Battle of Kosovo (1448)

For other combat operations in the Kosovo region, see Battle of Kosovo (disambiguation).

The Second Battle of Kosovo (Hungarian: második rigómezei csata, Turkish: İkinci Kosova Muharebesi) was a land battle between a Hungarian-led Crusader army and the Ottoman Empire at Kosovo field that took place from 17–20 October 1448. It was the culmination of a Hungarian offensive to avenge the defeat at the Battle of Varna four years earlier. In the three-day battle the Ottoman army under the command of Sultan Murad II defeated the Crusader army of regent John Hunyadi.

Second Battle of Kosovo
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe and Ottoman-Hungarian Wars and Ottoman-Wallachian wars
An akinji defeating a Hungarian knight with a lasso.
Date 17–20 October 1448 (O.S.) (3 days) Location Kosovo Field, Serbian Despotate Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire Karamanids[1]	Kingdom of Hungary Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Bohemia Moldavia Grand Duchy of Lithuania[2] Wallachia[a]
Commanders and leaders
Murad II Prince Mehmed	John Hunyadi Franko Talovec † Michael Szilágyi
Strength
50,000–60,000[8][9]	31,000–47,000 (7,000 cavalry , 24,000–40,000 infantry)[9]
Casualties and losses
4,000–34,000[10][11][b]	6,000–17,000[10][11][b] 17,000 (9,000 Hungarians, 2,000 Mercenaries, 6,000 Wallachians)[5]

After the battle, the path was clear for the Turks to conquer Serbia and the other Balkan States, it also ended any hopes of saving Constantinople. The Hungarian kingdom no longer had the military and financial resources to mount an offensive against the Ottomans. With the end of the half-century-long Crusader threat to their European frontier, Murad's son Mehmed II was free to lay siege to Constantinople in 1453.

Background

In 1444, the Hungarian king, Władysław III of Poland, in breach of a ten-year truce that existed with the Ottoman Empire following the Peace of Szeged, launched a new crusade.^[12] Meeting the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Varna, the crusading army was destroyed and the king was killed.^[12] Two years later in 1446, Sultan Murad II returned to the Balkans seeking revenge for the treaty breaking that preceded the battle. That year his army breached the Hexamilion wall and ravaged the Peloponnese after which, following the proclamation of a new crusade by Pope Nicholas V, Murad invaded Albania, conquering the fortress of Svetigrad.^[13] Meanwhile, four years after his defeat at Varna, John Hunyadi, the richest landowner in Hungary, had joined forces with Albania's war leader Skanderbeg in an alliance that also included Serbia and Bosnia.^[14][15] Resolved to defeat the Ottoman army, Hunyadi raised an army of 24,000 men, including 8,000 Wallachians,^[13] his Hungarian cavalry supplemented by German and Bohemian infantry mercenaries.^[16][17] Hunyadi's strategy was based on an expected revolt of the Balkan peoples, a surprise attack, and the destruction of the main force of the Ottomans in a single battle after linking up with his allies.^[13]

In September 1448, Hunyadi led his forces across the Danube and camped them in Serbia next to Kovin, just outside the Serbian capital of Smederevo. For a full month the Hungarians stayed encamped awaiting their German, Wallachian, Bohemian and Albanian allies.^[18] The news of the crusader threat forced Murad to abandon his campaign against Albania.^[19] Believing the strength of his army to be inadequate to face the crusaders, Murad retreated back to Sofia to stockpile resources necessary for the campaign and receive reinforcements.^[20] While gathering the necessary provisions in Sofia, news reached the army that a Wallachian force had crossed the Danube and attacked Ottoman positions in Nicopolis. A unit of Akinjis was dispatched to respond to the attack, which succeeded in ambushing and dispersing the Wallachians, taking many prisoners in the process.^[20] The POWs captured during the ambush were sent to Sofia, where the news of the victory had increased morale among the Ottoman troops before their march towards the crusader army.^[20] Meanwhile, the Albanian army under Skanderbeg was delayed as it was prevented from linking up with Hunyadi's army by the Ottomans and their allies.^[18][21] It is believed that the Albanian army was delayed by Serbian despot Đurađ Branković, whose army occupied the mountain passes on the Serbian-Albanian border, and by a Venetian attack on northern Albania.^[17] The Serbs had declined joining Hunyadi's forces due to an earlier truce with the Turks.^[22] Branković's exact role is disputed.^[23][24][25] As a result, Skanderbeg ravaged and pillaged Branković's domains as punishment for deserting the Christian cause,^[21][26] whereas Hunyadi decided not to wait for Skanderbeg and his reinforcements to open the battle.^[3]

Battle

The Crusaders, numbering 22,000–30,000^{[27][17][28][29]} arrived at Kosovo Field (the site of the first Battle of Kosovo in 1389, between Serbs and Ottomans) facing an Ottoman army of 40,000–60,000 men.^[30][17] Sultan Murad personally commanded a large section of cannoneers and janissaries, while his son and would-be successor, 16-year-old Mehmed, who faced battle for the first time, led the Anatolian troops at the right wing. Hunyadi commanded the center of his army in the battle, while the crusader right wing was made up of Wallachians. The Hungarians had a long barrage cannons. Calculating that he would need more than 40,000 men to defeat the Ottomans, the Hungarian regent sought to join up with anti-Ottoman Albanian forces, possibly led by Skanderbeg. The Ottomans in their base at Sofia received word of the Crusader army's march route and subsequently began readying their men.^{[citation needed]}

Having failed to locate the main Ottoman army, whom he believed to still be at their capital in Edirne, Hunyadi was caught by surprise on the 17th of October when the Ottoman army appeared in front of his men at Kosovo Field. He constructed a tabor wagon fort at Plementina hill from which to fight the Ottomans, who built their own stockade in response. The battle opened when Hunyadi attacked the Ottoman flanks with mixed cavalry (light and heavy). The Turkish flanks, consisting of soldiers from Rumelia and Anatolia, were losing until the Turkish light cavalry arrived to reinforce them. Cavalry skirmishing on the flanks of the stockades during the first two days and a Crusader night-time attack using their wagons and guns against the Sultan's central position on the night of 18/19 October produced much bloodshed but no conclusive results. The Christian flanks were subsequently routed and the survivors retreated back to Hunyadi's main force. On 19 October Murad II used his sipahi cavalry from Thessaly to envelop the cavalry on the Crusader left flank, along with a general assault all along the line to distract Hunyadi from the primary effort. The manoeuvre worked and the Wallachian, Moldavian, and Hungarian cavalry were cut down by the sipahis, who took no prisoners.^{[citation needed]}

When Hunyadi saw the defeat of his flanks, he attacked with his main force, composed of knights and light infantry. The janissary corps were not successful at stopping the attack; the cavalry made progress through the Turkish centre, but were eventually stopped at the Turkish camp. When the main attack was halted, the Turkish infantry regrouped and successfully drove the Hungarian knights back. The light cavalry, who now lacked the knights' support, were also overcome. Much of the crusader army then retreated to their camp. On the 20th of October, the Wallachians deserted to the Ottoman side after being offered terms from Murad, leaving Hunyadi mostly defenceless.^[3]

With Murad II personally observing the struggle, the Janissaries attacked and killed everyone left in the stockade. Hunyadi fled, but was later captured by the Serbs. During the night, Turkish infantry fired missiles at the Hungarians, who replied with cannon fire. On the next day, a final assault destroyed the remaining troops of the Hungarian army.^{[citation needed]}

Aftermath

The Christian Balkan states were unable to resist the Ottomans after this defeat, eventually falling one after the other under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Hunyadi was captured by Branković in retaliation for the damage perpetrated by the Hungarian army in Serbia. Hunyadi's release was negotiated against a ransom of 100,000 florins, the return of the domains that Hunyadi had revocated from Branković, and the engagement of Hunyadi's heir to Branković's daughter,^[31] other sources cite the restitution of the despot's estates in Hungary while leaving Hunyadi's elder son László at Smederevo as a hostage.^[32] For the remainder of his reign Hunyadi successfully defended the Kingdom of Hungary against Ottoman campaigns. As punishment for lending its support to Hunyadi, Murad attacked and submitted Wallachia in 1449, followed by Albania in 1450 where Skanderbeg continued to resist, breaking Murad's siege of the Castle of Krujë in 1451.^[15] That year Murad died replaced by his 19-year-old son Mehmed II who, after securing Constantinople in 1453, launched a new military campaign against Serbia in 1454.^[33]

Notes

1. Switched to the Ottoman side on day 3 of the battle^{[3][4][5][6][7]}
2. The losses suffered by the two sides differ in the contemporary accounts.^[c] According to Laonikos Chalkokondyles 4,000 Turks dead against 17,000 enemies.^[d] According to Franz Babinger of the Hungarians around 17,000 died against 34,000 Turks.^[e] Antonio Bonfini offers the figure of 8,000 crusaders killed against 30,000 Turks.^[d] According to the anonymous of Constantinople the losses of the crusading army, including prisoners, were around 6,000–7,000 men.^[f]
3. Housley 2017, p. 264.
4. Antoche 2017, p. 273.
5. Babinger, Manheim & Hickman 1978, p. 55.
6. (PDF) Hunyadi's campaign of 1448.

References

Citations

1. Koçu, Reşad Ekrem (2024). Fatih Sultan Mehmed. p. 39. ISBN 9786050926569.
2. Lütfullah Müneccimbaşı, Ahmed B. (2014). Osmanlı Devleti'nin Kuruluş Tarihi (1299-1481). AKDEM YAYINLARI. ISBN 9786054535293.
3. Bury, p. 1814.
4. Treadgold 1997, p. 797.
5. Bánlaky, József. "A rigómezei csata 1448 október 17-től 19-ig" [The Battle of Kosovo at 17–19 October in 1448]. A magyar nemzet hadtörténelme [The Military History of the Hungarian Nation] (in Hungarian). Budapest.
6. Mesut Uyar Ph.D., Edward J. Erickson (2009). A Military History of the Ottomans: From Osman to Ataturk (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
7. Chalkokondyles, Laonikos (1464). The Histories of Laonikos Chalkokondyldes, Volume I (Translated by Anthony Kaldellis, 2014).
8. Mufassal Osmanlı Tarihi 1.cilt Mustafa Cezar
9. Babinger, Franz (2021). Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı. Alfa Yayınevi. pp. 96–98. ISBN 9786254493607.
10. Antoche 2017, p. 273.
11. Babinger, Manheim & Hickman 1978, p. 55.
12. Mikaberidze 2011, p. 373.
13. Turnbull 2012, p. 34.
14. Turnbull 2012, p. 35.
15. Phillips & Axelrod 2005, p. 20.
16. Bradford 2004, p. 733.
17. Sedlar 2013, p. 393.
18. Rogers, Caferro & Reid 2010, p. 1-PA471.
19. von Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph (1827). Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches [History of the Ottoman Empire] (in German). p. 477.
20. Kabasakal, Hüseyin (1986). Varna (1444), İkinci Kosova (1448) Meydan Muharebeleri ve II. Murat [Field Battles of Varna (1444) & Second Kosovo (1448) and Murad II] (in Turkish). Genelkurmay Basımevi. pp. 75–76. II. Murat, ordusunun yürüyüş hedefini Sofya olarak değiştirdi ve Sırbistan'a istihbarat elemanları gönderildi. Büyük bir sefer süresince ordunun ihtiyaç duyacağı yiyecek ve giyecek ile silah, araç, gereç ve öteki donatım malzemesinin Sofya'da toplanması için emirler verilmiş ve gerekli önlemlere başvurulmuştu. Bu süre içinde Anadolu ve Rumeli kuvvetleri de burada toplanmış olacaktı... Ordunun Sofya'da toplanması sırasında Eflak ordusunun Niğbolu'ya saldırdığı haberi alınmış, gönderilen bir akıncı kuvveti, baskın yaparak Eflaklıları perişan etmişti. Baskın sırasında alınan esirler Sofya'ya gönderilmişti. Bu başarı, orduda büyük sevinç yaratmış ve morali pekiştirmiştir... Sofya'da yığınağını ve hazırlıklarını tamamlayan Türk ordusu, II. Murat tarafından denetlendikten ve gerekli emirler verildikten sonra, Sofya-Köstendil-Palanga-Komanova-Üsküp-Kaçanik-Piriştine istikametinde yürüyüşe geçmiştir. Yürüyüş sırasında keşif birimlerinden alınan raporlardan, Haçlı ordunun Kosova Ovası'nda tahkimatla uğraştığı öğrenilmiştir. Kosova'ya yürüyüş, güvenlik önlemleri alınmış olarak, çok düzenli biçimde sürdürülmüştür.
21. Frashëri 2002, pp. 160–161
22. Sedlar 2013, p. 248.
23. Vaughan, Dorothy Margaret (1954). Europe and the Turk: a pattern of alliances, 1350–1700. AMS Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780404563325. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
24. Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. p. 393. ISBN 9780295972909. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
25. Babinger, Manheim & Hickman 1978, p. 40.
26. Kenneth, Setton (1997) [1978]. The papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571: The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Vol. II. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-87169-127-9. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2010. Scanderbeg intended to go "peronalmente" with an army to assist Hunyadi, but was prevented from doing so by Branković, whose lands he ravaged as punishment for the Serbian desertion of the Christian cause.
27. Antoche 2017, p. 253.
28. Turnbull 2012, p. 36.
29. Connolly, Gillingham & Lazenby 2016, p. 182.
30. Connolly, Gillingham & Lazenby 2016, p. 182: "Hunyadi led 24,000–30,000 men including 10,000 Wallachians, but should have waited to join Scanderbeg's troops before confronting Murad's force of 40,000.".
31. Molnár, Miklós & Magyar 2001, p. 65.
32. Pálosfalvi 2018, p. 362.
33. Àgoston & Masters 2010, p. 518.

Bibliography

• Àgoston, G.A.; Masters, B.A. (2010). Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Facts on File Library of World History. Facts On File, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4381-1025-7.
• Phillips, C.; Axelrod, A. (2005). Encyclopedia of Wars: G–R. Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-2853-5. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
• Antoche, E.C. (2017). "Hunyadi's Campaign of 1448 and the Second Battle of Kosovo Polje (October 17–20)". In Housley, Norman (ed.). Reconfiguring the Fifteenth-Century Crusade. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 245–285. ISBN 978-1-137-46280-0.
• Babinger, F.; Manheim, R.; Hickman, W.C. (1978). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Bollingen Series (General) Series. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.
• Bury, J.B. The Cambridge Medieval History volumes 1-5. Plantagenet Publishing.
• Bradford, J.C. (2004). International Encyclopedia of Military History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-135-95034-7.
• Connolly, P.; Gillingham, J.; Lazenby, J. (2016). The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-135-93681-5.
• Frashëri, Kristo (2002), Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu: jeta dhe vepra, 1405–1468 (in Albanian), Botimet Toena, ISBN 99927-1-627-4
• Housley, N. (2017). Reconfiguring the Fifteenth-Century Crusade. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-1-137-46281-7.
• Mikaberidze, A. (2011). Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-337-8.
• Molnár, M.; Miklós, M.; Magyar, A. (2001). A Concise History of Hungary. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-66736-4.
• Pálosfalvi, T. (2018). From Nicopolis to Mohács: A History of Ottoman-Hungarian Warfare, 1389–1526. The Ottoman Empire and its Heritage. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37565-9.
• Rogers, C.J.; Caferro, W.; Reid, S. (2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533403-6.
• Sedlar, J.W. (2013). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500. A History of East Central Europe (HECE). University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-80064-6.
• Treadgold, W.T. (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. History e-book project. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2630-6.
• Turnbull, S. (2012). The Ottoman Empire 1326–1699. Essential Histories. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-422-6.

External links

• Second Battle of Kosovo – The Encyclopædia Britannica
• Antoche, Emanuel Constantin (January 2017). "(FULL PDF) Hunyadi's campaign of 1448 and the second battle of Kosovo polje (17–20 october) – Emanuel Constantin Antoche". Reconfiguring the Fifteenth-Century Crusade (Ed. By Norman Housley), Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-46281-7_8.

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