Berkasovo (Berekszó) in the Middle Ages

Krstić, Aleksandar (2025) Berkasovo (Berekszó) in the Middle Ages. In: Homage to Academician Desanka Kovačević Kojić Trade, Mining, Settlements, and Politics in Medieval And Early Modern Southeastern Europe. Institute of History, Belgrade, pp. 351-378. ISBN ISBN 978-86-7743-160-0

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Abstract

The settlement of Berkasovo (Hungarian: Berekszó) in Srem (Syrmia) was mentioned for the first time in written sources as a small Catholic parish in the register of the papal tithes (1332–1335). Before the mid-14th century Berkasovo became a possession of a family which took its noble appellation from it. The Berekszói family owned the Berkasovo estate until 1480/81, when the male line of the family died out. It is not known when the castle was erected on the estate, which remains still exists in the eastern part of the Berkasovo village. King Matthias gave the Berkasovo castle and the appurtenant possessions (of which Szakadát, Hamisság, Kisberek and Varjas are known by name) to the Serbian despot Vuk Grgurević Branković before March 1482. It seems that the settlement of Berkasovo had the status of a market town (oppidum) during the late Middle Ages. After the death of Despot Vuk in 1485, the Berkasovo castle and its estate was given in pledge to Vuk’s relatives Despot Đurađ II and Jovan Branković. During the first decades of the 16th century Berkasovo was held by Despot Jovan’s widow Jelena Jakšić and her second husband Despot Ivaniš Berislavić, and then by their son Despot Stefan Berislavić. The Berkasovo castle was captured during the Ottoman incursions in Srem in 1521 and 1526, and it seems that it was definitely seized in March 1529. The castle was destroyed and did not have a military function during the Ottoman rule in Srem. In the second half of the 16 century Berkasovo (varoş-i Berkas) was inhabited by mixed Muslim and Christian, predominantly Serbian population. During that period, as well as in the Middle Ages, the main occupation of its inhabitants was agriculture – primarily grain growing and viticulture

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