Novak Grebostrek

Novak Grebostrek (; 1312–14) was a veliki vojvoda of Serbian King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321), who commanded a Serbian contingent supporting Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos against Turks in Asia Minor. The victories of Grebostrek have been recorded in the archives of the Church of St. George, Staro Nagoričane and in two chrysobulls of Andronikos II to the Serbian Hilandar monastery. Due to the victories in Asia Minor, Stefan Milutin had a church built in Jerusalem, dedicated to the Holy Archangels.

History Novak is the oldest known veliki vojvoda ("great general") in Serbia. The title of veliki vojvoda was the highest military rank, whom the monarch gave the command to lead armies on their own. He was a magnate (velikaš) in the service of king Stefan Milutin. As part of the higher nobility, magnates held hereditary territory (baština) awarded or confirmed by the Serbian ruler. In Serbian written sources, he is mentioned in Danilo II's Hagiography of King Milutin (included in the Lives of Serbian Kings and Archbishops), in the Ulijarska povelja charter of king Milutin, and the Short Hagiography of King Milutin, the last preserved in three manuscripts based on the first-mentioned charter.

The Serbian king Stefan Milutin sent Novak Grebostrek at the command of a Serbian contingent to aid Milutin's father-in-law, the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, against Turks in Anatolia. Grebostrek is mentioned as having led a second Serbian contingent sent by Milutin in aid, the first, made up of the king's relatives and bodyguards, having participated in the Battle of Gallipoli (1312). That first contingent, which fought Turks in Thrace and Gallipolli, is said to have been led by Milutin himself. Milutin and his bodyguards had prior to these dispatches defeated Turk mercenaries back home. While Milutin wanted to lead the army personally against the Turks in Anatolia, he chose to deal with the conflict in the west, against Mladen II of Bribir, and gave the command to Grebostrek to lead the campaign into Anatolia. After the destruction of the Turks at Gallipolli, Grebostrek arrived with the second Serbian contingent at Herakleia, where the Serbs were hosted by emperor Andronikos II. As the Turk threat in Thrace was removed, the operation was to attack the Turks in their land, mainly the Beylik of Aydin. Andronikos II sent the Serbian contingent to accompany the Byzantines to fight Aydin, under the rule of Mehmed. Grebostrek's army likely had the task of liberating the Byzantine counties around Prussa, Nicaea and Nicomedia from the Turks. According to Serbian sources, Grebostrek led great victories and destroyed the Turks and their towns, while it has been concluded that the campaign mostly included pillage raids and desolation. For king Milutin and the Serbian state, Grebostrek led a victorious campaign in the name of Christianity, against heresy and the infidels, characterized as a holy war in Danilo II's accounts. According to S. Novaković, Grebostrek would not have fought more than a year, and could have pushed the Turks from the maritime fields and returned some smaller Byzantine cities. Following the campaign, Andronikos II again hosted the Serbian contingent and gifted them richly. Upon the return to Serbia, the contingent was welcomed by the king and archbishop Sava III. Grebostrek's campaign did not however manage to bring back Byzantine supremacy against the Turks, but it was an important victory for both Byzantium and Serbia, and as an event in Byzantine–Serbian relations.

In two chrysobulls of Andronikos II Palaiologos to the Serbian Hilandar monastery at Mount Athos, dating to October 1313 and July 1317, Andronikos showed gratitude to Stefan Milutin for his aid, as detailed in the prefaces. With the renovation of the Church of St. George, Staro Nagoričane, king Milutin as ktetor (founder, donator) had the victories against the Turks included in the ktetor inscription and symbolically in the ktetor fresco, as a triumph. King Milutin also had a church built in Jerusalem, dedicated to the Holy Archangels, due to the victories.

The name Grebostrek (archaic ) is a warrior nickname, meaning "the one who stabs / stabs deep cuts / furrows (into enemy force)", and possibly, it originated in Greek as Aulakokoptes .

It has been claimed that Novak Grebostrek was the father of Vojihna. Historian Svetomir Nikolajević concluded this on the basis after Alexander Hilferding, who recorded folk traditions traveling Serbia before 1859.

Novak Grebostrek and veliki župan Dragoš are the only nobility mentioned in the Lives of Serbian Kings and Archbishops collection, while Novak is the only one mentioned in the Hagiography of King Milutin. After Novak, Jovan Oliver bore the title of veliki vojvoda.

Legacy The known hajduk character of Stari Novak ("Old Novak") in Serbian epic poetry is a merger of several individuals in Serbian history, including 14th-century Novak Grebostrek, 15th-century Novak Karaljuk, and 16th-century Starina (Baba) Novak.

He is enumerated in Serbian epic poetry, and poems (or dramas), of (1859–1913) in the tragedy Krinka (1890), Branislav Nušić (1864–1938) in the tragedy Nahod, Milutin Bojić (1892–1917) in a poem, Dragoljub J. Filipović (1884–1933), (1887–1952), and (1933–1994).