Serbian BAR
THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO:
Yes, and from Jerusalem, O from that holy place,
A great grey bird, a taloned falcon flew!
And in his beak he held a gentle swallow.
But wait! it's not a falcon, this grey bird,
It is a saint, Holy Saint Eliyah:
And he bears with him no gentle swallow
But a letter from the Blessed Mother.
He brings it to the Tsar at Kosovo
And places it upon his trembling knees.
And thus the letter itself speaks to the Tsar:
'Lazar! Lazar! Tsar of noble family,
Which kingdom is it that you long for most?
Will you choose a heavenly crown today?
Or will you choose an earthly crown?
If you choose the earth then saddle horses,
Tighten girths- have your knights put on
Their swords and make a dawn attack against
The Turks: your enemy will be destroyed.
But if you choose the skies then build a church-
O, not of stone but out of silk and velvet-
Gather up your forces take the bread and wine,
For all shall perish, perish utterly,
And you, O Tsar, shall perish with them."
And when the Tsar has heard those holy words
He meditates, thinks every kind of thought:
"O, Dearest God, what shall I do, and how?
Shall I choose the earth? Shall I choose
The skies? And if I choose the kingdom,
If I choose an earthly kingdom now,
Earthly kingdoms are such passing things-
A heavenly kingdom, raging in the dark, endures eternally."
And Lazarus chose heaven, not the earth,
And tailored there a church at Kosovo-
O not of stone but out of silk and velvet-
And he summoned there the Patriarch of Serbia,
Summoned there the lordly twelve high bishops:
And he gathered up his forces, had them
Take with him the saving bread and wine.
As soon as Lazarus has given out
His orders, then across the level plain
Of Kosovo pour all the Turks.
Prince Lazar with Serbian knights.
Turkish soldiers.
Finally, on June 15th 1389, at the fields of Kosovo, the two opposing armies faced each other. Turks came prepared in full force, led by sultan Murad and his two sons. Lazar was leading a respectable though smaller army, helped by his allies Vuk Brankovich and Lord Ivan Kosanchich (on behalf of the Bosnian King Tvrtko I).
Sultan Murad I (reign 1359-1389)
Sultan Beyazit (reign 1389-1402)
The two armies clashed and the Turks immediately gained the advantage because of their numbers. But, as the day progressed, it seemed the Christians were gaining a tactical advantage. The two wings pushed forward and each side made their way into the Turkish camp. But, the central army lead by Tsar Lazar was being stopped. This army was being beaten so badly that Lazar was killed in battle. At the outset of the battle Milos Obilic took sultan Murad by surprise and killed him. Nevertheless the Turks obtained the victory under the leadership of the new sultan Beyazid. Because of the assassination of his father, the new sultan, Beyazid I, had all the Serbian prisoners executed.
The Battle of Kosovo (St. Vitus’ day, June 15th, 1389)
Serbian knight Milos Obilic.
Although several months after the Battle of Kosovo, the ringing bells from the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris were celebrating the great "victory" of Christian army, the outcome was quite opposite. Both leaders were dead, and their armies suffered heavy casualties. On Serbian side, the most of the nobility, leadership and fighting force had perished along with the monarch Lazar. Fortunately, the large part of the army, including Vuk Brankovich, was able to retreat in an orderly fashion.
Ringing bells of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, celebrating the great "victory" of Christian army.
Young Serbian woman with wounded solders after the Battle of Kosovo.
THE FALL OF BULGARIA: After the Kosovo victory, the gates of Balkan were open for Turks. In 1393, Tarnovo, the capital of Bulgaria fell under Islamic regime. The last medieval Bulgarian king Ivan Shishman, isolated by Christian Europe because of his Jewish mother, was killed in 1395 defending the fortress of Nicopolis.
The Battle of Nicopol, 1396.
After the tragic fall down of Bulgarian Kingdom, the Christian Europe begin to recognize the danger of the Islam invasion. Pope Boniface IX called for Holly War against Turks. A French-led army of 10,000 joined a Christian army under King Sigismund of Hungary. The crusaders marched to the relief of Bulgarian, Armenian, Georgian, Greek and other Christians, oppressed by Islamic invaders. On 22 September 1396, again at Nicopolis they met the Ottoman army in the dramatic battle of Nicopolis. Ignoring the advice of the Hungarian King, the Crusaders charged the Turks and were in turn smashed by the Ottoman heavy cavalry.