Battle of Kosovo (1389): A Short Analysis

By Kadir Yilmaz
From: Genk, Belgium 
Age: 25 years old

Abstract

In the late 14th century, the Ottoman principality had already grown into a well-organized state that formed a major political power in Anatolia. Besides Anatolia, the Ottomans had also an interest in the West. Here (in the west) the Ottomans tended to systematically conquer the Balkan and to make the Balkan their homeland. Although the powers in the Balkan were divided and in competition, these powers had one common ground, their religion. The Ottomans were forming a threat to this common ground, in the Balkan. In the end, it was not possible to prevent clashes of major powers in the Balkan (Marica in 1371 and Bileça in 1388). These clashes eventually led to the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. This battle, which was fought between the Ottoman-Anatolian forces under the command of Ottoman Sultan Murad I against a combination of knights coming from several kingdoms and principalities in the Balkan, under the command of Prince Lazar from Serbia, was a battle that played a crucial role in the determination of the future of the Ottoman state in the Balkan. 

The purpose of “Battle of Kosovo (1389): A short analysis” is to find answers to five questions, to reach a basic understanding of the first Battle of Kosovo. 

Introduction

The victory in 1371 near the Marica River, made the path open to old-heart Serbia for the Ottomans. However, the only obstacle for the Ottomans was the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebljanovic, who had his principality and saw himself as the new leader of the Serbians.¹ The Ottomans on the other hand, under the leadership of Sultan Murad I, focused on a swift victory in the Serbian territories, to prevent an unstoppable attack from the Balkan in the future. These events eventually led to the Battle of Kosovo (1389).²

The Battle of Kosovo (1389)

Question 1: What causes led to the Battle of Kosovo?

With the Ottoman victory against the Kingdom of Serbia near the Marica River (1371), the Serbian Kingdom was disintegrated into several principalities. Consequently, Ottoman Sultan Murad I ordered raids into Bosnian and Serbian territories. However, one of these raids, under the command of Kavala Sahin, was stopped during a skirmish near Bileça (1388) by the troops of King Tvartko of Bosnia.³

After this Ottoman loss, Sultan Murad I suspected the making of an alliance between King Tvartko of Bosnia and Prince Lazar of Serbia. To not give the enemy time to strengthen and organize, Sultan Murad I ordered his army to prepare for a major attack on the Balkan.⁴ At the same time, the Sultan ordered Grand Vezir Çandarlı Ali Pasha in the winter of 1388-1389, to attack Bulgaria and to prevent Tsar Ivan Sisman from joining a possible Bosnian-Serbian alliance.⁵

Question 2: What do we know about the parties participating in the Battle of Kosovo? 

As part of the war preparations, Sultan Murad I ordered his two sons, Prince Yıldırım Bayezid (governor of the provinces Germiyan and Hamid) and Prince Yakub Çelebi (governor of the province Karasi) to join him on this campaign in the Balkan. Alongside his sons, the Sultan also invited West Anatolian principalities to join him.⁶ It is not exactly clear which principalities participated in this campaign, as several sources, Ottoman and Serbian, have cited different combinations of Anatolian principalities. However, based on the contemporary work of the Serbian Marko Pecki, we can say that seven Muslim forces did join this campaign⁷, of which one was the Ottoman principality. The number of the remaining forces (six) could be a reference to the Anatolian principalities, which match well (in number) with the enumeration of most of the Ottoman and Western sources.⁸ Besides the Turkish forces, the Sultan could also count on the support of non-Turkish forces such as the forces of King Marco of Macedonia and Kostantin Dejanovic from Bulgaria.⁹

On the other hand, we have the forces of Prince Lazar, which was a combination of knights of several kingdoms and principalities from the Balkan. In summary, Prince Lazar had gotten support from Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Czechian knights.¹⁰ In this alliance, the knights of King Tvartko of Bosnia, under the command of Vlatko Vukovic and Vuk Brankovic (son-in-law of Prince Lazar) would play a crucial role.¹¹

Although sources on both sides claim that their army was smaller than the enemy¹², the two armies were probably equally sized, with a size of approximately 30.000 soldiers.¹³

Question 3: Where and when did the Battle of Kosovo take place? 

The Battle of Kosovo took place on the Kosovo Polje (field of the blackbirds), west of the city of Pristina and north of Prizren (nowadays Kosovo). This full-fledged battle in the heartland of Serbia occurred in June 1389.¹⁴ The exact date of the battle is open to discussion. Even though, western contemporaneous historians set the date for this battle on 15th June, the day of St. Vitus¹⁵, other historians find this to be wrong. The argument is that 15th June is the outcome of a miscalculation due to the use of a different calendar by Western sources. Thus, according to these historians, the correct date is 28th June.¹⁶

Question 4: Which course did the Battle of Kosovo take and what was the outcome of this battle?

In June 1389, the two powers were facing each other on the Kosovo Polje. The battle began with the artillery attack of the Ottomans. As a reaction to this, the Serbian cavalry started attacking the Ottoman troops. Subsequently, the left flank of the Ottomans launched an arrow attack, to stop the Serbian cavalry. The attack of the Ottomans led the cavalry to focus on the Ottoman left flank, which was commanded by Prince Yakub Çelebi. Prince Yakub Çelebi had struggled to hold the Serbian cavalry but with no success. As the left flank of the Ottomans had been pushed back, Prince Bayezid, who had not yet participated in the battle, organized a powerful attack, aiming to protect the falling left flank. The counter-attack of Prince Bayezid successfully pushed the troops of Prince Lazar back and led to the desertion of Vuk Brankovic and the Bosnian knights under the command of Vlatko Vukovic.¹⁷ The battle lasted for eight hours¹⁸ and led to many losses on both sides.¹⁹

At the end of the battle, the Ottoman Princes were chasing the fleeing enemy. It was at this time that while Sultan Murad I was walking on the battlefield, he was assassinated by the wounded Serbian nobleman, Milos Obiliç. Immediately after the assassination, Prince Bayezid was called to the tent of his dying father. The severely wounded sultan gave his son his last wishes, as well as the leadership of the Ottoman state. As a reaction to the death of his father, Bayezid ordered the immediate death of Prince Lazar. Furthermore, Bayezid called upon his brother Yakub Çelebi, who was chasing the enemy, to the tent of his father. Prince Yakub Çelebi, who had probably no clue of his father’s death, entered the tent of his father and was immediately executed by choking. The reason for the death of Prince Yakub was simply the fear of an uprising for the Ottoman throne.²⁰

Question 5: What are the consequences of the Battle of Kosovo?

Although most sources state that the Battle of Kosovo was a decisive Ottoman victory, it would take Sultan Bayezid time to make the principality of Prince Lazar a vassal state of the Ottomans (1390). Furthermore, Vuk Brankovic would rule independently over his territory until 1392. The reason for the slowdown of the activities of Sultan Bayezid in the Balkan depends on the chaotic end of the Battle of Kosovo, which had led to instability in the east. Thus, Sultan Bayezid had to restore the Ottoman authority in the east for several reasons: the assassination of his father, the death of his brother, and the uprising of the Anatolian principalities to seize more territory.²¹

Together with the battle of Marica (1371), the Battle of Kosovo is the battle that decided the future stay of the Ottomans in the Balkan.²² More specifically, the victory at the Battle of Kosovo led to the breakdown of the resistance of the feudal principalities in south Serbia, the opportunity to extend into south Serbia, and the opening of the northern doors of Serbia.²³

Endnotes

• 1.  Emmert, T. (1991). “The Battle of Kosovo: Early reports of victory and defeat”, Kosovo, Legacy of a Medieval Battle, ed. W. Vucinich-T. Emmert, Minneapolis. 
• 2.  Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari. 
• 3.  Inalcık, H. (2010). Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları 1302-1481 [Book; Print]. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi (İSAM). 
• 4.  Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari. 
• 5.  Inalcık, H. (2010). Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları 1302-1481 [Book; Print]. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi (İSAM). 
• 6.  Uzunçarşılı, İ. H. (2023). Osmanlı Tarihi (1.cilt) Anadolu Selçukluları ve Anadolu Beylikleri Hakkında Bir Mukaddime İle Osmanlı Devleti’nin Kuruluşundan İstanbul’un Fethine Kadar (14th ed.). Türk Tarih Kurumu.
• 7.  Marko Pećki (1986), “Žitije svetog patrijarha Jefrema”, Šest pisaca XIV veka: Grigorije Raški, Jakov Serski, Siluan, Nepoznati Svetgorac, Monah Jefrem, Marko Pećki, haz. Dimitrije Bogdanović, Belgrad: Prosveta.
• 8.  Fırat, O. (2021). Çağdaş Sırp ve Dubrovnik Kayıtlarına Göre I. Kosova Savaşı. Güneydoğu Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi / the Journal of South-Eastern European Studies, 0(36), 83–96. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.866825. 
• 9.  Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari. 
• 10. Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari. 
• 11. Fırat, O. (2021). Çağdaş Sırp ve Dubrovnik Kayıtlarına Göre I. Kosova Savaşı. Güneydoğu Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi / the Journal of South-Eastern European Studies, 0(36), 83–96. https://doi.org/10.26650/gaad.866825. 
• 12. Uzunçarşılı, İ. H. (2023). Osmanlı Tarihi (1.cilt) Anadolu Selçukluları ve Anadolu Beylikleri Hakkında Bir Mukaddime İle Osmanlı Devleti’nin Kuruluşundan İstanbul’un Fethine Kadar (14th ed.). Türk Tarih Kurumu.
• 13. Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari. 
• 14. Bunting, T. (2024, July 9). Battle of Kosovo (1389) | Description & Significance. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Kosovo-1389-Balkans. 
• 15. Annales Ragusini Anonymi (1883), Vol. XIV of Monumenta spectantia historiam slavorum meridionallum (Zagreb). 
• 16. Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari. 
• 17. Feridun Emecen, “Balkanlar’da Yeni Bir Dönüm Noktası: Kosova Savaşı (1389)”, Savaşın Sultanları: Osmanlı Padişahlarının Meydan Muharebeleri, haz. Feridun Emecen, Erhan Afyoncu, I. 
• 18.Uzunçarşılı, İ. H. (2023). Osmanlı Tarihi (1.cilt) Anadolu Selçukluları ve Anadolu Beylikleri Hakkında Bir Mukaddime İle Osmanlı Devleti’nin Kuruluşundan İstanbul’un Fethine Kadar (14th ed.). Türk Tarih Kurumu.
• 19. Anonim (1993), “Zapis iz prologa”, Spisi o Kosovu, haz. Milka Ivić, Belgrad: Prosveta. 
• 20.Uzunçarşılı, İ. H. (2023). Osmanlı Tarihi (1.cilt) Anadolu Selçukluları ve Anadolu Beylikleri Hakkında Bir Mukaddime İle Osmanlı Devleti’nin Kuruluşundan İstanbul’un Fethine Kadar (14th ed.). Türk Tarih Kurumu.
• 21. Emmert, T. (1991). “The Battle of Kosovo: Early reports of victory and defeat”, Kosovo, Legacy of a Medieval Battle, ed. W. Vucinich-T. Emmert, Minneapolis. 
• 22. Uzunçarşılı, İ. H. (2023). Osmanlı Tarihi (1.cilt) Anadolu Selçukluları ve Anadolu Beylikleri Hakkında Bir Mukaddime İle Osmanlı Devleti’nin Kuruluşundan İstanbul’un Fethine Kadar (14th ed.). Türk Tarih Kurumu.
• 23. Emecen, F. (2024). KOSOVA SAVAŞLARI. In TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (pp. 1–4). https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kosova-savaslari

Some images used on this blog are sourced from the internet and are assumed to be in the public domain. We make every effort to ensure proper attribution, but if you are the owner of an image and believe it has been used without proper permission, please contact us so we can give proper credit or remove the image as requested.