The battle in Kosovo is a major battle between the combined forces of Serbia and the Bosnian kingdom with Sultan Murad I and his Turkish army. It happened on June 15, 1389. Kosovo field is located near modern Pristina. They are separated by 5 kilometers. The battle brought great losses to both sides.
What preceded
Sultan Murad I with the troops, having won at Chernomen (1371) and at Savr (1385), continued to attack the Serbian lands. The Ottoman Empire wanted to subjugate the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Europe. And they succeeded after a while. But the Serbs wanted to stop them at all costs.
A serious drawback of the Serbian kingdom was that it broke up into several small entities that constantly quarreled with each other. Naturally, they were unable to repel enemy attacks. Serbian and Albanian princes, forming a coalition led by Prince Lazar Khrebelyanovich, opposed the Ottoman forces in every way.
Kosovo was the central part of the Serbian lands. It was a crossroads of important routes, which opened up a number of routes for the Turks to move on to Serbian lands. Here an important battle took place.
Murad I paved the way here through the lands of his vassals in Macedonia.
Forces of the parties
The Ottoman army numbered approximately 27-40 thousand people. These included Janissaries (2-5 thousand people), horsemen of the personal guard of the Sultan (2.5 thousand people), sipahi (6 thousand people), Azapa and akyndzhi (20 thousand) and warriors of vassal states ( 8 thousand).
Prince Lazar Khrebelyanovich led an army of 12-33 thousand soldiers.
12-15 thousand people were directly subordinate to the prince. Vuk Brankovich led 5-10 thousand people. The same number of soldiers were under the command of the Bosnian nobleman Vlatko Vukovic. Knights from Hungary and Poland provided assistance to the Serbs. In addition, they came to the rescue of the hospitaliers - knights of the Order of St. John. As a result, in the Serbian army there were detachments from Bosnia (sent by Tvrtko I), Wallachian, Bulgarian, Croatian and Albanian squads.
The weak point of the Serbian army was the lack of a central command. In addition, the army was not balanced in composition. The infantry weakly covered the heavy cavalry in armor. The latter constituted the bulk of the army.
The Serbs did not have such military experience as the Turkish army, which had won victories in battles for 30 years.
Battle
Kosovo Field - a place that remembers the battle of June 15, 1389. On this day, the army led by Prince Lazar Khrebelyanovich opposed the army, which was significantly larger in number. Serbia’s songs indicate that the battle lasted for three days.
From the Ottomans, Murad I led Turkish troops, Prince Bayazid took command of the right flank, and Prince Yakub - left. Ahead of the construction on the flanks were 100 archers. Janissaries occupied central positions, behind which among the soldiers of the guard was the sultan.
Prince Lazarus commanded the center, the right flank led Vuk Brankovich, and Vlatko Vukovich led the left. The entire front of the Serbian army was occupied by heavy cavalry, horse archers were on the flanks.
To present the course of events in Kosovo, the map can clearly show the location of troops.
Unfortunately, in the Serbian and Turkish sources, the data on the battle are so contradictory that historians cannot recreate the battle. It is known that the Serbs were the first to rush into battle, despite the numerical superiority of the enemy. Cavalry wedged into Turkish positions. At the same time, shelling of Serbian positions by Turkish archers began. The Serbs managed to break through the left flank of the Ottoman army. The latter suffered heavy losses. But in the center and on the right flank such successes were not. After some time, the Serbian army was able to somewhat push the Turks in the center. The right flank of the Ottoman army under the command of Prince Bayazid quickly went on the counterattack, ousted the Serbs, inflicting a serious blow to the infantry. After some time, the defense of the Serbian infantry was broken, so she began to retreat.
The light Turkish cavalry soon launched a counterattack. The infantry marched on armored Serb riders. The first managed to overturn the cavalry.
Without commanders ...
Vuk Brankovich, saving his troops, left Kosovo field. His actions gave rise to various interpretations. Some believe that Wook saved his warriors. Others are convinced that he was retreating, fearing to lose his army altogether. But the people believe that the prince betrayed Lazarus, his father-in-law. Vlatko Vukovich stole the remnants of his units and units of Lazarus.
Prince Lazarus was captured and executed on the same day.
Serbian voivode Milos Obilic was able to infiltrate the camp of the Turks, declaring himself a defector. He was able to kill the Ottoman Sultan at the very beginning of the battle. Milos stabbed Murad with a knife, but the guard of the Sultan did not allow him to leave.
Bayazid I now led the Turkish army. As soon as he found out what had happened, the prince sent a messenger to his elder brother Yakub. The message said that Sultan Murad gives new orders. Upon Yakub's arrival at Bayazid, he was strangled. Now Prince Bayazid is the only heir to Murad.
No winners
The battle on Kosovo Field in 1389 only formally brought victory to the Turks. But no one got the battlefield. Although the Serbs lost to an incredibly strong adversary, but at the same time they showed desperate courage. This led to large losses among the Turks. They could no longer continue the fighting, so they quickly returned to the East, not forgetting about the Kosovo field.
The battle led to the birth of many legends. Many of them are related to the fact that the commanders of the troops were killed before the end of the battle. Therefore, not one of them knew the outcome of the battle. The circumstances of their death quickly overgrown with legends.
For example, there are a number of versions of how the Sultan Murad was killed. One of them claims that he died at the hands of a Serbian warrior who pretended to be dead. But in the Serbian chronicles you can find more information. The official version is that he was killed by Prince Milos Obilic. There is a legend that he headed the Order of St. George. This community aimed at killing the Sultan.
Consequences of the Battle of Kosovo
Serbia was able to maintain its independence, but losses after the battle were very large. And it took a long time to assemble a new army. After some time, the Ottoman army returned and conquered Serbia - in 1459. And then she went on, almost reached Vienna. The accession of the Serbian lands to the Ottoman Empire stopped the political and economic development of the country. And the cultural development of the Serbs finally turned upside down.
Prince Bayazid, who now became the Sultan, was undoubtedly an excellent commander. He is better known as Lightning-fast Bayezid. At the same time, he pursued internal politics quite differently from his father. The new sultan stopped forced assimilation in the conquered territories. Local authorities began to govern the provinces.
Losing like a win
The history of Kosovo has shown that losing a war and losing troops can raise the national spirit and self-awareness of the people. And even when the Turks owned Serbian lands for 300 years, the Serbs were able to maintain national identity. Moreover, they managed to preserve Orthodoxy, while their Albanian neighbors almost massively converted to Islam.
Some historians believe that if the Turks won, it would accelerate the conquest of the Balkans. And the death of the Sultan Murad and the incredible resistance of the southern Slavs gave them the opportunity to preserve their nationalities and religion. Europe has not undergone what it could. Kosovo, Serbia as a whole, took upon itself a substantial part of the blow.
The importance of the battle for the Serbs
Despite the defeat of the Serbs, the battle in 1389 was very important. Its importance lies in uniting the existing Serbian principalities. In fact, the Kosovo field is the place where the history of the unified state of Serbia began. Many researchers claim that this battle is one of the most unknown and incomprehensible. Part claims that this story was created by legends and conjectures, confirmed by sources of the XIV century.
Serbian historians believe that initially there were a number of variations of the Battle of Kosovo. Over time, they merged into one.
Why has history turned into a legend?
It is possible that the myth was created in order to influence generations of Serbs. The legend is based on a biblical story. Prince Lazarus is often compared to Jesus Christ.
A religious motive also remains in the legend. The duration of the battle is 3 days, so you can draw a parallel with Calvary. And the death of almost the entire Serbian army is martyred.
Therefore, almost all folk songs and epics glorify warriors as martyrs. And the highest value of Serbia was the crown of martyrdom, that is, the emphasis is on the spiritual sense of events, therefore the Serbs feel victorious. And this feeling gives inspiration in life to a new generation.