- Stjepan Tomašević
Stjepan Tomašević first name also rendered Stipan, Stefan, and Stephen, from Latin "Stephanus", ruled from 1461 to 1463 as the last King of Bosnia. He was also the last despot of Serbia in 1459.
Family
He was the son of King
Stjepan Tomaš . According to the "Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten" (1978) by Detlev Schwennicke, his mother was Vojača, first wife of his father.Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić , the second wife, was his stepmother. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BOSNIA.htm#StjepanTomasdied1461 Profile of Stjepan Tomaš and his children in "Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley] ]His paternal grandfather was
Stjepan Ostoja . Ostoja is considered a member of theHouse of Kotromanić but his exact relation to his predecessors is unknown. He was possibly an illegitimate son ofTvrtko I of Bosnia . [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BOSNIA.htm#StjepanTomasdied1461 Profile of Stjepan Ostoja and his children in "Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley] ]Despot
According to "The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest" (1994) by J. V. A. Fine,
Lazar Branković of Serbia died in 1458. He was succeeded by his older brotherStefan Branković , a blind man. Stjepan Tomaš took advantage of the occasion to campaign against Serbia. He managed to captureSrebrenica and a number of other towns previously held by theHouse of Branković . In 1459, Tomaš entered negotiations with Helena Palaiologina, widow of Lazar. The result of the negotiations was the marriage of Tomašević to Helena Branković, the eldest daughter of Lazar and Palaiologina. The marriage took place atSmederevo on1 April ,1459 . The younger Helena changed her name to "Maria" at the time of her wedding. Tomašević replaced the deposed Stefan on the throne of Serbia. [J. V. A. Fine, "The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest" (1994), page 575-581]His reign in Serbia was short-lived. On
20 June , 1459, forces underMehmed II of theOttoman Empire managed to capture Smederevo and proceeded to annex the remnants of the Serbian state to their realm. Tomašević and Maria fled to Bosnia, seeking refuge at the court of his father. [J. V. A. Fine, "The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest" (1994), page 575-581]King
On
10 July ,1461 , Tomaš died. Tomašević succeeded him as King of Bosnia. In 1461, Tomašević sent toPope Pius II for help in the face of an impending Ottoman invasion. In November , 1461, apapal legate presented Tomašević with a royal crown , offered by the Pope. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BOSNIA.htm#StjepanTomasevicdied1463 Profile of Stjepan Tomašević in "Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley] ]Later, in 1463, he sent for help from the Venetians. However, none ever reached Bosnia. In 1463, Sultan
Mehmed II led an army into the country. The royal city ofBobovac soon fell, leaving Tomašević to retreat toJajce and later toKljuč . The Bosnian Kingdom was soon conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The King was captured in Ključ, and despite promises to the contrary, brought back to Jajce and beheaded on the nearby field known as Carevo Polje (Tzar Fields).According to Fine, Maria survived by fleeing to the coast of the
Adriatic Sea . [J. V. A. Fine, "The Late Medieval Balkans, A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest" (1994), page 584] According to "The Fall of Constantinople 1453" (1965) bySteven Runciman , Maria later joined theharem of an unnamed Turkish general. [Steven Runciman, "The Fall of Constantinople 1453" (1965), page 182] The "Massarelli manuscript" of the 16th reports that Tomašević and Maria had children. However none are mentioned by name. Their eventual fates are unknown. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BOSNIA.htm#StjepanTomasevicdied1463 Profile of Stjepan Tomašević in "Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley] ]In 1888, renowned
Croat archeologistĆiro Truhelka excavated a locality inJajce known as "Kraljev Grob" (King's Tomb) and found a skeleton of a decapitated adult male. Though there is no direct evidence that these are the remains of Stjepan Tomašević, folk tradition and circumstantial evidence make it almost a foregone conclusion that they are. The remains have since been housed, with minor interceptions, in theFranciscan monastery inJajce .See also
*
List of rulers of Bosnia
*List of Bosnians References
External links
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8138048 Find-A-Grave biography]
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