principality · Balkans and Hungary

Serbian Despotate

1402 CE – 1459 CE · capital Smederevo

Last medieval Serbian state, which held out against the Ottomans for half a century from its fortresses on the Danube and its rich silver mines.

Origins

After the battle of Kosovo in 1389, Lazar's son Stefan Lazarević ruled Moravian Serbia as an Ottoman vassal. Following the Ottoman defeat at Ankara in 1402, the Byzantine emperor granted him the title of despot, and he made Belgrade his capital with Hungarian backing. In 1427 the despotate passed to his nephew Đurađ Branković.

Rule and society

The despotate drew great wealth from the silver mines of Novo Brdo and Srebrenica, worked partly by Saxon miners and traded through Ragusa. Stefan Lazarević was a writer and patron, and the Resava school of scribes refined Serbian Church Slavonic. When Belgrade returned to Hungary, Đurađ built the vast fortress of Smederevo on the Danube between 1428 and 1430.

Decline and legacy

The Ottomans overran Serbia in 1439, but the Peace of Szeged restored Đurađ in 1444. After his death in 1456 and that of his son Lazar in 1458, internal quarrels left Smederevo exposed, and Mehmed II took it in 1459, ending Serbian independence until the 19th century.

Lineage

Zeta under the Balšići 1356 CE – 1421 CE Moravian Serbia 1371 CE – 1402 CE District of Branković 1371 CE – 1412 CESerbian Despotate

Connections (4)

Serbian Despotate was a vassal of Kingdom of Hungary (1301-1526)1403 CE – 1427 CE
Serbian Despotate was a vassal of Ottoman Empire1428 CE – 1459 CE
Zeta under the Crnojevići split from Serbian Despotate1451 CE
Serbian Despotate was conquered by Ottoman Empire1459 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Serbian Despotate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-despotate
MLA: “Serbian Despotate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-despotate. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Serbian Despotate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-despotate.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Serbian Despotate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/serbian-despotate (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻