Battle of the Blackbird Field (1389)

Battle on the blackbird field

Part of: Turkish Wars

Russian miniature from the illustrated chronicle of Ivan IV (Лицевой летописный свод), 1568–1576

date	June 15, 1389
place	near Pristina
output	Victory of the Ottomans. Both sides lost their leader.

Parties to the conflict
Serbian, Bosnian and Albanian principalities	Ottoman Empire
Commander
Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović † Vuk Branković Vlatko Vuković	Sultan Murad I † Bayezid I Yakub
Troop strength
15,000-25,000 men	30,000-40,000 men
losses
unknown	unknown

The battle on the blackbird field ( Serbo-Croatian  Битка на Косову / Bitka na Kosovu , Turkish Kosova Meydan Muharebesi ) took place on June 15, 1389 on the blackbird field not far from Pristina on the river Lab in today's Kosovo . The Serbian coalition army under the leadership of Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and Vuk Branković was reinforced by an army of the Bosnian king Tvrtko I , who was allied with Lazar, under the voivod Vlatko Vuković . Opposite them stood the Ottoman army under Sultan Murad I and his sons Bayezid I and Yakub .

The conflict arose from the offensive action by the Ottomans against the remaining independent Christian empires on the Balkan Peninsula. Murad I tried to subordinate the Serbian principalities to the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire. This would have removed the last obstacle to the takeover of the Byzantine Empire with its capital Constantinople .

The battle in which the leaders of both forces fell ended without a clear winner. As a result, however, the resistance of the Serbian princes against the Ottoman expansion was decisively weakened in the following years. Serbian allies, like the principality of the Lazarevići, had to recognize the sovereignty and supremacy of the Ottomans, which only Vuk Branković, as prince on the territory of today's Kosovo, opposed even after the battle. During the negotiations for a peace settlement between Princess Milica and Sultan Bayezid, Lazar's youngest daughter, Olivera Despina , had to be handed over as tribute to the sultan's harem in Bursa .

Although the Byzantine Empire was not involved in the battle, the weakening of the Serbian allies and their recognition of the suzerainty of the Ottomans finally eliminated it as a power factor in Southeastern Europe. Byzantium turned to Rome to avert the final subjugation of Constantinople with the support of Christian Europe .

In the tradition, the event was soon passed on in a strongly mythologized form through processes of legend formation in folk poetry, as well as in the reception of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Amselfeld cult. In the genre of the Kosovar epics, orally handed down for centuries by Guslaren accompanied by Gusle, the main themes of the martyrdom of Lazar , the betrayal of Vuk Branković and the heroic deed of Miloš Obilić became the national myth of Serbia ( legend of Serbia) in the modification of contemporary chronicles and historiographies in popular traditions Amselfeld - Priča o boju kosovskom ), in which the illusion of a Turkish victory, submitting the Balkan Peninsula to the influence of the Ottoman Empire through economic and military drive, was soon realized through historical reality. However, the opinion that the Serbian Empire perished on the Amselfeld is fundamentally wrong, as the state continued to exist for another seven decades and was revived economically and culturally.

The on June 15th ^jul. / June 28th ^greg. Vidovdan celebrated in Serbia is the memorial day of the battle. Prince Lazar, who fell in battle, was canonized as early as 1390 or 1391 and is one of the most important saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church. His bones are now in his mausoleum, the Ravanica monastery .

Advance of the Ottomans

The fresco of Tsar Stefan Uroš V and King Vukašin Mrnjavčević in a contemporary representation shows the two central rulers of the Serbian empire following Stefan Uroš IV. Dušan. The rise of King Vukašin and the simultaneous undermining of the power of the last Nemanjid ruler heralded the decline and ultimately the fall of the Serbian Empire. Psača Monastery, approx. 1365–1371.

Situation after the battle of the Mariza

After the Battle of the Mariza in 1371 in what is now the Greek-Turkish border area between a Serbian force under King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and Despot Jovan Uglješa and the Ottoman army under the Beylerbey Lala Şahin Paşa , the inner unit of the Serbian Empire, which was under Stefan Uroš IV. Dušan had gained supremacy in south-eastern Europe, but during the reign of his son Tsar Stefan Uroš V it was further and further dissolved by centrifugal forces, destroyed. After Stefan Uroš V. died childless in 1371, individual Serbian principalities were formed, which were ruled by the Lazarevići, Brankovići, Mrnjavčevići, Vojinovići and Balsići. However, the Bosnian Ban Tvrtko, who was connected to the former Serbian royal house through other family ties, also intervened for supremacy over the Serbian principalities.

The previous military and cultural successes in medieval Serbia were based on a prosperous and diverse economy. The mountains, plains, rivers and the sea stimulated trade as well as agriculture and animal husbandry. Since Serbia was on the main route between East and West, the movement and exchange of people, goods and ideas was intense. Foreign miners, mostly Saxons, were a common sight in Serbian cities; The export of silver alone, which was exported from Serbia and Bosnia via Dubrovnik in 1422, made up 25% of European silver production in the first half of the 15th century. The strongest among the principalities were those in which the largest and most profitable silver mines were located. Since the price of silver rose by a quarter as a result of the Venetian-Genoese trade war (1378-1381), the metal trade in the late 14th century became increasingly important in economic terms. The ore-rich metal deposits (Kopaonik Mountains, near Srebrenica and in the Central Bosnian Basin) were located in the Principality of Lazars, Vuk Brankovićs and the Bosnian Bans Tvrtko. Since labor-intensive means of production were a prerequisite for metal processing and mining, the importance of trading cities increased. Cities in which metals were predominantly traded by Dalmatian merchants developed into the new type of city called Trg . From the economic and political increase in importance of the two most important principalities, Lazars Morava-Serbia, and Tvrtkos Bosnia, the economic establishment of the mansions later also developed between the two prosperous principalities, a border that would be stable for the next centuries and become the actual territories Bosnia and Serbia formed. In 1378 Tvrtko took on the symbolic title Stefan and was crowned king of the "Serbs, Bosnia, the coastal region and the western countries" as the successor of the Nemanjids. While Tvrtko was aiming to aspire the Serbian crown, Lazar presented himself as the protector of the Serbian church. With this, Lazar faced the Serbian patriarch in the role of the former tsar and in 1375 called the church council with his ally Đurđe Balšić to elect the new one Serbian patriarch in Peć. In the two newly formed political centers, however, a parallel policy developed in relation to both internal political events in Hungary and the offensive action of the Ottoman Empire, in which Lazar and Tvrtko supported each other.

First Ottoman incursions into Serbia

Several Ottoman campaigns subsequently led via Bulgaria into the Serbian and Bosnian principalities, which enabled them to gradually expand their area of ​​influence to the old Serbian lands of the former Serbian Empire. This Ottoman expansion began in 1381, but initially suffered setbacks (1381 defeat at Paraćin ). In 1385 an expedition into the dominion of the Balšići followed (Battle of Berat, also Battle of Savra , September 18, 1385), in which the Dux of Durrës , Balša II , fell. Then the first Ottoman detachments reached the Dalmatian coast and in October / November 1386 a general Turkish alarm had to be called in Dubrovnik when they devastated the hinterland of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas as far as the vicinity of Dubrovnik. In 1386, the conquest of Niš took place through the subjugation of Bulgarian territories . Only the Bosnian King Tvrtko was able to repel the Ottomans on August 27, 1388 in the Battle of Bileća .

Murad Campaign 1387

In the first campaign led by Murad I personally into the economically and politically important principality of Lazar Hrebeljanović in 1387, which ended without result (in literature, the campaign is usually incorrectly referred to as the so-called battle of Pločnik , although Lazars and Murad's armies during the Campaign only observed from a safe distance), for Lazar, who was able to expand his national territory around Morava-Serbia with the possession of the most important mining centers around Novo Brdo, Rudnik and Srebrenica to the most important of the Serbian rulers, the decisive dispute with Murad was only a question of Time. In the campaign of 1387, however, as numerous sources show, the Ottomans were able to advance to the Gračanica Monastery , which was plagued by pillaging Ottoman detachments when Murad first arrived on the Blackbird Field and thus explored the Blackbird Field in preparation for a later encounter.

The Serbian principalities

Lazar's role

Prince Lazar's rise to the dominant territorial ruler and actual heir of the Nemanjid dynasty among the numerous Serbian princes took place soon after the Battle of the Mariza in 1371. For more than two centuries, the Nemanjids had the dominant state ideology in which the dynasty had a sacred character all rulers except Stefan Dušan were canonized, constituted an essential element. With Tsar Dušan's extensive territorial acquisitions, the former ethnic and cultural unity of Serbia, in which Serbian princes led the newly acquired territories, but the universal idea of ​​an empire should be implemented ideologically, at least in its idea, was undermined. The greatest problem turned out to be Dušan's clash with the Constantinople Patriarchate, which contributed to a serious crisis in the reputation of the Nemanjids as a holy dynasty. The state crisis only became apparent under Dušan's successor Uroš V, and especially after his death in 1371. In 1371 the entire development of the Serbian empire up to then was called into question: the unity of the empire was practically dissolved by the rise of the territorial princes and the Nemanjids as bearers of the state dynasty had disappeared as authority. According to Sima Ćirković, the previously unified river of Serbian history was divided into different regional arms.

While the southern feudal rulers around King Vukašin and Despot Uglješa turned against the tradition of the Nemanjids, the northern feudal lords remained true to the Nemanjid tradition. The Bosnian Ban Tvrtko, like Prince Lazar, tried to continue the tradition of the Nemanjids in different ways. Tvrtko, who ruled over large areas of the former Nemanjiden empire, tried in his ideology of the double crown (sugubom vencu) to become both the successor of the Bosnian bane and the Serbian crown. Tvrtko was crowned king of the Serbs and Bosnia, but his efforts had no effect on the Serbian countries and only left permanent traces on the territory of Bosnia.

Lazar, who showed no aspirations for the Serbian royal crown, contented himself with the simple title of prince (samodržavni) and ruled the territory on the three Morava rivers ( Western , Southern and Great Morava ), which he soon added to the Mačva, as well as the region around Belgrade enlarged. As a state symbolic act, he only took the name Stefan. With the takeover of the institutions of the Nemanjiden period he was able to enlarge his principality and steadily secure it. As the founder of new monasteries and churches, he took over the church ideology of the Nemanjids and made large donations to the old monasteries, as well as those of Athos, on the economic possibilities of his principality, which is equipped with numerous silver mines. With Đorđe Balšić he also called to the church council of Peć to dim the storm in the church about the different church policies of the individual principalities. With this, Lazar gained increasing authority, which he also underpinned through family policy in the marriage of his daughters to the surrounding principalities. Due to his death in the blackbird field, he was accepted into the series of the Holy Kings, which resulted in a new cycle and ultimately the legitimation of a new Serbian dynasty.

Christian coalition

Prince Lazar and Princess Milica, Ljubostinja Monastery around 1405

Since Lazar was also at war with Hungary at this time , he first had to seek a settlement with Hungary for the upcoming conflict. Both Lazar and the Bosnian King Tvrtko I supported the opposing party Sigismund of Luxembourg in the Hungarian throne dispute . Taking advantage of the internal political conflict in Hungary, Lazar invaded Syrmia , defeated the Hungarian troops there and occupied some towns. Surprised by the news of an impending Ottoman march, Lazar withdrew from Syrmia, offered King Sigismund of Luxembourg an armistice, reconciled himself with this and sent a request for help to Hungary in order to form a coalition against the Ottomans. However, only the Bosnian King Tvrtko I, who sent the voivod Vlatko Vuković Kosača, and Vuk Branković, who ruled in what is now Kosovo and Skopje , followed this request . After careful preparation, the Amselfeld was chosen as the site of the battle in 1389.

According to some historical sources, Ivan Paližna (or Ivan Horvat; an ally of Lazar in the dispute with Sigismund) fought alongside the Serbs with his knights, prior of the Order of St. John in Croatia , called Ivanovci , who is called in some sources as the Banus of Croatia . For the participation of Croatian contingents, the mention of the Hungarians as participants in the battle, as in the Florentine Chronicle Cronica Volgare dal 1385 al 1409 , is taken as an indication. Since no support against the Ottomans could be expected from this side due to the territorial disputes between the Serbian principalities and the Hungarian Kingdom, the possibility is seen that the mention of Hungarians in the Florentine Chronicle actually meant Croats.

A general participation of Albanian princes in the Serbian army was indeed in the late chronicle Gjin III. Muzaka (Italian: Giovanni Musachi) Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi. Per Giovanni Musachi, despoto d'Epiro of 1515 with the death of Theodor II. Muzaka described in the battle, but all later sources, such as those of Muzaka, are more or less strong legends and narration in the form of folk tradition for the scientific Context cannot be clearly assigned. Since Muzaka lists the Serbian King Marko Kraljević (1371–1395) as the Bulgarian prince in battle, this source lacks the historical credibility that can be found in the immediate primary sources. A possible participation of the Albanian princes Theodor II. Muzaka and Pal Kastrioti is affirmed by parts of the Albanian historiography, but especially in the Serbian historiography clearly rejected.

Vuk Branković's role

The only surviving contemporary portrait of eighteen-year-old Vuk Branković. Theotokos Peribleptos Monastery, Ohrid 1364/65.

Part of the representative silver embroidered silk belt of Branko Mladenović with his name inscription. The belt was part of the ruler's robe of the Sebastokrator and has been preserved in two separate parts in the British Museum and the Hermitage, around 1350 British Museum London.

In Lazar's coalition army, Vuk Branković, whose territory between Ibar and Vardar encompassed the core area of ​​the former Nemanjid Empire with the Tsar cities of Prizren and Skopje, and the battle also took place within his territory, took on the central position alongside Prince Lazar. The later popular motif of betrayal, in which Branković's figure is the antithesis to the heroic figure Miloš Obilić, is not covered by any of the primary sources, just as Branković's behavior after the battle remains without such evidence (including no signs of a Bayezid reward). Branković was the only Serbian prince to even deny the suzerainty of the Ottomans and was only eliminated as a political opponent of the further Ottoman advance when he was captured in the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. He died in captivity on October 7, 1397.

Course of the campaign in the summer of 1389

Ottoman miniature Murads I., 16th century

According to the general opinion, Prince Lazar gathered his troops in Kruševac , which was also joined by the auxiliary troops posted by King Tvrtko. After the news of the approach of the Ottoman army in the direction of the blackbird field in Kruševac, the Serbian deployment began. The campaign probably led along the Rasina via Bela Crkva ( Kuršumlija ) to the river Lab in the blackbird field.

The Ottomans gathered their army in Plovdiv and marched through Velbužd . The actually shorter connection via the Constantinople military road from Serdica (today's Bulgarian capital Sofia ) to Niš was mentioned in Ottoman sources as a route, and Murad himself had sent an advance detachment to conquer Pirot , but troops sent by Lazar are said to be faster in Pirot and destroyed the castle. It is doubted that Murad actually wanted to advance to the Blackbird Field via Pirot, since the Ottomans were unable to penetrate far into the principality of Lazars via this military road in 1381 and 1386 and mostly had to turn back at the Morava and its tributaries. It is therefore believed that Murad chose the route via Velbužd, Kratovo and Kumanovo from the start . The Ottomans then took the route via Bujanovac , the medieval village of Rahovice (at the now no longer found Lake Horavice ), to the headwaters of the southern Morava along the Binačka Morava. About Novo Brdo was Pristina reached. After the arrival of both armies, the upcoming confrontation took place south of the Lab River.

Strength and position of the two armies

Numbers about the armed forces of the opponents are not known. All occidental and Turkish sources report on the numerical superiority of the Christian army - with one exception: the British historian Steven Runciman , author of a standard work on the Crusades, speaks of a "great numerical superiority of the Turks" on the Amselfeld. About 40,000 men, the majority of whom came from Anatolia , is said to have been his strength according to these representations. Serbian princes from Macedonia are said to have joined these Ottoman troops as vassals , such as Konstantin Dejanović, since the Ottomans had conquered Macedonia about 20 years earlier at the Battle of the Mariza .

In the Christian camp, however, only around 25,000 men are said to have been gathered under Prince Lazar, of which around 18,000 men are said to have been provided by Prince Lazar himself, the remaining men by the Bosnian general Vlatko Vuković and Prince Vuk Branković. If these numbers were correct, it would actually have been a considerable army strength for the time. For comparison: in 1415 in the Battle of Azincourt in the Hundred Years War , around 20,000 French fought 6,000 English.

Course of the battle

The battle formation, Gazimestan

Prince Lazar pursued by the Ottomans on the blackbird field. Page 302 of the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible

The only contemporary source that gives information about the formation of the two armies and a few details on the course of the battle is the Catalan chronicle Història de Jacob Xalabín , which was probably made in 1403 by an anonymous author . The chronicle describes the life of Murad's son Yakub and ended before Bayezid's death in Tamerlan's captivity in 1403. The chronicle describes in detail the names of the Ottoman military leaders (Yakub, Bayezid, Ali Pascha Evrenoz and Sahin Beg), as well as the formation of Lazar's army. In addition, this chronicle also provides essential information about the presence and work of Vuk Branković in battle, whose betrayal, which is extensively discussed in the legends, influences all later retellings and epics.

"And Lazar himself divided his people into three groups, some were ordered and led by the Hungarian, the second was ordered by one of his brothers-in-law ( Vuk Branković ) who was there, and the third by Lazar himself"

- Anonymus, Història de Jacob Xalabín ca.1403 .

Another fact goes directly into the course of the battle and provides information in particular about Vuk Branković's retreat, which, however, is in line with common medieval tactics:

“... and while the first clashes were taking place, Lazar, who stood on one end of the army against Evrenoz Beg, was killed. And when Lazar's brother-in-law ( Vuk Branković ) found out that his father-in-law was lost, he no longer wanted to make further attacks, nor to prolong the battle, but ordered that no one should take part, and there he was given the order, that everyone withdrew to their country and he ruled there. "

- Anonymus, Història de Jacob Xalabín ca.1403 .

In the description of Vuk's retreat from the battlefield, the description of the battle from the anonymous Catalan's chronicle ends.

Although no direct sources on the tactics of the Serbian army in the battle have come down to us, this can almost certainly be deduced from Konstantin Kostenecki's historiography of the life of Prince Lazar's eldest son Stefan Lazarević from the description of the second battle on the Blackbird Field in 1402, where Stefan transferred a wing to his younger brother Vuk and the agreement was: should one of the military leaders fall, the survivor would retire to guarantee the continued rule of the Princely House.

“... and when he arrived at the blackbird field, where his father (Lazar) had perished, and learned that there were many Turks there, he divided his army that was with him into two parts, like Jacob in the Old Testament so that if one of the two is cut open, the other can save himself. If one of the brothers fell, the other of his holy flock would remain a shepherd ... "

- Konstantin Kostenecki, Žitija despota Stefana Lazarevića , 1427.

According to Marko Šuica, such behavior would also be possible between princes Lazar and Vuk Branković, in which the father-in-law and brother-in-law in an army led by Lazar had reached an agreement of the same kind. Since Lazar's eldest son Stefan was still too young to transfer rule to him and Vuk behaved after the battle as if he wanted to rule over the lands of the Lazarevići, there are indications that such an agreement was actually possible. According to this reading, Vuk Branković has therefore possibly only withdrawn from the battlefield in order to secure further rule in the Serbian principalities with the remaining army parts. On the other hand, the attack by the right wing, which Vuk commanded, is described in the Catalan Chronicle as a great success against the Ottoman army, which also speaks against Vuk's premature flight or even betrayal.

There are no detailed reports on the battle, which is why the following explanations only represent a more or less likely reconstruction of the actual course of the battle. The Serbian national historiography in particular offers numerous details in this regard, none of which can be historically proven. It is only certain that Prince Lazar led the armed forces in the center, Prince Vuk Branković the armed forces of the right wing and the Bosnian general Vlatko Vukotić the armed forces of the left wing.

Probable troop formation at the beginning of the battle, red: Serbian / Bosnian army, green: Turkish army

On the Turkish side, Sultan Murad I led the center, his older son and heir to the throne Bayezid I led the right wing and the younger son Yakub the left wing. The Greek Evremos Beg specialized in counter-espionage and defense against Christian strategies. A certain Haidar was in command of the Ottoman artillery , which was already in use at the time. Heavy volleys were shot at the Christian knights, who had not been exposed to artillery fire before. The Serbian army also had cannons. The first cannons were imported and used for the first time in 1373, and in 1385 the first own cannons were cast in Serbia. Contrary to later folk traditions and legends, which sought explanations for their own fate, the Serbian army was well prepared.

The Ottoman cannons are said to have opened the battle. In most sources, however, nothing is mentioned of an Ottoman artillery use. They are said to have shot stone and iron balls into the approaching lines of the Christian cavalry. It took a direct hit to stop a rider and horse, so the artillery on the Amselfeld was not particularly effective, apart from the psychological effect. The fire therefore had only a weak effect; he had only disturbed the horses.

The artillery operation was followed by a rain of arrows from the archers. The heavily armored riders rode at a slow gallop towards the archers, who tried to evade and jump away. In the meantime the Ottoman cavalry had broken out. She tried to capture the foot soldiers behind the Christian cavalry. The right wing under Vuk Branković brought the hearing or the reports of the Ottoman heir to the throne Bayezid after the left Ottoman wing under Yakub in dire straits, also in the center the Christian knights struck wide paths in the Ottoman ranks. Only the deployment of the right Ottoman wing under Bayezid was it possible to avert an impending defeat of the Ottomans. The further course of the battle is not known or cannot be substantiated with historical sources.

Consequences of the battle

Princess Milica, ruler of Morava Serbia after 1389. Ljubostinja Monastery , early 15th century

Historical viewpoints

Depending on the chronological reference point, the military outcome of the battle is described differently. Christian and Muslim sources also differ not only in the details, such as the circumstances of the death of Murad I, but also in general with regard to military success. An asymmetry in the elaboration of the Blackbird Battle in European and Ottoman military history is also evident. For the latter, the battle represents only one passage in the conquests of the Ottoman world empire; for the former, due to the long-lasting Ottoman dominance introduced here, it has a more interesting reception than the battle of the Maritza (1371 ) or the Battle of Angora (1402).

Early Christian Annals of a Christian Victory

However, the closer Christian sources were written to actual events in time, the more emphasis is placed on a Christian victory; none of these first sources report an Ottoman success.

The early chronicles, which date to the end of the 14th century, comprise a corpus of nine primary sources belonging to two text groups:

• direct messages that were sent in the form of letters to various mansions and city councils of the Adriatic republics by the offices of the Christian principalities involved and
• Cultic-religious book texts written down in a monastic context, which describe the "martyrdom of Lazar" in a spiritualized form for the needs of the church.

For the reconstruction of the actual historical events, the letters to Constantinople, Venice, Florence, Paris, Barcelona, ​​Trogir and Sutjeska (the seat of Tvrtkos) are most important. From the extensive correspondence of letters, a considerable interest for the world at that time can be read, in which the course and outcome of the battle such as the death of both military leaders and the particularly bloody and violent encounter are reported.

In later chronicles historical facts, legends and cultic texts were interwoven with the stories of the oral epic tradition and brought into a universal form in the prose poem compiled by an unknown author of the narrative of the battle of the blackbird field ( Priča o bojom kosovskom ). The spread of this poem can be determined in 36 known variants since the end of the 17th century and from its starting point on the southern Adriatic coast in Perast was soon spread widely across southeast Europe to Russia.

According to Sima Ćirković , this discrepancy between the early and later sources on the outcome of the battle constitutes one of their major historical problems: after five hundred years of knowing that this would be the greatest and most celebrated Serbian defeat, researchers began to doubt it as it turned out Among the surviving sources from 1389 there is none with news of a Turkish victory, most of them testify to a Turkish defeat. Ćirković emphasizes that the problems of critical blackbird field research … in a radical dichotomy, the complete detachment of the history of the Blackbird Field Battle, the events of June 15, 1389, from the history of the Blackbird Field tradition, which arise very soon and continue to this day, and the judgment the early and subsequent later Ottoman, late Byzantine and humanistic historical works with the representation of the defeat of the Serbs, also in contrast to the narrative of tradition and history.

Immediate consequences

One of the reasons that contributed to this different interpretation in the early and later sources is the differently weighted historical effect on the Christian principalities involved. While the troops of the Bosnian King Tvrtko returned unscathed from the Blackbird Field and the Bosnian Empire was not further burdened by the Ottomans, Vuk Branković had to continue to militarily defend his territory in Kosovo against the offensively advancing Ottomans. In particular, however, the Lazarevići principality got into a politically precarious situation due to the loss of its important prince and the subsequent vassal status to both the Ottoman Empire and Hungary. While Tvrtko was allowed to feel like a victor and informed the outside world about it through his correspondence, the outcome was so devastating for the widow of Lazar and her underage sons that Stefan Lazarević saw the Blackbird Field Battle in numerous documents as a major turning point and the death of Lazar as a major one Had to perceive defeat of the fatherland .

Medieval viewpoints on the question of victory or defeat

An essential point of view in medieval society as to who was victorious in battle was the question of who was last able to hold the site of the conflict. All essential sources show that Bayezid was able to occupy the blackbird field at least for the first few hours and days, but had to leave in a great hurry after a few days. Sima Ćirković pointed out that Murad, as the actual initiator of the campaign, should have held the battlefield in order to underpin an undoubted victory. After that, with Murad's death, an absolute success of the campaign was no longer possible. From a medium-term perspective, Vuk Branković was therefore able to hold both the battlefield and his territory against Bayezid for several years. However, Bayezid's further aggressive action undoubtedly underscores the Ottomans' claim to the Serbian principalities.

Ottoman reception

In the Ottoman view in the histories written in the early 15th century, an Ottoman victory was never denied. Nevertheless, the chroniclers insisted that Murad did not die until after the battle was over. These representations differ from the Christian ones in precisely this detail. The late Byzantine historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles pointed out this difference in his comparison of the Ottoman and Christian Amselfeld versions.

Résumé

The battle on the Amselfeld can now be regarded as a victory for the Ottomans, even if it is to be regarded as a draw after its purely military outcome. The Christian chroniclers of the Middle Ages regarded it as the victory of Christianity. Both leaders had fallen and both associations had withdrawn from the battlefield. In addition, the two most important Serbian principalities that were not allied with the Ottoman Empire (Principality of the Lazarevići in Morava-Serbia and the Principality of Brankovići in Kosovo and Macedonia) could not immediately be made tributary vassal states of the Ottoman Empire.

reception

politics

The frequent depictions of holy warriors at the time of Stefan Lazarević (here Resava around 1420) testify to the warlike phase of his reign.

The state idea of ​​Tsar Dušan, the basileus of Greeks and Tsars of Serbs , to create a Balkan empire through the amalgamation of Greek and Serbian rule, came to an end after the defeat at the Maritza in 1371 and, after the Battle of the Blackbird, inevitably led to the consolidation of Serbian territory and the development a stronger Serbian national consciousness and cultural and ethnic homogenization. The development of smaller, heterogeneous feudal domains under the leadership of a Serbian aristocracy, which continued between Dušan's death in 1355 and the Battle of the Mariza in 1371, was ended by the Ottoman conquests and the emergence of an opposite pole in the emerging principality of Lazars. Now there was a summary of the Serbian lands in the despotate of Stefan Lazarević and Durad Branković.

Wedged between the two regional great powers Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the small Morava Serbia was separated from the Ottoman Empire by the possessions of the Brankovići, but remained exposed to Hungarian aspirations. As a result of the strategic shift of the Serbian state from south to north, Lazar's widow, Princess Milica Hrebeljanović, became a vassaless of the Ottoman Empire, with whose support she invaded Hungarian territories in 1390 to secure the northern border. The tributary principality of the Lazarervići provided troops against the Christian and Mongolian opponents of the Ottomans in the ensuing battles. For example, the Serbian armored infantry under Stefan Lazarević fought alongside Bayezid in several important battles ( Battle of Rovine , Battle of Nikopolis , Battle of Ankara ). His sister Olivera Despina was also married to Bayezid. As a result, Stefan and Bayezid maintained a correct relationship throughout their lives. The Ottomans neither built bases in Stefan's territory, nor did Ottoman troops participate in attacks on his territory between 1389 and 1402.

In contrast, Vuk Branković, as a direct neighbor of the Ottomans, maintained his independence until the end in sharp opposition to the Ottoman claim to rule. So Vuk took part neither in the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia nor in the battle of Rovine. In 1392 he had to hand Skopje over to the Ottomans and in 1396 he was finally defeated by Bayezid.

In September 1396 the Ottomans had to face a crusader army under the Hungarian king and later emperor Sigismund . In the battle of Nicopolis they were able to defeat Sigismund's army, which consisted mostly of Hungarian and French - Burgundian crusaders, and thus considerably strengthened their position.

economy

Novo Brdo, the former largest city in Serbia and cultural metropolis on the Amselfeld: fortifications from the 14th century

Already during Lazar's reign, Morava Serbia had gradually taken over the economic leadership role of the Serbian countries. This ended the previous alignment of territorial expansion of the Serbian Empire towards Byzantium, which culminated in an expansion into the Aegean Sea under Stefan Uroš IV. Dušan . Instead, there was now a positive demographic and economic development in Morava-Serbia and a strengthening of its northern border with Hungary. This development laid the cornerstone of the modern Serbian state, the center of which shifted to the Danube in southeastern Central Europe with the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. The economic boom in Morava Serbia was favored by the silver and gold mines. Novo Brdo and Srebrenica rose to become the richest cities in the principality and later despotate of Stefan Lazarević.

Cultural change

The Amselfeldschlacht marked a significant turning point in Serbian cultural development, which after years of the decline of the Nemanjid legacy led to a cultural renaissance and artistic emancipation. In architecture, with the Morava school, Serbian art separated itself from strict Gothic and Byzantine models and continued to have an impact in an international late Byzantine style, partly with adoption of oriental motifs in Serbia, Bosnia, Wallachia and Moldova until the 17th century.

Through a lively exchange and the often forced migration of educated sections of the population in the Balkans at the end of the 14th century, science and literature spread. Late Byzantine literature experienced a final high point, especially in Morava Serbia, with the Resava writing school (especially Konstantin Kostenecki ). After the Battle of the Blackbird, there was a final cultural boom before the Ottoman occupation. It shaped the courtly culture of the Lazarevići and Brankovići in the succession of the Nemanjids .

Historical witnesses and sources

Sculpture by Miloš Obilić. Ivan Meštrović 1908, National Museum of Serbia

Immediately after the events and in the decades that followed, the battle of the Amselfeld was treated in all contemporary prominent historiographies, yearbooks and hagiographies. However, a detailed depiction of the battle is always missing, while the depiction of the death of Murad I and the fate of Lazar always takes up a comparatively large space. In addition to Serbian sources, including the Koporinski letopis , the vita Stefan Lazarevićs of Konstantin Philosopher , in Slovo kneza Lazara , one of the four records of Patriarch Danilos III. (Danilo Banjski, 1390–1400), as well as the records of the Russian monk Ignatije, the historiographies of two of the last Byzantine historians dukas and chalcocondyles are important.

While Dukas as a reliable historian gives the view of a Byzantine patriot who ushered in the final rise of the Ottoman Empire and the fall of the Byzantine Empire, in the case of chalcocondyles, the historical view of both the Byzantine and Ottoman sources is given separately through the use of Byzantine and Ottoman sources. For both historians, however, the Amselfeld Battle marks an immediate turning point in their world histories . The Amselfeldschlacht at Dukas stands at the beginning of the third book as a turning point in the history of the Balkan peoples.

In the west, besides the travelogue Bertrandon de la Broquières (Le voyage d'outremer, 1433), who also stayed at the court of Murad II in 1433 , there is also the record of the canon master Jörg von Nürnberg (active 1450–1480) who was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Sources for the Ottoman reception. An overview of the historical events and also the further legendary tradition can be found in Marvo Orbini's Slav story . In the large illustrated chronicle of the Russian Tsar Ivan IV (Лицевой летописный свод, 1568–1576) there is also a pictorial representation of the battle for the first time.

Even contemporaries were confused about the outcome of the battle. The first reports were sent to various places in July and August 1389. King Tvrtkos I had received a message to the city of Trogir dated August 1, 1389, a letter from Tvrtkos addressed to the Senate of Florence is guaranteed by the reply of October 20. In this news a victory of Christianity is celebrated.

The rhetorician Demetrios Kydones described in a message to the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos , who was staying on Lemnos , probably written in July 1389, that the cursed (Murad I) has disappeared and that the emperor's absence is the celebration of the victory against the enemies darkened . Philippe de Mézières , former chancellor of the Cypriot king, reported before October 1389 that Amurat was completely defeated in the territories of Albania , and that the Venetians, who were very familiar in the conditions of Murad's territory and the Byzantine Empire, appointed the administrator responsible for the Constantinople settlement on To send a letter of credit to the Byzantine emperor on July 23, 1389, which has been preserved in the manual for its presentation. This allows a safe conclusion that Venice was well informed about Murad's death, but had received no news of a Turkish victory. The earliest report is the message from the Russian monk Ignatij, written only 12 days after the battle , that Murad had died. In addition to these immediately authentic reports, numerous other sources were added later, such as the annales ragusini anonymi from Dubrovnik , which also contains more legendary details about the battle.

Certain representations, such as that of the persistent rumor about an alleged ringing of the bell of Notre Dame in Paris as a sign of the victory of Christianity, but like many others in the traditions, belong to the historically unbelievable legends.

In the surviving Serbian records from the first decade after the battle, especially in church writings, the event was interpreted as a victory of martyrdom and the triumph of a heavenly kingdom over the earthly kingdom (as in Danilo III. In Slovo Kneza Lazara ). The symbolism of the church texts on Lazar's martyrdom follows the tone of the early liturgical texts on Christian martyrs. In Slovo kneza Lazara this religious moment was particularly emphasized: the heroism in martyrdom is a testimony to faith and the rebirth of Christ and marks the triumph of Lazar, who has won an eternal heavenly kingdom with his sacrifice.

In addition to the records of Danilo Banjskog, other Serbian chronicles have also survived, about ten in number. Among other things, the eminent text by the former despot and nun Jefimija . Her lyrical praise of Prince Lazar makes him a Christ-like savior:

"In order to put aside the uncertainty of earthly rule / to shed your blood / and to join the warriors of the heavenly king / you achieved two goals: / You killed the monster / and obtained the martyr's robe from God."

- Jefimija , Serbian nun

The text written as the actual epitaph on the Kosovo column Stefan Lazarević , Lazar's son and despot of the Serbian empire, which had survived into the late 15th century, celebrated the great prince in a solemn rhetorical tale as the “miracle of the earth” and “ Lords of the Serbs "and described the event of the battle with drastic and heroic intonation:

"Wanderer, you who walk across the Serbian countryside, no matter where you come from, stranger or local, if you enter this field, which is called Blackbird Field, you will see the bones of the dead on it and also find a stone, cross-like column which rises adorned in the middle of the field. "

- Stefan Lazarević , Serbian despot

A historically more precise representation can be found in the notes of the monk Ignatije, written twelve or 13 years after the armed forces, who accompanied the Moscow metropolitan Pimen to Constantinople and named for the first time the person who had killed Murad. He notes the following about the battle:

“It was before our trip that the Tsar Amurat marched with his army against the Serbian Tsar Lazar, and so it was heard that both of them were killed in battle. At first Amurat was killed by the betrayal of a confidante of Lazar, by the name of Miloš, and just at this hour the Turks chose Bayezid as tsar, the son of Amurat; and the Turks regained strength and captured with their hands the Serbian tsar Lazar and his princes and his Vojvoden, his knights and his servants and all his army; some killed them, others took them captive. Then the Turkish tsar killed the Serbian tsar Lazar with his sword. "

- Ignatije, Russian monk

The composition of Lazar's army was discussed in Turkish sources in particular, which report, among other things, the participation of Wallachians, Bulgarians, Albanians, Germans and Czechs. But apart from Tvrtko and Vuk Branković, none of the more powerful neighboring princes and kings supported Lazar. The fact that Lazar asked for assistance is also evident from the Slovo kneza Lazara :

"Then he (Lazar) asked relatives and those in power and generals and warriors, important and insignificant, to join him."

- Danilo III. , Serbian Metropolitan

The exact course of the battle has not been handed down, but the fierceness of the battle has been emphasized, for example in the Dubrovnik Letopis from the 15th century:

“1389, June 15th, on Vidovdan, Tuesday, the battle between the Serbs and the Turkish tsar took place. Among the Serbs there were: Lazar, the Serbian King, Vuk Branković and Vlatko Vuković, Vojvoden. And there were numerous victims, Turkish and Serbian, and few returned home. Tsar Murad was killed and the Serbian king. The Turks did not win the battle. And not the Serbs either, as there were many dead. The battle was on the Amselfeld. "

- Dubrovnik annals, 15th century

Many sources refer to the fate of Murad and are already developing into fabulous depictions that are colored differently depending on the point of view. Bertrandon de la Broquière depicts Murad's death as a loss that the Ottomans felt was traumatic, and which also shaped the behavior of the subsequent sultans in direct contact with Christian emissaries:

“… It is a rule that none of the emissaries is allowed to speak directly to the said ruler (Murad) since a Serbian emissary had killed his grandfather, because she had no leniency with the said (inhabitants) of Serbia, but them in mercy and disgrace wanted to hold as oppressed. And in order to free the people and the country from the oppression, he killed the said Turk in front of his people while they were talking to him and was killed himself. "

- Bertrandon de la Broquières (Le voyage d'outremer, 1433)

With Jörg von Nürnberg, who was a prisoner of the Ottomans in Constantinople in 1460 and later entered the service of the Pope, Murad was killed by a ruse:

“So the despot Lazar had two uncles who were constantly fighting with each other. When he was fighting the Turks, the two vied to see who would be the best in battle tomorrow. During the night one of the uncles brought the news to the Turk that he would come to him with his troops in the morning. The Turk was delighted about this, and in the morning when he arrived and was supposed to kiss his feet, he drew his sword and stabbed the Turk. "

- Jörg from Nuremberg

The first Turkish source on the blackbird field was written in 1512 by Mehmed Nesri , the poet of Sultan Selim . It emphasizes the martyrdom of Sultan Murad and refers to Miloš Obelić, which is attributed to the direct influence of Serbian folk poetry, which was already widespread on the Balkan Peninsula at this time. The fabulous features of Murad's death, which only takes place after the victory over the Serbs and not during the battle, are further elaborated:

“Martyrdom of Khodawendkiar Ghazi Murad Khan - God the Most High have mercy on him! When the army of the infidels was defeated and a countless number of them jumped over the blade,… Murad Khan Ghazi strove to be martyred on the whale. ... while visiting these selshügel with some of his trusted servants, there was an infidel named Milos Obelic, a courageous and courageous cursed man. ... When Murad Khan Ghazi came to this unbeliever, he got up, half falling, half rising, and attacked the Khonkiär. ... but Murad Ghazi let him come in as he wished ... he came over and, pretending to kiss the stirrup of the Khonkiär, he stabbed the Khonkiär. ... Those unbelievers were cut up at this point; A tent was quickly brought up to bring the sultan under it, his son Bajazit was brought to the flag of faith, Prince Yakub Celebi was led into the tent under the pretext: “Come, your father demands you!” and then strangled him . Coincidentally, Prince Lazar and his son had been taken prisoner; They were dragged and both killed. That night there was great confusion and excitement among the Islamic army, the next morning they put Sultan Bajazite on the throne. - The date of all these events is the year 791 of the Hijra. "

- Mehmed Nesri, poet

The outcome of the battle is not at all clear, the oldest sources report nothing of a tragic defeat of the Serbs. According to Sima Ćirković, there are so few primary sources in reality that he even doubts whether the battle took place at all.

Memorial buildings and artistic reception

The Meşhed-i Hüdavendigar

Both the Serbs and the Turks honored the site of the battle with memorial buildings.

Sultan Murat Türbe

In the Tomb of Sultan Murad part of the remains of Murad is kept.

Marble column by Stefan Lazarević

Stefan Lazarević had a marble column with an inscription placed on Kosovo Polje, which in a solemn, rhetorical narrative portrayed Lazar as the "conqueror of the dragon" and celebrated his martyrdom in an antiquated manner. The inscription on the column, which survived until the end of the 15th century, was passed down in the so-called "Turcica" in Konstantin Mihailović's memoirs :

On the battlefield

“As a good shepherd and military leader, he commanded the wise lambs to arrive happily with Christ and to form a wreath around the fallen and take part in the heavenly festival. Therefore he led us in unmistakable numbers, our good and great Lord with courageous soul and firm faith, how to face the enemy to a beautiful castle and a joyful wedding, to crush the real dragon, he killed the wild devil and defeated him great opponents and the insatiable hell that swallows everyone, I tell you, Murat and his son, descendants of dragons and vipers, the foals of basilisks and lions and with them others and not a few. "

- Stefan Lazarević , Serbian despot

Gazimestan memorial

Gazimestan, monument to the Blackbird Field Battle

In 1953, in socialist Yugoslavia , Aleksandar Deroko built a simpler monument complex in the center of which a tower in the shape of a medieval donjon stands instead of the controversial project of a monumental Amselfeld temple . The ensemble called Gazimestan was of little importance among the communists, but became a symbolic place through the 600th anniversary of the battle in 1989. During the Kosovo war and UNMIK's administration of Kosovo, parts of the Gazimestan monument were damaged in 1999 and 2004. In particular, the stairs inside the tower were destroyed. In 2010, KFOR handed over guarding the monument complex to the Kosovar authorities and the local police.

Vidovdanski hram

The greatest media publicity had the project of a National Blackbird Field Memorial, which was first considered with the construction of a temple - Vidovdanski hram - in the reign of Aleksandar Obrenović before the First World War. The design came from the later court sculptor of the Karađorđević dynasty who followed the Obrenovići, Ivan Meštrović . In 1905 he presented the project for a monumental basilica, in which numerous sculptures were to reproduce the heroes of the blackbird field myth. The construction project could no longer be specified after the murder of Aleksandar Obrenović. Nevertheless, Meštrović had made the majority of the larger-than-life sculptures, including the caryatids , the marble sculpture of Miloš Obilić (today in the Serbian National Museum ), the bronze Miloš Obilić in the royal castle on Dedinje , Banović Strahinje (today in the Tate Gallery ) and the marble sculpture Sculptures by Srđa Zlopogleđa and Male udovice and, as the central figure from the Kraljević Marko cycle, a monumental marble sculpture of a naked Kraljević Marko riding on a horse, now lost , which today only gives the original impression as a smaller bronze. The figures of the cycle also include the representations of mothers and widows, of which the two sculptures of the mythological beauty Vukosava from Kosovo are shown as Secanje (German: memory) in variants in the National Museum of Serbia, as well as in the royal castle on the Dedije.

The sculptures of Vidovdanski hram were first exhibited in 1908 in Paris, the then completed cycle in 1910 at the Vienna Secession Exhibition, the wooden model of the cathedral in 1911 at the exhibition in Rome in the Serbian pavilion together with the sculptures, where his work was awarded the gold medal which established Meštrović's world fame as a sculptor. The model was then in New York until 1968, after which it was moved to Kruševac , where it is now exhibited in the city's museum.

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  Caryatids of Vidovdanski hram, Ivan Meštrović

• 

  Bronze by Miloš Obilić, Ivan Meštrović

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  Sculpture of the mythological figure of Vukosava, Ivan Meštrović

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  Figure from the cycle of mothers and widows in the Amselfeld cycle, Ivan Meštrović

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  Kraljevic Marko, plaster study by Ivan Meštrović 1909

Other national projects

Hram Svetog Save

The temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade was also a highly symbolic project reflecting the historical echo of the Blackbird Field Battle . Planned since the 1920s and tackled in 1935, the decades-long controversy surrounding the building idea has been constantly modified in its symbolism. In its spiritual dedication to Serbian medieval history , the building after Bratislav Pantelić was based on the design of a symbolic center of national unity and a national memorial. His idea is to be understood as an external manifestation of the feeling of uniqueness (of the Serbs) and to follow the right path with the axiom created on the Amselfeld - and thus committed to the multiple references to the Amselfeld myth. The resumption of the building in 1985 with the parallel preparations for the 600th anniversary of the Battle of the Blackbird in 1989, the modern high point in the awakening of national feelings, was the result of the continued construction, which was long prevented by the communist nomenclature. In naming the building as a temple, as in the abandoned project of the Vidovdan Temple, its exceptional character was emphasized, which was created by the addition of a blackbird field memorial in the form of a chapel designed by the chief architect Branko Pešić as the burial church of the Holy Martyr Prince Lazar ( Grobna crkva svetog mučenika kneza Lazara), which is an integral part of the modified project, is further underlined.

The Topos of the Amselfeld Battle in the Fine Arts

Petar Lubarda "Kosovski boj" (1953), wall fresco in the festive hall of the New Castle in Belgrade

The large-format Renaissance tapestry "Bataille du Champs des Merles" on the right in the picture on the second floor of the vestibule in Chenonceau Castle shows motifs from the battle

Themes and topos of the Blackbird Field Battle and the heroic figures exaggerated in folk and epic tradition have been thematized by other visual artists in Serbia and ex-Yugoslavia in addition to Meštrović's sculptures. So u. a. with the realists Uroš Predić ("Kosovka dvojka"), Paja Jovanović ("Boško Jugović na konju" 1922, "Marko and the Vila") or the expressionist Petar Lubarda .

The latter created several blackbird field studies in the style of Expressionism . For example, on behalf of the Serbian government, he designed the "Kosovski boj", which is now considered a masterpiece in the pictorial topos of the "Battle of the Blackbird Field" in its pictorial representations. At its inauguration, it was a real artistic sensation, as the presentation not only radically broke with tradition, but also with the forms of socialist realism in particular and thus also contained a political statement. Preparatory studies for Lubarda's "Kosovski boj" are in the possession of the National Museum in Cetinje and the National Library of Serbia. The central work was intended as a wall fresco for the ballroom of the former Izvršno Veče Narodne Republike Srbije in the New Castle. Today the building serves as the official residence of the Serbian President.

Lubarda's "Kosovski boj" is a monumental 56 m² mural that, through the figurative abstraction of details of the two colliding armies, the sometimes grotesque faces of people and horses, their sometimes sculptural representation and the use of bright colors in which red, Violet and green dominate, ushering in a new era in painting Serbia. Without descriptive means or literary allusion, the painting also uses universal symbols and sublimated impressions in the general depiction of the horrors of war. Generally regarded as the main work of modern painting in post-war Yugoslavia, it is also the first modern battle painting in Serbian art.

A large-format tapestry (5 × 3.33 m) from the 16th century depicting the battle ( Bataille du Champs des Merles - La Bataille de Kosovo Polje) can be found in the former royal French castle of Chenonceau . The tapestry made in Oudenaarde (Audenarde) in Flanders is probably part of a cycle of paintings. Another probably in the Yves Saint Laurent private collection . The tapestry was completely unknown to previous researchers and historians and was discovered by Jelena Bojovic by chance. Depicted are Patriarch Spiridon blessing Princess Milica. Beside her her two sons Stefan and Vuk, Bosnian notables and Milos Obilic. In the left background the Ottoman army is shown before the battle, on the right after the defeat with the dead corps Sultan Murat.

The Blackbird Field Battle was occasionally addressed by emigrants in the architecture of other countries, for example in the Palazzo Gopcevich built by a Serbian banker in Trieste in 1850 .

Drama and film

Ljubomir Simović designed the drama Boj na Kosovu in 1988 on the initiative of Jugoslovensko Dramsko Pozorište . After the Serbian state broadcaster Radio Televizija Beograd (now RTS) wanted to adapt it to a series for the 600th anniversary of the battle, it was ultimately decided to make a movie directed by Zdravko Šotra . In particular, Žarko Laušević was remembered in the role of Miloš Obilić. In 2002, Simović returned to his drama by cutting back from the original 21 to 11 scenes.

In 1989 Radio Televizija Beograd also produced a three-part documentary series (I-Najezda, II-Boj, III-Legenda) which was scientifically supervised by Sima Ćirković and Miroslav Pantić . The series, which was shot on original locations, gives the historical and literary documents a lot of space.

Political State Acts

As a formal state act, Vidovdan was first celebrated in Serbia on the 550th anniversary in 1939. But already for the coronation of King Peter I in 1904, scenes of the Blackbird Battle were recreated and connected with the inauguration ceremony of King Peter in the cult of Knez Lazar and Miloš Obilić.

Vidovdan was officially celebrated during the First World War in 1916 in the Entente powers France and Great Britain, allied with Serbia, on the so-called Kosovo Celebration Day . Even in the USA, the day of the Blackbird Field Battle in 1918 under the then American President Woodrow Wilson was commemorated as Kossovo Day . The Americans were called on to pray for the Serbs in churches and the Serbian flag was also hoisted at the White House.

The appearance of Slobodan Milošević at the 600th anniversary of the battle on June 28, 1989 in Gazimestan and his Blackbird Field speech there is seen as the first significant demonstration of the Serbian national movement and the difficult process of Serbian identification in crisis-ridden Yugoslavia in the 1980s. The nationality conflicts in late Yugoslavia, which contributed to the Yugoslav wars with the abandonment of identification with Yugoslav society and the rejection of a common state , were picked out from the Blackbird speech, especially in the west.

National myth of the Serbs

Commemorative coin on the occasion of the 600th anniversary in 1989, Kosovohelden

Commemorative coin for the 600th anniversary in 1989, Prince Lazar

The Battle of the Blackbird Field is the historical event that has been most glorified in the course of Serbian history. In the religious and national Serbian self-image, the blackbird field is the fateful place of Serbian history, the singularity of which Vasko Popa summarizes in the poem Kosovo polje : A field like no other, sky above, sky below . In the work of the poet Matija Bećković the view of the Serbian place of fate can be found in its exemplary mythological-religious meaning: Kosovo is the equator of the Serbian planet, the roof of its underground and the base of its above-ground world. Here the memory of the Serbian people was placed on the time before and after Kosovo. Kosovo is the great flood of Serbian history, the Serbian New Testament . Prince Lazar, as leader of the Christian coalition, was awarded the aureole of the martyr immediately after the battle. Through the canonization, the literary treatment and the cult of the blackbird field myth, he still occupies an exposed position in the Serbian national consciousness.

This syntagma , which declares Kosovo to be the most expensive Serbian word (Kosovo najskuplja srpska reč, Matija Bećković 1989), became a household word in the Serbian media and the Serbian population from the end of the 1980s and clearly underlines the period of national self-discovery and nationalistic excesses in the Yugoslavia in the late 1980s and all of the 1990s. It thus acted as a short version of the national Serbian political awakening in the crumbling Yugoslavia.

The Kosovo Cycle in Epic Poetry

Origin and literary influences

In Serbian epic poetry , the chants of the Kosovo cycle have been known since the late 15th century. The Serbian epic poetry was handed down orally and is performed to this day by a singer, Guslar , who mostly uses the spit violin Gusle as an accompanying instrument.

Structurally, these chants emerged from medieval poetry in the feudal centers on the Adriatic coast, the Bugarštice (14 or 16 syllables in one line of verse). Here the heroes of the Battle of the Blackbird Field, after the collapse of the Serbian Empire in 1459, through the emigration of numerous Serbian noblemen to the Adriatic coast and Herzegovina, were literarily taken up by the former Serbian court poets as well as nobles who were arrested by tradition as central figures in the epic chants soon grew into a cycle of different stories that also found themes outside the Amselfeld context.

Presumably, the Serbian epic chants are due to Italian poetry, especially from Ariosto and Tasso , as well as from the tradition of the trobadors and the Castilian Romances (Romanceros, romances), which deal with the conflict between Islam and Christianity, in the feudal centers of Dalmatia such as Ragusa, the later Dubrovnik . The battle itself is not described in the chants, but the characters and actions revolve around the great event of the battle.

Corpus of epics

The oldest Bugarštice (Langvers) with the description of the battle on the blackbird field ( song of the battle on the blackbird field ) had recorded the Dubrovnik poet Jozo Betondić (1709–1764) by an unknown singer in the 18th century. The individual events and motifs of this Bugarštica of about 250 lines in length were found a century later as folk songs of deseterci ( ten silver , or short verse) in the Leipzig edition of Vuk Stevanović Karadžić's second book of the four-volume edition of Serbian folk songs ( Narodna srbska pjesnarica ) in the Pjesme junačke najstarije (Oldest Hero Songs ) again. In the body of the Amselfeldepen, in addition to some fragments, there are a total of eight chants, all of which also reproduce motifs and elements from Bugarštica Betondić. What the chants have in common is the description of the events immediately before, during and after the battle. In the Œvre of Serbo-Croatian vocal poetry, they stand out strongly due to the importance of the subject and represent the most famous epics of the southern Slavs in their homeland and in translations. The genre of the South Slavic heroic lives also reaches the climax of the genre in the portrayal of its most sublime and perhaps most difficult poetic theme. Although Serbia's epic poetry includes the richest epic material of any single European language, few chants of the Battle of the Blackbird have survived. In addition to fragments ( Komadi različnijeh Kosovkijeh pjesama ) are the eight traditional epics:

• Tsarina Milica and the dragon of Jastrebac ( Carica milica i Zmaj od Jastrpca )
• Tsar Lazar and Tsarina Milica ( Car Lazar and Carica Milica )
• The fall of the Serbian Empire ( Propast carstva srpskoga )
• Stefan Musić ( Musić Stefan )
• The death of the mother of the Jugoviči ( Smrt majke Jugoviča )
• Tsarina Milica and the Voivode Vladeta ( Carica Milica i Vladeta vojvoda )
• The girl from the blackbird field ( Kosovka djevojka )
• The prayer of Prince Lazar ( Obretenije glave kneza Lazara )

The girl from the Amselfeld

One of the most famous characters from the epic songs is the girl from the blackbird field . It searches for survivors after the battle and provides the wounded with food and wine. Through the tale of the fatally wounded hero Pavle Orlović, it learns what happened. The girl from Amselfeld has been a symbol of kindness and helpfulness in Serbian culture ever since:

Early rose, young girl from Amselfeld
Early rose on a Sunday morning
Rose in front of the bright morning sun
She
threw back the white sleeves of her robe She threw it behind her soft, white elbows
Carrying white bread on her shoulders
Carrying two shining jugs of
fresh water one filled
and the other with good dark wine
Then she looks for the wide lowlands of the blackbird field Looks for
the place where Tsar Lazar stood
Wandering between bleeding heroes
When she discovers a living one underneath
Gives him cooling water
Gives him, like the sacrament, the red wine
And offers the hero the good, white bread

Cults around St. Vitus's Day and the Battle of the Blackbird

A Byzantine peony ( Paeonia peregrina ) at the foot of the monument on Gazimestan

Nadežda Petrović, Red Peonies (Serbian Kosovski božuri)

Numerous rituals and symbols were created in memory of the fallen soldiers of the Blackbird Field Battle: the ritual dance of death Vidovdanka, the peony that is said to have sprouted from the blood of the fallen, or the holy water Vidovica, which gushes on the day of remembrance.

According to popular belief, the blackbird fields peonies developed from the shed blood of the blackbird fields heroes; the red from Serbian and the blue from Turkish . This is how the custom came about that on the eve of Vidovdan, the householder in the blackbird field gave a bush of peony flowers to every person who set out for the Vidovdanka. In general, in Serbian folk customs, there were parallel developments in the cult around St. Vitus's Day (the pagan cult of Svantovite was mixed here with Christianity) and St. Vitus and the blackbird field myth. The original vegetation rituals of St. Vitus's Day have been preserved in the St. Vitus cult and connected with the Blackbird Battle.

The blackbird field peony is often sung about in Serbian folk songs with a mythical reference. The peony motif here is a symbol of rebirth and fertility and also has a sexual connotation. The best-known example of such a Serbian folk song from Kosovo is Kosovski božuri (German blackbird field peonies, also Usnila je dubok sanak ), which was recorded, for example, by folk singer Jelena Tomašević .

Kosovski božuri ( Usnila je dubok sanak )

Usnila je dubok sanak
sa Kosova Rada,
pa se svome milom, dragom
u naručju jada.

Hej, dragi, dragi
božurove sadi
ja ću vodu, a ti koren
nek izniknu mladi

Vidiš, dragi, sirom polja
božurova nema
samokom, ljuto trnje
pod oblakom drema

refrain

Da procveta ravno polje
oko manastira
i da pastir ispod brda.
u frulu zasvira

Blackbird field peonies ( It dreams a deep dream )

It dreams a deep dream
Rada from the blackbird field
in which she
hugs her loved one, dearest in sorrow

Hey dearest, dearest
plant peonies,
I bring water, you the roots
should come, boy

Do you see dearest The whole field is
not a peony,
only rock and angry thorns
that doze under clouds

refrain

So that the flat field
around the monastery blooms
and the shepherd on the mountain
plays the slack

The blood emblem of the peony has been treated extensively by Serbian poets, including Milan Rakič ( Božur ), Vasko Popa ( Kosovo polje ); Vuk Drašković ( Kosovo ), Dragoljub Filipović ( Kosovski božuri , Pesme 1917). In the fine arts, the expressionist Nadežda Petrović addressed the subject in her famous painting Red Peonies .

To this day, the peony is a metaphor for the sacrifice of the Serbian warriors in the blackbird field, but also an essential part of nationalist slogans and therefore a strongly emotionalizing word even in modern and contemporary references. The Byzantine peony ( Paeonia peregrina Mill.) Also bears the common name Kosovski božur (kyrill: Косовски божур) for the reasons mentioned and for its distribution in Serbia, which is mainly limited to Kosovo . Božur is also a male given name in Serbian.

date

The date of the battle is sometimes June 28th or, according to Ottoman sources, 16th  Shaʿbān 791 ^hiǧrī / August 10, 1389 ^jul. specified. The first is due to the fact that from 1900 June 15 of the Julian calendar falls on June 28 of the Gregorian calendar used internationally today . Since the Serbian Orthodox Church has not adopted the Gregorian calendar, in Serbia it is June 15th today ^. / June 28th ^greg. as a memorial day. At the time of the battle there was no Gregorian calendar, so the date was clear at the time.

Under the influence of Romanticism and Pan-Slavism of the 19th century, the Vidovdan (German: St. Vitus Day) was interpreted as a holiday of the Old Slavic god Svantovit (German: "the holy ruler / winner"). He is said to have been the supreme god of war of the ancient Slavs. The Serbs are said to have chosen this day to fight the battle with the Ottomans on the Blackbird Field. Modern Serbian history, on the other hand, suspects that the Vidovdan was a remnant of the Roman Catholic influence, which was almost dominant in the 12th century, or that German settlers and miners who came to Serbia in the 13th century brought the holiday with them, and then also brought it from the Orthodox Serbs was taken over.

Today June 28 is a commemorative and public holiday in Serbia.

See also

• Battle of the Mariza (1371)
• Battle of Dubravnica (1381)
• Battle of Pločnik (1386)
• Battle of Bileća (1388)
• List of battles
• Vidovdan

literature

Contemporary chronicles

• Unknown author: Història de Jacob Xalabín . Badia, Lola. "Estudi introductori". In: Història de Jacob Xalabín. Edicions 62, Barcelona 1982, ISBN 84-297-1822-2 , pp. 5-23.
• Unknown author: Cronica Volgare di Anonimo Fiorentino, dall'anno 1385 al 1409 ; ed. E. Bellondi, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores t. XXVIII p, II, Città di Castello 1915, pp. 77-79.

Source editions

• Maximilian Braun: Kosovo, The battle on the Amselfelde in historical and epic tradition . Leipzig 1937.
• Đorđe Radojičić: Savremene vesti o Kosovskoj bici kod ruskog pisca đakona Ignatija. In: Starinar. III, Belgrade 1937, pp. 47-54.
• Sima Ćirković : Dimitrije Kidon o kosovskom boju . Zbornik radova Visantološkog instituta, Vol. 13, Belgrade 1971, pp. 213-219.
• Sima Ćirković: Istorijski izvori o kosovskom boju. In: Ljiljana Aleksić (ed.): Bitka na Kosovu 1389. godine. Galerija Srpske Akademije nauke i umetnosti, Vol. 65, Belgrade 1989, pp. 167-196.

Scientific literature

Collections of articles

• Ljiljana Aleksić (Ed.): Bitka na Kosovu 1389. godine. Galerija Srpske Akademije nauke i umetnosti, Vol. 65, Belgrade 1989.
• Slavenko Terzić (Ed.): Kosovska bitka u istoriografiji . Zbornik radova Istorijskog instituta XI, Belgrade 1990.
• Wayne S. Vucinich, Thomas A. Emmert (Eds.): Kosovo - Legacy of a Medieval Battle . (Minnesota Mediterranean and East European Monographs, Vol. 1) University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 1991, ISSN  1057-3941 .

Monographs

• Thomas A. Emmert: Serbian Golgotha ​​Kosovo, 1389 . East European Monographs, CCLXXVIII, Columbia University Press, New York 1990, ISBN 0-88033-175-5 .
• Stefan Schlotzer (translator), Erika Baermann (comm.): Serbian hero songs. Sagner, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-87690-627-X . (Marburg treatises on the history and culture of Eastern Europe; Vol. 37)
• Carl Polonyi: Salvation and Destruction: National Myths and War Using the Example of Yugoslavia 1980–2004 . BWV Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8305-1724-5 . (limited preview: GoogleBooks)

Essays

• Sima Ćirković: Percepcija ishoda Kosovske bitke. (English summary: Perception of the outcome of the Kosovo battle). In: Istorijski glasnik. 1/2, Belgrade, 1994, pp. 7-14.
• Sima Ćirković: O sastavu in snazi ​​Lazarevog tabora na Kosovu . (English summary: On composition and strength of Prince Lazar's camp on Kosovo). In: Vojnoistorijski Glasnik. XL, Maj-August, No. 2, Belgrade, 1989, pp. 151-168.

General representations

• Georg Ostrogorsky : History of the Byzantine State . ( Handbook of Classical Studies XII.1.2). CH Beck, Munich 1940. (3rd edition. 1963, ISBN 3-406-01414-3 ) (Special edition without scientific apparatus: Byzantine History 324 to 1453. CH Beck, Munich 1965, ISBN 3-406-39759-X )
• John Julius Norwich : Decay and Fall. 1072-1453. Bechtermünz-Verlag, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-430-17163-6 . (Byzantium; 3)
• Gerhard Herm : The Balkans. The powder keg . ECON-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-612-26195-9 .
• Mark Mazower : The Balkans. ("The Balkans"). Berliner Taschenbuch-Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-442-76040-2 .
• Malte Olschewski : The war for Kosovo. Serbia's new battle at Blackbird Field . Nidda Verlag, Bad Vilbel 1999, ISBN 3-9806814-0-8 .
• Malte Olschewski: The Serbian Myth. The belated nation. Herbig, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7766-2027-7 .
• Petar Petrović-Njegoš : The mountain wreath . Magnificent illustrated edition in honor of the 600th birthday of Johannes Gutenberg . ("Gorski vijenac"). Njegoš Foundation, Belgrade 2003, ISBN 86-82995-10-7 .

Web links

Commons : Battle of Kosovo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Radio Beograd with a documentary about the battle on the blackbird field. Kod dva bela goluba , author: Dragoslav Batica Savić with excerpts from Jeremijas, Jefimijas, Doukas, Konstantin Kostenezkis and Slobodan Mileusnićs (Serbian, 60 min)
• The literary scholar Jelka Ređep on the subject of the Kosovo legend with the main motifs of betrayal and heroism in literature and oral tradition from the 14th to 19th centuries, Beograd Radio - "Kod dva bela goluba", 60 min (Serbian)
• The Serbian medievalist Sima Ćirković analyzes the Amselfeld sources The Kosovo Field - June 15, 1389
• The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat by Thomas A. Emmert - from Kosovo : Legacy of a Medieval Battle Early Sources by Serbian and Turkish Authors on the Blackbird Field
• Ottoman Empire: The Blackbird Field. The development of cultural memory as reflected in history.
• Image of the tapestry in Chenonceau Castle "La bataille de Kosovo" from the 16th century

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dušan Bataković: Kosovo chronicals . The Age of Ascent. Belgrade 1992 ( org.yu [accessed February 2, 2013] English). Kosovo chronicals ( Memento from February 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Ljubomir Maksimović: Visantija i Turci od Maricke do Kosovske bitke (1371-1389) . In: Glas, Odeljenje istorijskih nauka . No. 9 . Serbian Academy of Arts, Belgrade 1996, p. 33-46 .
3. ^ Sima Ćirković 2005: The Serbs . The Peoples of Europe, Blackwell, Oxford, ISBN 0-631-20471-7 , p. 85.
4. ↑ Momčilo Spremčić: Vuk Branković i Kosovska bitka . In: Glas, Odeljenje istorijskih nauka . No. 9 . Serbian Academy of Arts, Belgrade 1996, p. 85-108 .
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Sima Ćirković 2005, p. 85.
6. ^ Svetozar Koljević 1980: The Epic in the Making . Clarendon, Oxford, p. 154.
7. ↑ Jelka Redjep: Žitije Kneza Lazara . Prometej, Novi Sad 2010.
8. ↑ Jelka Redjep: The Legend of Kosovo . In: Oral Tradition . tape 6 , no. 2 , 1991, p. 253–265 ( oraltradition.org [PDF; accessed on February 2, 2013] English).
9. ^ Svetozar Koljević 1980: The Epic in the Making . Clarendon, Oxford, p. 153.
10. ^ John K. Knox: The History of Serbia . Ed .: Frank W. Thackeray, John E. Findling. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut / London 2002, ISBN 0-313-31290-7 , pp. 31 .
11. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1976: Dubrovačka kovnica i proizvodnja srebra u Srbiji i Bosni . Istorijski glasnik, vol. 1/2, p. 94.
12. ↑ Sima Ćirković: Srbi u Srednjem Veku . Idea, Belgrad 1996, ISBN 86-7547-033-9 , p. 167.
13. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1996, p. 167.
14. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1996, p. 185.
15. ↑ Sima Ćirković, 1996: Kosovska bitka u medunarodnom kontekstu . Glasnik Srpske Akademije Nauka i Umetnosti, odeljene istorijskih nauka, 9, Belgrade, p. 58.
16. ↑ Sima Ćirković, 1996, p. 59.
17. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1972: Moravska Srbija u istoriji srpskog naroda . Vojislav Đurić (Ed.) 1972: Moravska Škola i njeno doba . Filosofski Faculty, Odeljenje za istoriju umetnosti, Belgrade, 101–110.
18. ↑ ^{a b} Sima Ćirković 1972, p. 104.
19. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1972, p. 106.
20. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1972, p. 107.
21. ^ Franjo Rački , Boj na Kosovu. Zagreb 1889; Mihailo Dinić, Kosovska bitka, Enciklopedija Jugoslavije , Belgrade 1962.
22. ^ Sima Cirkovic, 1996: Kosovska bitka u medunarodnom kontekstu . Gals Srpske Akademije Nauka i Umetnosti, odeljene istorijskih nauka, 49-69, Belgrade, p. 54.
23. ↑ ^{a b} Stjepan Antoljak, 1989: Jesu li Hrvati sudjelovali u kosovskoj bici 1389? In: Historijski zbornik, XLII (1), 37-55, p. 37 Jesu li Hrvati sudjelovali u kosovskoj bici (PDF; 2.4 MB)
24. ↑ John Musachi: Brief Chronicle on the Descendants of our Musachi Dynasty ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
25. ↑ Nenad Fejić: Širenje kruga izvora o kosovskom boju. In: Slavenko Terzić (Ed.): Symposium - The Batle of Kosovo in Historiography . Historical Institute Beograd, Collection of Works, 11, 1990, pp. 33-40.
26. ↑ Miranda Vickers: Shqiptarët - Një histori modern . Bota Shqiptare, 2008, ISBN 978-99956-11-68-2 , Mbërritja e osmanëve, p. 18 (Original title: The Albanians - A Modern History . Translated by Xhevdet Shehu, English).
27. ↑ Milorad Ekmečić , 2000: Historiography By the Garb Only . In: Slavenko Terzić (Ed.): Response to Noel Malcolm's Book KOSOVO. A SHORT HISTORY - Scientific Discussion on Noel Malcolm's book “Kosovo. A Short History " . INSTITUTE OF HISTORY of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Collection of Works Volume 18, Belgrade.
28. ↑ Warren T. Woodfin 2004: No. 186 - Embroidered Belt. . Helen C. Evans (Ed.) 2004: Byzantium - Faith and Power (1261-1557) . Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, p. 310.
29. ↑ Marko Šuica 2011, p. 226.
30. ↑ Sima Ćirković 2004, p. 87.
31. ↑ Miloš Blagojević: Vojno-istorijske re Konstrukcije Kosovske bitke. In: Slavenko Terzić (Ed.): Symposium - The Battle of Kosovo in historiography. Historical Institute, Vol. 11, Belgrade 1990, p. 17.
32. ↑ Miloš Blagojević: Vojno-istorijske re Konstrukcije Kosovske bitke. 1990, p. 17.
33. ↑ Miloš Blagojević: Vojno-istorijske re Konstrukcije Kosovske bitke. 1990, p. 18.
34. ↑ Sima Ćirković: Vladarski dvori oko jezera na Kosovu. In: Zbornik za likovnu umetnost, 20, Belgrad 1984, p. 74.
35. ↑ Ferenc Majoros, Bernd Rill: The Ottoman Empire 1300-1922. The story of a great power. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004, p. 116.
36. ↑ Marko Šuica 2011: O mogučoj ulozi Vuka Brankovča u Kosovskoj bici - prilog razmatranju srednjovekovne ratne taktike . Srđan Rudić (Ed.) 2011: Spomenica Akademika Sime Ćirkovića . vol. 25, Istorijski Institut, Zbornik Radova, Belgrad 2011, ISBN 978-86-7743-091-7 , pp. 225–244.
37. ↑ Nenad Fejić: Širenje kruga izvora o kosovskom boju . In: Sima Ćirković (ed.): The Battle of Kosovo in historiography . Istorijski Institut, Zbornik radova, 11, Belgrad 1990, p. 36.
38. ↑ Nenac Fejić 1990, p. 38.
39. ↑ Marko Šuica 2011, p. 238.
40. ↑ Nenad Fejić: Širenje kruga izvora o kosovskom boju. In: Sima Ćirković (ed.): The Battle of Kosovo in historiography. Istorijski Institut, Zbornik radova, 11, Belgrad 1990, p. 36.
41. ↑ Vida y hazanas del Gran Tamorlan con la description de las Tierras de su Imperio y senorio escrita por Ruy Gonzales de Oavijo, camerero del muy alto y podereso senor Don Enrique Tercero Deste Nombri Rey de Castilla y de Leon. Con un itinerario de to sucedido en la embajada que por dicho senor rey hizo aldicho principe Ilamado por otro nombre Tamurbec, ano del nacimiento de mil y quatrocientos y tres. See the English translation of de Clavijo's work: Clements R. Markham (trans.), Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand, AD 1403-1406 (London: Printed for the Hakluyt Society, 1859) . Thomas A. Emmert 1991: Primary Sources The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat . Wayne S. Vucinich and Thomas A. Emmert (Eds.): Kosovo: Legacy of a Medieval Battle . Minnesota Mediterranean and East European Monographs v.1, 1991. [1]
42. ↑ ^{a b} Nenad Fejić: Širenje kruga izvora o kosovskom boju. In: Sima Ćirković (ed.): The Battle of Kosovo in historiography. Istorijski Institut, Zbornik radova, 11, Belgrad 1990, p. 39.
43. ↑ Marko Šuica 2011, p. 241.
44. ↑ Константин Филозоф: Житија деспота Стефана Лазаревића. Prosveta, Srpska Književna zadruga, Stara Srpska Književnost, knj. 11, Beograd 1989, p. 84.
45. ↑ Marko Šuica 2011, p. 242.
46. ↑ Most sources do not mention anything about an Ottoman artillery mission. Such statements are generally based on a not undisputed passage in the history of the Ottoman Empire by Hammer-Purgstall. Majoros / Rill: The Ottoman Empire 1300–1922. P. 117.
47. ^ Thomas A. Emmert, 1991: Primary Sources - The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat from Kosovo. In: Legacy of a Medieval Battle [2] (PDF; 114 kB)
48. ^ Sima Ćirković: Kosovska bitka kao istorijski problem. In: Slavenko Terzić (ed.): Okrugli sto Kosovska bitka u istoriografiji. [ Symposium - The Batle of Kosovo in Historiography. ] Historical Institute Beograd, Collection of Works 11, Belgrad 1990, p. 113.
49. ↑ ^{a b c} Sima Ćirković: Kosovska bitka kao istorijski problem. In: Slavenko Terzić (ed.): Okrugli sto Kosovska bitka u istoriografiji. [ Symposium - The Batle of Kosovo in Historiography. ] Historical Institute Beograd, Collection of Works 11, Belgrad 1990, p. 111.
50. ↑ Nenad Fejić: Širenje kruga izvora o kosovskom boju. P. 34 ff.
51. ↑ Jelka Ređep 1976: Priča o bojom kosovskom . Zrenjanin
52. ↑ Jelka Ređep 2009: Žitije Kneza Lazara . Prometej, Novi Sad. ISBN 978-86-515-0432-0
53. ↑ ^{a b} Sima Ćirković: Kosovska bitka kao istorijski problem. In: Slavenko Terzić (ed.): Okrugli sto Kosovska bitka u istoriografiji. [ Symposium - The Batle of Kosovo in Historiography. ] Historical Institute Beograd, Collection of Works 11, Belgrad 1990, p. 117.
54. ↑ ^{a b} Sima Ćirković 1994, p. 13.
55. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1994, p. 11.
56. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1994, p. 12.
57. ↑ ^{a b} Sima M. Ćirković, Moravska Srbija u istoriji srpskog naroda. In: Vojislav J. Durić (ed.): Moravska skola i njeno doba. Belgrade, pp. 101-109.
58. ↑ Ivan Bzic, Srpske Zemlje u doba Stefana Lazarevića. In: Vojislav J. Durić (ed.): Moravska Skola i njeno doba. Belgrade 1972, p. 113.
59. ↑ Mirjana Čorović-Ljubinković, Znacaj Novog Brda u Srbiji Lazarevića i Brankovića. In: Vojislav J. Durić, Moravska Skola i njeno doba , Belgrad 1972, pp. 123-142.
60. ↑ Maja Nikolić, 2010: The byzantine writers on Serbia (1402–1439) . Institute for Byzantine Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Monographs, no. 40, Belgrade, pp. 20–22.
61. ↑ Maja Nikolić, 2010, p. 20.
62. ↑ ^{a b} Maja Nikolić, 2010, p. 28.
63. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Rastko project
64. ↑ Sima Ćirković, 1994: Percepcija ishoda Kosovske bitke . Istorijski Glasnik, No. 1–2, pp. 7–14, Savez društava istoričara republike Srbije, Belgrade.
65. ↑ ^{a b c d} Sima Ćirković 1994, p. 8.
66. ↑ Sima Ćirković 1994, p. 9.
67. ↑ Jefimija : Praise of Prince Lazar
68. ↑ Srednjevekovni srpski spisi o kosovu (Medieval Serbian writings on Kosovo) Stefan Lazarević - Ove reči su bile pisane na stubu mramornom na Kosovu
69. ↑ ^{a b} Stefan Lazarević : Marble column on the Amselfeld
70. ^ Thomas A. Emmert: The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat. In: Wayne S. Vucinich, Thomas A. Emmert (Eds.): Kosovo: Legacy of a Medieval Battle. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 1991, OCLC 26765277 .
71. ↑ Felix Kanitz : The Kingdom of Serbia and the Serbian People from Roman Times to the Present . Country and population. 2nd volumes, Leipzig, 1909.
72. ↑ Wolfgang Höpken: The scary saga from Amselfeld In: The time of March 12, 1998.
73. ^ Carsten Wieland: Nation- state against its will. Politicization of ethnic groups and ethnicization of politics: Bosnia, India, Pakistan. Campus, Frankfurt 2000, ISBN 3-593-36506-5 , p. 119.
74. ↑ Vecernje novosti, June 7, 2006 Zov kosovskih junaka
75. ↑ royalfamily.org ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
76. ↑ mestrovic.kkz.hr ( Memento from March 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
77. ↑ Kerameia Is A Fabulous Ancient City .. Know The Myths, History, etc. July 7, 2019, accessed July 16, 2019 (American English). 
78. ↑ Air Serbia, Review Kosovo Myth and Serbian Art before Eyes of Europe
79. ↑ Bust Secanje Royal Palace Dedinje  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( Flash ; 115 kB)  
80. ^ Slaviša Milenković: Meštrović za penziju dao maketu hrama. Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Serbian). 
81. ↑ etudesbalkaniques.revues.org Bratislav Pantelić, 2005: L'église de Saint-Savas à Belgrade . Études Balkaniques, 12, 181-185.
82. ↑ balkanologie.revues.org Bojan Aleksov, 2003: Nationalism in Construction: The Memorial Church of St. Sava on Vračar Hill in Belgrade. In: Balkanology - Revue d'etude pluridisciplinaire, Vol. VII, no. 2, 47–72, décembre 2003.
83. ↑ ^{a b} Bratislav Pantelić, 2005.
84. ↑ balkanologie.revues.org Bojan Aleksov, 2003: Nationalism in Construction: The Memorial Church of St. Sava on Vračar Hill in Belgrade. In: Balkanologie - Revue d'etude pluridisciplinaire, Vol. VII, no. 2, December 2003, pp. 47–72.
85. ↑ Zoran Kržišnik 1957: Neke tendencije našeg Ekspresionizma . In: Oto Bihalj-Merin (ed.), 1957: Savremeno Jugoslovensko Slikarstvo . P. 118. Časopis Jugoslavija, Beograd.
86. ^ Dejan Medaković, 1990: Kosovski boj u likovnim umetnostima . Kosovska spomenica 1389-1989, vol. 2, p. 51, ISBN 86-379-0198-0
87. ↑ Novosti, July 25, 2011 Država najveća riznica umetničkih dela
88. ↑ Politika, December 16, 2014 Legate Petra Lubarde otvara vrata posle trideset godina
89. ^ Dejan Medaković, 1990: Kosovski boj u likovnim umetnostima . P. 51
90. ↑ Lazar Trifunovic, Oslobođenje, Aug. 1, 1954, page 1. Reprint in the Museum of Modern Art Belgrade, 1990 Lubardina Slika "Kosovski boj"
91. ↑ Lazar Trifunovic, Oslobođenje, Aug. 1, 1954, page 3. Reprint in the Museum of Modern Art Belgrade, 1990 Lubardina Slika "Kosovski boj"
92. ↑ Lazar Trifunovic, Oslobođenje, Aug. 1, 1954, page 4, reprint in the Museum of Modern Art Belgrade, 1990 Lubardina Slika "Kosovski boj"
93. ↑ VREME, 899, March 27, 2008 Slike iz srca epohe
94. ^ RTS, Aug. 19, 2011 Restauracija Lubardinih dela
95. ↑ Chateau ce Chenonceau - Guide, here p. 18
96. ↑ Bosko I. Bojovic - L'Eglise Orthodox Serbe. Institut des Etudes Balkaniques, Ed. Speciales 126, Belgrade 2014. p. 45
97. ↑ Interview with Bosko Bojovic on the discovery of the tapestry
98. ↑ June 28, 2009. navršilo se 620 godina od Kosovske bitke.
99. ↑ Sanja Petrović Todosijević, “NACIONALNO VREME” - OKVIR ZA SAMOPERCEPCIJU GRAĐANA REPUBLIKE SRBIJE , 2010. In: Vojin Dimitrijević (ed.): NOVOSTI IZ PROLOSTI-Znanjelootznanje. Belgrade, p. 76.
100. ↑ William M. Klimon: Chesterton, Kosovo of the Serbians, and the Vocation of the Christian Nation
101. ^ Imperial War Museum: La Journée Serbe Serbian Day
102. ^ Journée Serbe. 25 juin 1916. French WW1 propaganda poster
103. ↑ Brown University library La Journée Serbe 25 Juin 1916: anniversaire de la Bataille de Kossovo ( Memento of January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
104. ↑ Kossovo DAY, 1918 .; The Anniversary and Its Meaning for All the Western Slav Races and for the Allies. New York Times, June 16, 1918
105. ^ Appeals to Americans to pray for Serbians. New York Times, June 28, 1918
106. ↑ Vuk Jeremic, Vecernje Novosti: Vuk Jeremić: Borba protiv volje sudbine December 24, 2011
107. ^ Vasko Popa: Collected Poems 1943–1976, trans. Anne Pennington (Manchester: England Carcanet Press 1978), p. 109.
108. ↑ Matija Beckovic, Kosovo, najskuplja srpska rec. Bibliotheka glass crkve. Tome IXV. Valjevo 1989. [3]
109. ^ Alida Bremer : literature and national ideologies. In: Dunja Melčić, The War of Yugoslavia: Handbook on Prehistory, Course and Consequences, p. 279 [4]
110. ^ NIN, June 5, 2003 Sta ce Srbima Kosovo
111. ↑ b92, Blog Najskuplja srpska rec Najskuplja srpska rec
112. ↑ The Battle of the Blackbird Field. Serbian Epic Chants. English translation by John Matthias and Vladeta Vuckovic with a foreword by Charles Simic Archived copy ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
113. ↑ Goeffrey NW Locke 2011: The Serbian Epic ballads: an anthology / translated into English verse by Goeffrey NW Locke . Tanesi, Belgrade, p. 15.
114. ↑ Legends of the Battle of Kosovo
115. ↑ The Maiden of Kosovo Serbian Epic Chants - The Girl from Blackbird Field ( Memento from July 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
116. ↑ Klett, The Balkans as a Hot Spot [5] (PDF)
117. ↑ Gerald Sammet: Stranger Customs - Blood-Red Peonies. In: NZZ Folio . 09/94.
118. ↑ Srdan Petkovic: The national discourse under the influence of war propaganda, church and folklorism. On the development of Serbian self-perception Kosovski bozuri and vidovdan (PDF; 2.2 MB)
119. ↑ Jelena Tomasevic: "Usnila je dubok sanak"
120. ↑ Božur
121. ^ Kosovo polje
122. ^ Vuk Drašković Kosovo
123. ↑ Project Rastko, Gracanica the myth in art
124. ↑ Holm Sundhaussen: History of Serbia: 19. – 21. Century, p. 409: "Will warm blood then flow / Where peonies sprout every year?"
125. ↑ Carl Polonyi: Salvation and Destruction: National Myths and War using the Example of Yugoslavia , p. 188 The peony withers in Kosovo, it laments the Serbs who have emigrated
126. ↑ Maximilian Hendler: Defeat as a national myth. The Kosovo motif in Serbian popular music today. In: Study Group for Popular Music eV (ASPM): Notes, projects and short articles on popular music research. , Samples 3 (2004), full text
127. ^ Politika, August 10, 2011 Božur
128. ↑ The Julian calendar is used by the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and some monasteries on St. Mount Athos as well as used by the Ethiopian Church.