Pavle Dragišić (15th century – after August 22, 1446) was the son of Duke Ivaniš Dragišić and grandson of Dragiša Vukčić, brother of Duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić. There is little information available about his activities on the Bosnian political scene. Namely, in historical sources he is mentioned only once, in the charter that King Stjepan Tomaš issued to him and his brothers, Marko and Juraj, on August 22, 1446 in Vranduk. With this charter, the Dragišić brothers were confirmed as inheriting the possessions previously held by their father Duke Ivaniš Dragišić, whose life path is also very poorly known. Duke Ivaniš probably died shortly before that, which is why the charter was issued.

With the aforementioned charter, the towns of Ključ with its sub-town Podključ, Glaž with its sub-town Srida and Mrin were confirmed as the heritage of the Dragišić brothers. The mentioned sub-towns are marked as varoš (town), which indicates that trade and craft activities were present there. Furthermore, the name of the town of Srida clearly indicates that in the earlier period a weekly fair was held there on Wednesdays (Srijeda). Additionally, about 60 villages in the counties of Banica, Sana, Glaž and Uskoplje were confirmed to the brothers. It is evident that their possessions were confirmed as a whole, without subsequent splitting into smaller parts. In the charter itself, Pavle and his brothers were referred to as princes, while their father was referred to as a duke. When the name Pavle is mentioned, it is mentioned first, so it can be assumed that he was also the oldest. However, his brother Prince Marko Dragišić, who is reliably known to have been a court prince at the court of King Stjepan Tomaš, was the head of the family. In fact, Prince Marko is the only one of the brothers who appears in historical sources after this moment, so his activities are somewhat better documented.  

Thanks to the above-mentioned charter, but also to later charters issued by kings Stjepan Tomaš and Stjepan Tomašević, in which Prince Marko was mentioned as a witness, it can be stated that the Dragišićs, and therefore Prince Pavle, were in good relations with the Bosnian ruling dynasty. On the other hand, their cousin Petar Vojsalić, duke of Donji Kraji, exhibited open hostility towards King Stjepan Tomaš on several occasions.

Although Prince Pavle Dragišić’s private life remains a mystery as far as sources are concerned, one detail in the charter opens up space for an assumption about his religious affiliation. Namely, the senior member of the Bosnian Church – djed Miloje – appears as a guarantor.

Bibliography:

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