Serbian Despotate

The Serbian Despotate (Srpska despotovina) was among the last Serbian states to be conquered by the Ottoman Empire. While most of the Serbian Empire was conquered in the late 14th century, the Despotate did not fall until 1458, about 70 years later. The capital of this state became Belgrade in 1404, following the fall of Skopje, Priština and Kruševac, other Serbian imperial cities. Belgrade at that time became one of the largest cities in Europe, numbering over 100,000 people and becoming a bastion of Orthodox Christianity, under the rule of the poet, thinker and artist, Despot Stefan Lazarević, son of Tsar Lazar, the last true Serbian emperor, who died in Battle of Kosovo in 1389. After his death however the city was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary, and became a scene of one of the largest crusades in medieval Europe Siege of Belgrade, when Orthodox and Catholic Christians defended it from the Ottoman Turks. Smederevo became the capital of the Despotate in 1430, a status which it held until its fall in 1458, ending independence for Serbia. Bosnia also fell about 10 years later.