page_title: Rise of the Ottoman Empire
section_title: Kosovo, 1389
hierarchical_section_title: Rise of the Ottoman Empire / Political history / Murad I (1362–1389) / Kosovo, 1389
caption_attribution_description: English: Painting of the Battle of Kosovo, dated 1870, by Adam Stefanović. Prince Lazar is seen dying with his horse.Русский: Косовская Битва, 1389, художник - Адам Стефанович, маслоEspañol: Batalla de Kosovo de Adam Stefanovic, óleo, 1870
context_page_description: The foundation and rise of the Ottoman Empire is a period of history that started with the emergence of the Ottoman principality in c. 1299, and ended circa 1453. This period witnessed the foundation of a political entity ruled by the Ottoman Dynasty in the northwestern Anatolian region of Bithynia, and its transformation from a small principality on the Byzantine frontier into an empire spanning the Balkans, Anatolia and North Africa. For this reason, this period in the empire's history has been described as the "Proto-Imperial Era". Throughout most of this period, the Ottomans were merely one of many competing states in the region, and relied upon the support of local warlords and vassals to maintain control over their realm. By the middle of the fifteenth century the Ottoman sultans were able to accumulate enough personal power and authority to establish a centralized imperial state, a process which was brought to fruition by Sultan Mehmed II. The conquest of Constantinople in 1453 is seen as the symbolic moment when the emerging Ottoman state shifted from a mere principality into an empire therefore marking a major turning point in its history.
context_section_description: On St. Vitus' Day, June 15, 1389, the Ottoman army personally commanded by Sultan Murad fought the Serbian army led by Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, which also included contingents led by Vuk Branković, and a contingent sent from Bosnia by King Tvrtko I, commanded by Vlatko Vuković. Estimates vary of how large the armies were, with the Ottomans having greater numbers (27,000–40,000) than the Orthodox army (12,000–30,000). 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. The result of the battle was a draw. The Battle of Kosovo is particularly important to modern Serbian history, tradition, and national identity. Lazar's young and weak successor Stefan Lazarević (1389–1427) concluded a vassal agreement with Bayezid in 1390 to counter Hungarian moves into northern Serbia, while Vuk Branković, the last independent Serb prince, held out until 1392.
caption: Battle on Kosovo, by Adam Stefanovic, 1870
exif: {}