Deli-Marko ( sr-cyr, Дели-Марко, "Wild Marko"; 1596–1619) or Marko Segedinac (, "Marko of Segedin"), was a Serb '' hajduk'' and military commander in

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

service, active during the Long Turkish War. He was mentioned for the first time after 1590, as a youngster commanding a band of Serb soldiers in the service of Sigismund Báthory, the Prince of Transylvania. Báthory's army which headed to liberate Timișoara included notable Serbs, such as

Đorđe Rac Đorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе; transliterated Djordje) is a Serbian given name, a Serbian variant, derived from Greek ''Georgios'' (''George'' in English). Other variants include: Đurđe, Đurađ, Đura, Đuro, Georgije. It may refer to: * Đ ...

, Deli-Marko, and Sava Temišvarac. The army managed to conquer the Serbian part of the town. These Serb leaders, including

Starina Novak Starina Novak ( sr-Cyrl, Старинa Новак; ro, Baba Novac; bg, Баба Новак, meaning "Old Novak") was a Serb ''hajduk'' (brigand and rebel) who distinguished himself in many battles against the Ottoman Empire. He is considered a n ...

, fought as part of the Transylvanian Army, but carried out independent raids south of the Danube, into what is today Bulgaria and Serbia, even managing to raid as deep as

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

and

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

. Deli-Marko's bold maneuvers in Ottoman territory enraged the Ottoman government. He raided merchant caravans and ships, and even went as far as across the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

and to the Maritsa river. The Serb commanders mainly operated outside Transylvania, with the support of the Emperor. The Serb soldiers and refugees were taken care of by the War Council in Vienna. In 1605, together with Sava Temišvarac, he left Transylvania and crossed to western Hungary. The Long Turkish War ended in 1606 with the Peace of Zsitvatorok. When Emperor Rudolf II started quarreling with his brother,

Matthias Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot * ...

, Temišvarac, Đorđe Rac and Deli-Marko supported the latter, joining with their people. All mercenary bands commanded by the three Serb leaders participated in the march on Rudolf II. Deli-Marko joined the forces of Italian general Giorgio Basta. In 1616 he moved to Transylvania.

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* * *{{cite book , author=Radovan Samardžić , title=Srbi pod tuđinskom vlašću (1537–1699) , volume=2 , year=1993 , ref={{harvid, Samardžić et al., 1993 16th-century Serbian people 17th-century Serbian people Habsburg Serbs Serbian military leaders Hajduks People of the Long Turkish War People of the Military Frontier People of the Principality of Transylvania Serbian mercenaries 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire