The Kosovo curse or Prince's curse (Serbian: Косовска клетва or Кнежева клетва) is, according to the legend, a curse said by Serbian Prince Lazar

Lazar of Serbia

Lazar Hrebeljanović , was a medieval nobleman that emerged as the most powerful Serbian ruler after the death of the previous, childless, Emperor Uroš the Weak, which resulted in years of instability in the Serbian realm. As Stefan Lazar, he was Prince of Serbia from 1371 to 1389, ruling what is...

 before the Battle of Kosovo

Battle of Kosovo

The Battle of Kosovo took place on St. Vitus' Day, June 15, 1389, between the army led by Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Sultan Murad I...

. In the text, Lazar curses those Serbs who ignored his call for a defensive war

Defensive war

A defensive war is one of the causes that justify war by the criteria of the Just War tradition. It means a war where at least one nation is mainly trying to defend itself from another, as opposed to a war where both sides are trying to invade and conquer each other.-Examples:* The Darius'...

 against the Ottoman Empire.

This form of the curse first appeared in the 1845 edition of the collection of Serbian folk songs by Vuk Karadžić.

Today, the "Kosovo curse" is inscribed on the Gazimestan monument

Gazimestan

Gazimestan is the name of a monument commemorating the historical Battle of Kosovo, situated about 6-7 kilometres north-northeast of the actual battlefield, known as Kosovo Field , or in Albanian: "Fushë Kosovë/Fushë Kosova"...

, where the Battle of Kosovo occurred.

Text of the curse

Serbian Cyrillic	Serbian Latin	English
Ко је Србин и српскога рода, и од српске крви и колена, а не дош'о на бој на Косово, не имао од срца порода, ни мушкога ни девојачкога! Од руке му ништа не родило, рујно вино ни пшеница бела! Рђом капо док му је колена!	Ko je Srbin i srpskoga roda, i od srpske krvi i kolena, a ne doš'o na boj na Kosovo, ne imao od srca poroda, ni muškoga ni devojačkoga! Od ruke mu ništa ne rodilo, rujno vino ni pšenica bela! Rđom kapo dok mu je kolena!	Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birth, And of Serb blood and heritage, And comes not to the Battle of Kosovo, May he never have the progeny his heart desires, Neither son nor daughter! May nothing grow that his hand sows, Neither red wine nor white wheat! And let him be cursed from all ages to all ages!