Despot Belaur

Belaur (Bela Uroš) was despot of Vidin between 1332 and 1336. He was the son of Despot Shishman I by his second marriage to the daughter of the Serbian grand župan Dragoš, and a half-brother of the Bulgarian tsar Michael III Shishman.

The etymology of his name derives from the Hungarian "Béla" and "úr", meaning "lord". According to some versions, "Ur" derives from the Serbian name "Uroš". Some researchers, including Ivan Bozhilov, nevertheless believe that he had no family connection to the Asen dynasty and was a child of Shishman's second marriage to a Serbian noblewoman.

Belaur is considered a brilliant Balkan diplomat. After Tsar Michael III Shishman's death in 1330, Belaur helped secure the coronation of Tsar Ivan Stephen, Michael Shishman's son, and became the new tsar's chief adviser. He opposed Ivan Stephen's deposition in 1331 and supported Anna-Neda, the tsar's sister, as a political refugee in Niš.

Belaur separated the Bdin region from the central authority in Tarnovo and created difficulties for Ivan Alexander, which increased after his victory over the Byzantines at Rusokastro in 1332. The war between Belaur and Ivan Alexander continued for five years and ended in 1336, when Ivan Alexander sent an army that defeated Belaur in the battle at the River Vit and restored his authority over Vidin.