Battle of Kosovo

Battle of Kosovo

“Hott Spotts” will take a look each week at a region of the world

that is in the headlines of the day and we will approach the topic,

in most cases, from a historical context. For this first article I

must say I was slightly dismayed when I recently saw two Wall

Street Journal articles alluding to the Battle of Kosovo, the 1389

fight between the Ottoman Turks and the Serbs which has helped

shape the current crisis in Kosovo. I wondered what more I

could add. Well, upon further research, I can add quite a bit. As

with everything I write for stocksandnews.com, Hott Spotts will

be no different in that I hope you understand I”m not striving for

a Pulitzer Prize. Pilsner, maybe. Pulitzer, no. I”m going to

supply you with the facts, as best as I can ascertain, and keep the

stories as “breezy” as possible.

Back in the 1160s, Stefan Namanja founded what was to be

known as the Nemanjic dynasty, a dynasty which created an

expanding Serbian state. In 1331, Stefan Dushan ascended to the

throne. While Dushan as been described by one historian as

“ferocious,” I see that Dushan also instituted a number of modern

reforms. He sanctioned religious freedom, established a taxation

system and a rule of law that featured trials by jury. His empire

comprised the current Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro,

Albania, Macedonia, northern Greece and Bulgaria. Dushan died

in 1355 and his son Uros took over. This was the beginning of

the end for Serbia”s glory days.

Uros was a weak ruler and during his reign Serbian feudal lords

increased their power at the expense of the royal court.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Turks saw an opportunity to expand

their empire and upon the death of Uros in 1371 they met the

Serbs at the Battle of the Maritsa (in modern-day Bulgaria). In

strategic terms the consequences of this battle were far greater

than the 1389 Battle of Kosovo. The Turks won Bulgaria,

Macedonia and parts of southern Serbia at Maritsa. What

remained of Serbia was divided between several feudal lords.

In the aftermath of Maritsa we also come to know of Lazar

Hrebeljanovic for the first time. Prince or Knez Lazar rose to

prominence in the region covering today”s central Serbia and

parts of Kosovo. Born around 1329, little else is known for sure.

But in the early 1370s he emerged as the most powerful of the

lords ruling the territory of what was left of the former Serbia

kingdom. And, as a feudal lord, he began to greatly expand his

territory, in battle, on the border of Bosnia. [This flies in the

face of those who write that Lazar”s only battle was the Battle of

Kosovo].

As his power grew, Lazar started to describe himself as the “ruler

of all Serbs,” though this was an ambition rather than a reality.

Ban Tvrtko had himself crowned ”King of the Serbs” in 1377, but

the two remained on good terms.

By the time of the Battle of Kosovo, Lazar”s Serbia had been

strengthened by the arrival of refugees from the lands which had

already fallen under the Turks, but this did not mean his

principality had enough power to resist for any length of time.

Also, it was clear that Serbs, among others, made up part of the

force which faced Lazar”s army at Kosovo Polje, the Field of

Blackbirds, June 28th, 1389. [Two points. (1) Today, Serb

apologists don”t want it known that the battle wasn”t a purely

Serbian affair. (2) Historian Norman Davies is the only one I

read who claimed the date was June 15th. This is only significant

in that on June 28th of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was

assassinated in Sarajevo, triggering World War I. June 28th is

Serbia”s National Day.]

The day of the battle was hot as the Serbian knights marched

onto the plain arrayed in heavy mail, their armor engraved in

gold and silver. The lightly clad Turks, mounted on tireless

Mongolian ponies, picked the Serbs apart in the way of guerilla

fighters cutting up a modern conventional force. In a last-ditch

attempt to save the day, a Serbian nobleman, Milos Obilic,

deserted to the Turks and is brought before Sultan Murad.

Obilic, legend has it, pulled out a hidden dagger and killed the

Turkish leader. [Another account I read had Obilic leading a raid

of 12 men against Murad”s headquarters with Murad killed in the

clash that followed.] Obilic was then beheaded by the Turks.

Command immediately passed to Murad”s heir, Bayezid, who

finished the Serbs and captured and executed their leader, Prince

Lazar.

The actual outcome of the Battle of Kosovo is still being

debated. While Serbs of today talk of a “glorious” defeat, some

reports at the time, including those that reached Paris, would

have one believe that the Serbs actually won the battle. Other

experts claim that the battle was really a draw because both

sides retreated after the conflict. Calling it a draw because the

forces retreated is not a fair calculation. In those days territory

was conquered and then turned over to vassals of the state who

were placed in charge. About the only thing for certain that we

do know is that both Lazar and Murad were killed.

The battle changed the course of history but it”s immediate

strategic impact was far less than many subsequently came to

believe. It”s real, lasting legacy lay in the myths and legends

which came to be woven around it, enabling Kosovo Polje to

shape the nation”s historical and national consciousness.

We will take a look at the results of the battle and tie it to

Milosevic and his rise to power next Thursday, May 20th.

Prime sources for this article and next Thursday”s are as follows:

Norman Davies “Europe: A History”

Robert Kaplan “Balkan Ghosts”

Tim Judah “The Serbs: History, Myth & the Destruction of

Yugoslavia”

Brian Trumbore