Stefan Prodan Šteta

Stefan Prodan Šteta (Serbian: Стефан Продан Штета; Komárom, Habsburg Monarchy, c. 1650 - Titel, Habsburg Monarchy, 1695) was a Serbian hero of the Great Turkish War of 1691 fought at the Banat plain against the Ottoman Turks. His claim to fame was the capture and liberation of Kladovo.He also fought the Turks and their Christian vassals, led by Imre Thököly in the Battle of Vienna in 1683.He came from Komárom, like many distinguished Serbian leaders of the time (Adam Feldvarija) and later (Arsenije Sečujac).

Prodan Šteta is best remembered as a commander in the Serbian Militia who died with his entire detachment defending Titel,in 1695against an overwhelming Ottoman army.In 1694, Stefan Prodan Šteta successfully fended off the two major Turkish assaults, the first numbered 5,000 soldiers and the second 8,000 men. In September 1695, the Turkish generals decided to launch a third attack more fierce than the last two, thus cutting the Serbs down to the last man.

Biography

Stefan Prodan Šteta is one of the famous Serbs who came from Komárom. He grew up and disappeared from the historical stage during the Great Turkish War.

This brave and militarily educated Komárom was first mentioned in March 1689, when he conquered Kladovo with a thousand of his soldiers. From the military aspect, that was very important, because in that way he enabled the action of the Austrian army on the left bank of the Danube, under the leadership of General Friedrich von Veterani.

Not reconciling with the defeat, the Turks, under the leadership of Hasan Pasha, together with the rebel army from the imperial army of the Transylvanian prince Imre Tekeli, besieged Kladovo on June 26, 1689. Opposite the large Turkish-Transylvanian army of four thousand cavalry and infantry of the Transylvanian prince (Imre Thököly)and four thousand Albanian (Arnaut) cavalry and infantry, two thousand janissaries and a thousand Tatars, there were a thousand Serbian defenders under the leadership of Stefan Prodan Šteta. The siege lasted a full twelve days. Kladovo was bombed, attacked from the mainland and from the Danube, with 21 Chaikas. Seeing that he would not be able to resist a much stronger enemy, Prodan Šteta offered to surrender the city on the condition that the defenders be allowed to leave freely. Imre Thököly-Tekeli agreed, but the Turkish commander broke his word and kept the defenders in slavery.

After the defeat of the Turks near Vidin on 14 October 1689, in the ensuing turmoil, Captain Šteta and his army managed to escape from slavery. The Commander-in-Chief, Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, entrusted him with the defense of the Belogradchik fortress near Vidin. From there, he made incursions into Vidin and further towards Nikopol on the Danube and Sofia, thus continually protecting the actions of the Austrian army.

Captain Prodan Šteta soon found himself in the position of Commander of the town of Titel again. The Turkish commander Ali-pasha decided to destroy this well-defended fortress in order to prevent the constant incursions of Serbs into the territory of Banat held by the Turks. However, the attack of over five thousand Turkish soldiers, in March 1694, broke down in front of the defenders of Titel. After leaving three hundred killed soldiers in front of the walls of Titel, Ali Pasha withdrew.

In a report to the War Council in May 1694, General Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg "praised the heroism of Šteta, to whom Emperor Leopold I, on the recommendation of the War Council, presented him with a gold chain with a medal for bravery." After this, Šteta submitted a request to the Court Council to release his house in Komárom from all municipal and other burdens, which was accepted. In 1695, a new conflict between Austria and Turkey began and Titel became the target of Turkish conquests once again.

In September 1695, the siege was carried out by Belgrade's Džafer-Paša. He was given the task "to redeem Turkish losses of last year". Now a far more numerous and better-armed enemy, Captain Stefan Prodan Šteta and Titel's defenders could no longer resist. Almost all defenders died in the battle. Stefan Šteta was cut down. He became a symbol of heroism and military skill at a great historical turning point, in the Vienna War.

See also

• Arsenije III Crnojević
• Jovan Monasterlija
• Adam Feldvarija
• Antonije Znorić
• Subota Jović
• Pera Segedinac
• Friedrich von Veterani
• Pavle Nestorović
• Jovan Popović Tekelija
• Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden
• Todor Rupić
• Antonio Caraffa

References

This article "Stefan Prodan Šteta" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Stefan Prodan Šteta. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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