Stephen III, Prince of Serbia
Stephen III was briefly the ruler of Serbia, or, as the core principality is called in medieval sources,
Rascia.
He was the youngest brother of
Lazar II Brankovic. It has been reported that he was blind, and therefore his succession was not accepted before all his male relatives were dead, when it became a necessity despite his handicap.
He is venerated as saint by the Serbian church.
After Lazar's death, Stephen was crowned as
despot of
Serbia.
Hungarian King Mathias I and
Bosnian king Stephen Tomas dethroned Stephen on
April 8,
1458, and crowned Stephan Tomas's son,
Stephen Tomasevic.
When Serbia had been lost to Ottomans, Stephen's son
Jovan of Rascia led Serbian regugees in southern Hungary. There Jovan was finally recognized as Prince of Serbians, with a principality called
Raitzen.
*
List of Serbian monarchs
