The Battle of Kosovo (1389)

In the second half of the 14th century the Ottomans crossed into Rumelia and advanced quickly through the Balkans. The Serbian prince Lazar formed an alliance with Bosnia and other Balkan lords. On 15 June 1389 Sultan Murad I, with his sons Bayezid and Yakub, met the allied army on the Field of Kosovo.

The fighting was hard and both sides lost heavily. According to tradition, after the battle a Serbian nobleman approached the sultan and stabbed him, and Murad I died. Prince Lazar also fell. Bayezid, later called Yıldırım, took the Ottoman throne on the battlefield.

After Kosovo, Serbia became an Ottoman vassal and the Ottomans were firmly established in the Balkans. The battle also holds an important place in Serbian memory. The tomb where Murad I's inner organs were buried, the Meşhed-i Hüdavendigâr, still stands near Pristina.