Miloà ¡ ObrenoviàI (; ; 18 March 1780 â 26 September 1860), born Miloà ¡ Teodorovià(; ), also known as Miloà ¡ the Great (), was the Prince of Serbia twice, from 1815 to 1839, and from 1858 to 1860. He was an eminent figure of the First Serbian uprising, the leader of the Second Serbian uprising, and the founder of the house of ObrenoviÃÂ. Under his rule, Serbia became an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire. Prince Miloà ¡ was an autocrat, consistently refusing to decentralize power, which gave rise to a strong internal opposition. Despite his humble background, he eventually became the most affluent man in Serbia and one of the wealthiest in the Balkans, possessing estates in Vienna, Serbia and Wallachia. During his rule, Miloà ¡ bought a certain number of estates and ships from the Ottomans and was also a prominent trader.
Miloà ¡ Teodoroviàwas the son of Teodor "Teà ¡a" Mihailovià(died 1802) from Dobrinja, and Vià ¡nja (died 18 June 1817). His family descended from the Bratonoà ¾iÃÂi tribe. This was the second marriage of his mother Vià ¡nja, from which also sprung Jovan (1787âÂÂ1850) and Jevrem (1790âÂÂ1856). From Vià ¡nja's first marriage, with Obren Martinovià(died 1780) from Brusnica, Miloà ¡ had half-brothers Jakov (died 1811) and Milan (died 1810), and half-sister Stana. After the death of Obren, Vià ¡nja moved from Brusnica and married Teodor in Dobrinja.
Although many historians put 1780 as the year when Miloà ¡ was born, according to foundation plaque in the wall of the Old Church in Kragujevac, his capital, he was 35 when the church was finished in 1818, implying a birth in 1782/3. After the death of his half-brother Milan, a famed revolutionary with great reputation among the people, Miloà ¡ adopted the surname ObrenoviÃÂ. In official documents, his name was sometimes written Miloà ¡ TeodoroviàObrenovià(; ).
Miloà ¡ fought in the First Serbian uprising until its very end in 1813. He was wounded in the battle for Uà ¾ice. His half-brother Milan also took part in the uprising, rising to become the voivode of the Rudnik district, until his death in 1810. After Milan's death, Miloà ¡ adopted the surname of his half-brother, ObrenoviÃÂ. This name was the patronymic which his half-brother derived from Obren, the first name of his own father (Miloà ¡'s step-father). After the rebellion collapsed, Miloà ¡ was among the few of its leaders that remained in Serbia to face the returning Ottomans.
After the suppression of the First Serbian Uprising, Grand Vizier Hurshid Pasha sent his commander SerÃÂesma to the still rebellious parts of Serbia with a large army to return the Serbs under Ottoman suzerainty and ensure them of their rights. SerÃÂesma went to the Rudnik and ÃÂaÃÂak nahiyas where he knew vojvoda Miloà ¡ Obrenoviàheld out and had him surrender his weapons at the Takovo church, with SerÃÂesma returning all but his sabre (to give to Hurshid as a token), as a sign of trust in him and his rule over his people in the area, and other commanders followed suit.
SerÃÂesma appointed Latif Agha from Slià ¡ane the mutesellim (mayor) of ÃÂaÃÂak, and Aà ¡in-beg the mutesellim of Brusnica. Miloà ¡ befriended Aà ¡in-beg. After completing his tasks, SerÃÂesma took Miloà ¡ with him to Belgrade before Hurshid Pasha, who recognized him as governor of the Rudnik nahiya. Shortly after this, Hurshid left the Belgrade Pashalik and appointed his kethüda Darendeli Ali Pasha as Vizier. Darendeli promoted Miloà ¡ to governor of the Kragujevac and Poà ¾ega nahiyas, as well. Darendeli was soon replaced with Sulejman Pasha Skopljak, who didn't follow Hurshid's and Darendeli's acceptable holding towards Serbs, but instead disarmed and extorted them and sent the army into Serb areas to be fed, an administration in the likes of the Dahije. The Ottoman army brought plague into Serbia, and this, together with instances of murder, resulted in a rebellion led by Hadà ¾i-Prodan.
In April 1815, Prince Miloà ¡ organized and led the Second Serbian uprising. After defeating the Turks, and Napoleon's defeat in Russia, the Turks agreed to the terms of the agreement from 1815. After the killing of KaraÃÂorÃÂe PetroviÃÂ, in 1817, Obrenoviàbecame the leader of the Serbs. As a result of the agreement, Serbia gained some autonomy, but remained under Ottoman sovereignty. Miloà ¡ Obrenoviàwas left in power as its absolute ruler.
Between the end of 1828 and the autumn of 1830, Prince Miloà ¡ created a so-called "legislative commission" to translate the Code Napoléon into Serbian and codify the laws and customs of the country. After discussing the commission, Miloà ¡ invited two distinguished legal specialists to come from Hungary to prepare a more suitable criminal and civil code of laws for Serbia. They were Vasilije LazareviÃÂ, Bürgermeister (mayor) of Zemun, and Jovan Hadà ¾iÃÂ, lawyer, poet, and member of the municipal senate of Novi Sad.
In January 1831, Prince Miloà ¡ informed a great national assembly that he had obtained an imperial edict from the Sultan ending all direct obligations of Serbian peasants to their former Turkish lords, guaranteeing Ottoman recognition of Serbian autonomy in most matters of internal administration, and offering Serbia the prospect of territorial aggrandizement, as well as the express right to institute schools, courts, and a governmental administration of her own. The Sultan's decrees of 1830 and 1833 expanded the same rights to a larger territory, and made Serbia a sovereign principality, with Miloà ¡ Obrenoviàas hereditary prince. A Metropolitanate of Serbia was established in Belgrade as an autonomous unit of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Russia's status as the guarantor of Serbia's autonomy was also recognized.
The supporters of the rule of law often rebelled against Miloà ¡'s government. Following one such rebellion, he agreed to adopt a constitution, the Sretenje (or Candlemas) Constitution of 1835. The move was opposed by neighboring Austria, the ruling Ottoman Empire and Russia. It is believed that the three great empires saw the constitution as a danger to their own autocratic systems of government. Metternich's Austria particularly ridiculed the fact that Serbia had its own flag and foreign ministry. Miloà ¡ abolished the constitution at the demand of Russia and Turkey, and it was replaced by the "Turkish" Constitution of 1838.
Miloà ¡ abdicated in 1839 in favor of his sonsâÂÂMilan, who died a few weeks later, and Mihailo, who then became prince. Mihailo was deposed in 1842, and the family was out of power until 1858, when it returned with Miloà ¡ restored as prince for the last two years of his life.
Thanks to his good contacts during his stay in Vienna, Johann Strauss II composed the Serben-Quadrille intended for Serbian balls.
Miloà ¡ Obrenoviàwas given the epithet the Great. He was proclaimed Father of the Fatherland by the National Assembly.
In 1805, Miloà ¡ married Ljubica Vukomanovià(September 1785 â Vienna, 26 May 1843). The couple had eight children whose names are known. It is speculated that Ljubica had other pregnancies that resulted in miscarriages, stillbirths, or children who died shortly after birth, with some sources giving a number as high as 17 pregnancies.
With mistress Jelenka, he had a son who died in infancy: