Vratko Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Вратко Немањић; fl. 1325–1355) was a Serbian nobleman, father of

Prince Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар Хребељановић; – 15 June 1389) was a medieval List of Serbian monarchs, Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empir ...

's spouse

Princess Milica of Serbia Princess Milica Hrebeljanović née Nemanjić ( · ca. 1335 – November 11, 1405) also known as Empress (''Tsaritsa'') Milica, was a List of Serbian consorts, royal consort of Serbia by marriage to Prince Lazar, who fell in the Battle of Kosovo ...

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry () is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centu ...

identifies him with Jug Bogdan (, "South Bogdan") or Ljutica Bogdan (, "Irate Bogdan"), a mythical hero in the

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middl ...

Biography

Member of the ruling

Nemanjić dynasty The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent Serbian dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal and imperial house produced List of Serbian monarchs, twelv ...

, he was born in the beginning of the 14th century as the son of Vratislav Nemanjic, who held the title of

Grand Župan Grand, Great or Chief Župan ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Велики жупан, Veliki župan, , ) is the English rendering of a South Slavic title which relates etymologically to '' Župan'' (originally a ''pater familias'', later the tribal chief of a unit ...

, grandson of Dmitar Nemanjić, a son of

Vukan Nemanjić Vukan Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Вукан Немањић, ; before 1165 – after 1207) was the Grand Prince of the Grand Principality of Serbia from 1202 to 1204. He was the Grand Prince of Pomorje (titular King) from 1195 until his death. He was t ...

. He was a noble and age-mate of Serb Emperor

Stefan Dušan Stephen (honorific), Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан), also known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Силни; – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Emperor of th ...

. In 1342, Vratko and Oliver, as allies of

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene (; ; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under Andronikos III Palaiologos and regent for John V Palaiologos before reigning as Byza ...

in the

Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son ...

, led the Serbian army to attack

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

. The attack failed disastrously, as dysentery (caused by the excessive consumption of

must Must is freshly crushed Juice, fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must ...

) befell the attackers, and 1,500 men died of it. He was the father of Milica, the wife of

. He must have been about 80 years old at the time of the

Endowments

According to the Serbian epic poem "The girl Margit and the voevod Rajko", Jug Bogdan resided in

Hisar Hissar () means fort or castle in Arabic, with variants adopted into Persian (hesar, hessar) and Turkish (hisar). Hissar, Hisar and Hesar may refer to: Places Asia (South and Central) India *Hisar (city), a city in Haryana **Hisar Airport in Hi ...

, at that time part of the

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српско царство, Srpsko carstvo, separator=" / ", ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expande ...

. A folk tradition holds that the surrounding region of ''Bogdanovac'' was named after him. The 14 meter tall Water Tower of the Prokuplje Fortress is popularly called "Bogdan's Tower". Another tradition holds that Jug Bogdan owned vineyards in the village of Bogdanje (near Trstenik), and that the village was named after him.

Serbian epic poetry

In the Serbian epic poems, Jug Bogdan is the father of the ''Jugovići'' (nine

Jugović brothers The Jugovic brothers ( / ''Braća Jugovići''), or Nine Jugović ( / ''Devet Jugovića''), commonly known as the ''Jugovići'' ( sr-Cyrl, Југовићи), the nine sons of Jug Bogdan (Vratko Nemanjić), are popular mythological characters of Se ...

). One of his daughters Anđelija is married to Banović Strahinja, but was kidnapped by Ottoman vassal Vlah Alija. Strahinja asks Jug Bogdan if he and his brothers-in-law (the Jugovići) could help him rescue her, but Jug Bogdan refused, since Anđelija had slept with the Turk, and brought great shame to the family. Prokuplje latcrk pano

He was killed together with his nine sons by the eight

pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

(the seven before him had been killed) of the Ottoman Empire during the

. Where he is said to have fallen is now a monument with a large white cross standing and the inscription:

"Honor to the ancestors who taught us how to create a great fatherland. We will guard it and agree that it is more difficult to guard than to acquire.

Critical historians have suggested

Bogdan Bogdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in the South Slavic languages and in Polish, Romanian and Moldovan. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning 'god', and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...

, a Macedonian magnate, brother of Dejan and

Jovan Oliver Jovan Oliver Grčinić (; ca. 1310–1356) was a magnate of the Serbian Emperor Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331–1355), holding the titles of ''sebastokrator'' and ''despotes'', and the rank of "great voivode", showing his prominence and status as on ...

, as the likely historical model of this hero. Bogdan is mentioned by

, while

Laonikos Chalkokondyles Laonikos Chalkokondyles (; – ), also latinized as Laonicus Chalcocondyles, was a Byzantine Greek historian from Athens. He is known for his '' Demonstrations of Histories'' in ten books, which record the last 150 years of the Byzantine Empi ...

has more details about him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemanjic, Vratko 14th-century Serbian royalty Generals of Stefan Dušan People from the Serbian Empire Medieval Serbian military leaders Characters in Serbian epic poetry Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain