The Brankovics
Serbian: Brankovic /Bra:nkovitch/

COAT OF ARMS DETAILS The Brankovics have left many sources for their coat of arms - it can be seen on their money, seals and clothes. Although there are some variations two symbols are constant: bull's horns and lion en passant. Most likely they adopted bull's horns from the Lazarevics where they wanted to pint out that they were the legal successors of those rulers. This representation is taken from Lazar Brankovic's seal from 1457.

The very last medieval Serbian dynasty, the Brankovics ruled Serbia until the Turks conquered the country.

Vuk Brankovic married Mara, Prince Lazar's oldest daughter and he was the closest friend of the prince. They fought together on June 28, 1389 in Kosovo against Turkish invasion. Vuk was leading the right wing of the army and even reached the center of the Turkish camp but then Lazar was captured behind leaving a huge gap in the troops position. Vuk decided to retreat in order to save what could be saved and continue with the defense of Serbia. However, in folks' songs Vuk Brankovic is captured as a traitor - people could not accept his decision to save the army and continue the fight for freedom.

Vuk's son, Djuradj was pretending to the throne of Serbia and he even clashed with Prince Stefan Lazarevic, his cousin. They made peace and fought successfully against the Turks in 1413. After his cousin's death, Djuradj became new Prince and he was officially acknowledged in 1429. 

Djuradj had four sons, three of which were blinded by the Ottomans, and his daughter Mara had been married to Murad II, living in the Turkish harem until his death. Djuradj was succeeded by his son Lazar, who unfortunately died already in January 1458.

Deprived of a serious government, demoralized and abandoned, Serbia proper was finally conquered by the Turks in 1459, when its last major outpost and capital, Smederevo, was surrendered  without a fight. Nevertheless, even though the Serbian state was conquered, the Brankovics remained powerful family and they continued to influence the affairs in the country two decades after the fall of Smederevo.