Battle of the Mariza

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In the Battle of Chernomen ( Bulgarian Битката при Черномен ), also called the Battle of the Mariza ( Serbian Marička bitka / Маричка битка ), a Bulgarian - Serbian army was defeated by an Ottoman in 1371 . The battle took place near the modern village Tschernomen in Marizaebene place and was part of attempts by the Christian states of South East Europe , the expansion of the Ottoman Empire to oppose.

prehistory

The Serbian brothers Jovan Uglješa and Vukašin Mrnjavčević opposed the Ottoman Turks spreading in southeastern Europe , who had made Edirne their capital in 1369 . Uglješa and Vukašin were raised to despots around 1365 in today's Macedonian areas of Serres and Skopje and Prilep, respectively , and had founded a coalition against the expanding Turks. The Bulgarian Empire also participated in this , while the weakened Byzantine Empire remained neutral.

Battle of Chernome

Some historians date this battle even to the year 1363 or 1367. All agree that it far from the place Tschernomen (Črnomen) and near Adrian Opel (now Edirne took place). The outcome of the battle was clear and decisive, however. Despite being numerically superior, the Christian army was defeated after their two leaders fell in battle. The winner of the battle was the Turkish general Lala Şahin Paşa or his sultan Murat I.

According to the recordings of Sa'd-ud-dīn , the Christian army was taken by surprise during the night by the Ottoman army, while drunk and defeated without much resistance. The name of the battle is also referred to in Ottoman sources as Sirf Sindughi and in Turkish sources as Sırp Sındığı (in German about Serbian defeat).

But there are also other historians who describe a previous battle in these years 1363 or 1367 and call it Sırpsındığı . There is a village near Edirne that is now called Sarayakpınar ; however, the historical name was Sırpsındığı . Accordingly, this first battle was fought in the vicinity of this place, while the later battle took place in 1371 on the Mariza.

consequences

For the Turks, the victory over the Christian allies was of far greater importance than that later in the Battle of Amselfeld in 1389 or that over the Crusaders in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396.

Vukašin's legendary son Marko Mrnjavčević became a Turkish vassal, as did the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Schischman and the despot of Velbashd Konstantin Dragasch . Both had to go into battle on the Turkish side against the Wallachians, the Turks had the option of conquering Southeast Europe. Even if the Serbs were able to repel the Turks again in 1381 at Dubravnica and 1386 at Pločnik , the Turkish expansion could not be stopped decisively. Byzantium submitted as a vassal in 1379, Thessaloniki was conquered in 1387 (1402-1430 temporarily Christian again).

Although the Christian rulers became vassals, the Turks overran South Macedonia and the Bulgarian fortresses along the Via Militaris in Thrace and as far as Ichtiman (1378) and Kostenez in the west. Sofia fell in 1386. In the east they took Diambol ( Jambol ) and Markeli as early as 1373 and advanced on the Byzantine coastal cities ( Debelt , Sosopolis and Agathopol ).

In European and Serbian historiography as well as in the collective consciousness of the Southeast European peoples, the battle of the Mariza is still overshadowed by the defeat on the Blackbird Field.

See also

literature

  • Günter Kettermann: Atlas on the history of Islam. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2001, ISBN 3-534-14118-0 .
  • Franz Georg Maier (Ed.): Byzanz (= Weltbild Weltgeschichte. 13). License issue. Weltbild-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89350-989-5 .
  • Leften S. Stavrianos: The Balkans since 1453. With a new introduction by Traian Stoianovich. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, London 2000, ISBN 1-85065-550-2 (reprint of New York 1958 edition).
  • Stephen Turnbull : The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699. Routledge, New York NY et al. 2003, ISBN 0-415-96913-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Von Sirf: The Ottomans did not know a b for documentation in Arabic and instead used an f , which is why historically some names for the Serbs with Sirf or Serf etc. are recorded; and Sindughi: defeat
  2. ^ Text section on the Battle of the Maritza from the pocket book Turkey by Stanley Lane-Poole, p. 39

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