Battle of Kosovo: Difference between revisions
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:''This page is about the Battle of Kosovo of [[1389]]; for other battles, see [[Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation)]]''. |
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{{Infobox Military Conflict |
{{Infobox Military Conflict |
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|conflict=Battle of Kosovo |
|conflict=Battle of Kosovo |
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|image=[[Image:Battle on Kosovo1389.jpg|300px]] |
|image=[[Image:Battle on Kosovo1389.jpg|300px]] |
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|caption=''Battle on Kosovo'', by Adam |
|caption=''Battle on Kosovo'', by Adam Stefanovic, ''oil'', 1870 |
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|partof=the [[Ottoman wars in Europe]] |
|partof=the [[Ottoman wars in Europe]] |
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|date=[[June 15]], [[1389]] (Julian calendar) |
|date=[[June 15]], [[1389]] (Julian calendar) |
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|place=[[Gazimestan|Kosovo Field, Kosovo]] |
|place=[[Gazimestan|Kosovo Field, Kosovo]] |
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|result=Draw in military terms,but Serbia never recovered from suffering heavy losses.Few years after the battle Serbia became Ottoman vasal state. |
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|result=Pyrrhic Ottoman [[victory]]<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9046112 Battle of Kosovo, '' Encyclopedia Britannica'']</ref><ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ko/Kosovo.html Kosovo Field, ''Columbia Encyclopedia'']</ref><ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588292/Kosovo_Battle_of.html Kosovo, Battle of, ''Encarta Encyclopedia'']</ref><ref>Historical Dictionary Of Kosova By Robert Elsie, pg.95</ref><ref>The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged By Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, pg. 125</ref><ref>Global Terrorism By James M Lutz, Brenda J Lutz, pg. 103</ref><ref>Parliaments and Politics During the Cromwellian Protectorate By David L. Smith, Patrick Little, pg. 124</ref><ref>Genocide: a critical bibliographic review By Israel W. Charny, Alan L. Berger, pg. 56</ref> |
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|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of the Ottoman Sultanate (1299-1453).svg|25px]] [[Ottoman Empire]] |
|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of the Ottoman Sultanate (1299-1453).svg|25px]] [[Ottoman Empire]] |
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|combatant2=[[Image:Flag of Serbia 1281.svg|20px]] [[Medieval Serbia|Serbia]] |
|combatant2=[[Image:Flag of Serbia 1281.svg|20px]] [[Medieval Serbia|Serbia]],<br/>[[Image:Grb kosaca.gif|25px]][[History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (958–1463)|Bosnia]] |
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|commander1=[[Murad I]] †,<br/> [[Bayezid I]],<br/> Yakub † |
|commander1=[[Murad I]] †,<br/> [[Bayezid I]],<br/> Yakub † |
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|commander2=[[Lazar |
|commander2=[[Lazar Hrebeljanovic]] †,<br/> [[Vuk Brankovic]],<br/> [[Vlatko Vukovic]] |
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|strength1=~ 27,000-40,000<ref name=Sedlar/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Cowley/> |
|strength1=~ 27,000-40,000<ref name=Sedlar/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Cowley/> |
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|strength2=~ 12,000-30,000<ref name=Sedlar>{{cite book | last = Sedlar | first = Jean W. | title = East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500 | publisher = University of Washington Press | pages=244 | quote = Nearly the entire Christian fighting force (between 12,000 and 20,000 men) had been present at Kosovo, while the Ottomans (with 27,000 to 30,000 on the battlefield) retained numerous reserves in Anatolia.}}</ref><ref name=Cox>{{cite book | last = Cox | first = John K. | title = The History of Serbia | publisher = Greenwood Press | pages=30 | quote = The Ottoman army probably numbered between 30,000 and 40,000. They faced something like 15,000 to 25,000 Eastern Orthodox soldiers.}}</ref><ref name=Cowley>{{cite book | last = Cowley | first = Robert | coauthor = Geoffrey Parker | title = The Reader's Companion to Military History | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Books | pages=249 | quote=On June 28, 1389, an Ottoman army of between thirty thousand and forty thousand under the command of Sultan Murad I defeated an army of Balkan allies numbering twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand under the command of Prince Lazar of Serbia at Kosovo |
|strength2=~ 12,000-30,000<ref name=Sedlar>{{cite book | last = Sedlar | first = Jean W. | title = East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500 | publisher = University of Washington Press | pages=244 | quote = Nearly the entire Christian fighting force (between 12,000 and 20,000 men) had been present at Kosovo, while the Ottomans (with 27,000 to 30,000 on the battlefield) retained numerous reserves in Anatolia.}}</ref><ref name=Cox>{{cite book | last = Cox | first = John K. | title = The History of Serbia | publisher = Greenwood Press | pages=30 | quote = The Ottoman army probably numbered between 30,000 and 40,000. They faced something like 15,000 to 25,000 Eastern Orthodox soldiers.}}</ref><ref name=Cowley>{{cite book | last = Cowley | first = Robert | coauthor = Geoffrey Parker | title = The Reader's Companion to Military History | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Books | pages=249 | quote=On June 28, 1389, an Ottoman army of between thirty thousand and forty thousand under the command of Sultan Murad I defeated an army of Balkan allies numbering twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand under the command of Prince Lazar of Serbia at Kosovo Polje (Blackbird's Field) in the central Balkans.}}</ref><ref name=VE9-0>{{cite book | title = [[Vojna Enciklopedija]] | publisher = Vojnoizdavacki zavod | location = Belgrade | year = 1972 | language = Serbo-Croatian | pages = 659-660 | chapter = Kosovska bitka}}</ref> |
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|casualties1= Reasonably high [[Sultan]] [[Murad I]] was assassinated by [[ |
|casualties1= Reasonably high [[Sultan]] [[Murad I]] was assassinated by [[Milos Obilic]] (a Serbian nobleman taken to his tent as a prisoner) after the battle. |
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|casualties2= Reasonably high; most of the [[List of Serbs|Serbian nobility]] including [[Lazar |
|casualties2= Reasonably high; most of the [[List of Serbs|Serbian nobility]] including [[Lazar Hrebeljanovic|Tzar Lazar Hrebeljanovic]] were killed during the battle. |
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}} |
}} |
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The '''Battle of Kosovo''' |
The '''Battle of Kosovo''' ; [[Serbian language|Serbian]]: ''Kosovski boj'', or ''Boj na Kosovu''; [[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''Kosova Meydan Muharebesi'') was fought on [[Vidovdan|St Vitus' Day]] ([[June 15]], now celebrated on [[June 28|28]]) [[1389]] between [[Medieval Serbia]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Battle of Kosovo is important part of Serbian national history , heritage and mythology. |
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Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce, however a critical comparison with historically contemporaneous battles (such as the Battle of [[Battle of Angora|Angora]] or [[Battle of Nikopolis|Nikopolis]]) enable reliable reconstruction.<ref name=VE9>{{cite book | title = [[Vojna Enciklopedija]] | publisher = |
Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce, however a critical comparison with historically contemporaneous battles (such as the Battle of [[Battle of Angora|Angora]] or [[Battle of Nikopolis|Nikopolis]]) enable reliable reconstruction.<ref name=VE9>{{cite book | title = [[Vojna Enciklopedija]] | publisher = Vojnoizdavacki zavod | location = Belgrade | year = 1972 | language = Serbo-Croatian | pages = 659 | chapter = Kosovska bitka}}</ref> |
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==Preparations== |
==Preparations== |
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====Army composition==== |
====Army composition==== |
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It is not certain how large the armies were, especially as later sources tended to exaggerate their size, even into the hundreds of thousands.<ref name=VE0>{{cite book | title = [[Vojna Enciklopedija]] | publisher = |
It is not certain how large the armies were, especially as later sources tended to exaggerate their size, even into the hundreds of thousands.<ref name=VE0>{{cite book | title = [[Vojna Enciklopedija]] | publisher = Vojnoizdavacki zavod | location = Belgrade | year = 1972 | language = Serbo-Croatian | pages = 660 | chapter = Kosovska bitka}}</ref> |
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Murad's army may have numbered 27,000-40,000.<ref name=Sedlar/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Cowley/><ref name=VE9/> If we take the estimate of 40,000, it probably included 2,000-5,000 [[Janissary|Janissaries]],<ref>Hans-Henning Kortüm, ''Transcultural Wars from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century'', Akademie Verlag, 231. "But having been established under Murad I (1362-1389), essentially as a bodyguard, the Janissaries cannot have been present in large numbers at Nicopolis (there were no more than 2,000 at Kosovo in 1389)."</ref> 2,500 of Murad's cavalry guard, 6,000 [[sipahi]]s, 20,000 [[azap]]s and [[akinci]]s and 8,000 of his [[vassal]]s.<ref name=VE9/> Lazar's army might have been 12,000-30,000.<ref name=Sedlar/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Cowley/><ref name=VE9-0/> If we take the estimate of 25,000, some 15,000 were under Lazar's command, with 5,000 under [[Vuk |
Murad's army may have numbered 27,000-40,000.<ref name=Sedlar/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Cowley/><ref name=VE9/> If we take the estimate of 40,000, it probably included 2,000-5,000 [[Janissary|Janissaries]],<ref>Hans-Henning Kortüm, ''Transcultural Wars from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century'', Akademie Verlag, 231. "But having been established under Murad I (1362-1389), essentially as a bodyguard, the Janissaries cannot have been present in large numbers at Nicopolis (there were no more than 2,000 at Kosovo in 1389)."</ref> 2,500 of Murad's cavalry guard, 6,000 [[sipahi]]s, 20,000 [[azap]]s and [[akinci]]s and 8,000 of his [[vassal]]s.<ref name=VE9/> Lazar's army might have been 12,000-30,000.<ref name=Sedlar/><ref name=Cox/><ref name=Cowley/><ref name=VE9-0/> If we take the estimate of 25,000, some 15,000 were under Lazar's command, with 5,000 under Serbian nobleman from [[Kosovo and Metohija|Kosovo]] [[Vuk Brankovic|Vuk Brankovic]], and as many under Serbian [[vojvoda]] from [[Medieval Bosnia|Bosnia]] [[Vlatko Vukovic|Vlatko Vukovic]].<ref name=VE9-0/> Of these, several thousand were [[cavalry]], but perhaps only a few hundred were clad in [[full plate armour]].<ref name=VE0/> |
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Both armies included some foreign troops: for example, the Serbian force included a small number of troops from the Croatian [[Ban (title)|ban]] [[Ivan Paližna]], probably as part of the [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]]n contingent, while the Turkish army was helped<!-- In the source I can't see whether he personally participated or provided troops or perhaps only helped in provisions so this covers it all --> by the Serbian noble [[Konstantin |
Both armies included some foreign troops: for example, the Serbian force included a small number of troops from the Croatian [[Ban (title)|ban]] [[Ivan Paližna]], probably as part of the [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]]n contingent, while the Turkish army was helped<!-- In the source I can't see whether he personally participated or provided troops or perhaps only helped in provisions so this covers it all --> by the Serbian noble [[Konstantin Dejanovic]]. This has led some analysts to describe the armies as [[coalition]]s.<ref name=VE0/> |
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{{cquote|''...if all of us would now turn to salt, we couldn't even salt the Turk's lunch...''<ref>[[ |
{{cquote|''...if all of us would now turn to salt, we couldn't even salt the Turk's lunch...''<ref>[[Kosancic Ivan]], [[Serbian epic poetry]]</ref>}} |
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{{History of Serbia}} |
{{History of Serbia}} |
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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.<ref name=VE0/> |
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.<ref name=VE0/> |
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The |
The Serbian army had the 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.<ref name=VE0/> |
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{{cquote|''When torrent of arrows landed on Serbian armsmen<br/>who until then stood motionless like mountains of iron,<br/> they rode forward, rolling and thundering like the sea''<ref name=nesri>[[Mehmet |
{{cquote|''When torrent of arrows landed on Serbian armsmen<br/>who until then stood motionless like mountains of iron,<br/> they rode forward, rolling and thundering like the sea''<ref name=nesri>[[Mehmet Nesri]]</ref>}} |
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====Start==== |
====Start==== |
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[[Image:Milos_Obilic.jpg|thumb|250px|[[ |
[[Image:Milos_Obilic.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Milos Obilic]]]] |
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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. <ref name=VE0/> |
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. <ref name=VE0/> |
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====Turkish counterattack==== |
====Turkish counterattack==== |
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{{Unreferencedsection|date=January 2008}} |
{{Unreferencedsection|date=January 2008}} |
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The |
The Serbs had the initial advantage after their first charge, which significantly damaged the Turkish wing commanded by [[Yakub Celebi]]. When the knight's charge was finished, light Ottoman cavalry and light infantry took advantage during the counter-attack and the Serbian heavy armour became a disadvantage. In the center, Serbian fighters managed to push back Ottoman forces with only [[Bayezid I|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. [[Bayezid I]], who would become the Ottoman sultan after the battle, gained his nickname "the thunderbolt" here, after leading the decisive counter-attack.[[Image:hatemibeyazit.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Bayezid I]], oil on canvas by [[Haydar Hatemi]] (1999)]] |
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====Murad's death==== |
====Murad's death==== |
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{{Unreferencedsection|date=January 2008}} |
{{Unreferencedsection|date=January 2008}} |
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Based on Turkish historical records, it is believed that Sultan Murad I was killed by [[ |
Based on Turkish historical records, it is believed that Sultan Murad I was killed by [[Milos Obilic]] who, pretending to be dead, killed Murad while he walked on the battlefield after the fighting had finished. In contrast, Serbian sources allege that he was assassinated by [[Milos 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. Miloš Obilic was immediately killed 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. |
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However, according to the earliest preserved record, a letter of [[Florence|Florentine]] senate to the King [[Tvrtko I of Bosnia]], dated 20 October 1389, [[Murad I| Murad]] was killed during the battle. The killer is not named but it was one of 12 Serbian noblemen managed to break through the Ottoman ranks, probably during the initial charge of Serbian knights: |
However, according to the earliest preserved record, a letter of [[Florence|Florentine]] senate to the King [[Tvrtko I of Bosnia]], dated 20 October 1389, [[Murad I| Murad]] was killed during the battle. The killer is not named but it was one of 12 Serbian noblemen managed to break through the Ottoman ranks, probably during the initial charge of Serbian knights: |
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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 the Ottoman Empire|rise of nationalism]] under Ottoman rule.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} |
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 the Ottoman Empire|rise of nationalism]] under Ottoman rule.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} |
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The Battle of Kosovo, and its meaning in the Serbian national perspective, continues to be relevant as evidenced during the [[Kosovo War]] |
The Battle of Kosovo, and its meaning in the Serbian national perspective, continues to be relevant as evidenced during the [[Kosovo War]]; |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[it:Battaglia di Kosovo Polje]] |
[[it:Battaglia di Kosovo Polje]] |
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[[lv:Kosovas kauja]] |
[[lv:Kosovas kauja]] |
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[[lt:Kosovo |
[[lt:Kosovo mušis]] |
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[[hu:Rigómezei csata (1389)]] |
[[hu:Rigómezei csata (1389)]] |
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[[nl:Slag op het Merelveld]] |
[[nl:Slag op het Merelveld]] |
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Revision as of 16:28, 30 March 2008
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (February 2008) |
- This page is about the Battle of Kosovo of 1389; for other battles, see Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation).
| Battle of Kosovo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe | |||||||
 Battle on Kosovo, by Adam Stefanovic, oil, 1870 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ottoman Empire |
.svg){kind=small} Serbia,File:Grb kosaca.gifBosnia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Murad I †, Bayezid I, Yakub † |
Lazar Hrebeljanovic †, Vuk Brankovic, Vlatko Vukovic | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~ 27,000-40,000[1][2][3] | ~ 12,000-30,000[1][2][3][4] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Reasonably high Sultan Murad I was assassinated by Milos Obilic (a Serbian nobleman taken to his tent as a prisoner) after the battle. | Reasonably high; most of the Serbian nobility including Tzar Lazar Hrebeljanovic were killed during the battle. | ||||||
The Battle of Kosovo ; Serbian: Kosovski boj, or Boj na Kosovu; Turkish: Kosova Meydan Muharebesi) was fought on St Vitus' Day (June 15, now celebrated on 28) 1389 between Medieval Serbia and the Ottoman Empire. The Battle of Kosovo is important part of Serbian national history , heritage and mythology.
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.[5]
Preparations
Army movement
After Serbs defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Bileca and Battle of Plocnik, Murad I, the reigning Ottoman sultan, gathered his troops in Philippoupolis (Plovdiv) in the spring of 1389, and arrived in Ihtiman after a three-day march. From there, the party travelled across Velbužd (Kyustendil) and Kratovo. Though longer than the alternate route through Sofia and the Nišava valley, which would have given them direct access to Lazar's lands, the route taken led the Ottoman party to Kosovo, an area significant for being strategically important, one of the most important trade crossroads in the Balkans. From Kosovo, Murad's party could attack either Lazar's or Vuk's lands, or move into Italy. Having stayed in Kosovo for a time, Murad and his troops passed across Kumanovo, Preševo and Gnjilane to Priština, where he arrived on June 14.[5]
While there is less information about Lazar's preparations, it can be assumed that he gathered his troops near Niš, possibly on the right (north/east/south/west?) bank of Južna Morava. His party likely remained there until he learned that Murad had moved to Velbužd, whereby he also moved probably across Prokuplje to Kosovo. Lazar, with a Serbian Christian army met Murad’s troops at Kosovo. This was Lazar's optimal choice for the battlefield as it meant having control of all the possible routes that Murad could take.[5]
Army composition
It is not certain how large the armies were, especially as later sources tended to exaggerate their size, even into the hundreds of thousands.[6]
Murad's army may have numbered 27,000-40,000.[1][2][3][5] If we take the estimate of 40,000, it probably included 2,000-5,000 Janissaries,[7] 2,500 of Murad's cavalry guard, 6,000 sipahis, 20,000 azaps and akincis and 8,000 of his vassals.[5] Lazar's army might have been 12,000-30,000.[1][2][3][4] If we take the estimate of 25,000, some 15,000 were under Lazar's command, with 5,000 under Serbian nobleman from Kosovo Vuk Brankovic, and as many under Serbian vojvoda from Bosnia Vlatko Vukovic.[4] Of these, several thousand were cavalry, but perhaps only a few hundred were clad in full plate armour.[6]
Both armies included some foreign troops: for example, the Serbian force included a small number of troops from the Croatian ban Ivan Paližna, probably 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.[6]
...if all of us would now turn to salt, we couldn't even salt the Turk's lunch...[8]
| History of Serbia |
|---|
 |
 Serbia portal |
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.[6]
The Serbian army had the 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.[6]
When torrent of arrows landed on Serbian armsmen
who until then stood motionless like mountains of iron,
they rode forward, rolling and thundering like the sea[9]
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. [6]
Turkish counterattack
 |
The Serbs had the initial advantage after their first charge, which significantly damaged the Turkish wing commanded by Yakub Celebi. When the knight's charge was finished, light Ottoman cavalry and light infantry took advantage during the counter-attack and the Serbian heavy armour became a disadvantage. In the center, 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. 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 dead, killed Murad while he walked on the battlefield after the fighting had finished. In contrast, Serbian sources allege that he was assassinated by Milos 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. Miloš Obilic was immediately killed 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 of 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 managed to break through the Ottoman ranks, probably during the initial charge of Serbian knights:
Fortunate, most fortunate are those hands of the twelve loyal lords who, having opened their way with the sword and having penetrated the enemy lines and the circle of chained camels, heroically reached the tent of Amurat himself. Fortunate above all is that one who so forcefully killed such a strong vojvoda by stabbing him with a sword in the throat and belly. And blessed are all those who gave their lives and blood through the glorious manner of martyrdom as victims of the dead leader over hiss ugly corpse. [10]
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 a military draw with heavy casualties on both sides and with both army leaders dead. While losses were substantial on both sides, heavy losses suffered by Serbia resulted in its reduction to a virtual vasal state with Serbian nobles paying tribute and supplying soldiers to the Ottomans.
In the wake of the battle, and the death of Serbian King Lazar, who also died during the fighting, Bayezid I formed a crucial alliance with Lazar's son Stefan. Bayezid took Stefan's sister as his wife, and with the marriage Stefan became a loyal ally of Bayezid, going on to contribute significant forces to many of Bayezid's future military engagements.
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.[citation needed] The Battle of Kosovo, and its meaning in the Serbian national perspective, continues to be relevant as evidenced during the Kosovo War;
References
- ^ a b c d Sedlar, Jean W. East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500. University of Washington Press. p. 244.
Nearly the entire Christian fighting force (between 12,000 and 20,000 men) had been present at Kosovo, while the Ottomans (with 27,000 to 30,000 on the battlefield) retained numerous reserves in Anatolia.
- ^ a b c d Cox, John K. The History of Serbia. Greenwood Press. p. 30.
The Ottoman army probably numbered between 30,000 and 40,000. They faced something like 15,000 to 25,000 Eastern Orthodox soldiers.
- ^ a b c d Cowley, Robert. The Reader's Companion to Military History. Houghton Mifflin Books. p. 249.
On June 28, 1389, an Ottoman army of between thirty thousand and forty thousand under the command of Sultan Murad I defeated an army of Balkan allies numbering twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand under the command of Prince Lazar of Serbia at Kosovo Polje (Blackbird's Field) in the central Balkans.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Kosovska bitka". Vojna Enciklopedija (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Vojnoizdavacki zavod. 1972. pp. 659–660.
- ^ a b c d e "Kosovska bitka". Vojna Enciklopedija (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Vojnoizdavacki zavod. 1972. p. 659.
- ^ a b c d e f "Kosovska bitka". Vojna Enciklopedija (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Vojnoizdavacki zavod. 1972. p. 660.
- ^ Hans-Henning Kortüm, Transcultural Wars from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century, Akademie Verlag, 231. "But having been established under Murad I (1362-1389), essentially as a bodyguard, the Janissaries cannot have been present in large numbers at Nicopolis (there were no more than 2,000 at Kosovo in 1389)."
- ^ Kosancic Ivan, Serbian epic poetry
- ^ Mehmet Nesri
- ^ Wayne S. Vuchinich & Thomas A. Emmert, Kosovo: Legacy of a Medieval Battle, University of Minnesota. 1991.
External links
- Battle of Kosovo as National Narrative by Dr. Seth Ward
- The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat by Thomas Emmert
- The Kosovo Legacy by Thomas Emmert alternate URL
- The events Surrounding the Battle of Kosovo 1389 and its cultural effect on the Serbian people by Mark Gottfried
- The Battle of Kosovo Serbian Epic Poems edited by Charles Simic Alternate URL
- The Legend of Kosovo