Tsar Jovan Nenad | Origin of Street Names

Did you know that after Dušan and Uroš, the Serbs had another emperor?

Namely, after the famous Battle of Mohács and the heavy defeat of the Kingdom of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire in 1526, a period of complete anarchy ensued in the southern part of Hungary.

Taking advantage of the temporary power vacuum, the capable military leader Jovan Nenad used his army, consisting of around 15,000 soldiers, mostly Serbs who had crossed the Sava and Danube rivers and settled in the southern border regions of the Kingdom, to seize a significant portion of present-day Vojvodina, establish control over it, and attempt to restore the Serbian state by proclaiming himself emperor.

The unrecognized Serbian "empire" of Jovan Nenad, with its capital in Subotica and later in Szeged, lasted for less than a year (1526-1527) and included the entire Bačka region, parts of Banat and Srem, as well as the southernmost parts of present-day Hungary.

Emperor Jovan Nenad is one of the most mysterious figures in Serbian history. Not much was known about him during his lifetime, and even today, many centuries later, little is known.

Although there are no historical records about his ethnic origin, he himself claimed to be a descendant of Serbian despots and the Byzantine Palaiologos dynasty. On the other hand, due to his pronounced dark complexion (earning him the nickname "Black Man" and "Black Jovan") and Eastern manners and customs he established at his court, many historians doubt that he was of Slavic origin at all.

Regardless, the capable military leader was beloved by the people but not among the Serbian nobility. He managed to gather a larger army than the Hungarian and Habsburg kings, who tried to win him over, each on their own side. By siding with the Habsburgs, he became an enemy of the Hungarians, who killed him in 1527.

The significance or fear of his persona is perhaps best evidenced by the historical fact that after his murder, his severed head was displayed on the ramparts of Buda Fortress for days as a trophy.

The short-lived Serbian state in Vojvodina ceased to exist, but the idea of it continued to live on among future generations of Transdanubian Serbs, culminating in its realization in 1918 through the annexation of Vojvodina to the Kingdom of Serbia and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

Therefore, Emperor Jovan Nenad is considered the first and greatest Serbian statesman in Vojvodina, a politician and popular leader of the Vojvodina Serbs, and the founder of the idea of Serbian unification. Streets in Kruševac, Zrenjanin, Novi Sad, and Sremska Kamenica bear his name, and a magnificent monument stands today in the square named after him in the center of Subotica.