16th-century Serbian nobility

Jovan Nenad (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Ненад; Hungarian: Fekete Iván or János; ca. 1492 – 26 July 1527), known as the Black was a Serb military commander in the service of the Kingdom of Hungary who took advantage of a Hungarian military defeat at Mohács and subsequent struggle over the Hungarian throne to carve out his own state in the southern Pannonian Plain. He styled himself emperor (tsar).

Dimitrije Ovčarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Димитрије Овчаревић; fl. 1552–66) was a Habsburg Serb nobleman. Dimitrije Ovčarević belonged to the Ovčarević family, a notable Serb family in Habsburg service in the 16th century, and was a relative of the earlier Petar Ovčarević (fl. 1521–41), a Šajkaši commander and spy, and contemporaries Mihailo Ovčarević (fl. 1550–79), a Šajkaši commander, and Jovan Ovčarević (fl. 1557), an emissary. In 1552 he is mentioned as a leader of the Serbs in Banat, and in 1553 as the captain of Gyula. He was very loyal to King Ferdinand I and enjoyed his support. In 1556 it was planned that he travel to Vienna to meet Ferdinand for some business, however, the king asked him to postpone due to Ottoman movement. The same year he was given to govern a part of the Csanád chapter until its populating, in order to maintain troops. The king often used Church property, due to financial shortage, to pay the voivodes' expenses and troop maintenance. Dimitrije also held the estates of Kerekegyháza and Nagyfalu in the Temes County; Turegyház, Bócsar, Bikács and Szanád in the Torontál County; Mezőtakancs and Délegyháza in the Csanád County; Csokás, parts of Szentpéter, Fenlak, Variaș, Torny, Bata in the Arad County; and Marian and Kétegyháza in the Zărand County. The royal treasurer paid the maintenance of 85 cavalry, several dozen being under Dimitrije's command. In war-time this number increased significantly. Other captains mentioned in the muster were Vladislav Kerecseny, Pavle Beke, Franja Horvat and others alongside Dimitrije. When the Ottoman army set out on campaign in 1566, a part of the army attacked Transylvania and surrounded Gyula. Dimitrije fell while bravely defending the city. Many castellans and captains died during the Ottoman campaign of 1566. Shortly after his death, the city surrendered to the Ottomans. He was survived by his sister Margarita, who was married to Nikola Crepović, a respected Serb leader in Banat.

The Crepović family (Serbian Cyrillic: Цреповић, pl. Crepovići / Цреповићи) was among the most notable Serb noble families in the mid-16th century in Hungary, with their head, Nikola Crepović (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Цреповић; Hungarian: Cserepovics Miklós; Turkish: Cerepoviki). He was among the Serb nobility living in John Zápolya's part of Hungary that participated in the talks in Horgoš in 1542 to send a representative to King Ferdinand, in the name of the Serbs, to present their requests. In 1550, he was a colonel in the army of Petar Petrović, a relative of Zápolya, who was in armed conflict with fra Juraj Utješenović-Martinušević, a Dalmatian monk and later bishop of Nagyvárad, and the Cardinal, the main individuals of Zápolya's court. With an army of 4,000 Serbs, and as many "Turks", Crepović took six cities and burnt down Csanad. In the battle around Csanad against fra Juraj, some 6,500 Serbs and Turks were captured, while Crepović managed to save himself, the cities which he had taken were returned. In 1551, he was among Ferdinand's voivodes that received a mercenary salary; at the end of that year he was in the army of fra Juraj, while in December he was at the top of the defence of Timișoara when the Ottomans attacked, and managed to capture him, though he was later released from prison. In 1556 he entered among the 16 selected magnates in the State Council, quickly becoming the ban of Severin. Katarina, the younger daughter of Nikola, married nobleman Valentino Terek, while the older daughter Jelena married Wallachian voivoda Peter the Younger (r. 1558–59). King John Sigismund Zápolya (r. 1540–70) adopted Jelena as a sister, and guested the wedding, but she later divorced and married Vladimir the Moscovian.

The Bakić family (Serbian Cyrillic: Бакић, pl. Бакићи / Bakići; Hungarian: Bakics család) was a Serbian noble family that initially held estates in Šumadija (south of the Danube) under Ottoman occupation, then crossed the river and gave its service to the Kingdom of Hungary, becoming one of the leading Serbian noble family in the country, fighting the Ottoman Empire.

The House of Jakšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јакшић, pl. Јакшићи / Jakšići; Hungarian: Jaksics család) was a prominent Serbian noble family from the 15th and 16th century, in the Serbian Despotate and the Kingdom of Hungary. The eponymous founder, Jakša, was a Voivode (Duke) in the service of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković, and after the fall of Serbia to the Ottomans (1459) his descendants joined the ranks of the Hungarian army, and gained prominence in wars against the Ottoman Empire. Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus granted them possessions in various counties, from Nădlac, to Syrmia and Valkó. The male line of the family died out in 1543.

Anna Glinskaya (Russian: Анна Глинская; Serbian: Ана Глинска, Ana Glinska; née Jakšić; died c.) was a Serbian and Russian noblewoman. She was the daughter of Serbian voivode Stefan Jakšić (d. 1489) from the Jakšić family. Her sister Jelena Jakšić (d. after 1529) was the titular despotissa of Serbia.

Stjepan Berislavić (Serbian: Стефан Бериславић, Hungarian: Beriszló István; c. 1505 – 1535) was a Croatian nobleman and titular Despot of Serbia between 1520 and 1535. He was a prominent nobleman in several counties (Syrmia, Vukovar and Požega) of Slavonia, Hungary.

Péter Petrovics (Hungarian: Petrovics Péter; Serbian: Петар Петровић/Petar Petrović; c. 1486 – October 1557) was a Hungarian noble of Serb ethnicity from Banat, who was active in the 16th-century Transylvania.

Pavle Bakić (Serbian Cyrillic: Павле Бакић, Hungarian: Bakics Pál; ca. 1484 – 9 October 1537) was the last titular Despot of Serbia. He was one of the most notable military commanders among Serbian nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary, and fought against the Ottoman Empire in several battles, most notably at the Battle of Mohács (1526) and the Battle of Vienna (1529). He fell at the Battle of Gorjani (1537).

Ivaniš Berislavić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иваниш Бериславић; Latin: Joannes Berizlo) was the Despot of the Kingdom of Serbia (regni Rascie despotus) from 1504 to 1514. He was married to Jelena Jakšić who was the daughter of Stefan Jakšić (d. 1489), of the Jakšić noble family fame.