Kosovo, Battle of

Kosovo, Battle of, victory of the Ottoman Turkish army under Sultan Murad I over the Serbian army under King Lazarus at Kosovo Polje (“Field of the Blackbirds”), Serbia, in 1389. The Turks had crossed the Hellespont to invade Europe in 1356, and five years later Murad had captured Thessalonica and Adrianople, the two most important Greek towns after Athens. Only Serbia offered serious resistance, but at Kosovo Lazarus had gathered a Christian army which included Bulgars, Bosnians, Albanians, Poles, Hungarians, and Mongols, as well as Serbians. During the battle a Serbian noble penetrated the Turkish camp pretending to be a deserter and fatally wounded Murad with a poisoned dagger. The Turks rallied, however, and not surprisingly inflicted a total defeat on an army which spoke seven different languages. Lazarus was captured and executed, Serbia was forced to pay tribute to the Turks, and Serbians forced to serve in the Turkish army.

In 1448 a Christian army under the Hungarian, Janos Hunyadi, fought once more against the Turks at Kosovo, in what was a final attempt to save Constantinople, but at a vital point in the battle his Walachian allies deserted to the Turks, who again won a decisive victory. Five years later the Turks captured Constantinople.