Stefan Lazarević
poet and writer (1374-1427)

Stefan Lazarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Лазаревић; c. 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall (Serbian: Стефан Високи, romanized: Stefan Visoki), ruled as a Serbian prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427). He was also a diplomat, legislator, ktetor, patron of the arts, poet, and one of the founding members of the Order of the Dragon. The son of Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, he was regarded as one of the finest knights and military leaders of his time. After the death of his father in the Battle of Kosovo, he became ruler of Moravian Serbia and ruled with his mother, Milica (a Nemanjić), until he reached adulthood in 1393. Stefan led troops in several battles as an Ottoman vassal, until asserting independence after receiving the title of despot from the Byzantine Empire in 1402.
Becoming a Hungarian ally in 1403–04, he received possessions, such as Belgrade and the Golubac Fortress. He also held a superior rank in the Order of the Dragon. During his reign, he had a conflict with his nephew, Đurađ Branković, which ended in 1412. Lazarević also inherited Zeta and waged war against Venice. Since he was childless, he designated his nephew Đurađ as heir in 1426, a year before his death.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Stefan Lazarević” is poet and writer (1374-1427). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Stefan, Lazarević and poet, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q336531. VIAF identifies the subject as 30336762. The Library of Congress control number is n82079076. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1377, 1427, 1389 and 1402.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stefan Lazarević” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.