| Dejanović | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Serbian Empire | ||
| Titles | gospodin sevastokrator despot |
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| Founded | before 1355 | ||
| Dissolution | after 1395 | ||
| Ethnicity | Serb | ||
The Dejanović, or Dragaš (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејановић, Драгаш, pl. Дејановићи, Драгаши) was a Serbian noble house that served the Serbian Empire, of Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331-1355) and Uroš the Weak (r. 1355-1371), and during the fall of the Serbian Empire, after the Battle of Maritsa (1371), it became an Ottoman vassal. The family held a region roughly centered where the borders of Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia meet. The last two Byzantine Emperors were maternal descendants of the house.
The eponymous founder was sevastokrator Dejan, who held the župe of Žegligovo and Preševo, and was married to Teodora Nemanjić, the sister of Emperor Dušan. Dejan received the title of despot during the rule of Emperor Uroš, and after the death of despot Jovan Oliver, he expanded his fief to the oblasts around Velbužd and Radomir. After the death of Dejan, his sons, despot Jovan and gospodin Konstantin Dragaš, continued ruling their father's region jointly, and expanded it further; the lands now covered from Vranje and Preševo to Radomir, in the south to Štip, Radovište and Strumica. After the Battle of Maritsa (1371), they became vassals to the Ottoman Empire. After the death of Jovan in 1377, Konstantin continues the rule under Ottoman overlordship. Konstantin marries his daughter Jelena to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (r. 1391-1425), of which marriage John VIII (r. 1425-1448) and Constantine XI (r. 1449-1453) are born, the last Byzantine rulers. Constantine XI, who died when defending Constantinople from the Ottomans in 1453, was known by his mother's surname, in Greek, Dragáses (Δραγάσης). Konstantin and his provincial neighbour and fellow Ottoman vassal, Prince Marko, fell in the Battle of Rovine (1395), when aiding the Ottoman Empire. Jakov, the son of Konstantin, continues to rule the region.
Konstantin Dragaš is attested in Serb epic poetry as "beg Kostadin", as a friend of Prince Marko. Kjustendil, in modern Bulgaria, received its name from Konstantin through Turkish; meaning "Konstantin's bath/spa".
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