In the year 1396, one of the largest
allied armies Medieval Christendom had ever assembled was mobilized and
ready to march upon the House of Osman. The fate of the Ottoman presence in the
Balkans, and perhaps the Empire as a whole, was on the line. In this episode of our
series on the history of the Ottoman Empire, we will cover one of the most critical
military engagements in Ottoman history: The Battle of Nicopolis, the crowning
achievement of Sultan Bayezid I the Thunderbolt. If you want any chance of getting a cool name
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anti-Ottoman crusade, King Sigismund of Hungary was finally ready to face the forces of
“the Thunderbolt.” During the late summer of 1396, the crusader army paraded out of Buda and began
their march down south alongside the left bank of the Danube. Knowing that he could not supply his
large army in one spot for any length of time, the Hungarian King opted for a more mobile solution,
the pre-emptive invasion of Ottoman Bulgaria. This would be the first phase of his anti-Ottoman
crusade, as re-establishing Christian rule in the region would serve as a buffer to his kingdom
against Ottoman aggression. After taking Bulgaria, the Crusaders likely planned to move further
south and lift the blockade of Constantinople. Alongside the main crusader contingent heading
south, a smaller eastern contingent was sent through Transylvania into Wallachia
to restore Mircea I to his throne. Capturing the region would give Sigismund control
over the northern bank of the Danube, which would play an essential role in his future invasion
of Ottoman Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the crusader fleet supplied by Genoa, Venice, and the Knights
Hospitaller had begun their naval operations in the Aegean Sea, resulting in the harassment of
Ottoman shipping in the region. In addition to these developments, the Bosporus and Dardanelles
straits were also blockaded by the crusader navy, thus permanently cutting off Bayezid from his
Anatolian holdings. After Constantinople was resupplied with goods and additional troops, a
small contingent of the crusader navy sailed into the Black Sea and then into the Danube River
to rendezvous with the main crusader army. Back in the west, the main crusader army under
Sigismund crossed into the lands of Bayezid’s vassal, the Tsardom of Vidin, through the coastal
town of Orșova. After spending eight days crossing over the Danube, the army found itself at
the gates of the regional capital of Vidin. Seeing that a large crusader army was at his gates
and witnessing the death of a Bulgarian monarch at the hands of Bayezid the previous year, Tsar
Ivan Sratsimir of Vidin opened the gates of his kingdom to the crusaders. What followed would
be the massacre and imprisonment of the local Ottoman garrison in the capital town.
During the aftermath of the bloody event, Sratsimir resupplied the crusader army
and gave Sigismund free passage into Ottoman Bulgaria through his realm. While the main
crusader army began its operations in the local region, the smaller crusader force marching into
Wallachia had also secured some gains of its own. The forces of the pro-Ottoman Wallachian
usurper, Vlad I, had been pushed back into the eastern portions of Wallachia while Mircea
I regained his capital of Curtea de Argeș. This gave the Hungarian King access to large sections
of the northern bank of the Danube, which would be vital in resupplying his vast mobile host,
which marched on the opposite bank of the river. However, despite these early successes, not
all would go as intended for the crusader army. Tensions between the Western Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox churches had been ongoing since the days of the East-West Schism of 1054 and the Fourth
Crusade of 1204. Both groups often saw the members of the opposing church as untrustworthy and,
in some cases, heretical, on par with Muslims. These sectarian tensions between the members
of the two churches would rear their ugly heads during Sigismund’s crusade. In the following days
after Vidin’s submission, crusader forces fanned out across the countryside of the tsardom
and plundered the region indiscriminately. As the main crusader army marched west alongside
the Danube, they arrived at the strongly fortified town of Oryahovo. Seeing that the odds were
heavily against them, the local Ottoman garrison of the town offered King Sigismund terms
of surrender in return for their lives and the lives of the Muslim populace of the town. The
Hungarian King accepted the offer as he had plans for the region after the crusade; however, after
the surrender of the town, the Franco-Burgundian element of the crusader army, in an act of
open defiance, disregarded the terms of peace. The local Ottoman garrison was massacred alongside
the town’s Muslim and Eastern Orthodox populace, much to the horror and frustration of Sigismund. Despite the internal religious tensions
bubbling up within his army, King Sigismund continued toward the Ottoman fortress town
of Nicopolis. In the year after its capture, the former Bulgarian capital had been strengthened
with new fortifications and a well-supplied garrison led by the Ottoman marcher lord, Doğan
Bey. The town stood on a high position overlooking the Danube and had been a vital ferry location
for the Ottomans going into Wallachia. According to Sigismund, Nicopolis had to be captured
if Christian rule were to return to Bulgaria. As a result, during the first weeks of September,
the fortress of Nicopolis was put under siege. This time around, the Ottoman defenders stood
their ground, for they had most likely heard about the brutal fates of their brethren in
Vidin and Oryahovo. Seeing that Nicopolis would not surrender, the crusader army constructed
siegeworks and mines over the next few days while supplies and reinforcements from Wallachia
and the crusader fleet arrived from the Danube. During the Crusader’s advance, the Sultan had
been personally overseeing the blockade of Constantinople. Now, he focused on the advancing
enemy and began mustering forces to confront his foe directly. Seeing that he had to strike
the crusader army before they could gain a significant foothold in Bulgaria, Bayezid gave out
orders for his armies in the Balkans, including his vassal Stefan Lazarevic, to gather in Edirne
and Plovdiv. The sultan planned on catching the crusader army off guard by assembling his army
behind the Balkans Mountains, far from the prying eyes of crusader scouting parties, then force
marching said army to Nicopolis. In the first weeks of September, Bayezid would leave a small
force to continue the blockade of Constantinople while he and his 20,000-strong Ottoman host began
his march north to meet the forces of Sigismund. The Ottoman response to the crusade would be
a swift one. In later centuries, it took an Ottoman army up to six weeks to assemble its
ranks and another three weeks to travel from Edirne to the Danube. However, completing this
journey took “the Thunderbolt” only two weeks. Much to the surprise and panic of the
crusaders, on the 22nd of September, Bayezid’s host was spotted near Tarnovo
by their scouting parties in the region. Only two days later, the Ottoman Sultan had
established a war camp several kilometers south of Nicopolis. According to Ottoman chronicles,
under the shroud of darkness, Bayezid rode to the walls of Nicopolis to inform the local Ottoman
garrison of the arrival of his army. The sultan promised Doğan Bey and his men that come the next
day, he would shatter the crusader army beneath the walls of their fortress. In retaliation to the
sudden arrival of the Ottoman army at Nicopolis, thousands of the remaining Muslim prisoners
from Vidin and Oryahovo were rounded up near the crusader camp and executed. The gruesome
struggle for Nicopolis had just begun. Even though they had defeated a minor Ottoman
scouting party in the days before Bayezid’s arrival, many in the crusader camp were skeptical
about how to approach their current situation. The crusader host was now stuck between the local
garrison of Nicopolis and Bayezid’s large host, and worst enough, they had the impassable
Danube River to their rear. In one swift move, the Ottoman Sultan had managed to besiege the
besiegers of Nicopolis. As a result of their situation, a war council was called by Sigismund
during the evening of the 24th of September. The decision to face the Ottoman host the
following morning was agreed on; however, the Hungarian King advised to take a more
cautious approach. He wanted the Wallachian and Transylvanian contingents of his army to
head the crusader assault as they had the most experience in fighting against the Ottomans. After
all, the veteran Voivode Mircea of Wallachia had defeated Bayezid on two separate occasions
in the years before the crusade. Meanwhile, Sigismund also advised the Franco-Burgundian
and Hungarian elements of the army to support the main attack in the case of an Ottoman
counterattack. This advice fell on deaf ears, as Sigismund’s thoughtful strategy was ignored
due to internal divisions within the crusader camp once again resurfacing. Many Franco-Burgundian
leaders were outraged with Sigismund’s plan, seeing it as dishonorable to enter battle
behind the Wallachians and Transylvanians, whom they regarded as peasants. The Constable
of France, Philip of Artois, even accused the Hungarian monarch of trying to steal the
honor and glory of the battle for himself. After many hours of shouting and fussing,
Sigismund would cave into the demands of the Franco-Burgundian leaders; their western
knights would now head the crusader assault. During the morning of September 25th, the
numerically even Ottoman and crusader armies deployed for battle south of Nicopolis. On the
crusader side, the mounted Franco-Burgundian knights made up the first line, while King
Sigismund and his mainly Hungarian contingent made up the second line behind them. Wallachian troops
led by Mircea were stationed on the crusader left wing, while Transylvanian troops led by Stephen
Lackfi were stationed on the crusader right wing. A small contingent of crusaders was left
behind to continue the siege on Nicopolis. Unlike their crusader counterparts, the Ottoman
army was far more centralized in its command structure. Ottoman Akinci light horsemen made
up the front line, while behind them was a mix of irregular light infantry from Anatolia and the
Balkans called “azabs.” Behind them were Bayezid’s household troops, also known as the Kapikulu,
which comprised several thousand elite Janissaries and Kapikulu Sipahi heavy cavalry. They were
led by the Sultan himself and his Grand Vizier, Candarlizade Ali Pasha. Meanwhile, the Ottoman
right wing consisted of Balkan Timarli Sipahi heavy cavalry led by the Sultan’s eldest son,
Suleyman Çelebi. On the Ottoman left wing were the Anatolian Timarli Sipahi heavy cavalry led
by Kara Timurtaş Pasha. Lastly, on the extreme Ottoman right wing were the mounted Serbian
knights led by their prince, Stefan Lazarevic. In the hours leading up to the battle, King
Sigismund sent scouting parties to locate Ottoman positions south of Nicopolis to find the
camps Bayezid had concealed from the crusaders. Due to this situation, the battle was delayed for
another two hours, much to the annoyance of the Franco-Burgundian element of the army. Soon, the
waiting became too much for the Frenchmen to bear. Then a battle cry by Philip of Artois was
heard as he seized a banner of the Virgin Mary: ”Forward in the name of God and St.George,
today you shall see me a valorous knight.” Before a general order to advance was given,
Franco-Burgundian knights under their eager commanders unexpectedly charged forward to seek
out the enemy themselves, much to the horror of many senior leaders in the crusader camp. After
some time advancing forward, off in the distance, the Franco-Burgundian line spotted Ottoman
Akinci light horsemen scouting their positions. Seeing an opportunity to gain glory on
the battlefield, the mounted western knights of Europe proceeded to charge into the
lightly armored ranks of the Ottoman Akıncıs, resulting in heavy losses for the Muslims.
With the remaining Akinci retreating back towards the Ottoman camp and believing they
had won a great victory, the Franco-Burgundian mounted knights continued moving forward
to make contact with the main Ottoman line. However, as the knights continued riding
forward, they encountered a steep slope topped by a forest of sharpened stakes. Behind
the stakes lay the main Ottoman line of azabs, who were armed with various weapons ranging from
axes, maces, bows, and spears. Under immense arrow fire from the enemy, many knights dismounted
from their horses to get through the Ottoman defenses uphill, but many Franco-Burgundians were
wounded alongside their steeds. Despite this, the poorly armored azabs were no match against
the mighty knights of Europe, and many were killed in hand-to-hand combat. Seeing that his
front line was in grave danger of collapsing, Bayezid ordered for his Timarli Sipahi heavy
cavalry to hit the flanks of the Franco-Burgundian host while his Janissaries reinforced the Ottoman
front line. This stabilized the Ottoman line, but the fierce, bloody conflict for the slope
continued as the best knights of Western Europe went toe to toe with the Sultan’s own elite
troops. As the battle raged on, King Sigismund’s contingent of the crusader army, made out of
infantry, had finally arrived on the battlefield. Wanting to prevent the two crusader contingents
from uniting their forces at this critical moment in the battle, the now anxious Bayezid played his
last hand. Sending forth his remaining Timarli Sipahi cavalry and the remnants of his Akinci
and azab units, the Ottoman Sultan ordered the creation of a new battle line to be formed
between the two crusader hosts. Meanwhile, the Sultan’s own Kapikulu Sipahi cavalry was sent
forward to flank around and charged into the rear of the Franco-Burgundian knights. The latter
move brought about heavy casualties for the Western knights as they were now surrounded on
both sides by Bayezid’s elite household troops. As the battle for the slope continued, the newly
formed Ottoman line crashed into Sigismund’s contingent of the crusader army. Although taking
heavy losses, the Ottoman line successfully prevented the Hungarian monarch from uniting
his forces with the Franco-Burgundians, who were at this point in the battle exhausted after
hours of fighting under the burning morning sun. With Sigismund unable to break through Ottoman
lines to reach the Franco-Burgundians, panic began to spread in the crusader army. Perhaps seeing
the day was lost and wanting to preserve their troops for future wars against the Ottomans, both
Wallachian and Transylvanian contingents of the crusader host began to withdraw from the battle.
Before long, Sigismund’s host was now stranded, and the remaining Franco-Burgundian were
surrendering to Ottoman troops in droves. At this critical junction, Bayezid delivered
the final flow of the battle. The Ottoman Sultan ordered his mounted Serbian knights,
led by Stefan Lazarevic, to charge the flank of the remaining Hungarian army. The following
Serbian charge would be decisive as it left many dead on the battlefield, thus resulting in the
complete rout of the remaining crusader army. The remnants of Sigismund’s army that survived
the Ottoman onslaught made their way up north to the Danube as Venetian and Genoese ships began
preparations for evacuation operations. In full panic, many crusaders drowned in the deep waters
of the Danube while the Hungarian King barely escaped with his own life as he was pushed into
the river before being saved onto a local fishing vessel by his personal guard. On his way back to
Hungary, Sigismund would place the blame for the crusader defeat on the Franco-Burgundians, stating
that their pride and vanity had cost them the day. The Battle of Nicopolis ended in a decisive
Ottoman victory and was the crowning achievement of Sultan Bayezid I’s reign. Having
suffered a few thousand casualties, the Ottoman Sultan had defeated and scattered a
great European crusader army in a single battle. The following morning after his victory,
in retribution for the massacre of Muslim prisoners of Vidin and Oryahovo, “the
Thunderbolt” ordered all those he had taken prisoner in the battle to be killed.
What followed would be a general massacre of thousands of crusader soldiers in which many
were stripped of their clothing and decapitated. Only a handful of high-ranking noblemen were
spared from the onslaught, such as John of Nevers. They were ransomed off to their respective
European holdings in the following years. The defeat at Nicopolis caused a wave of
shock around Europe, as for the first time, the wider continent was personally made aware of
the impending threat of the Ottoman Sultanate. It would take half a century for European powers
to recoup and launch another major crusade against Edirne. As a result of the battle, the Ottoman
political and military presence in the Balkans was secured. In the following years, Bayezid
ramped up his blockade on the Byzantine capital of Constantinople as no support from Europe
now dared to intervene in his military matters. In the next episode, we will look go through
the last years of the Thunderbolt’s reign as a new power in the east would come knocking
on the gates of his sultanate. To ensure you don’t miss that, make sure you are
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