After the disastrous defeat at Maritsa, in
1371, the Serbian Empire was left without its most powerful nobles. Vukasin Mrnjavcevic and his brother Ugljesa
were killed, and only a few months later the last Serbian Emperor, Uros V, the Weak, passed
away without an heir. This effectively put an end to the Nemanjic dynasty that
held the reins of power for over two centuries. The realm disintegrated, as the local lords
carved out their own territories within the boundaries of the fallen empire. The Christian domains in the region were now
in a difficult position. Fragmented, none had the strength to hold
off the Ottoman armies. But, although Sultan Murad I could have defeated
his neighbors one by one, he knew that controlling the newly conquered
areas would not be easy and could provoke a potential creation
of an anti-Ottoman coalition. So the Sultan decided on a different strategy. Instead of seizing lands of the defeated forces,
he offered peace to the Dejanovic noble family, in exchange for vassalship. A similar strategy was executed in Bulgaria,
which was threatened the most by the Ottomans, but also Byzantium, which could only find
safety behind the walls of Constantinople. Being further west, Prince Marko, the son
of the dead King Vukašin, probably did not become an Ottoman vassal
immediately after the defeat at Maritsa. But having lost much of his troops in the battle, he was no longer able to stop nearby Serbian
nobles from seizing its territories. To stay in power, he was eventually forced
to recognize Ottoman suzerainty. With this, Sultan Murad secured
peace in the Balkans, and had significantly expanded the Ottoman
sphere of influence. At the same time, he used the annual tribute paid by the Christian
vassals to finance preparations for future campaigns, and establish strongholds that would serve as
staging points for spreading Islam further into Europe. While there was peace in the Balkans, Prince
Lazar emerged from the ruins of the Serbian Empire, as the most powerful nobleman. He used the fall of the Mrnjavčević family after
the Battle of Maritsa to consolidate his position. His ally and son-in-law Vuk Branković took Skopje from
Prince Marko, the former capital of the Serbian Empire. Then, in autumn of 1373, Lazar banded together
with the Bosnian Ban Tvrtko and a Hungarian nobleman Nicholas I Garai, to form a coalition
against his rival, Prince Nikola Altomanović. Outnumbered, and attacked from all sides, Nikola’s dominion
was conquered and divided between the three allies. And in 1379, the area of Braničevo in the
north, also fell to the ambitious Lazar. These expansions strengthened Lazar’s tax
base and manpower, while the newly acquired mineral wealth financed
recruitment of more troops. Soon enough, Lazar deemed himself the ruler
of all Serbian lands, openly claiming the right over all remnants
of the former Serbian Empire. To the west, the Bosnian Ban Tvrtko was also
on the rise, and in 1377 he was crowned as king of the Serbs and Bosnia in the Mileševo monastery, thus also showing ambition to unite all
Serbian lands into one powerful kingdom. Despite the conflicting ambitions, both Lazar
and Tvrtko remained faithful allies, ignoring their disagreements, guided exclusively
by realpolitik. While the Balkan states were dealing with
their problems, Sultan Murad renewed his offensive. In 1380, Small Ottoman contingents regularly ventured
into Christian territory, primarily to plunder, disrupt the enemy’s economy, and implant
fear among the population, but also to scout rival armies. Bulgaria suffered the brunt of these raids,
especially in the areas south of Balkan Mountains. One such incursion took place in the summer
of 1381, when an Ottoman detachment broke through
so deeply into the Bulgarian lands that they crossed into the territory
of the Serbian Prince Lazar. However, Lazar's voivodes were quick to react and managed
to defeat the Turks in the Battle of Dubravnica. The Ottoman offensive did not stop here. With a new attack in 1383, the Turks occupied Serres,
one of the most important cities in Macedonia, and two years later, Sofia was conquered. The way to Serbia was now open, and indeed
in 1386, a strong Ottoman army attacked,
taking the important city of Niš, from where they
proceeded towards Lazar's capital Kruševac. But, Lazar intercepted and dealt a heavy defeat
on the Ottomans in the Battle of Pločnik. The Turks withdrew from Serbia,
but kept hold of Niš. Encouraged by the Christian victory, Emperor
Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria stopped paying tribute and sending troops to serve under the Sultan. However, the Turks responded by invading Bulgaria
with a huge army, conquering numerous cities and forcing Ivan to again become a vassal. On the Aegean coast, in 1387, Thessaloniki,
the second largest city in Byzantium, fell into Turkish hands. In the summer of 1388, a new detachment led
by the Ottoman commander Lala Şahin Pasha set out for the Serbian lords. Without attacking Ottoman vassals Marko and
Constantine Dejanović, Şahin Pasha probably marched through Kosovo to attack the Kingdom
of Bosnia. However, under the command of voivode Vlatko
Vuković, the Bosnians inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans. Their commander Lala Şahin Pasha barely escaped
with his life from Bosnia. It was then that Sultan Murad realized that
that these incursions were not enough to destroy the economy and bring chaos within Lazar’s
domain. Although small, the so-called Moravian Serbia
was economically strong and militarily well organised. Thus, Murad began preparations for a major
military campaign to defeat Prince Lazar… Thousands were recruited from both the European
and Asian parts of the Sultanate. In 1389, with his two sons Yakub Çelebi and
Bayezid, Murad set out to settle accounts with the Serbs. Learning of Murad's plans, Lazar called upon
his ally, Tvrtko. Although busy fighting on the Dalmatian coast,
the Bosnian king sent a strong detachment under the command of Vlatko Vukovic, who had
experience in fighting the Ottomans. Lazar's son-in-law, the master of Kosovo,
Vuk Branković, also prepared for war. Very small detachments of knights from the
surrounding Christian countries, such as Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, and Wallachia,
may have come to Lazar's aid, who tried to gather as large a coalition as possible. But, his primary concern was maintaining a
precarious peace with Hungary, where not too long ago he meddled in the Hungarian civil
war against King Sigismund. With his army gathered, Lazar marched off
to meet the Ottomans. Meanwhile, Sultan Murad passed through the
territory of his Serbian vassal, Constantine Dejanovic, and advanced to meet Lazar. On June 15, 1389, the opposing forces stood
facing each other on the field of Kosovo. In the first ranks of the Ottoman army, the
Sultan positioned his archers. Behind them was a strong line of infantry,
which consisted mostly of Azebs. Further back were the Akinji light cavalry
and the Sipahi heavy cavalry. The Sultan’s sons Yakub and Bayezid commanded
the left and right wing, respectively. Murad was stationed in the center, accompanied
by a detachment of janissaries, who served as his personal guard. Across the battlefield, Lazar’s army was
mostly made up of heavy cavalry, the main fighting force in most European countries
at the time. Cavalry was placed in the front rows, with
probably some lighter cavalry units next to them. Behind them stood the infantry. Lazar commanded the center of the army, with
Bosnian voivode Vlatko Vuković at the head of the left wing and Vuk Branković commanding
the right. Sources are conflicting on the size of the
two armies. However, it is likely that the Ottomans had
a numerical advantage with 30,000 troops, especially in the infantry arm, while Lazar’s
smaller force of 20,000 troops were better equipped. Lazar’s plan was to strike and disperse
the enemy formation, knowing that the psychological pressure created by the charge of his heavy
cavalry would test the resolve of the Ottoman troops. However, Murad expected this, and arrayed
his army in a defensive formation. He planned to use his archers in the opening
stage. While they could not inflict much damage on
the heavy cavalry, their arrow volleys could provoke the enemy into an unorganized charge. Rows of spikes were placed to slow down the
advancing enemy formations. After first contact, the Ottoman infantry
would then bear the brunt of the Serbian cavalry chrage. And once Lazar’s attack lost momentum, the
Sultan would launch a general counterattack. Artillery opened the engagement. But the shots fell well short of their intended
targets. Shortly afterwards, Ottoman archers stepped
forward. They unleashed on the Serbian knights, who
waited for the signal of their commanders. Lazar ordered the charge of his entire cavalry. The thudding of thousands of European knights
steamed towards the Ottoman line. Prince Lazar himself took part in the attack,
as well as the commanders of the left and right wings. The Ottomans probably expected that the first
phase of the battle would be the most difficult. And indeed, the Serbian charge inflicted heavy
losses on Murad’s army. The Serbian left wing and center had some
success in driving back the Turks, but the greatest progress was on the right wing, commanded
by Vuk Branković. His charge was so effective that the enemy’s
infantry could not stop his advance. Murad's left wing, under the command of his
son Yakub, gradually started to bend and retreat. The Serbs were so superior on this part of
the front that they broke through to the Ottoman camp. This was the critical moment of the battle,
and most sources agree on the course of the battle only up to this point. We will rely on the correspondence that arose
immediately after the battle between the Bosnian King Tvrtko and the administration of the
city of Florence. It said that a group of Serbian knights broke
through the Ottoman ranks, and hacked their way towards Murad’s tent, which was surrounded
by camels. In the melee, one of the knights whose name
is unknown, allegedly cut down the Ottoman Sultan. Meanwhile, the situation on the front improved
for the Turks. The endangered Ottoman left wing received
reinforcements and managed to stabilize the situation, while the right wing, despite the
losses, stopped the advance of the Bosnians. Then, Bayezid brought his cavalry
into the fight and started a counter-offensive
against Vlatko Vuković. If it is true that Murad died during the battle,
as some sources claim, and that Bayezid took control of the entire army, it is truly astonishing
how the Ottomans managed to maintain discipline, and even go on the counter-offensive. Vlatko Vuković then began to lose control
of his troops, which gradually withdrew. In the end, the entire Serbian left wing fled
the field. The defeat on the left wing threatened Lazar's
left flank, which remained completely unprotected. Bayezid's troops quickly seized on this opportunity
and rushed against the Serbian center. Realizing the situation, Vuk Branković most
likely saw that the battle was lost, and initiated an organized withdrawal from the battlefield. Lazar, probably unable to carry out his own
retreat in an organized manner, either fell in battle or was captured and decapitated. According to most Ottoman sources, the death
of Sultan Murad took place while his troops were scattered and while they were chasing
the Serbian army. Allegedly, the Sultan found himself alone
momentarily, which was used by a Christian warrior who pretended to be dead, to kill
the Sultan as he walked by. Most common version in the Western world is
that a Serbian knight came to surrender, but when he was brought before Murad, he drew
a dagger and killed the Sultan. The name of the knight remained unknown, but
over time he was named Miloš Obilić and became a symbol of courage and resistance
in Serbian tradition. Due to contradictory sources, historians cannot
determine the time of the Sultan’s death. But, whenever Murad met his end, his son Yakub
was killed soon after by his brother Bayezid, in his bid to become the new Sultan. After the battle, Sultan Bayezid retreated
from the field of Kosovo to consolidate power and prevent potential rebellions. News spread throughout Europe about Sultan
Murad’s death and that the Ottoman campaign against the Christians was stopped. This news was mostly spread by the Bosnian
King Tvrtko, and indeed from his perspective the Battle of Kosovo was a great victory, especially since
most of his forces returned safely to Bosnia. But, for Moravian Serbia, the battle had catastrophic
consequences. With Lazar's death, his wife Milica took power,
because their son Stefan Lazarević was still a minor. Their powerful army was destroyed and would
take some time to recover. Although the Ottomans did not continue their
campaign after the battle, in the autumn of 1389, the Hungarians invaded Serbia from the
north, ravaging large areas and besieging smaller cities. Unable to resist them, Princess Milica was
forced to accept the suzerainty of Sultan Bayezid, and had sent her youngest daughter
to his harem as a pledge of peace between the Lazarević family and the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, Vuk Branković, having
preserved much of his troops, continued to resist the Ottomans until his death. To this day, there is disagreement among historians
about on was victorious in the Battle of Kosovo. The reason for this dispute is the death of
both rulers, which has not happened often in history. Those who claim that the battle was a Serbian
victory, base their argument that the advance of the Turks was temporarily stopped. And those who consider it an Ottoman victory,
do so because the Ottoman army prevailed on the battlefield. In any case, by defeating Lazar’s coalition
the Ottomans broke the strongest resistance in the Balkans, and as early as 1390, they
resumed their campaigns, primarily aiding their Serbian vassals in their fight against
Hungary.
