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Stefan Lazarević Establishes the Serbian Despotate, 1402
After the 1402 Battle of Ankara, Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos invested Stefan Lazarević as despot of Serbia, formally establishing the Ser…
Timeline
- 1402Ankara · AnatoliaIn 1402 Timur defeated Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I at Ankara, plunging the Ottomans into civil war and giving Balkan states a chance to readjust their spheres of influence. Stefan Lazarević had previously fought in this battle as an Ottoman vassal but afterward turned to seek Byzantine investiture.
- 1402Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireByzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos formally invested Stefan Lazarević as despot of Serbia, granting him a Byzantine court title higher than the previous rank of knez (prince), and the Serbian state continued under the new despotate system.
- 1403–1404Belgrade · SerbiaStefan moved the capital to Belgrade, built fortifications and developed culture (such as the Manasija Monastery), and maintained a balancing act against the Ottomans under Hungarian protection; the Serbian Despotate completed its initial institutional consolidation as an independent political entity between 1402 and 1404.
Sources
- Stefan Lazarević - Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/Stefan-Lazarevic
- The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest — John V. A. Fine Jr. (1994)