Serbian Despotate
This article is about the specific polity Serbian Despotate and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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Was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. A successor of the Serbian Empire and of Moravian Serbia, it was conquered by the Ottomans in 1459. After the demise of the despotate, Serbia ceased to exist as an independent country until the XIX century.
Establishment
January 1403: After Angora, he visited Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, where he was given the title of Despot, and since then his state became known as the Serbian Despotate in 1402. Due to the Battle of Ankara in 1402, in which the Ottomans were defeated by Timur and their leader Bayezid was captured, the vassalage of Serbia to the Ottomans was de fact void.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were two wars waged by Venice for the control of Scutari (Albania).
1.1.Second Scutari War
Was a war by the Republic of Venice against the Lordhip of Zeta and the Serbian Despotate over the control of Scutari (Albania).
September 1421: Sveti Srdj and Drivast conquered by Serbian Despotate.
November 1421: In mid-November 1421 the Serbians took Bar (Antivari).
Expansion during the rule of Murad II in the Ottoman Sultanate.
September 1427: Immediately after becoming the ruler of Serbia, in the summer of 1427, Đurađ was faced with the challenge of an Ottoman invasion. The Ottomans occupied Kruševac and Niš, the Dubočica region including Leskovac, and most of the Toplica region.
June 1437: In 1437, the Ottoman Empire invaded Serbia, leading to negotiations between Serbian ruler Đurađ Branković and the Sultan. As a result, an unfavorable peace agreement was reached, with Braničevo being ceded to the Ottoman Sultanate.
2.1.Ottoman annexion of Serbia
Serbia was invaded and annexed by the Ottoman Empire.
January 1439: After the death of King Sigismund of Hungary in 1437, the Ottoman intensified their attacks in the region. In 1438, they successfully occupied Borač.
January 1439: In 1438, Ottoman Sultan Murad II attacked the Serbian Despotate, forcing Despot Đurađ Branković to cede the territories of Ždrelo and Višesav. This marked a significant loss for the Serbian state in its ongoing struggle against the Ottoman Empire.
August 1439: In 1439, the Ottoman army, led by Sultan Murad II, launched an attack on Smederevo, resulting in the city falling under Ottoman control. Smederevo was a strategic fortress in Serbia and its capture was a significant victory for the Ottoman Sultanate.
November 1439: At the end of 1439, Smederevo capitulated and Murad succeeded in making Serbia an Ottoman province.
Expansion during the rule of Francesco Foscari in the Republic of Venice.
January 1445: The maximum extent of Venetian Albania was reached in 1444.
Was a war between the Albanian League of Lezhë and the Republic of Venice.
January 1448: In December 1447 after leaving a protective force of three to four thousand men under Vrana Konti to guard the frontier in the event of an Ottoman incursion, Skanderbeg turned towards Dagnum with a force of 14,000 men. Initially offering the garrison at Dagnum the opportunity to surrender, he promptly besieged the fortress upon rejection.
July 1448: Skanderbeg crossed the Drin River with 10,000 troops to defend the territory from Ottoman invasion.
September 1448: Skanderbeg retreated from the Drin River area.
Wars during the rule of Mehmed II in the Ottoman Sultanate.
July 1454: Without formally declaring an end to the peace treaty, Sultan Mehmed II invaded Serbia in mid-July 1454. Much of central Serbia fell.
June 1455: Novo Brdo, a strategic mining town in the Balkans, was besieged by the Ottoman Empire in 1455. The town fell after being bombarded with heavy cannons, leading to its territory being taken over by the Ottomans.
October 1455: The rest of southern Serbia was occupied by the Ottomans.
April 1459: By the start of the reign of Stephen Tomašević Serbia was reduced to only a strip of land along the Danube.
June 1459: Sultan Mehmed II decided to conquer Serbia completely and arrived at Smederevo. The new ruler did not even try to defend the city. After negotiations, Bosnians were allowed to leave the city and Serbia was officially conquered by Turks on June 20, 1459.
January 1413: As a reward for Stefan Lazarević's help and loyalty, the Bosnian king transferred Srebrenica with its surroundings to the Serbian Despotate in 1411 or 1412.
January 1413: The semi-independent Domain of Branković ceased to exist as such with the establishment of Serbian Despotate by Stefan Lazarević.
July 1413: As a reward for helping sultan Mehmed, Stefan of Serbia received the town of Koprijan near Niš and the Serbian-Bulgarian area of Znepolje.
April 1421: Following the death of Balsa III in 1421 the Principality of Zeta was assigned (at the will of Balsa III) to his uncle Stefan Lazarević ruler of the Despotate of Serbia.
January 1428: As an immediate result of Stefan's death, Serbia had to return Belgrade to the Kingdom of Hungary, but kept Mačva.
June 1433: Despot Đurađ annexed parts of Usora, together with the trade outpost Zvonik and fortress Teočak.
October 1443: A broad Christian coalition of Hungarians (under John Hunyadi), Serbs (under Despot Đurađ) and Romanians (under Vlad II Dracul) advanced into Serbia and Bulgaria in September 1443.
March 1444: The League of Lezhë, a military and diplomatic alliance of Albanian feudal lords, was established in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444.
August 1444: Serbia was fully restored by the Peace of Szeged on August 15, 1444. Its borders were the same as before 1437, with the exception of the southern part of Zeta, which remained under Venice, and fort Golubac, which was returned to Serbia even though it was lost much earlier, in 1427.
January 1445: The Duchy of Saint Sava conquered the city of Bar, with the fortress (now Old Bar) in Lower Zeta.
January 1445: Duchy of Stephen Vukcic Kosaca annexed Upper Zeta.
January 1447: King Tomaš of Bosnia, also known as Stephen Tomašević, was the last Bosnian king before the Ottoman conquest. Despot Đurađ Branković was a Serbian ruler. The capture of Srebrenica in 1446 was part of the ongoing conflicts between the Kingdom of Bosnia and the Serbian Despotate.
October 1448: In September 1448, the Bosnians were defeated by a Serbian army led by Thomas Kantakouzenos, who reconquered Srebrenica and also took Višegrad.
November 1454: But the capital was well-prepared and the Ottomans, upon hearing that Hunyadi would cross the Danube to reinforce the Serbs, soon lifted their siege of Smederevo. The Sultan retreated back to Sofia.
January 1458: Temporarily relieved of the southern threat, Lazar of Serbia turned to the north and Hungarian internal battles, which he joined on the side of King Ladislaus, managing to capture the town of Kovin and several other towns on the left bank of the Danube in 1457.
Disestablishment
April 1459: By the start of the reign of Stephen Tomašević Serbia was reduced to only a strip of land along the Danube.
June 1459: Sultan Mehmed II decided to conquer Serbia completely and arrived at Smederevo. The new ruler did not even try to defend the city. After negotiations, Bosnians were allowed to leave the city and Serbia was officially conquered by Turks on June 20, 1459.
