The Banate of Macsó or the Banate of Mačva ( hu, macsói bánság, sr, Мачванска бановина) was an administrative division (

banate Ban () was a noble title used in several states in Central and Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century. The most common examples have been found in Croatia. Sources The first known mention of the title ''ban'' is in the ...

) of the medieval

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

, which was located in the present-day region of

Mačva Mačva ( sr-Cyrl, Мачва, ; hu, Macsó) is a geographical and historical region in the northwest of Central Serbia, on a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is named ...

, in modern

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

Name

In sh, Mačvanska banovina ( sr-cyr, Мачванска бановина), la, Banatus Machoviensis, hu, Macsói bánság.

History

The region of Mačva or Macsó came under Hungarian administration shortly after the death of Byzantine emperor

Manuel I Comnenus Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor ...

(1180), but it was returned to emperor

Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was ...

upon conclusion of Byzantine-Hungarian alliance (1185). It was retaken by Hungarians (c. 1200) and later administered as part of the feudal domain of duke

John Angelos of Syrmia John Angelos or Angelus ( gr, Ἰωάννης Ἄγγελος, hu, Angelos János; c. 1193 – 1253), also known as Good John ( gr, Καλοϊωάννης / ''Kaloiōannēs'', hu, Kaloján), was a Byzantine prince who migrated to Hungary, and se ...

. During that time, the region of Mačva was also known as the ''Lower Syrmia'' (lat. Sirmia ulterior).

Rostislav Mikhailovich Rostislav Mikhailovich ( hu, Rosztyiszláv, Bulgarian and Russian: Ростислав Михайлович) (after 1210 / c. 1225 – 1262) was a Rus' prince (a member of the Rurik dynasty), and a dignitary in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was p ...

was mentioned among the dignitaries of

Béla IV Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá, derived from ''bílá'' (''wh ...

as Ban of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, ...

in 1247, and from 1254 onward he was mentioned as the Duke of Macsó (in Latin, ''dux de Macho''). This was the first mention of the Banate of Macsó. The banate was named after a town called ''Macsó'' (Mačva or Macho), but the location of this settlement has not been clearly established in modern times. It is suspected that the town existed a few kilometers down the river from modern

Šabac Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city p ...

. The Banate of Macsó was ruled by several powerful

ban Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

s. In the 13th century, Béla of Macsó (grandson of Hungarian king Béla IV and son of Rostislav Mikhailovich) ruled the Banate of Macsó as well as Usora and Soli (areas across

Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps wh ...

river in today's northeastern

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

). Macsó soon become apple of discord between the

and the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

. King Stephen Uroš I of Serbia tried to conquer it in 1268, but was defeated and captured by the Hungarians. In 1284, King

Stephen Dragutin of Serbia Stefan Dragutin ( sr-cyr, Стефан Драгутин, hu, Dragutin István; 1244 – 12 March 1316) was King of Serbia from 1276 to 1282. From 1282, he ruled a separate kingdom which included northern Serbia, and (from 1284) the neigh ...

, son of Uroš I, married Catherine of Hungary and received Macsó from King

Ladislaus IV of Hungary Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, was ...

. Since the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, Stephen Dragutin ruled an independent kingdom centered in Macsó, which also included regions of Usora and Soli in northern

, as well as Belgrade,

Rudnik Rudnik may refer to: Places Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rudnik (Ilidža – Sarajevo), a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria * Rudnik, Burgas Province, a village in Bulgaria * Rudnik, Varna Province, a village in Bulgaria Kosovo * ...

and Braničevo. This kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Syrmia (Srem) and Stephen Dragutin ruled it as king until his death in 1316. Macsó remained in the hands of Dragutin's son Stephen Vladislaus II until 1319. The northern part of the region along the river

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

was captured by King

Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...

while the southern part remained firmly under Serbian administration. In the 14th century, the bans of the Garai family ( Paul I Garai,

Nicholas I Garai Nicholas I Garai ( hu, Garai I Miklós, hr, Nikola I Gorjanski) (''c.'' 132525 July 1386) was a most influential officeholder under king Louis I and queen Mary of Hungary. He was ban of Macsó between 1359 and 1375, and palatine from 1375 until ...

and his son Nicholas II Garai) expanded their rule not only to Bosnia but also to

Upper Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the ...

and the last one also became the ban of

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, which were also parts of the Kingdom of Hungary at the time. In the 1370s it was captured by Serbian

Prince Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empire. Lazar's state, ...

who in 1377–1378 donated several villages in Macsó to his newly founded monastery of

Ravanica The Ravanica Monastery ( sr, / ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Kučaj mountains near Senje, a village in Ćuprija municipality in Central Serbia. It was built in 1375–1377 as an endowment of prince Lazar of Serbia, who is buried ...

. Lazars's son despot

Stefan Lazarević Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall ( sr, Стефан Високи / ''Stefan Visoki''), was the ruler of Serbia as prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427), ...

was officially granted with possession of Macsó by King

Sigismund of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...

in 1403 as a vassal of the Hungarian ruler. The territory got back to Hungary with Lazarević's death (1427). The Hungarian bans of Macsó existed during this period as well but only as titular holders and the title of ban was usually granted to the ispáns (counts) of southern counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. The territory was conquered by the Ottomans around 1459, after the fall of the

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire ...

. The region was regained for the Kingdom of Hungary in 1476, when the fortress of Zaslon (modern Šabac) was taken. By the end of the 15th century, title of ban was transferred to commanders of Belgrade, thus creating the Banate of Belgrade, that existed until final Ottoman conquest of Belgrade and Šabac in 1521.

Administrative divisions

According to the

Treaty of Tata A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

in 1426 Macsó was divided into several districts: * Bitva (Bytthwa), * Gornja and Donja Obna (Felsewatna and Alsowatna), * Rađevina (Radio, Ragy), * Nepričava (Neprichow), * Ljig (Ligh), * Kolubara (Collubara), * Ub (Ubm