Mrnjava

Mrnjava
Mrnjava
Provincial lord
Born	Zahumlje
Family	Mrnjavčević
Issue	Uglješa Mrnjavčević; Vukašin Mrnjavčević;
Father	Mrnjan

Mrnjava (Serbian Cyrillic: Мрњава)^[a] was a Serbian provincial nobleman,¹ born in Zahumlje, a frontier province in the western Serbian Kingdom.² Mrnjava is the eponymous founder of the notable Mrnjavčević family; his son Vukašin Mrnjavčević became the co-ruler of the Serbian Empire (1365–1371) as king during the fall of the Serbian Empire.²

Mrnjava's father was Mrnjan³ (Serbian Cyrillic: Мрњан, Latin: Mergnanus; fl. c. 1280·1289⁴⁵), a financial chancellor (Latin: camerarius, Serbian: казнац / kaznac, lit. 'chamberlain') who served the king and queen, Stefan Uroš I and Helen of Anjou, at the court at Trebinje (in the royal province of Travunia). Mavro Orbini wrote that the family hailed from Hum, and that the poor Mrnjava and his two sons, who later lived in Blagaj,⁶ quickly rose to prominence under Stefan Uroš IV Dušan who sent for them to come to his court.⁴ Possibly, the family had left Hum, which had been part of the Serbian Kingdom, after the Bosnian conquest of Hum (1326), and settled in Livno (where Vukašin was allegedly born).² The family most likely supported Dušan's Bosnian campaign (1350⁷), in which he saw to reconquer Hum.²

The name of his wife is unknown. Modern historiography has confirmed that he fathered two sons:

Uglješa Mrnjavčević (1320–1371), despot of Serres 1365–1371
Vukašin Mrnjavčević (1320–1371), Lord of the Serbian Land, of the Greeks, and of the Western Provinces⁸ (King, co-ruler of Emperor Stefan Uroš V, 1365–1371)

Mavro Orbini (mid 16th century – 1614) added a third son to his descendants. This hypothesis was supported Pavel Jozef Šafárik, but no third son is acknowledged in modern historiography:¹

Gojko Mrnjavčević (d. 1371), logothete at the Serbian Imperial court

Notes

Name: His name has also been rendered Marnjava (Марњава), Mrnja (Мрња) or Mrnjav (Мрњав).² Mikhail Khalanskii claims that his real name was Nenad (Ненад), while Mrnjava was a nickname.¹

References

Boskovic, Vladislav (2009). King Vukasin and the Disastrous Battle of Marica. GRIN Verlag. p. 2. ISBN 978-3640492435. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
Fine 1994, pp. 362–363
Europäische Stammtafeln II 162
Lee 1906, p. 314
Zprávy o zasedání královské českē společnosti nauk (1889), p. 128
Soulis 1984, p. 92
Fine 1994, p. 322
Miklošič 1858, p. 180, № CLXVII.

Sources

Orbini, Mauro (1601). Il Regno de gli Slavi hoggi corrottamente detti Schiavoni. Pesaro: Apresso Girolamo Concordia.
Орбин, Мавро (1968). Краљевство Словена. Београд: Српска књижевна задруга.
Fine, John V.A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
M.A. Vladislav Boskovic (2009), King Vukasin and the Disastrous Battle of Maritsa", GRIN Verlag, ISBN 978-3-640-49243-5
Lee, Gerald Stanley (1906). The voice of the machines: an introduction to the twentieth century. The Mount Tom Press.
Soulis, George Christos (1984). The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331-1355) and his successors. Dumbarton Oaks Library and Collection. ISBN 9780884021377.

[cnote_a] Name: His name has also been rendered Marnjava (Марњава), Mrnja (Мрња) or Mrnjav (Мрњав).² Mikhail Khalanskii claims that his real name was Nenad (Ненад), while Mrnjava was a nickname.¹

[Boskovic-1] Boskovic, Vladislav (2009). King Vukasin and the Disastrous Battle of Marica. GRIN Verlag. p. 2. ISBN 978-3640492435. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[Fine-2] Fine 1994, pp. 362–363

[3] Europäische Stammtafeln II 162

[Lee-4] Lee 1906, p. 314

[5] Zprávy o zasedání královské českē společnosti nauk (1889), p. 128

[6] Soulis 1984, p. 92

[7] Fine 1994, p. 322

[8] Miklošič 1858, p. 180, № CLXVII.

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