The Battle of Kosovo

Battle of Kosovo 1389,
sixteenth-century Russian miniature 

Today we will talk about The Battle of Kosovo (Serbian: Косовска битка) which took place on 15 June 1389 between the army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad Hüdavendigâr. The army under Prince Lazar consisted of his own troops, a contingent led by Serbian nobleman Vuk Branković, and a contingent sent from Bosnia by King Tvrtko I, commanded by Vlatko Vuković. 




Prince Lazar was the ruler of Moravian Serbia, and the most powerful among the Serbian regional lords of the time, while Vuk Branković ruled District of Branković located in a part of Kosovo and other areas, recognizing Lazar as his overlord. The Battle of Kosovo took place in Kosovo Polje in Branković's Serbia, in the present-day Prishtina District of Kosovo. Its site is about 5 kilometers northwest of the modern city of Prishtina.


Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce. The bulk of both armies were wiped out in the battle; both Lazar and Murad lost their lives in it. Although Ottomans managed to annihilate the Serbian army, they also suffered high casualties which delayed their progress. Serbs were left with too few men to effectively defend their lands, while the Turks had many more troops in the east. Consequently, one after the other, the Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals became so in the following years.

Battle of Kosovo, by Adam Stefanović (1870)