Battle of Kosovo Polje

The battles of Kosovo Polje , into Serb Cyrillique БојнаКосовуилиКосовскабитка , took place the June 28th with the Gregorian calendar or the June 15th for the calendar Julien 1389 with the Kosovo on the “field of the Blackbirds” into Serb kos means blackbird and ovo is a suffix indicating the place, Kosovo thus means place of the blackbirds or Country of the blackbirds, or Champ with the blackbirds. The battle opposed the Ottoman Empire and the Serbes. This battle is particularly expensive in the middle of the majority of the Serb ones, which likes to remember this particular date, which marked the end of their independence for nearly five centuries and their passage under the Othoman domination. But the Serb ones were not the only ones to take part in it, even if they constituted there most of the army.

Political situation before the battle

The Turkish power indeed did not cease continuing, in the Balkans since its arrival, in 1346 and supplanted the Byzantine capacity gradually dying man. Since September 26th, 1371, and the Battle of Maritza, on the edges of Marica, the Othomans had opened the doors of Balkans, by destroying a strong army, gathered by the Serb prince Vukašin Mrnjavčević. " The river had rougeoyé sang" and this powerful feudal lord and his brother had been killed there. Consequently, the Turkish danger did not cease increasing, in the area, whereas many local princes were not any more able to resist. The Byzantines of Jean V Paleologist had become the vassal ones of the sultan since 1373, as well as the Bulgarian ones. In Occident, the Pope tried well to start a crusade, but his call " its fruits" carried; that well later, in 1396, Battle of Nicopolis. The heart of the medieval Serb state inherited the Tsar Dusan died in 1355, was from now on under the direct threat of Murat I {{er}} and this one launched its raids as far as Bosnia (1388).

Economic progresses and cultural of the State of prince Lazar attracted Turkish more and more towards the Serbia. Lazar knew it and it prepared carefully, for confrontation against the powerful Othoman empire .

The first battle on the territory of lazar between the Serb ones and Turkish took place in 1381 with Dubravica, close to Paracin, the Serb army, with at their head the generals Crep and Vitomir, gained the victory. The Bataille of dubravica was celebrated by all the Chrétiens. Then, in 1386, lazar itself intercepted one second army, carried out by Murat Ier in person, on the level of the river Toplica close to Plocnik, still a defeat for Turkish, " Murat is afraid, it enfuit." bring back a Serb chronicler of the time.

In spite of these defeats against the Serb ones, Turkish went from victory in victory in the rest of Europe of south-east, 1388 Thessalonique fall after a long seat, Serrès already in 1383 was also Othoman, they also occupied two Serb kingdoms, that of Balsa II in 1385 and that of vukasin in 1371. The Turks thus had still important reserves soldier, thanks to their new vassal. They attacked then the king of Bosnia Tvrtko Ier combined of Lazar, thus hoping to weaken Lazar. The general of Tvrtko, Vlatko Vukovic, put in rout the Turkish army led by Lala Sahin.

Involved forces

The army Serbe is under the command of two princes, rival political for supremacy on the Serb ones: the " Tsar" Lazar Hrebeljanović, prince de Serbie and Vuk Branković, Serb lord of the Kosovo. This Serb army is also supported by allies the prince of Bosnia Tvrtko Ier, approximately 1 third of the totality of the troops of Lazar.

This one, quite as disparate is made up of Turks, but also of vassal Moslems and Chrétiens. The Janissaire S, the crack corps of the armies osmanlis are also present. The rows Turkish are provided much than those of the Balkan coalition, but the latter can count on the fine flower of the Serb knighthood. Among the latter, one can quote those immortalized by the local Chansons de geste namely: Miloš Obilić, Toplica Milan, Kosančić Ivan and Jug Bogdan and its nine sons, which all will succumb at the time of the engagements.

To the mobility and the lightness of the Turks are opposed the power and the effectiveness of the Serb knighthood, which can all insert, the more so as the combat proceeds in plain.

Course of the battle

The combat lasted all the day, it was bloody and rather undecided. In a first phase, the knighthood Serbe inserted one of the Turkish wings and Murad Ier succumbed, in circumstances which are presented under various versions. According to the Serb accounts epic, Miloš Obilić having promised to kill the Sultan before the battle, went under its tent and broke there, with a dagger dissimulated in its boot.

This death was felt hard by the Osmanlis, which started to be relaxed, but the son of Murat Ier, Bajazet Ier managed to avoid the rout, it also benefitted from it to make kill his Yakub brother who directed the right wing of the army Othoman. In spite of that, the news of the victory of the Christians had been spread in Occident, spread by the observers of the Pope and Tvrtko Ier.

The Turks were however going to seize again and take a bloody revenge on the coalition. Lazar and all its noble are finally made prisoners and decapitated on the battle field. The Turks remain Masters of the ground, but did not penetrate more in Serbia to subject it because the death of Murat and the murder of Yakub during the battle had weakened considerably the authority of Bajazet Ier, it had returns on its grounds for marked its capacity on its vassal and avoided any risk of revolt.

Consequences of the battle

The Serb ones were indeed overcome, but they did not have demerit. And Bayezid Ier, was not victorious either because it hastened to conclude peace with the widow from Lazar, Milica and its men ceased a time their projection towards the west. The conquest in taken again not less more beautiful, in the middle of XVe century.

In fact, there was no immediate winner because the Turks found themselves in situation of war of heritage and the Serb ones did not have any more aristocracy. Thus none of the two camps could assert the victory even if the king from Bosnia sent to Rome a letter in which it announced that the Serb ones had gained the battle. But in the long run, the Turks who had more human resources than the Serb ones could reconstitute more quickly of the armies whereas Serbia could never reconstitute its power, the Turks thus had the advantage.

Its significance for the Serb ones: some lines of thinking

If one can think that the Serb ones show nationalism, the memory of this battle is also for Serb the occasion to express the pride of their past by reminding the heroism and the courage of their combatants and thus the expression of their nation (from where his use by certain Serbes leaders to orchestrate a policy ultra-nationalist). For the Serb ones, this battle against the Othomans means the end of old of Serb gold and the beginning of oppression and the conversions forced for the people of Yugoslavia during several centuries. A tower built in 1953 with the memory of Serb fallen in this day from the Saint Guy (Vidovdan) allows, the top of its terrace, to contemplate the “field of the blackbirds”. A table of orientation clearly reports the position of the various army corps as well as the deployed strategy. The legend says that widespread Serb blood in the plain makes flower each year of the wild peonies, which, in fact, are very rare plants in the country

Different name of the battle according to the languages

: Beteja E German Kosovës
: Schlacht auf dem Amselfeld
: Battle off Amselfeld, Battle off Kossovo or Bulgarian Battle off Kosovo
: БитканаКосовополе or Косовскабитка (Kosovska bitka)
Croatian: Bitka Na Kosovu polju or Spanish Kosovska bitka
: Batalla de Kosovo
: Battle of Kosovo Polje or field of the Czech Blackbirds
: Bitva Na polished Kosově
Italian: Battaglia di Kosovo
Greek: Μάχη του Κοσσυφοπεδίου (Máchē tou Kossyphopedíou)
: Rigómezei csata
: Bitwa Na Kosowym Polu
: Batalha de Kosovo
Rumanian: Bătălia of Russian Câmpia Mierlei
: БитванаКосовомполе (Bitva Na Kosovom pole)
Serb Latin: Kosovski Boj or Boj Na Cyrillic Kosovu Polju
Serb: Косовскибој or Slovak БојнаКосовуПољу
: Bitka Slovenien Na polished Kosovom
: Bitka Na Kosovem polju
: Slaget vid Trastfältet or Slaget vid Kosovo Turkish Polje
: Kosova Savaşı

Simple: Battle off Kosovo

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