Grdeša or Grd was a 12th-century Serbian

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...

 Lord (жупан, župan

Zupan

Żupan was a long garment, always lined, worn by almost all males of the noble social class in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, typical male attire from the beginning of the 16th to half of the 18th century, still surviving as a part of the Polishnational dress.- Derivation :The name żupan has...

) of Trebinje

Trebinje

Trebinje is the southernmost municipality and town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity and is located in southeastern Herzegovina, some from the Adriatic Sea....

 under the Rascia

Rascia

Rascia was a medieval region that served as the principal province of the Serbian realm. It was an administrative division under the direct rule of the monarch and sometimes as an appanage. The term has been used to refer to various Serbian states throughout the Middle Ages...

n Grand Prince

Grand Prince

The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...

 Uroš II Prvoslav

Uroš II Prvoslav

Uroš II, also known as Primislav was Serbian Grand Prince from ca. 1145 to 1162, with brief interruptions as ruler by Desa, his brother. His rule was characterized by a period of power struggle, not only of the Serbian throne between the brothers, but between the Byzantine Empire and Hungarian...

.

It is believed he was born around 1120. In 1150 he was one of the military commanders in the army of Uroš II that fought the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

; the combined Serbo-Hungarian army suffered defeat at the Battle of Tara

Battle of Tara (1150)

In 1150, Grdeša and Vučina were the military commanders in the army of Uroš II that fought the Byzantine Empire, the combined Serbo-Hungarian army suffered defeat at the Battle of Tara, where Grdeša and fellow Duke Vučina where captured. It is assumed the prisoners were taken to Sredets , but are...

, where Grdeša and fellow Duke Vučina

Vučina

Vučina was a 12th-century Serbian Duke under the Rascian Grand Prince Uroš II Prvoslav.In 1150 he was one of the military commanders in the army of Uroš II that fought the Byzantine Empire, the combined Serbo-Hungarian army suffered defeat at the Battle of Tara, where he and his fellow nobleman...

 where captured. It is assumed the prisoners were taken to Sredets

Sredets

Sredets is a town in southeastern Bulgaria, part of Burgas Province, located in the proximity of Lake Mandrensko and the northern slopes of Strandzha. During the Ottoman rule it was known as Karabunar and later as Grudovo ....

 (Sofia), but were released in 1151. The same year he is mentioned as iupanus Gerdessa in a charter in which Desa, the younger brother of Uros, gives the island of Mljet

Mljet

Mljet is the most southerly and easterly of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. The National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of...

 to the monastery of Saint Mary in Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

. The death of Grd is placed in 1178 or around 1180.

His tomb (Stećak

Stecak

The Stećci , are monumental medieval tombstones that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. An estimated 60,000 are found within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the rest of 10,000 are found in Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro...

) was found at Police near Trebinje. The tablet has an inscription which says he died during the rule of Mihailo III of Duklja

Mihailo III of Duklja

Mihailo III Vojislav was the ruler of Duklja, from 1162 to 1186.Duklja had previously been ruled by the Ruler of Rascia Desa from 1148-1162....

. The stećak is the oldest found and is currently held at the Museum of Herzegovina in Trebinje. A spur

Spur

A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids and to back up the natural aids . The spur is used in every equestrian discipline...

 of his is in the collection of the National Museum in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

.