Serbian nobility (Serbian: великаши, племићи, velikaši, plemići, velikaš, plemić) was the privileged order or class of Serbia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern times.
The first nobles of greater status were those in the 9th and 10th century, who were connected to the royal family by marriage. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the nobility greatly expanded, and in the Serbian Empire lavish titles were given in the Byzantine order. With the fall of Serbia in the 15th century, Serbian nobility survived in Montenegro, and in the Austro-Hungarian lands. In the 19th century, with the independence from the Ottoman Empire, a new nobility based out of warriors and other wealthy intelligentsia emerged.
Read more about Serbian Nobility: Privileges, Duties, Forms, History, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word nobility:
“The cloud was so dark that it needed all the bright lights that could be turned upon it. But for four years there was a contagion of nobility in the land, and the best blood North and South poured itself out a libation to propitiate the deities of Truth and Justice. The great sin of slavery was washed out, but at what a cost!”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)