The “Battle of Kosovo” was the biggest battle fought in the Kosovo Field, near Prishtina. This battle was fought between the armies of an anti-Ottoman coalition, led by the Serbian prince Lazar, and the Ottoman army, commanded by Sultan Murad I. After the victory at the Battle of Marica, in 1371, the Ottomans continued their conquests in the Central Balkans, reaching the Albanian and Serbian territories. It was becoming clear to Southeast European rulers that the Ottoman onslaught could not be met with their own forces alone. Serbian, Bosnian, Hungarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian and Albanian forces participated in the broad coalition army formed under these conditions . Ottoman sources note the extensive participation and important role of Albanian forces, among which were, among others, the ruler of Shkodra George II Strazimir Balsha, the brothers Junt and Teodor Korona Muzaka from Central Albania; the latter was killed on the battlefield. In the “Battle of Kosovo” the Ottomans had the numerical superiority with forces, which are thought to have been about 100 thousand people, against about 40 thousand of the Balkans. The battle ended with the victory of the Ottomans. A young warrior of Albanian origin, Milosh Kopiliq, penetrated to the Sultan’s tent and killed Murat I, while in revenge the Ottomans beheaded the captured Prince Lazar. The victory of Kosovo opened the way for the Ottomans for new conquests in the Central and Northern Balkans and further penetration into the Albanian territories. (Pictured: Battle of Kosovo, by Adam Stefanović, 1875.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 228.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beteja_e_Kosov%C3%ABs
Graphic processing: AHCF
