Ottoman
The Field of Blackbirds
The Ottoman army arrayed at Kosovo, 1389 CE
791 AH / 1389 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Kosovo Polje, the Field of Blackbirds, in the Balkans
42.6833, 21.1167 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
By the later fourteenth century the Ottomans, who had begun as a small frontier principality in north-western Anatolia, had crossed into Europe and were rapidly extending their power over the Balkans, the south-eastern corner of the continent, where the older Christian states, the Byzantine Empire and the Serbian and Bulgarian realms, were divided and in decline. In 1389, on the plain of Kosovo, the Field of Blackbirds, in the heart of the Balkans, the army of the Ottoman sultan Murad I (Murad Hudavendigar) met a great coalition of the Christian lords of the region, led by the Serbian prince Lazar. The Ottoman chronicles of Asikpasazade and of Nesri record the campaign and the day of battle, and later Ottoman histories drew on them. The battle that followed was enormous and hard-fought, and both sides suffered grievously; in its course the Ottoman sultan Murad himself (rahimahu Allah) was killed, struck down, by the most famous account, by a Serbian who gained access to him on or just after the field, while the Serbian prince Lazar was captured and put to death. Murad's son Bayezid, later called Yildirim, took up the command on the field, secured the victory and the throne, and the Ottoman advance continued. The Christian coalition was broken, and though Serbian power lingered for a time as a tributary, the way was opened for the Ottoman conquest and the long rule of south-eastern Europe that would follow over the next century, reaching at last to the Danube and beyond. The Battle of Kosovo became one of the most fateful and most remembered events in the history of the whole region, woven deep into the memory and the legend of the peoples of the Balkans as well as of the Turks, a day held to have decided the destiny of nations. This scene shows the morning of the battle: the green-bannered Ottoman cavalry drawn up in the foreground beneath their armoured commander, with the Christian coalition arrayed in a long line across the misty plain. In keeping with the project's ethics every figure is anonymous and distant, the sultan is suggested only by context and never by likeness, and the fighting itself is not depicted.
What you see
A wide, open upland plain spreads under a pale dawn sky, ringed by low Balkan hills and veiled in morning mist; this is high, grassy ground in the heart of south-eastern Europe, suited to a great cavalry battle rather than a city or a siege.
In the near ground a body of horsemen carries tall plain green banners on long lances, the green war-flags of a Muslim army; their mounted commander rides armoured at their head. These are the colours and the cavalry of the advancing Ottoman host, not a Latin Crusader column.
The riders wear conical helmets and mail and carry lances rather than firearms, and only the lone riders crossing the field are in motion; this is a battle of horse, bow and lance on the eve of gunpowder, when cannon were still marginal in the field.
Across the plain, drawn up in a long dense line under red and dark banners, stands the opposing host: the coalition of the Christian lords of the Balkans, led by the Serbian prince Lazar, arrayed to meet the Muslim army at the break of day.
This is the field of Kosovo, the Field of Blackbirds, in 1389, as the army of the Ottoman sultan Murad I (rahimahu Allah) faces the Serbian-led alliance; the costly victory won here would open south-eastern Europe to Ottoman rule for generations, though Murad himself would fall before the day was done.
The Battle of Kosovo of 1389 is recorded in the Ottoman chronicles of Asikpasazade and Nesri. The scene shows the two armies arrayed at dawn; no individual is depicted by likeness, faces are distant, and the fighting itself is not shown.
Further reading & cross-references
Asikpasazade, Tevarih-i Al-i Osman (Ottoman chronicle, 15th c.): Early Ottoman chronicle account of Murad I's campaign and the battle on the Kosovo plain. Used for the Ottoman framing of the day and the death of the sultan. Confidence high for the broad events; some narrative detail is later tradition.
Nesri, Kitab-i Cihannuma (Ottoman history, late 15th c.): Standard early Ottoman history; gathers and orders the campaign of 1389, the array of the two hosts, the victory and Murad's killing, and Bayezid's succession. Confidence high.
Modern histories of the early Ottoman conquest of the Balkans: Used for the Ottoman advance into Europe, the makeup of the Balkan Christian coalition under Lazar, and the long significance of Kosovo. Confidence high.
Serbian and Byzantine accounts of the Battle of Kosovo (cross-reference): Non-Muslim accounts used only as cross-reference for the date, the site and the composition of the coalition, not for the religious framing. Confidence medium; later Serbian tradition is heavily legendary.
The plain of Kosovo Polje (geographic and material context): The open upland Balkan plain constrains the depiction; the exact line of the array is debated and the field is now largely built over. Confidence medium.
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