Despotovo

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Map of the Bačka Palanka municipality, showing the location of Despotovo.

The Orthodox Church.

Despotovo (Деспотово) is a village located in the Bačka Palanka municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. Despotovo had a total population of 2,081 inhabitants in 1991 and 2,096 in 2002.

1 Name of the village
2 History
3 Demographics
4 See also

[edit] Name of the village

During its history, Despotovo has had many names. In the Middle Ages the village was called Sentivan, because the family who owned it were the Sentivanji. In the second half of the 13th century it was called Szentivankeszi (Serbs called it Kesi-selo / Кеси-село). By 1418, the Serbs called it Despot Sentivan (Деспот Сентиван). It was named by Despot Jovan Branković. Hungarians later accepted that name and they called it like that from the 16th century to the 18th. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Hungarians called it Edzasszentivan, Kisszentivan and again Sentivan. In 1904 Hungarians called the village Ursentivan. After World War I, when Ursentivan became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, they called it Despot Sveti Ivan (English: Despot Saint John). After World War II it changed name to Vasiljevo (Васиљево), because of Soviet soldier Vasilj who was the first soldier who entered the village after the Germans abandoned it. After a few years it became known as Novo Vasiljevo, and then, finally, Despotovo.

[edit] History

Despotovo is one of the oldest villages in Bačka. When the Ottomans conquered Vojvodina many people left the village. Because of the many wars between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, the village's population changed a lot from the 16th century to the 18th century, although it was mainly populated by Serbs during the Ottoman rule. After the Habsburgs defeated the Ottomans, Serbs started settling in Despotovo again. The village's first school opened in the 1770s and its church was built in 1786.