Đorđe Branković

Despot Đorđe Đorđe Branković
Serbian Despot
Personal Coat of Arms
Despot of Serbia
Reign	1486–1496
Predecessor	Vuk Grgurević
Successor	Jovan Branković
Spouse	Isabella del Balzo, daughter of Agilberto, Duke of Nardò.
Full name
Đorđe Stefanović Branković
House	Branković
Father	Stefan Branković
Mother	Angelina Arianites
Born	1461
Died	18 January 1516
Burial	Krušedol monastery
Religion	Serbian Orthodox Christian

Đorđe Branković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђорђе Бранковић; often anglicized as George; 1461–1516) was the titular Despot of Serbia from 1486 until his monastic vows in 1496. He held the title of despot given to him by Matthias Corvinus, and ruled a region known as Racszag (after Rascia, being equivalent of modern Vojvodina) under the Kingdom of Hungary. He received the monastic name Maksim.

Life

Đorđe was the son of Stefan Branković, Despot of Serbia 1458–1459, and Angelina Arianites. He married Isabella del Balzo, daughter of Agilberto, Duke of Nardò (Aragon).

Vuk Grgurević died on April 16, 1485. He received the title of Despot of Serbia by Matthias Corvinus in 1486. Despot Đorđe also was given the cities of Kupinik (Kupinovo), Slankamen, and Berkasovo in Syrmia, as well as other towns which fell under these cities. From 1493, he ruled jointly with his brother Jovan, who would later succeed him as Despot. In 1494, the two brothers fought against Herzog Lovra, who had possessions in Syrmia and Slavonia. In December 1494, the brothers conquered Mitrovica, which they entrusted to their nobles. In the beginning of 1496, Đorđe took monastic vows, receiving the name Maksim, and he subsequently became the Archbishop of Belgrade. Jovan took the throne in 1496, and he had different goals than his brother Đorđe: Jovan did not seek to create a heavenly empire, but sought to defeat the Turks and drive them out of his lands, and as such be entitled the ranks of his ancestors.

He is mentioned, together with all of his family, in the "Dell'Imperadori Constantinopolitani", or Massarelli manuscript, found in the papers of Angelo Massarelli (1510–1566).^[1]

Sainthood

He died on 18 January 1516. A cult was made for him in 1523, in the time when Belgrade had been in Ottoman hands for two years, and when the Ottoman border had, towards the Battle of Mohács, came closer and closer to Krušedol, his endowment. He was buried there, and his cult was founded as to serve as a morale booster in the Serbs, who, together with the Hungarians, fought the powerful Ottomans. At the same time, in the same place, and with the same idea, cults of all his family were founded: His father's, Stefan Branković (1484), his mother's, Angelina (at the same time as Maksim), and his brother's, Jovan (since 1505). Krušedolac of the 16th century celebrated all members of the last family of the Branković, and biographies were written of Angelina and Maksim.

The family was buried at the Krušedol monastery and laid together in coffins at the altar. The Turks, however, burned the holy relics in 1716 after the loss at Battle of Petrovaradin, and only the left arm of Angelina and some minor body parts of other members were spared and proclaimed holy relics of the Serbian Orthodox Church.^[2]