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Battle of Kosovo
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- This page is about the Battle of Kosovo of 1389; for other battles, see Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation); for the movie depicting the battle, see Boj na Kosovu (film)
The Battle of Kosovo (or Boj na Kosovu; ) was fought on St Vitus' Day (celebrated on June 15 according to the Julian calendar, June 28 by the Gregorian calendar) between the Serbian Empire, her allies, and the Ottoman Empire, in a field about 5 kilometers northwest of Pristina.
Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce.
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Encyclopedia
- This page is about the Battle of Kosovo of 1389; for other battles, see Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation); for the movie depicting the battle, see Boj na Kosovu (film)
The Battle of Kosovo (or Boj na Kosovu; ) was fought on St Vitus' Day (celebrated on June 15 according to the Julian calendar, June 28 by the Gregorian calendar) between the Serbian Empire, her allies, and the Ottoman Empire, in a field about 5 kilometers northwest of Pristina.
Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce. However a critical comparison with historically contemporaneous battles (such as the Battle of Angora or Nikopolis) enable reliable reconstruction.
The Battle of Kosovo is particularly notable to Serbian concepts of history, heritage, tradition and national identity.
Preparations
Army movement
After the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Bileca and the Battle of Plocnik, Murad I, the reigning Ottoman sultan, moved his troops from Philippoupolis (Plovdiv) in the spring of 1389 to Ihtiman. From there, the party traveled across Velbužd (Kyustendil) and Kratovo. Though longer than the alternate route through Sofia and the Nišava Valley, the route taken led the Ottoman party to Kosovo, an area that was strategically important and one of the most important crossroads in the Balkans: from Kosovo, Murad's party could attack either Lazar's or Vuk's lands. Having stayed in Kratovo for a time, Murad and his troops marched through Kumanovo, Preševo and Gnjilane to Priština, where he arrived on June 14.
While there is less information about Lazar's preparations, he gathered his troops near Niš, on the right bank of Južna Morava. His party likely remained there until he learned that Murad had moved to Velbužd. Thus, he also moved across Prokuplje to Kosovo. This was Lazar's optimal choice for the battlefield as it meant having control of all the possible routes that Murad could take.
Army composition
Murad's army numbered from 27,000 to 40,000 fighters. Amongst the 40,000 included 2,000 to 5,000 Janissaries, 2,500 of Murad's cavalry guard, 6,000 sipahis, 20,000 azaps and akincis and 8,000 of his vassals. Lazar's army were from 12,000 to 30,000. Out of the 25,000 fighters, 15,000 were under Lazar's command, with 5,000 under a Serbian nobleman from Kosovo Vuk Brankovic, and just as many under Bosnian vojvoda Vlatko Vukovic. Several thousand were cavalry. As for combatants with full plated armor, it consisted of several hundred.
Both armies included some foreign mercenaries: for example, the Serbian force included a small number of troops from the Croatian ban Ivaniš Horvat, as part of the Bosnian contingent, while the Turkish army was helped by the Serbian noble Konstantin Dejanovic. This has led some analysts to describe the armies as coalitions.
The battle
Troop disposition
The armies met at Kosovo Field. The Ottoman army was headed by Murad, with his son Bayezid on his right, and his son Yakub on his left. Around 1,000 archers were in the front line in the wings, backed up by azap and akinci; in the front centre were janissary, behind whom was Murad, surrounded by his cavalry guard; finally, the supply train at the rear was guarded by a small number of troops.
The Serbian army had prince Lazar at its center, Vuk on the right and Vlatko on the left. At the front of the Serbian army was placed the heavy cavalry and archer cavalry on the flanks, with the infantry to the rear. While parallel, the dispositions of the armies were not symmetric, as the Serbian center overlapped the Ottoman center.
Start
The battle commenced with Ottoman archers firing at Serbian cavalry, who then made for the attack. After positioning in a "V" shaped formation, the Serbian cavalry managed to break through the Ottoman left wing, but were not as successful against the center and the right wing.
Turkish counterattack
The Serbs had the initial advantage after their first charge, which significantly damaged the Turkish wing commanded by Yakub Celebi. When the knights' charge was finished, light Ottoman cavalry and light infantry counter-attacked and the Serbian heavy armour became a disadvantage. In the centre, Serbian fighters managed to push back Ottoman forces with only Bayezid's wing holding off the forces commanded by Vlatko Vukovic. The Ottomans, in a counter-attack, pushed the Serbian forces back and then prevailed later in the day, through the help of treachery in the Serbian camp.
It is said that Vuk Brankovic , one of the great lords, to whom was entrusted one wing of the Serbian army, had long been jealous of his sovereign. Some historians state that he had arranged with Sultan Murat I to betray his master, in return for the promise of the imperial crown of Serbia, subject to the Sultan's overlord-ship. At a critical moment in the battle, Vuk Brankovic turned his horse and fled from the field, followed by 12,000 of his troops, but even though he did that, there is a possible theory that says that he didn't flee because of the contract with Murad, but to save some of the Serbs, because he knew that this would be a devastating loss for the Serbs. Bayezid I, who would become the Ottoman sultan after the battle, gained his nickname "the thunderbolt" here, after leading the decisive counter-attack.
Murad's death
Based on Turkish historical records, it is believed that Sultan Murad I was killed by Milos Obilic who, pretending to be surrender, killed Murad while he walked on the battlefield after the fighting had finished. In contrast, Serbian sources allege that he was assassinated by Obilic, who went into the Turkish camp on the pretext of being a deserter and, just prior to kneeling before the Sultan, stabbed him in the stomach and killed him. Obilic was immediately "slashed to pieces" by the Sultan's bodyguards. Murad was the only Ottoman sultan who died in battle. Murad's son, Bayezid, was immediately informed of the Sultan's death and, while the battle was still raging, called his brother Yakub and informed him that their father had some new orders for them. When Yakub arrived he was strangled to death, his demise leaving Bayezid as the sole heir to the throne.
However, according to the earliest preserved record, a letter from the Florentine senate to the King Tvrtko I of Bosnia, dated 20 October 1389, Murad was killed during the battle. The killer is not named but it was one of 12 Serbian noblemen who managed to break through the Ottoman ranks, probably during the initial charge of Serbian knights:
The Sultan's tomb remains to this day, in a corner of the battlefield. While it is not in good condition, it has not been vandalized or destroyed - this despite centuries of hostilities between Turks and Serbs.
Aftermath
The battle of Kosovo was an important victory for the Ottomans. While losses were substantial on both sides, heavy losses suffered by Serbia resulted in its reduction to a virtual vassal state with Serbian nobles paying tribute and supplying soldiers to the Ottomans. Furthermore, in response to Turkish pressure, some Serbian noblemen wed their daughters, including the daughter of Prince Lazar, to Bayezid. In the wake of these marriages, Stefan Lazarevic became a loyal ally of Bayezid, going on to contribute significant forces to many of Bayezid's future military engagements including the Battle of Nicopolis which marked the last large scale Crusade in the Middle Ages
The Battle of Kosovo came to be seen as a symbol of Serbian patriotism and desire for independence in the 19th century rise of nationalism under Ottoman rule.
The Battle of Kosovo, and its meaning in the Serbian national perspective, continues to be relevant, as evidenced during the Kosovo War.
External links
- by Thomas Emmert
- edited by Charles Simic
- Youtube animation of battle scene.
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