[4] The form bugarštica is a 19th-century invention as the contemporary Serbo-Croatian standard language does not have "consonantal cluster šć", being more a technical term, but since 1980s bugaršćica is also being used in the scientific literature because it is more appropriate for the historical context.
[30][31][32][33] It tells about the imprisonment of Hungarian voivode Janko (John Hunyadi) by Despot of Serbia Đurađ Branković in Smederevo Fortress, which happened in 1448.
[1][38] They were published in the late 19th century by Franz Miklosich, Alexander Hilferding, and most completely by Valtazar Bogišić in Narodne pjesme iz starijih, najviše primorskih zapisa (1878), about 85 bugarštica songs in total.
Although mostly have epic and heroic themes, its structures tend to be of ballad poetry, which includes summarized storytelling, with a sudden beginning of an action, with dialogue and graded repetition.
[46][47] Nevertheless, the comparison of a bugarštica, provisionally titled "Kraljević Marko i brat mu Andrijaš",[1] written by Hektorović in 1556 with three songs by Burgenland Croats found almost identical similarity in the balladic intonation, use of diminutives, and content.
Bošković-Stulli deduced that such songs were widespread on Croatian territory, emerged from an older stratum of folk poetry, and with some hinterland influences partly changed and formed in Dalmatia.