On 15 June 1389, the Battle of Kosovo was fought in Serbia between the Ottomans under Murad I against the Serbians under Prince Lazar during the Ottoman-Serbian Wars.
Why did it happen?
In 1299, an ambitious Turkish sultan named Osman I founded the Ottoman Empire in western Anatolia to conduct raids against the Byzantine Empire. Shortly after Osman died in 1326, the Ottoman army captured the city of Brusa, which became the first Ottoman capital. In 1365, Christian Europe began to wake up to the threat posed by the Ottomans after Murad I moved his capital from Anatolia to Edirine (Adrianople) in Eastern Europe. Pope Urban V attempted to organise a crusade against Murad the following year, although this attempt was largely ineffectual and Murad exploited divisions between Christian states in the Balkans to extend his rule in Europe. In 1386, the Ottomans captured the Serbian city of Nis, forcing Prince Lazar to organise a coalition of Serbs, Bosnians, Wallachians, Hungarians, Albanians, and Saxon mercenaries to take on the Ottomans. In 1389, Murad I marched north to confront Lazar at Kosovo Field.
Who was involved?
The Ottoman army at Kosovo numbered 30,000 infantry, cavalry, and archers. The Ottoman army was arrayed into three lines: cavalry occupying the rear, infantry in the second line, and archers in the vanguard behind pointed stakes. The left wing was commanded by Yakub, the centre by Murad I and the right wing by Murad’s son, Bayezid. The Serbian army at Kosovo numbered 20,000 infantry and cavalry. The army was arrayed into two lines, with cavalry in the vanguard and infantry in the rear. The left wing was commanded by Vuk Brankovic, the centre by Prince Lazar and the right wing by Vlatko Vukovic.
What happened?
As the Serbian cavalry charged the Ottoman army, their attack was blunted by the Ottoman archers and pointed stakes. Eventually, the Serbian cavalry was able to make inroads against the Ottoman defences and push back the Ottoman left wing. As the Serbian cavalry engaged the Ottoman centre, Murad I was killed by a Serbian knight. Murad’s son, Bayezid, then took command of the Ottoman army. At that point, the Serbian army began to tire, and Bayezid led a counterattack that enveloped the Serbian left wing, inflicting severe casualties on the Serbians. As it became apparent that they were outnumbered, the remaining Serbian forces withdrew, although Prince Lazar continued to fight until he was surrounded and hacked to death.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Kosovo was an Ottoman victory. Although both sides suffered heavy casualties, with Murad and Lazar being killed during the battle, the Serbians did not have the resources and manpower to recover from the defeat. In the aftermath of the battle, the Ottomans began to make more daring raids into the Balkans, prompting King Sigismund of Hungary to organise a Crusade against the Ottomans in 1396. At the Battle of Nicopolis, the Crusader army was utterly destroyed by Bayezid I, forcing the Serbians to fight under the Ottoman banner until they were formally annexed in 1459.
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. London, Cassell Illustrated, 2011.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Smolenski, Nikola. “Battle of Kosovo, disposition of troops.” Wikimedia Commons. Last revised November 7, 2006. www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Kosovo,_disposition_of_troops.svg
Webb, Jonathan. “Battle of Kosovo, 1389.” The Art of Battle. Last revised 2010. www.theartofbattle.com/battle-of-kosovo-1389/