Stefan Tomašević

Stephen Tomašević
A detail of the painting of the King kneeling in front of Christ, painted by Jacopo Bellini in c. 1460
King of Bosnia
Reign	10 July 1461 – 25 May 1463
Coronation	17 November 1461
Predecessor	Thomas
Despot of Serbia
Reign	1 April 1459 – 20 June 1459
Predecessor	Stephen
Died	25 May 1463 Carevo Polje, Jajce
Burial	Franciscan monastery of Saint Luke, Jajce
Spouse	Maria of Serbia
House	House of Kotromanić
Father	Thomas, King of Bosnia
Mother	Vojača
Religion	Roman Catholic

Stephen Tomašević (Serbo-Croatian: Stjepan/Stefan Tomašević, Стјепан/Стефан Томашевић; died on 25 May 1463) was the last sovereign from the Bosnian Kotromanić dynasty. His father, King Stephen Thomas, arranged for him to marry Maria of Serbia and become Despot of Serbia in April 1459. The marriage was meant to unite Bosnia and Serbia in their fight against the expanding Ottoman Empire, but failed in that regard. After ruling Serbia for merely two months, Stephen surrendered it to the Ottomans and fled back to his father's court.

Upon his father's death in 1461, Stephen Tomašević ascended as King of Bosnia, a kingdom whose existence was being increasingly threatened by the Ottomans. He desperately tried to secure help from Pope Pius II, King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and monarchs of other neighbouring countries. Confident that they would come to his aid, Stephen refused to deliver the customary tribute to Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and thus provoked the invasion that cost him his life. In 1463, Mehmed marched into Bosnia, meeting little effective resistance, and captured Stephen, who was then beheaded. The execution marks the fall of the Kingdom of Bosnia to the Ottoman Empire.

Like all Bosnian kings before him, Stephen Tomašević bore the name Stephen. His predecessors, with the exception of his uncle Stephen Ostojić, took the name Stephen upon accession as an honorific that signified their claim to the throne of Serbia, whose Nemanjić rulers had first adopted it. Stephen Tomašević, on the other hand, appears to have been baptized as Stephen (Stipan), the last part of his name being a patronymic. On occasions when his predecessors referred to themselves by their Christian names only, omitting the honorific Stephen, Stephen Tomašević called himself simply Stipan – suggesting that the name was in his case more than an honorific. The same is true for his uncle, Stephen Ostojić. For this reason, Stephen Tomašević has been listed as Stephen II – his uncle being Stephen I – albeit very rarely.