Despot of Serbia in the context of "Battle of Gorjani"

The medieval period in the history of Serbia began in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to the Balkans, and lasted until the Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half of the 15th century. The period is also extended to 1537, when Pavle Bakić, the last titular Despot of Serbia in Hungarian exile, fell in the Battle of Gorjani.

At the time of settling, Serbs were already transitioning from a tribal community into a feudal society. The first Serbian state with established political identity was founded by prince Vlastimir in the mid-9th century. It was followed by other Serbian proto states, unstable due to the constant clashes with the Bulgarians, Hungarians and Byzantines, and by the conflict between Rome and Constantinople regarding the Christianization with the Byzantines getting the upper hand in the 9th century.

Pavle Bakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Павле Бакић, Hungarian: Bakics Pál; c. 1484 – 9 October 1537) was the last titular Despot of Serbia. He was one of the most notable military commanders among Serbian nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary, and fought against the Ottoman Empire in several battles, most notably at the Battle of Mohács (1526) and the Battle of Vienna (1529). He fell at the Battle of Gorjani (1537).

This is an archontological list of Serbian monarchs, containing monarchs of the medieval principalities, to heads of state of modern Serbia.The Serbian monarchy dates back to the Early Middle Ages. The Serbian royal titles used include Knyaz (Prince), Grand Župan (Grand Prince), King, Tsar (Emperor), and Despot.

The House of Kotromanić (Serbian Cyrillic: Котроманић, pl. Kotromanići / Котроманићи) was a late medieval Bosnian noble and later royal dynasty. Rising to power in the middle of the 13th century as bans of Bosnia, with control over little more than the valley of the eponymous river, the Kotromanić rulers expanded their realm through a series of conquests to include nearly all of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, large parts of modern-day Croatia and parts of modern-day Serbia and Montenegro, with Tvrtko I eventually establishing the Kingdom of Bosnia in 1377. The Kotromanić intermarried with several southeastern and central European royal houses. The last sovereign, Stephen Tomašević, ruled briefly as Despot of Serbia in 1459 and as King of Bosnia between 1461 and 1463, before losing both countries to the Ottoman Empire.