You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Serbian. (March 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Serbian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Serbian Wikipedia article at [[:sr:Житије деспота Стефана Лазаревића]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|sr|Житије деспота Стефана Лазаревића}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

The Life of Despot Stefan Lazarević (Serbian: Живот деспота Стефана Лазаревића, Житије деспота Стефана Лазаревића) is a biography of Serbian ruler Stefan Lazarević authored by Constantine of Kostenets ("the Philosopher") ca. 1431. The biography had been ordered by Serbian Patriarch Nikon following the death of Despot Stefan. That order was only fulfilled four years later, when allegedly Despot Stefan himself appeared in Constantine's dream. The biography is regarded as one of the most interesting in the medieval Serbian literature because it contains not only facts about the Despot's life, but also geographic information and thorough descriptions of numerous historical events. Constantine was apparently inspired by Byzantine chronicles. The work begins with a geographic description of Serbia's natural beauties, going on to describe its residents, praising their character but also mourning their forthcoming fall to the Turks. An exhaustive story of court events and Despot Stefan's life follows, with numerous Biblical and classical references and numerous historical data which have proven invaluable to later historians. On several occasions, Constantine used acrostics, with three masterpiece instances: in the introduction verses, in the titles of central chapters, and in the verses telling of his sorrow for the deceased.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

• Life of Stefan Nemanja
• Life of St. Sava (by Domentijan)
• Life of St. Sava (by Teodosije)

• Braun, Maximilian, ed. (1956). Lebensbeschreibung des Despoten Stefan Lazarević. Mouton.
• Kotseva, Elena (2014). "The Virtues of the Ruler according to the Life of Stefan Lazarević by Constantine of Kostenets". Scripta & E-Scripta. 13: 123–129.
• Mihailović-Milošević, S. (2012). "Literary character of the Despot Stefan Lazarević in The Lives of Constantine Philosopher" (PDF). Baština (32): 41–49.
• Ristović, Nenad (2011). "Aspects of reception of classical heritage in biography of despot Stefan Lazarević of Constantine the Philosopher". Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta. 48 (48): 287–306. doi:10.2298/ZRVI1148287R.
• Ivanović, Miloš (2019). "Serbian hagiographies on the warfare and political struggles of the Nemanjić dynasty (from the twelfth to the fourteenth century)". Reform and Renewal in Medieval East and Central Europe: Politics, Law and Society. Cluj-Napoca: Romanian Academy, Center for Transylvanian Studies. pp. 103–129.

• Житије деспота Стефана Лазаревића (excerpts), Project Rastko (in Serbian)