О „УЈЕДИЊЕЊУ“ КРАЉЕВИНЕ БОСНЕ И ДЕСПОТОВИНЕ СРБИЈЕ (1458-1459) – ПРАВНОИСТОРИЈСКИ ПОГЛЕД
ON THE “UNIFICATION” OF THE KINGDOM OF BOSNIA AND THE SERBIAN DESPOTATE (1458- 1459) – A LEGAL-HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Summary/Abstract: After the death of Despot Lazar Branković, Despotеss Jelena and King Stefan Tomaš entered into negotiations to marry Lazar’s eldest, underage daughter to the Bosnian prince Stefan (Tomašević Kotromanić), thus uniting Bosnia and Serbia, the two largest remaining Serbian states, under a common ruler. In terms of foreign threats, especially for the Despotate, this was a challenging period. Although under the rule of a regency since the death of Despot Lazar, the Despotate became only a part of the Ottoman and Hungarian foreign policy gambits. In the meantime, after successful negotiations with the Smederevo court, King Stefan Tomaš began to act as the ruler of the remnants of the Despotate, issuing charters to the despot’s nobility and officials, having previously occupied several of its fortresses and cities. During this time, the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus and Sultan Mehmed II asserted their suzerain rights over both Serbian states, with varying success. This paper aims to study this turbulent era from a legal-historical point of view, relying on the source material, and focusing on the public law aspects of the (attempted) unification, especially on the issues of the holders of the ruling power, vassal relations, as well as its social and state law consequences, which had already begun to show themselves timidly in the last months of the Despotate’s existence.

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