovnik War in 1403-1404, leading the attacks on Dubrovnik in the name of Ban Stjepan Ostoja. However, Hranić sent Sanković back to prison in 1404, blinding him and taking his estates. Sanković died while in prison that same year, marking the end of the Sanković family.