in the early 14th century the ottomans were a semi-nomadic turkic tribe living on the anatolian
peninsula just like so many other tribes its leader osmond first pops up in historical
sources in descriptions of the 1301 battle of baffias fought between him and the byzantines
he emerged victorious with the most significant gain being that his baelik became an independent
political unit over time they continued their fight against the byzantine empire and even
annexed some of their neighboring bay leagues or principalities his victories made osmond famous
and his name traveled far and wide attracting nomadic warriors from all over the peninsula
osman passed away in 1324 increasing his territory significantly while respecting the strong
fortifications surrounding his territories his son aurahan succeeded him he continued his conquest in
the region when he annexed the territory of his main contender the karacids the ottomans gained
access to seaports and an ideal springboard for raiding the european mainland the byzantine
emperor signed treaties with the ottomans where they promised to come to his defense if need be
that is how they gained the timber fortress on the gallipoli peninsula after defeating a serbian
bulgarian army marching against constantinople the emperor awarded them the fort but the emperor was
a toothless tiger and two years later the ottomans simply captured the entire peninsula without any
repercussions around this time oron passed away and was succeeded by his son murad the first
for the next three decades these turkic people rapidly expanded into the european belkan in the
1360s i conquered adrianopol renaming it ederne and making it their capital its strategic location
facilitated its expansion in the balkan capturing filipolis in 1363 they cut off the bulgarians from
byzantium the byzantine emperor could only look on as the ottomans surrounded and cut off his city
to preserve his position he acknowledged murat suzerainty rendering him no more than
an ottoman vassal on their western border the ottomans met the remnants of the serbian empire
in 1355 its ruler emperor stefan duchamp passed away with decades of internal turmoil as a result
despite internal turmoil the serbs were wary of the ever-expanding ottoman empire
already in 1371 up to 60 thousand soldiers under the serbian king marched onto aedeon this endeavor
ended in a disaster and in ottoman chronicles it is referred to as the destruction of the serbs
sultan murad's forces ambushed the crusader army closed by ederne it led to thousands killed and
drowned in the subsequent route if anything it confirmed the ottomans position in the balkan
and murad realized the potential of retaining the administrative infrastructure of territory
saving him the hassle of erecting a new system so he offered many rulers the right to manage
their current territories as long as they became ottoman vessels they had to supply him with troops
in wartime pay tribute and taxes in return murad agreed not to fight them employing this tactic
murad rallied smaller lords in the balkan against the large northern army sent to try and expel the
ottomans in 1371 he began his campaign against macedonia he captured monastery in 1382 three
years later he captured sofia and forced the bulgarian tsar to accept ottoman suzerainty
the new byzantine emperor had to renew his ties of vesselage or face of besiegement
a few years earlier ottomans lost the gallipoli peninsula to the civilian crusade now the emperor
could do nothing but again sacrificed the peninsula to the ottomans to prevent a war
moral mainly focused on consolidating his position and after subduing the bulgarian territories
he captured the serbian city of nish and the venetian-controlled city of thessaloniki
among the feudal lords forced to accept ottoman suzerainty was lazar controlling the most powerful
state in the disintegrated serbian empire moravian serbia he must have grown worried around the time
the ottomans captured sofia and the capture of niche and fossilized of serbian feudal lords
didn't contribute to his sense of security in 1386 gathering an army consisting of serbs bosnians
albanians and wallachians he defeated the local ottoman commander la la shaine pasha at plotnik
achieving several minor victories more wallachians bulgarians albanians and hungarians joined the
ranks of lazar's army to repel the ottoman yoke in response murad cut off bulgaria from the league he
diligently prepared his campaign concluding peace treaties with venice in genoa then he
began his epic march towards lazar's army on his way through the balkans many feudal lords joined
him whether it was voluntary or under pressure he managed to gather up to 40 000 troops both
sides used scouts and as i approached kosovo poya lazar and murad prepared for the inevitable battle
at dawn on june 15 1389 lazar positioned his troops on the north bank of the river lab
approximately three miles to the northwest of pristina commanding no more than between 15 and
20 000 soldiers of whom at best a few thousand cavalry his army was significantly outnumbered
lazar planned on using the river lab as a defensive line lazar himself commanded
the main contingent of serbs to his right the nobleman fuk brankovic commanded the remainder
of the serbs and on his left the bosnian grand duke vladkovkovic commanded mainly bosnian troops
the center front lines were manned by heavy serbian cavalry supported on its flanks by
the lighter cavalry contingents equipped with bows and arrows behind the cavalry
stood lazar's infantry both flanks commanded no more than seven thousand troops some chronicles
talk of the use of several pieces of artillery lined up between lazar brancovich and vukovic
meanwhile murat commanded at least double the number of soldiers of whom up to 9 000 recovery
chronicles revealed his army including his mercenaries were much better equipped than
the serbs his army arrived at pristina on june 14 where he aligned his troops and
had them prepare for battle part of his army and camped south of a split off of the sydnika river
they included elite janissary units and european levies mullet commanded the center of his armies
with in front of him the majority of his janissaries his unbiased commanded the right
wing mainly consisting of anatolian cavalry and his oldest son jakub commanded the left consisting
of another cavalry contingent both flanks were supported by approximately 1 000 archers
chronicles recount the course of the battle in a different manner
either a volley by the ottoman archers against brankovic's cavalry or a serbian
artillery attack missing any discernible targets mark the beginning of the battle
brankovich's cavalry now formed into a great v wedge formation and charged jakob's left flank
they managed to push back the ottoman cavalry causing significant damage in their formation
meanwhile both lazar and vukovic launched their charge
understanding the serbian momentum on his left mulatto ordered byzat to launch a counter-attack
on the right flame bucovich's bosnians engaged in heavy close combat with baez's light cavalry
but whereas barankovich's flank managed to hold out against the ottomans
both lazar and vukovic had trouble fighting the agile cavalry and light infantry
moonlight's janissaries supported by cavalry charged into the serbian infantry vanguard
realizing they were outnumbered part of the main serbian infantry pulled back
to their left their retreat left prince lazar exposed fukovich inflicted heavy damage on by
his swing but when the ottomans launched a strong counter-attack it pushed back the bosnians they
were driven towards the center where lazar's infantry only barely held out against mula's
janissaries and cavalry meanwhile on grangovich's wing things turned against the serbian cavalry
the ottomans managed to gain the upper hand and push back the heavy cavalry
fighting continued all day but slowly and surely brankovic's wing was pushed
towards the sydnika river leaving lazar center entirely exposed to jakob's wing
at a critical moment in battle vukovich's bosnians retreated from the battlefield altogether
no discernible reason has been given but likely he presumed they were to lose the battle and wanted
to preserve as many of his troops as he could it is likely that upon his retreat lazar was
captured by the ottoman janissaries who finally broke through the center ranks of the serbs but
uncle vicious troops too retreated from the battlefield upon seeing the central lines broken
although murad's elite genesis protected him he was killed either during or right after the battle
the serb milos obilic either posed as a traitor to get close to him and then stabbed him
or feigned his death on the battlefield and struck him when muhat inspected the battlefield
the sultan died and obliged too was immediately killed by his bodyguards
upon mural's death bias it took over command of the army he led the ottomans to victory there
weren't that many serbs and bosnians left anymore but with brankovic and vukovic gone
it didn't take too long for the final soldiers to retreat from the battlefield
upon murad's death bayesi took over command of the army he led the ottomans to a victory and
with both brankovic and vukovic gone the remaining serbian troops too retreated from the battlefield
preventing any other claim to the ultimate throne by his it as his brother jacob strangled right
after to avenge his father's death he had prince lazar executed by his it returned
to adirna to be crowned sultan there weren't any follow-up campaigns but nevertheless the
losses were disastrous for the serbians however initially vukovic reported the serbian losses were
light only later did it become clear lazar had fallen and the serbs had suffered a severe blow
bizet installed lazar's son stephen lozadovich on the throne as a loyal vassal moreover he ensured
his loyalty by marrying lazar's daughter it would not be for another 70 years for serbia to be fully
annexed by the ottomans thank you for watching this video if there's a topic or event you would
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