Grdeša

Grd or Grdeša (Grdeša, Grdeša, Грд, Грдеша, ; ca. 1120 – 1180) was the provincial lord (župan) of Trebinje (Travunia) (r. ca. 1145 – 1162) and a military commander in the service of Uroš II Vukanović of the Serbian Grand Principality.

Life
It is believed that Grdeša was born around 1120. In 1150 he was one of the military commanders in the army of Uroš II that fought the Byzantine Empire; the combined Serbo-Hungarian army suffered defeat at the Battle of Tara, where Grd and fellow Duke Vučina where captured. It is assumed the prisoners were taken to Sredets (Sofia), but were released in 1151. The death of Grd is placed in 1178 or around 1180. He had a son, župan Pribilša, who "died in the time of Vladislav".

His tomb (Stećak) was found at the local community of Police in Trebinje. The tablet mentions him "in the days of Grand Prince Mihailo" (Mihailo III of Duklja) as the župan of Trebinje, and also his brother župan Radomir, and his family. The stećak is the oldest found and is currently held at the Museum of Herzegovina in Trebinje. A spur of his is in the collection of the National Museum in Sarajevo.

A charter was found, claiming to be dating to 1151, where Desa, the younger brother of Uroš II, gifted the island of Mljet to the monastery of Saint Mary in Apulia, of which witnesses were "iupanus Gerdessa, Desimir, setnicus Rastessa, iupanos Grubessa, Petrus comes Raguseorum...", however, this was proven to be a falsification dating from the 13th century.