Lazar was born in Prilepac (close to Novo Brdo) in 1329, the son of imperial chancellor Pribac Hrebeljanović to a family originating for the Grbalj coastal clan. He was educated at Tsar Dušan's court in Prizren. He was later promoted to knez by Dušan's successor Tsar Stefan Uroš V. Despite his imperial title, Uroš was a weak and ineffectual leader, allowing local nobles to gain power and influence at the expense of the central authority.
Around 1380 Lazar founded the monastery of Ravanica and around 1388 Ljubostinja. By 1387 he was raising a massive force to meet the invading forces of the Ottoman Empire, which would include every Serbian knight in his kingdom. The two large forces met in the 1389 battle of Kosovo, and Lazar was one of those killed during that battle, along with much of Serbia's political elite.

"Fruit of the Loom"