Dejan (despot)

Dejan
sevastokrator and despot of the Serbian Empire
Dejan and his wife, fresco from the Zemen Monastery.
Serbian imperial magnate
Reign	sevastokrator (fl. 1346–55) despot (fl. 1355–58+)
Other titles	vojvoda (војвода), general sevastokrator (севастократор), second-highest court title at that time despot (деспот), highest court title at that time (possibly) logotet (логотет), state secretary
Born	Serbian Kingdom
Died	between 1366 and 1371 Serbian Empire
Noble family	Dejanović
Spouse	Teodora Nemanjić
Issue	Jovan Konstantin Teodora

Dejan (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан;^[a] fl. 1346–ca. 1366) was a magnate who served Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) as sevastokrator, and Emperor Uroš V (r. 1355–71) as despot. He was married to Emperor Dušan's sister Teodora, and possessed a large province in the Kumanovo region, east of Skopska Crna Gora. It initially included the old župe (counties) of Žegligovo and Preševo (modern Kumanovo region with Sredorek, Kozjačija and the larger part of Pčinja). Uroš V later gave Dejan the Upper Struma river with Velbužd (Kyustendil). Dejan rebuilt the Zemen Monastery,^[1] one of Dejan's endowments, among others, as he also reconstructed several church buildings throughout his province.

Dejan was one of the prominent figures of Dušan's reign and during the fall of the Serbian Empire after Dušan's death. Dejan is the progenitor of the Dejanović noble family, with his two sons, despot Jovan and gospodin Konstantin, also becoming powerful during the fall of the Serbian Empire and the ensuing Ottoman period.