Grdeša ( sr-cyr, Грдеша, lat, Gerdessa, Gurdeses; 1150–51) or Grd, was the ''

župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrative unit župa (or zhupa, županija). ...

'' (count) of

Travunija Travunia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Travunija, Травунија; el, Τερβουνία, Tervounía; grc, Τερβουνία, Terbounía; la, Tribunia) was a South Slavic medieval principality that was part of Medieval Serbia (850–13 ...

, mentioned in 1150–51 as serving Grand Prince

Uroš II Uroš II may refer to: * Uroš II, Grand Prince of Serbia, Grand Prince of Serbia (1145-1162) * Stefan Uroš II, King of Serbia (1282-1321) See also * Uroš I (disambiguation) * Stefan Uroš (disambiguation) * Uroš Nemanjić (disambiguation) ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. It is believed that Grdeša was born around 1120. In 1150 he was one of the military commanders in the army of

of Serbia that fought the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

; the combined Serbo-Hungarian army suffered defeat at the Battle of Tara, where Grdeša and fellow Duke Vučina (Bучинa) where captured. It is assumed the prisoners were taken to

Sredets : ''Sredets is also a medieval name of Sofia. For the district in Sofia, see Sredets, Sofia.'' Sredets ( bg, Средец ) is a town in Burgas Province in southeastern Bulgaria. It is located near Lake Mandrensko and the northern slopes of Stran ...

(Sofia), but were released in 1151. The death of Grd is placed in 1178 or around 1180. He had a son, ''župan'' Pribilša, who "died in the time of

Stephen Vladislav I of Serbia Stefan Vladislav ( sr-cyr, Стефан Владислав, ; – after 1264) was the King of Serbia from 1234 to 1243. He was the middle son of Stefan the First-Crowned of the Nemanjić dynasty, who ruled Serbia from 1196 to 1228. Radoslav ...

". His tomb (''

stećak Stećak (, ) or Stećci in plural form (, ) is the name for 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 border ...

'') was found at the local community of Police in Trebinje. The tablet mentions him "in the days of Grand Prince

Mihailo Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name ''Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. It may refer to: * Mihailo Vojislavljević ( fl. 1050–d. ...

" as the ''župan'' of

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of Trebišnjica river in the re ...

, and also his brother ''župan'' Radomir (Радомир), and his family. The stećak is the oldest found and is currently held at the Museum of Herzegovina in Trebinje. A

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 or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

of his is in the collection of the National Museum in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. A charter, believed to be written in 1151, was found, and in it Desa, the younger brother of Uroš II, gifted the island of

Mljet Mljet (; la, Melita, it, Meleda) is the southernmost and easternmost 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 be ...

to the monastery of Saint Mary in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, of which witnesses were ''"iupanus Gerdessa, Desimir, setnicus Rastessa, iupanos Grubessa, Petrus comes Raguseorum..."'', however, this was proven to be a falsification dating from the 13th century. Grd1

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