Emperor Jovan Nenad
Encyclopedia
Jovan Nenad was a 16th-century military commander of Serb mercenaries
in the Kingdom of Hungary
who took advantage of a Hungarian military defeat in the Battle of Mohács
and subsequent struggle over the Hungarian throne to carve out his own state and styled himself emperor
(tsar
), ruling over a short-lived liberated area.
He is attributed by Serbian historians as the founder of Vojvodina
and the leader of the last independent Serbian state before the Ottoman conquest.
near the Mureş River
in northern Banat
(today in Romania
). He was of Serb ethnicity, although other facts about his origins are uncertain. He himself claimed to be "a descendant of Serbian and Byzantine rulers", although other contemporaries thought that he was descending of the Serbian despots or that he was a man of low rank.
on August 29, 1526, the Ottoman Empire
destroyed the army of Hungarian
-Czech
King
Louis Jagellion, who was killed on the battlefield. After this battle, the Kingdom of Hungary became divided in three parts: Royal Hungary
in the north and west became a Habsburg
province, Transylvania
in the east became an independent state, while the former central and southern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary were absorbed by the Ottoman Empire.
As King Louis had no children, Hungary was divided into two parties: one elected John Zápolya, a respected Hungarian noble, while the other declared for the King of Hungary a Habsburg
, Ferdinand, Louis' brother-in-law. A part of this struggle was the leader of Serb mercenaries, Jovan Nenad, whom his contemporaries called "Black Man" because of a strange birthmark which many considered a divine mark: "he had a black stripe, one finger wide, starting at the right temple of his head and running in a straight line over his body down to his right foot".
Right after the battle of Mohács
, he appeared between Tisza
and Danube
as a leader of a Serb regiment, and for a short time, he drove Ottomans from Bačka
and started to rule it, as well as parts of Banat
and Syrmia
where he attempted to create a state. He first sided with the Zapolyai and then with the Habsburg
pretender after the Hungarian King refused to acknowledge his rule. After the defeat of a Transylvanian army sent to evict him, he rose to the peak of his power and Jovan Nenad styled himself emperor.
He named Radoslav Čelnik
the general commander of his army, while his emissaries to foreign rulers were a Franciscan
from Ilok
Fabijan Literat and Ivan Dolić of Irig, the castellan
of Bač
. His treasurer and palatine was Subota Vrlić, a Serbian noble from Jagodina. Besides his army, the emperor also organized a guard numbering 600 soldiers. His army grew by drawing Serbs from Ottoman territory, Vlachs from Banat and Transylvania, and also some Roman Catholics, and by the beginning of 1527, it numbered around 15,000 men. It is believed that the cooperation of Orthodox and Catholic Slavs was the key of his later success. By the time of the reign of Jovan Nenad there were already considerable populations of Serbs in southern the Pannonian Plain, most notably in the Danube and Tisa regions.
At first, Jovan Nenad supported Zápolya, but Hungarian nobles, whose lands in Bačka he had taken, estranged Zápolya from him, so in the beginning of 1527, he switched to Ferdinand. After the danger from the Ottomans passed, the Hungarian nobles and peasants from Bačka who had fled afore the Ottomans, started to come back to their homes, but Nenad did not allow them to settle in Bačka again. He told them, "I found this land empty and took it with my people." The Hungarians answered that they had to flee from the land because of fear of the Ottoman Sultan. Nenad replied, "And I was the one who abducted this land from him. The coward Hungarians, you cannot hold this land because the Ottoman soldiers will for one night capture you and shunt you to Belgrade
in bondage. So, you do not know what you ask."
Jovan Nenad considered struggle around the Hungarian throne
just a temporary occupation, his primary task being the fight against Ottomans for the liberation of Serb lands. In the first half of 1527, Ferdinand was outside of Hungary, preparing to fight Zápolya. During that time, King Zápolya sent armies after Jovan Nenad, wishing to settle his internal affaris before Ferdinand could return to Hungary.
Underestimating Nenad's strength the king first sent a troop of 300 knights, led by László Csáky. He was defeated by Jovan Nenad in early April, and Csáky himself was captured and executed after the skirmish. After the murder of Csáky, an army was dispatched, led by the Voivode of Transylvania
, Péter Perényi
. It was defeated by in late April near Tiszaszőlős
(Battle of Szőlős) on the banks of the Tisza river. Finally, a second army, which encompassed the entire strength of Transylvania and upper Hungary, led by Perényi and Bishop
Czibak decisively defeated Jovan's army on the Sedfal field (Battle of Sződfalva), killing around 8,000 of his men. In an attempt to unite with the forces of Ferdinand, Jovan Nenad was severely wounded in Szeged. In his retreat towards Senta, he was intercepted and murdered in the village of Tornjoš. Jovan Nenad's head was delivered to the Hungarian King and soon after his death the remainder of his army dispersed, which was the end of Jovan Nenad's liberation movement. However, after Jovan Nenad's death, general commander of his army, Radoslav Čelnik
, led the remains of emperor's army to Ottoman Syrmia, where he ruled until 1530 as Ottoman vassal.
As time passed, Jovan Nenad became a mythical figure to the Serbs
. Many Serbian historians consider him the founder of contemporary Vojvodina
, although in reality his insurrection was too short lived and his reign too tumultuous to have a lasting impact. Subotica, the province's second largest city and what was once his capital holds a monument dedicated to him, with the inscription "Your thought has prevailed" (Твоја је мисаo победила/Tvoja je misao pobedila).
film, Cat People, a small statue
of Jovan Nenad (albeit referenced as "King John of Serbia"), plays a central role in developing the underlying mythological milieu of the film's setting
. The statue is of "King John" on horseback
, holding up an impaled cat
on his sword
.
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
in the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
who took advantage of a Hungarian military defeat in the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
and subsequent struggle over the Hungarian throne to carve out his own state and styled himself emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
(tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
), ruling over a short-lived liberated area.
He is attributed by Serbian historians as the founder of Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
and the leader of the last independent Serbian state before the Ottoman conquest.
Early
He was born c. 1492, perhaps in LipovaLipova
-Czech Republic:* Lipová – village in Děčín District* Lipová – village in Cheb District* Lipová – village in Prostějov District* Lipová – village in Přerov District...
near the Mureş River
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
in northern Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
(today in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
). He was of Serb ethnicity, although other facts about his origins are uncertain. He himself claimed to be "a descendant of Serbian and Byzantine rulers", although other contemporaries thought that he was descending of the Serbian despots or that he was a man of low rank.
Career
In the Battle of MohácsBattle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
on August 29, 1526, the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
destroyed the army of Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
-Czech
History of the Czech lands
The history of the Czech lands includes the following periods:* Slavs: Bohemians and Moravians – arrival into Czech area during the 6th century * Samo’s realm * Moravian principality in Moravia* Great Moravia...
King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
Louis Jagellion, who was killed on the battlefield. After this battle, the Kingdom of Hungary became divided in three parts: Royal Hungary
Royal Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary between 1538 and 1867 was part of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, while outside the Holy Roman Empire.After Battle of Mohács, the country was ruled by two crowned kings . They divided the kingdom in 1538...
in the north and west became a Habsburg
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
province, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
in the east became an independent state, while the former central and southern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary were absorbed by the Ottoman Empire.
As King Louis had no children, Hungary was divided into two parties: one elected John Zápolya, a respected Hungarian noble, while the other declared for the King of Hungary a Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
, Ferdinand, Louis' brother-in-law. A part of this struggle was the leader of Serb mercenaries, Jovan Nenad, whom his contemporaries called "Black Man" because of a strange birthmark which many considered a divine mark: "he had a black stripe, one finger wide, starting at the right temple of his head and running in a straight line over his body down to his right foot".
Right after the battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
, he appeared between Tisza
Tisza
The Tisza or Tisa is one of the main rivers of Central Europe. It rises in Ukraine, and is formed near Rakhiv by the junction of headwaters White Tisa, whose source is in the Chornohora mountains and Black Tisa, which springs in the Gorgany range...
and Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
as a leader of a Serb regiment, and for a short time, he drove Ottomans from Bačka
Backa
Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...
and started to rule it, as well as parts of Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
and Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
where he attempted to create a state. He first sided with the Zapolyai and then with the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
pretender after the Hungarian King refused to acknowledge his rule. After the defeat of a Transylvanian army sent to evict him, he rose to the peak of his power and Jovan Nenad styled himself emperor.
He named Radoslav Čelnik
Radoslav Celnik
Radoslav Čelnik was a duke of Srem in the 16th century. At first, Radoslav Čelnik was a general commander of Emperor Jovan Nenad's army. In 1527, when Emperor Jovan Nenad was murdered and his army was dispersed, Radoslav Čelnik, together with part of the former emperor's army moved from Bačka to...
the general commander of his army, while his emissaries to foreign rulers were a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
from Ilok
Ilok
Ilok is the easternmost town and municipality in Croatia. Located in the Syrmia region, it lies on a hill overlooking the Danube river, which forms the border with the Vojvodina region of Serbia. The population of the town of Ilok is 5,036, while the total municipality population is 6,750...
Fabijan Literat and Ivan Dolić of Irig, the castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
of Bač
BAC
- Arts and entertainment :* Batman: Arkham City, a 2011 video game* Battersea Arts Centre, London, England, United Kingdom* Benedicta Arts Center, St...
. His treasurer and palatine was Subota Vrlić, a Serbian noble from Jagodina. Besides his army, the emperor also organized a guard numbering 600 soldiers. His army grew by drawing Serbs from Ottoman territory, Vlachs from Banat and Transylvania, and also some Roman Catholics, and by the beginning of 1527, it numbered around 15,000 men. It is believed that the cooperation of Orthodox and Catholic Slavs was the key of his later success. By the time of the reign of Jovan Nenad there were already considerable populations of Serbs in southern the Pannonian Plain, most notably in the Danube and Tisa regions.
At first, Jovan Nenad supported Zápolya, but Hungarian nobles, whose lands in Bačka he had taken, estranged Zápolya from him, so in the beginning of 1527, he switched to Ferdinand. After the danger from the Ottomans passed, the Hungarian nobles and peasants from Bačka who had fled afore the Ottomans, started to come back to their homes, but Nenad did not allow them to settle in Bačka again. He told them, "I found this land empty and took it with my people." The Hungarians answered that they had to flee from the land because of fear of the Ottoman Sultan. Nenad replied, "And I was the one who abducted this land from him. The coward Hungarians, you cannot hold this land because the Ottoman soldiers will for one night capture you and shunt you to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in bondage. So, you do not know what you ask."
Jovan Nenad considered struggle around the Hungarian throne
Throne
A throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy, and is also used in many expressions such as "the power behind the...
just a temporary occupation, his primary task being the fight against Ottomans for the liberation of Serb lands. In the first half of 1527, Ferdinand was outside of Hungary, preparing to fight Zápolya. During that time, King Zápolya sent armies after Jovan Nenad, wishing to settle his internal affaris before Ferdinand could return to Hungary.
Underestimating Nenad's strength the king first sent a troop of 300 knights, led by László Csáky. He was defeated by Jovan Nenad in early April, and Csáky himself was captured and executed after the skirmish. After the murder of Csáky, an army was dispatched, led by the Voivode of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, Péter Perényi
Péter Perényi
Péter Perényi de Nagy-Ida , son of Simon of the Perényi branch of the Šubić clan, was the Comes of Temesvár from the end of the 14th century into the start of the 15th century...
. It was defeated by in late April near Tiszaszőlős
Tiszaszolos
Tiszaszőlős is a village in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary.-Geography:It has a population of 1730 people as of ....
(Battle of Szőlős) on the banks of the Tisza river. Finally, a second army, which encompassed the entire strength of Transylvania and upper Hungary, led by Perényi and Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Czibak decisively defeated Jovan's army on the Sedfal field (Battle of Sződfalva), killing around 8,000 of his men. In an attempt to unite with the forces of Ferdinand, Jovan Nenad was severely wounded in Szeged. In his retreat towards Senta, he was intercepted and murdered in the village of Tornjoš. Jovan Nenad's head was delivered to the Hungarian King and soon after his death the remainder of his army dispersed, which was the end of Jovan Nenad's liberation movement. However, after Jovan Nenad's death, general commander of his army, Radoslav Čelnik
Radoslav Celnik
Radoslav Čelnik was a duke of Srem in the 16th century. At first, Radoslav Čelnik was a general commander of Emperor Jovan Nenad's army. In 1527, when Emperor Jovan Nenad was murdered and his army was dispersed, Radoslav Čelnik, together with part of the former emperor's army moved from Bačka to...
, led the remains of emperor's army to Ottoman Syrmia, where he ruled until 1530 as Ottoman vassal.
As time passed, Jovan Nenad became a mythical figure to the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
. Many Serbian historians consider him the founder of contemporary Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, although in reality his insurrection was too short lived and his reign too tumultuous to have a lasting impact. Subotica, the province's second largest city and what was once his capital holds a monument dedicated to him, with the inscription "Your thought has prevailed" (Твоја је мисаo победила/Tvoja je misao pobedila).
In popular culture
In the 19421942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
film, Cat People, a small statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
of Jovan Nenad (albeit referenced as "King John of Serbia"), plays a central role in developing the underlying mythological milieu of the film's setting
Setting (fiction)
In fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
. The statue is of "King John" on horseback
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
, holding up an impaled cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
on his sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
.
See also
- Radoslav ČelnikRadoslav CelnikRadoslav Čelnik was a duke of Srem in the 16th century. At first, Radoslav Čelnik was a general commander of Emperor Jovan Nenad's army. In 1527, when Emperor Jovan Nenad was murdered and his army was dispersed, Radoslav Čelnik, together with part of the former emperor's army moved from Bačka to...
, his successor - Starina NovakStarina NovakStarina Novak was a Serbian Hajduk who distinguished himself in many battles against the Ottoman Empire. He is considered a Serbian national hero and is highly respected in neighboring Romania as a national hero as well.-Life:...
(1530s-1601), hajduk leader - List of Serbian rulers
- List of rulers of Vojvodina
- Serbs of VojvodinaSerbs of VojvodinaThe Serbs are the largest ethnic group in the Vojvodina province of Serbia. For centuries, they lived under foreign rule, but despite many attempts that aimed to assimilate them, Vojvodinian Serbs preserved their national consciousness, language, religion, culture as well as the rich folklore,...
- Raci
Sources
- Veselin Dželetović, Poslednji srpski car - Jovan Nenad, Poeta, Belgrade, 2007. ISBN 978-86-86863-00-3
- Vladimir Ćorović, Ilustrovana istorija Srba, knjiga četvrta, Belgrade, 2006.
- Rastko e-book, Srbi pod tuđom vlašću (Serbs under foreign rule)
- Narodna enciklopedija (1927), article written by Aleksa Ivić, professor of the Subotica University.
- Dr Aleksa Ivić, Istorija Srba u Vojvodini, Novi Sad, 1929.
- Milan Tutorov, Mala Raška a u Banatu, Zrenjanin, 1991.
- Drago Njegovan, Prisajedinjenje Vojvodine Srbiji, Novi Sad, 2004.
- Dr. Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 1, Novi Sad, 1990.
- Peter Rokai, Zoltan Đere, Tibor Pal, Aleksandar Kasaš, Istorija Mađara, Belgrade, 2002.
- Petar Pekić, povijest Hrvata u Vojvodini. Od najstarijih vremena do 1929. godine, Misl, Zagreb, 2009 (reprint), p. 31-33, ISBN 978-953-6306-61-9