Batić Mirković

15th century Bosnian nobleman

Gospodin

Batić Mirković

Veliki Knez Bosanski
[Grand Knyaz of Bosnia]

Predecessor| Mirko Radojević
Native name| Batić Mirković
Buried| near Kopošići
44°00′15″N 18°20′42″E﻿ / ﻿44.004167°N 18.345115°E﻿ / 44.004167; 18.345115
Nationality| Bosnian
Residence| Kopošići
Locality| Ljubina
Noble family| Radojević-Mirković
Father| Mirko Radivojević
Mother| Vukosava

Batić Mirković (Serbian Cyrillic: Батић Мирковић) was a prominent 15th century Bosnian nobleman and magnate. His father was Bosnian knez, Mirko Radojević, the Radojević-Mirković noble family senior, who had a brother Radič Radojević. Batić succeeded as a head of the family and Bosnian knez after his father death, while he also succeeded Radoje Radosalić-Pribinić of his grandfather, as Grand Knez of Bosnia. He was married to Vukava.

Knez Batić Mirković can be traced in three places in diplomatic material, on charters as a witness in the period 1405–1420. In June 1405, in Bijela Selišta in Trstivnica, the Bosnian king Tvrtko II Tvrtković issued a charter to the people of Dubrovnik confirming cession of the Slano littoral, and among the witnesses to this act (with the elected nobleman and nobles of the Bosnian Rusag) was Knez Batić Mirković.[1] This could mean that his father dead and that he has taken his place. His next mention is from the beginning of March 1419, in charter written in Zvečaj, when the Bosnian king Stjepan Ostojić confirmed pledges to Dubrovnik in the charters of his predecessors. Among the witnesses is Knez Batić.[2] The last mention in the diplomatic material is from August 1420. Tvrtko II confirms Sandalj's contract with Dubrovnik, regarding selling of Konavle to the city-republic, in charter written in Podvisoko, and among the witnesses is Knez Batić Mirković.[3] The information from the charters show that Batić Mirković was indeed a respectable person, a lord who was among the most important nobles of medieval Bosnia at the beginning of the 15th century.

Another piece of important information about Batić Mirković comes from his stećak tombstone. His stećak is preserved in the necropolis of the village of Kopošići, in the municipality of Ilijaš. According to the inscription on his stećak, it is known that his title was in fact the Knez of Bosnia and that he was associated with the fortified town of Visoki. The inscription states that he fell ill in Visoko, and that death found him "at Duboko". According to the inscription, the stećak was placed and inscribed by his wife Vukava. The stećak tombstone of Batić Mirković is considered one of the most beautiful among the preserved stećaks.[4] The stećak and the tomb were the subject of numerous looting, devastation and displacement, mostly during the late 19th century.

Archaeological excavations were undertaken in 2015. Findings included remains of a fine funerary shroud, made of brocade embroidered with fine threads of gilded silver, covering partly preserved skeletal remains, that could be relevant for further analysis.[5][6] In 2021 were genetically analyzed his skeletal remains and of near unidentified adult individual, showing the same Y-DNA haplotype and almost identical autosomal DNA haplotype, indicating "high probability of father–son relation", theorized to be remains of his father Mirko Radojević.[7]

The place of the stećak tombstone and the tomb of the Bosnian Knez Batić Mirković is in close proximity to the fortified city of Dubrovnik, which, like the surrounding estates in the Misoča river basin, is considered his noble heritage.[8]

Both, medieval necropolis and the Dubrovnik Castle, are protected national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by the decision of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2003.[9]

## References

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1. ^ Ljubomir Stojanović, Старе српске повеље и писма, I/1, Srpska kraljevska akademija, Zbornik za istoriju, jezik i književnost srpskog naroda, prvo odeljenje, Spomenici na srpskom jeziku 19, Beograd - Sremski Karlovci 1929, 494.
2. ^ Lj. Stojanović, Старе српске повеље и писма, I/1, 556.
3. ^ Lj. Stojanović, Старе српске повеље и писма, I/1, 504.
4. ^ Nekropola kneza Batića, .
5. ^ "Stećci u Kopošićima otkrivaju istinu o bosanskom plemstvu". slobodnaevropa.org. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
6. ^ "Remains of Knez Mirko Radojević's funerary shroud". Zemaljski muzej BiH (Land's Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina). 2015. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16.
7. ^ Džehverović, M; Čakar, J; Bujak, E; Pilav, A; Ramic, J; Kalajdžić, A; Pojskic, N; et al. (2021). "DNA analysis of skeletal remains of an important historical figure from the period of mediaeval Bosnia". International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 31 (5): 857–865\. doi:10.1002/oa.3002. S2CID 236265288. "As seen in Table 2, DNA profiles of samples BM and of UHR1 share common allelic variants at all but one (FGA) analysed STR loci, which is indicative for close kinship relatedness. Since one mismatch does not exclude paternity, paternity indices (PI) were calculated for each observed locus, as well as combined paternity index (CPI) and probability of paternity (PP). Calculated CPI value was 251 with PP value 99.603175%, (Table 3) indicating high probability of father–son relation (Pu & Linacre, 2007). Princely stećcak tombstone (under which BM and UHR1 were buried), as well as local oral tradition, suggest with great probability that UHR1 could be Great Bosnian Prince Mirko Radojević ... it was predictable that samples with laboratory code BM and UHR1 will have identical Y-STR profiles (Figure S1 and S2) ... Based on the obtained Y-haplotypes, a prediction of Y-haplogroup showed that samples BM, UHR1 and UHR3 belong to the I2a Y-haplogroup, which is the most frequent Y-haplogroup in recent Bosnian–Herzegovinian population with a prevalence of 49% (Dogan et al., 2016)."
8. ^ Utvrđeni gradovi srednjovjekovne Bosne
9. ^ "The historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones in Kopošići near Ilijaš designated National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina - KONS". The Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2003. Archived from the original on 2020-07-17.

## Bibliography

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* Ljubomir Stojanović, Старе српске повеље и писма, I/1, Srpska kraljevska akademija, Zbornik za istoriju, jezik i književnost srpskog naroda, prvo odeljenje, Spomenici na srpskom jeziku 19, Beograd - Sremski Karlovci 1929,
* Nekropola kneza Batića Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
* Nadgorbni spomenik kneza Batića
* Posjeta nekropoli stećaka u Kopošićima
* Stećci u Kopošićima
* Utvrđeni gradovi srednjovjekovne Bosne Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine,