A member of an old and respectable family, possibly descending from the Serbian dynasty itself, Branko began his royal service in the nearest circle of the ruler.

After the elevation of the Serbian state to the Empire (1346), Branko received the second-highest court title, sevastokrator, usually given to relatives.

Branko had three sons and a daughter, of whom Vuk Branković would become an important person in the period of the Fall of the Serbian Empire.

[2] It is unknown whether Mladen lived to serve King Stefan Dušan, as is the case with many other magnates such as vojvoda Vojin and čelnik Gradislav Vojšić.

[6] In 1365, Branko's sons stressed that their villages in Drenica (in Kosovo) that they granted to the Hilandar monastery, were "the patrimony of our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, parents, and ours until today", which means that they held it at least in the fourth generation.

[1] Spremić also stressed the possibility of the family originating from the Nemanjić dynasty itself; Branko's later appearance as sevastokrator, a title usually given to relatives, points to this.

[6] M. Blagojević maintained that Mladen's ancestry could not be reliably determined, but mentioned the fact that he had a namesake in the son of Grand Prince Vukan Nemanjić (r.

[8] The sluga (or peharnik) was the equivalent of the "cup-bearer" (domestikos), and thus, the bearer was in the nearest circle of the monarch, expected to have had a strong influence on the ruler.

[6] These high title-holders were governors of provinces southwards from Skoplje, in the part of the empire called "the Greek lands".

1333) was a lord in the vicinity of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), then as a veliki župan in the beginning of the second half of the 14th century held a province in the valley of Gruža.