Second Battle of Kosovo
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
An Akıncı irregular defeating a Hungarian knight.
Date October 17 - October 20, 1448 (Julian calendar) Location Kosovo Polje, present-day Kosovo, Serbia Result Decisive Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Hungaria Walachia Serbs
Commanders
Murad II	John Hunyadi
Strength
~ 40,000 to 60,000[1][2]	24,000[2][3]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Second Battle of Kosovo (Hungarian: második rigómezei csata, Turkish: İkinci Kosova muharebesi) (October 17–October 20, 1448) was fought at Kosovo Polje between a Hungarian-led Catholic coalition under John Hunyadi against an Ottoman-led coalition under Sultan Murad II. The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts. ... Akıncı (literally, raider, plural: Akıncılar) was an irregular light cavalry of the Ottoman Army and of earlier Turkic nations. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 5/ 6 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden dies with no designated heir leaving all three kingdoms with vacant thrones. ... Kosovo Polje (Косово поље, Albanian: Fushë Kosovë) is a municipal located in Kosovo, at 42. ... For other uses, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ... Ottoman redirects here. ... The Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság   listen?) or Hungary (Magyarország   listen?) is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... Languages Serbian Religions Predominantly Serbian Orthodox Christian Related ethnic groups Other Slavic peoples, especially South Slavs See Cognate peoples below (* many Serbs opted for Yugoslav ethnicity) [27] Serbs (Serbian: Срби or Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in... Murad II (June 1404, Amasya – February 3, 1451, Edirne) (Ottoman Turkish: مراد ثانى Murād-ı sānÄ«, Turkish:) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 (except for a period from 1444 to 1446). ... John Hunyadi, as imagined by a 17th century artist John Hunyadi (Medieval Latin: Ioannes Corvinus, German: Johann Hunyadi; Hungarian: Hunyadi János, Romanian: Iancu or Ioan de Hunedoara) (c. ... // Combatants Ottoman Empire Kingdom of Hungary, Holy Roman Empire, France, Wallachia, Poland, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Old Swiss Confederacy, Republic of Venice, Republic of Genoa, Knights of St. ... Combatants Hungary, Poland and others Ottoman Empire Commanders WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw III of Poland † Janos Hunyadi Murad II Strength ~ 20,000 ~ 60,000[1][2] Casualties ~ 11,000 ~ 8,000 The Battle of Varna took place on November 10, 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. ... Combatants Ottoman Empire Kingdom of Hungary Commanders Mehmet II John Hunyadi Strength About 100,000 About 75,000 Casualties About 50,000 About 10,000 After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman sultan Mehmed II was rallying his resources in order to subjugate the Kingdom of Hungary. ... This article is about the better-known Battle of Mohács of 1526. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 5/ 6 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden dies with no designated heir leaving all three kingdoms with vacant thrones. ... Kosovo Polje (Косово поље, Albanian: Fushë Kosovë) is a municipal located in Kosovo, at 42. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... John Hunyadi, as imagined by a 17th century artist John Hunyadi (Medieval Latin: Ioannes Corvinus, German: Johann Hunyadi; Hungarian: Hunyadi János, Romanian: Iancu or Ioan de Hunedoara) (c. ... Ottoman redirects here. ... Murad II (June 1404, Amasya – February 3, 1451, Edirne) (Ottoman Turkish: مراد ثانى Murād-ı sānÄ«, Turkish:) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 (except for a period from 1444 to 1446). ...

Background

At 1448, John Hunyadi saw the right moment to lead a campaign against the Ottoman Empire. After the Defeat of Varna (1444), he raised another army to attack Ottomans. His strategy based on possible revolt of Balkan people and the surprise attack, also the assumption to destroy the main force of the Ottomans in a single battle. Hunyadi was totally immodest and led his forces without leaving any escort behind. John Hunyadi, as imagined by a 17th century artist John Hunyadi (Medieval Latin: Ioannes Corvinus, German: Johann Hunyadi; Hungarian: Hunyadi János, Romanian: Iancu or Ioan de Hunedoara) (c. ... Combatants Hungary, Poland and others Ottoman Empire Commanders Władysław III of Poland † Janos Hunyadi Murad II Strength ~ 20,000 ~ 60,000[1][2] Casualties ~ 11,000 ~ 8,000 The Battle of Varna took place on November 10, 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. ... Events March 2 - Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance April 16 - Truce of Tours. ... ...

The Albanian leader Skanderbeg and his troops moved to join the Hungarian coalition but they were intercepted and attacked by the Ottoman vassal Đurađ Branković of Serbia, and delayed from reaching the battlefield. Skanderbeg and the people, sculpture by Janaq Paço and Genc Hajdari in the National Museum, Krujë, Albania. ... Despot ĐuraÄ‘ Branković, Cyrillic: Ђурађ Бранковић, Hungarian: György Brankovics, ruled 1427 - 1456) was a Serbian monarch who built Smederevo. ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ...

The battle

When John Hunyadi arrived at the field of Rigómező (Kosovo Field), he realised that the Sultan's troops were occupying the hills behind his own army. After a heavy fight a contingent of knights captured the hills and proceeded to build defences there, making use of war wagons. Kosovo Polje (Косово поље, Albanian: Fushë Kosovë) is a town located in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, at 42. ...

The next day 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 Turkish light cavalry arrived to reinforce them. The Christian flanks were subsequently routed and the survivors retreated back to Hunyadi's main force. 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 and the cavalry made progress through the Turkish center, but were 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 were now without the knights' support were also overcome. Hungarian forces retreated to their camp. During the retreat, the janissaries killed most of the Hungarian nobles and Hunyadi fled. However, Serbs later captured him. During the night, Turkish infantry fired missiles at the Hungarians who replied with cannons. On the next day, a final assault totally annihilated the remaining Hungarian army. Map of Rumelia as of 1801 Rumelia (turkish: Rum: Roman El: Land Rumeli: Lands of Rome), the area that was the East Roman or Byzantine Empire, a name commonly used, from the 15th century onwards, to denote the part of the Balkan Peninsula subject to the Ottoman Empire. ... This article is about two nested areas of Turkey, a plateau region within a peninsula. ... The Janissaries (or janizaries; in Turkish: Yeniçeri, meaning New Troops) comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultans household troops and bodyguard. ...

The two-day battle in Kosovo saw both sides taking heavy casualties and left the Ottoman force in command of the field at the end of second day. The Hungarians were supposed to be 24,000^[2][3] and the Turkish around 40,000 to 60,000.^[1][2] The casualties probably were around 5,000 Ottoman soldiers and 15,000 Hungarians.^{[citation needed]} For other uses, see Kosovo (disambiguation). ... Ottoman redirects here. ...

Aftermath

This battle demonstrated that the Janissary corps even if their lines are broken through would not run away from the field if defending the Sultan himself. Otherwise, one major defeat of the Turkish army could have caused only a short turmoil - it would have needed several defeats in a series to break the power of the Ottomans.

The Christian Balkan states were unable to resist the Ottomans after this defeat, eventually falling under control of the Ottoman Empire. Hunyadi successfully defended the Kingdom of Hungary against the Ottoman campaigns. Skanderbeg also successfully continued his resistance in Albania until his death in 1468, 12 years later the country fell to full Ottoman control. Ottoman redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Skanderbeg and the people, sculpture by Janaq Paço and Genc Hajdari in the National Museum, Krujë, Albania. ... August 26 - Baeda Maryam succeeds his father Zara Yaqob as Emperor of Ethiopia. ...

Notes

References

• Stephen R. Turnbull, The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699, Osprey Publishing, 2003.
• Jean W. Sedlar, East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500, University of Washington Press, 1994.
• Matthew Bennett, The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare, Taylor & Francis, 1998.

One of the Men-at-Arms Series. ... The University of Washington Press is the nonprofit book and multimedia publishing arm of the University of Washington. ... Taylor & Francis Group is a company that publishes books and academic journals. ...

External links

• Second Battle of Kosovo The Encyclopedia Britannica

Military history of the Ottoman Empire Portal