Righteous King John of Serbia, and his parents Righteous Stephen, Despot of Serbia, and Venerable Angelina of Serbia

Saint Stephen Brankovic (Branković) (October 9 and December 10), the Despot of Serbia, was born in 1417, and belonged to the Branković dynasty. In 1441 he was blinded by order of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, and so when his father died in 1456, he could not claim the throne; so his younger brother Lazarus became the new Despot.

After the capture of Serbia by the Turks in 1457, Stephen's middle son (then ruler of Serbia) who was distinguished by his gentle disposition and excellent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, went to the Turkish capital after his sister, who was given to Sultan Murat as a wife. Learning that the Turks had burned down the Mileshevsky Monastery with fanatical cruelty, Blessed Stephen stood up to defend Serbia from its conquerors.

In 1458, Lazarus died without leaving a male heir. The country was ruled by a triumvirate of regents: Stephen Brankovic, the widow Elena Palaiologίna, and Michael Angelovic (Angelović), the governor of Raska (Raška). The supporters of the Turks at the Serbian court proclaimed the voivode Michael Angelovic (whose brother was the vizier of Mehmed II) as the new Despot, but the population of the Serbian capital Smederevo, with the support of a pro-Hungarian party, prevented this coup. Michael Angelovic was imprisoned, and the blind Stephen Brankovic became the ruler.

Then, on the initiative of the Hungarian and Bosnian kings, the son of the Bosnian king, Stephen Tomasevic (Tomašević), was invited to Smederevo, and was supposed to marry the daughter of the late ruler Elena, and assume the title of Despot. The wedding took place on March 21, 1459, and Stephen Tomašević ascended the Serbian throne.

After his deposition from the throne, Blessed Stephen the Blind lived in Buda for some time (his younger sister Katherine was the widow of the Hungarian nobleman Ulrik Tsilley), then in Dubrovnik. Then he went to Albania to the ruler of the principality of Kastrioti Skanderbeg, where in 1460 he married Saint Angelina (July 30 and August 12), the daughter of the Albanian prince George Arianiti. When he married Angelina, the Turks threatened Blessed Stephen and his family. He was forced to go into hiding with his wife and three children, first in Albania and then in Italy.

Blessed Stephen spent the rest of his life in Venice, and reposed in 1476. Blessed Angelina transferred her husband's incorrupt body to Kupinovo. At the end of the XV century, the ruler of Serbia was Blessed John, the son of Righteous Stephen and Angelina. The relics of Righteous John and his parents were later glorified by many signs.