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67-482: Ostrvica was the main castle in the Rudnik area. It is assumed that its location protected the mines of Rudnik from the north, while another castle (of Pavle Orlović ) provided protection from the south. The two castles maintained visual communication by signals. During the 14th and 15th centuries the people of the region and merchants from Dubrovnik used Ostrovica castle as a haven during wars, first in 1323–1324 during

134-460: A border- lord) on crossing the frontier. He wrote: 'When we passed the Struma River ... and came into thick woods, we were suddenly surrounded by men clad in black woolen garments, who darted forth from behind trees and rocks like devils out of the earth. They wore no heavy armor, being armed only with spears, battle-axes, and bows and arrows. From the 11th century on the commander-in-chief of

201-597: A brother, Neither do I seek an aged father. Wast thou present, oh thou unknown warrior, When for three whole weeks to all his army Prince Lazar the Sacrament was giving By the hands of thirty holy fathers, In the splendid church of Samodreža ; When Lazar and all the Serbian army There the Holy Sacrament have taken, Three Voyvodas last of all did enter: First of them was Miloš, the great warrior , Ivan Kosančić

268-672: A citadel with 50m tall towers. Most of the fortress remains intact until nowadays. The Serbian army was feudal in nature, though its system of military landholding was inherited from the Byzantine pronoia rather than the Western European fief. The pronoia itself - hereditary by some accounts, non-hereditary by others - is only first recorded in Serbia under that name in 1299 (the Serbs spelt it pronija, or pronya, and called its holder

335-531: A contemporary Serbian source which says that 'fiery explosions thundered, the earth roared greatly, and the air echoed and blew around like dark smoke'; we know too that King Tvrtko of Bosnia (1353–91) brought one gun, a gift of the Italians, with him to the battle. The Serbian contingent in the Ottoman army defeated at Ankara in 1402 also had artillery, but as at Kosovo it failed to affect the outcome, probably for

402-489: A contingent of 1,500 cavalry. Amongst the battles in which Serbs fought for their Ottoman allies were Battle of Rovine , against the Wallachians and Bulgarians , in 1395; Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, where apparently their contingent comprised 5,000 heavy cavalry ; and Battle of Ankara in 1402, where Doukas says there were 5,000 "encased in black armor" and Chalkokondyles that there were an unlikely 10,000 (though

469-511: A despot and created the Serbian Despotate . According to Serbian historiography, Stefan from 1390 on, was obliged to pay an annual tribute of 1,000 lbs of gold and to provide the sultan with a contingent of 1,000 cavalry when called upon. Finlay and Creasy, however, maintained that it was the treaty of 1376 that first imposed this obligation, while Gibbons says 1386; certainly there were Serbs as well as Bulgarians and Byzantines in

536-583: A golden bracelet. Then he gazes round and looks upon me, From his arm he takes the golden bracelet, Takes it off and gives it to me, saying:" "Here, oh Maiden, is my golden bracelet, By it thou wilt have me in remembrance. Now, dear Maid, must I go forth to perish There where camps our noble Prince's army; Pray to God for me, dear soul, my darling, That I may come back again in safety; Then, dear Maid, that good luck may attend thee, I will take thee for my true beloved." "And then went away these mighty leaders, And to-day I seek them here, oh brother, Seek them here, upon

603-540: A higher estimate up to 25,000, A higher estimate places the size of Murad's army up to 40,000 and Lazar's up to 25,000 troops. which consisted of the prince's own troops, Vuk Branković 's troops, and a contingent sent by the King Tvrtko I of Bosnia . In the Battle of Kosovo , both Prince Lazar and Sultan Murad lost their lives. The battle was tactically inconclusive, but the mutual heavy losses were devastating only for

670-468: A pronijar), but even from as early as Stefan Nemanja reign (1186–96) every able-bodied man possessing a bashtina (a grant of hereditary freehold land, the holder being called a bashtinik or voynic) had been obliged to attend the army whenever required, only monastic tenants being exempted in exchange for performing part-time garrison duties in local fortresses and fortified monasteries. The building and maintenance (gradozadanje) of such fortresses, and equally

737-409: Is my colored mantle, By it thou wilt keep me in remembrance, By this mantle shall my name live with thee. Now, dear Maid, must I go forth to perish There where camps the noble Prince's army; Pray to God for me, dear Maid, my sister, That I may come back again in safety. And that all good fortune may attend thee I will marry thee to my friend Milan, Him whom God has given me as brother, My friend Milan who

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804-432: Is my sworn brother. In God's name and good Saint John 's, I promise I will be a groomsman at thy wedding." "Ivan Kosančić was close behind him, In the whole world no more splendid hero; On the ground his clanking saber trailing, Silken cap with proudly waving feathers, Many-colored mantle on his shoulders And around his neck a silken kerchief, On his hand a golden ring is shining. Then he gazes round and looks upon me, Takes

871-404: Is my sworn brother. In God's name and good Saint John's, I promise I myself will give thee to the bridegroom." "Then Toplica Milan follows after, In the whole world no more splendid hero; On the ground his clanking saber trailing, Silken cap with proudly waving feathers, Many-colored mantle on his shoulders And around his neck a silken kerchief, On his hand a golden ring is shining And upon his arm

938-725: The Bulgarian Empire in the Battle of Velbazhd in 1330, becoming a military superpower during the middle part of the 14th century under the dynamic Stephen Uroš IV Dušan (1331–55), who created the Serbian Empire . It included Macedonia, Albania, Epirus and Thessaly, reaching from the Drina and Danube rivers as far south and east as the Gulf of Patras and the Rhodope Mountains by 1350. A large part of this expansion

1005-541: The Ottoman invasion of medieval Serbian state at the end of the 14th century. The Governor of Hungary, Hunyadi János – John Hunyadi , created mounted units inspired by his enemy the Ottoman Turks. His son, Hunyadi Mátyás Matthias Corvinus , later king of Hungary, is unanimously accepted as the creator of these troops. Initially they fought in small bands, but were reorganised into larger, trained, formations during

1072-512: The cursarii (singular cursarius ). Through Byzantine Army operations in the Balkans in the 10th and 11th centuries when Chosarioi/ Chonsarioi were recruited with especially Serbs, the word was subsequently reintroduced to Western European military practice after its original usage had been lost with the collapse of Rome in the west. The hussars reportedly originated in bands of mostly Serbian warriors crossing into Kingdom of Hungary after

1139-504: The nobility (the vlastelini, or 'holders of power') and their retinues, maintained at their own expense, but in times of emergency the arriere-ban, called the Zamanitchka Voyska ('All Together'), would be summoned. As elsewhere, this comprised all the nobility and every able-bodied freeman. In border regions all land-grants appear to have been called krayina and their holders vlastele krayishnik ('border lords'), whose duty it

1206-527: The 14th century) and infantry armed with spears , javelins and bows. Serbia had adopted gunpowder artillery from the Republic of Ragusa , where a centre for the manufacture of wrought-iron cannon existed by 1363. The first gun foundry in the Balkans, casting bronze cannons, was also established at Ragusa ( Dubrovnik ), in 1410. Neighbouring Bosnia had cannon by 1380, and they were in use in Serbia by 1382–86 at

1273-505: The Balkans, especially Serbs, "ideal for scouting and raiding". These units are considered a precursor of Hussar cavalry formations later found in Hungarian and Polish armies. The writings of John Kinnamos and other contemporary Byzantine sources (Anna Komnene, Niketas Choniates, Eustathios of Thessalonica, Michael of Thessalonica) of the twelfth century, gives substantial data concerning Serbian armament and tactics. Serbia defeated

1340-658: The Caucasus. However, it was Western European style heavy cavalry which soon came to predominate. As early as 1304 a certain Francisco de Salomone is mentioned in an inscription in Trevise as having distinguished himself in the service of 'Orosius, rex Rascie' (i. e. Uroš, king of Serbia). Stephen Uroš III 's army that defeated the Bulgarians at Battle of Velbazhd in 1330 were composed of 15,000 Serbs, 2,000 Italians from

1407-576: The Kingdom of Naples and 1,000 German mercenaries, and it was the latter who seem to have predominated among the mercenaries during Dušan reign. The papal legate to his court reported seeing 300 German mercenaries there under the knight Palman Bracht, who held the rank of capitaneus. In addition we know that the Serbian troops supplied to the Byzantine Emperor, John VI Kantakouzenos , in 1342-43 were Serbs with some German mercenaries, and that

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1474-722: The Ottoman army that fought against the Karamanli Turks in Anatolia in 1387 (the Serbs being promised booty in return for their services). Finlay says in one of his books that Sultan Beyazid actually demanded the service of the same number of Serbians as the Byzantines had called for after Manuel's subjugation of Serbia in 1150, i.e. 2,000 to armies serving in Europe and 500 to armies serving in Asia; but in another book he says that

1541-704: The Ottoman chronicler al-Anwari says that there were 10,000 Serbs and Wallachians altogether). George Branković even supplied an unwilling contingent of 1,500 cavalry under voivode Jakša according to Konstantin Mihailović , for the final siege of Constantinople in 1453, plus some silver-miners from Novo Brdo whom Sultan Mehmed employed as sappers. On August 11, 1473, the army that marched against Uzun Hasan which resulted in an Ottoman victory in The battle of Otlukbeli included many Christians - Greeks, Albanians and Serbians, in their number. Gusar light cavalry forces were part of

1608-445: The Ottoman side in the Battle of Rovine in 1395, the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, and the Battle of Ankara in 1402. Stefan Lazarević was granted the title of Despot by the Byzantine Emperor, and he ceased to be an Ottoman vassal in 1402. He introduced modern western style knight warfare and knight tournaments. And there were firearms already in use, especially in armored cavalry. He ruled Serbia as Despot from 1402 to 1427. He

1675-502: The Prince's battle-standard. From his gaping wounds the blood is streaming, His right hand and his left foot are severed; And the hero's ribs are crushed and broken, But he lingers still amongst the living. From the pools of blood she drags his body And she laves him with the cooling water, Red wine, sacramentally, she gives him, Pledges then with fair white bread the hero. When at length his heart revives within him, Thus speaks Pavle Orlović,

1742-588: The Serbian Empire gradually disintegrated under his successor Stephen Uroš V (1355–71). One Byzantine chronicler noted with evident satisfaction that the Serbian nobility were soon divided into '10,000 factions', while John VI Kantakouzenos wrote that Dušan's empire fell 'into a thousand pieces'. After 1363, Vukašin Mrnjavčević became the most powerful noble in the Serbian Empire ; he controlled lands in

1809-478: The Serbians themselves as well as some Hungarians, Bosnians and Albanians. Serbian documents indicate that as well as Germans the other predominant European mercenary elements comprised Spaniards (possibly as many as 1,300-strong at one point) plus Hungarians, Frenchmen, Italians and Swiss . One prominent name to appear in their ranks was that of Philippe de Mézières , in later life Chancellor of Cyprus and one of

1876-509: The Serbs, who had brought to Kosovo almost all of their fighting strength. Lazar was succeeded by his eldest son Stefan Lazarević , who became an Ottoman vassal in the summer of 1390. Vuk Branković accepted Ottoman suzerainty in 1392. The battle of Kosovo was one of the large battles of late medieval times. In comparison, in the battle of Agincourt (1415) even by assuming the higher estimate of army size as correct, around 10,000 fewer soldiers were engaged. Later, Stefan Lazarević participated on

1943-513: The Serbs. In the beginning of the 10th century Simeon I launched several campaigns against the Serbs who were acting as Byzantine allies and by 925 he managed to conquer Serbia completely but the Bulgarian rule was short-lived. Samuel of Bulgaria subjected the Serbs for a second time in 1009 or 1010 after he defeated their ruler Jovan Vladimir . 10th-century Byzantine military manuals mention chonsarioi , light cavalry formations recruited in

2010-591: The Turks. Recognizing the king of Hungary as his overlord he built up a small regular army, on the basis of a newly imposed levy known as the vojstatik, which was stationed in the country's 11 major fortresses as well as several of its small walled towns. This army included many Hungarians and was well equipped with cannon and handguns; for example, there were 2 cannons in the fort guarding the large silver mine at Srebrnica in 1425, and in Belgrade , Lazarević capital, there

2077-615: The army was the king (kral), a veliki vojevoda or 'high military chief, equivalent to the Byzantine Grand Domestic, being appointed in his absence. However, since any call to arms had to be approved by the Sabor (the National Assembly) the king actually had limited military power, in effect being no more than a glorified Grand Župan, or elected tribal leader. Although Dušan stripped the Sabor of much of its power,

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2144-582: The crown's inclusion of permanent nucleus of mercenaries that was not subject to the assembly's whims had by then already evolved. Under Stephen Uroš II Milutin (1282-1321) these mercenaries included such diverse elements as Cumans ; Anatolian Turks (some 1,500 were employed in 1311 from amongst those who had been allied to the Catalans in Thrace and Macedonia ); Tartars from South Russia; and Christian Ossetians (Jasi in Serbian and Russian sources) from

2211-503: The death of Stephen Uroš V the Weak, Orlović held the mining town of Novo Brdo, as well as his father's possessions on Mt. Rudnik in central Serbia. Serbian historian Jovan Mišković collected folk tellings in Teočin , in which Orlović had left for Kosovo with his 77 friends, and did not return (1933). Medieval Serbian Army The medieval Serbian army was well known for its strength and

2278-514: The death of their father and fled to Velimlje, a village in Banjani (modern-day Montenegro). After the Ottoman conquest of Banjani, they established several families of the Orlović clan at Čarađe , Bjelice and Cuce . Documents in the archive of Dubrovnik mention that Kosovo hero and barjaktar (flag bearer) Pavle Orlović lived below the sheer mount of Orlin in the end of a village below which

2345-448: The difficulties involved in supplying them in the field, and on the whole they could probably raise only about 12,000 men in the late 14th century, the army at the Battle of Kosovo probably numbering at most 20-25,000 men including allied contingents. The majority were heavy cavalry . Emperor Stefan Dušan was said to have raised around 80,000 men for the invasion of Bosnia in 1350 although the largest Serbian army on record in this period

2412-604: The domains of the other Serbian lords. In 1386, Prince Lazar rebuffed the Ottoman Sultan Murad ;I at Pločnik, a site southwest of the city of Niš . An Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad, estimated at between 27,000 and 30,000 men, arrived in June 1389 on the Kosovo Field near Priština . The Ottomans were met by the forces commanded by Prince Lazar, estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 men, with

2479-584: The effectiveness of the army, especially throughout 14th century. Between 839 and 842 the Bulgar Khan Presian invaded inland parts of the Serbian territory, the two having lived peacefully sharing a common frontier up until that point. The cause for the invasion is unclear. It led to a war that lasted three years, in which the Bulgars were decisively defeated. In the mid 850s the Bulgarians under Boris I made another unsuccessful attempt to subdue

2546-498: The field of battle ! Pavle Orlović then makes her answer "Oh dear sister, Maiden of Kosovo, Dost thou see, dear soul, those battle-lances Where they lie most thickly piled together There has flowed the life-blood of the heroes; To the stirrups of the faithful horses, To the stirrups and the girths it mounted, Mounted to the heroes silken girdles, And the three have fallen there together. Now return thee to thy fair white castle Lest thy skirts and sleeves with blood be spattered." To

2613-403: The figure was only 'subsequently increased to 2,000 men' when Beyazid was gathering his forces to confront Tamerlane in 1402. Bertrandon de la Brocquière, in his 'Travels' of 1432-33, recorded of the despot of Serbia that 'every time the sultan sends him his orders, he is obliged to furnish him with 800 or 1,000 horse, under the command of his second son.' Elsewhere he adds how he had heard that 'in

2680-399: The galee domini imperatoris, in 1350, the subsequent fate of which is unknown). King Tvrtko of Bosnia too later constructed his own small fleet, with a Venetian as its admiral, and was similarly given a galley by Venice, this time fitted with a cannon. Prior to the 14th century the army consisted of classic European-style noble cavalry armed with bows and lances (replaced with crossbows in

2747-513: The golden ring from off his finger, Takes it off and gives it to me, saying:" "Here hast thou my ring of gold, oh Maiden, By it thou wilt have me in remembrance, By this gold ring shall my name live with thee. Now, dear maid, must I go forth to perish There where camps the noble Prince's army; Pray to God for me, dear Maid, my sister, That I may come back again in safety. And that all good fortune may attend thee I will marry thee to my friend Milan, Him whom God has given me as brother, My friend Milan who

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2814-460: The hero's words the maiden listens, Down her white face are the fast tears falling; She returns then to her fair white castle. From her white throat pour her lamentations: "Woe is me, what fate I bear within me, I but touch the young and tender sapling And the fair green pine must surely wither." According to folklore, Orlović was the son of voivode Vuk Orle, the Lord of Soko Grad on the Drina. After

2881-463: The hero: "Oh dear sister, Maiden of Kosovo, What great need compels thee here to wander, Thou, so young, amongst the wounded heroes? What dost thou upon the field of battle? Dost thou seek a brother's son, or brother, Dost thou seek perchance an aged father?" Answered him the Maiden of Kosovo: "Oh dear brother ! Oh thou unknown warrior! None of my own race am I now seeking, Not a brother's son nor yet

2948-605: The infantry kept the enemy from chasing the Gusars. Later on, after the fall of the Serbian Empire , these troops were used as "Krajišnici" meaning frontiersman in the Habsburg Monarchy (today Croatia, Slavonia, Vojvodina) which southern parts became the military frontier , defending and liberating as they believed Christendom from the Ottoman invasion. Their military tactics of engaging combat, as well as pillaging and looting of Ottoman ruled territories, were similar to

3015-498: The last protagonists of the Crusade . Inevitably, in the 15th century Ottoman auxiliaries were also used, for example by Vuk Lazarević against Stephen, 1409-13. In addition to the king or despot, the larger cities also employed some mercenaries of their own to back up their militia. When the Ottoman hold on Serbia weakened after the Battle of Ankara , Stefan Lazarević took advantage of the situation to establish his independence from

3082-522: The maintenance of their permanent garrisons (gradobljudenlje) was an additional aspect of the feudal responsibilities of the population of each Župa (district), who were also responsible for guarding their own frontier. The holders of both bashtinas and pronijas constituted the nobility (though many of the former were only upper-class peasants), and these were the principal native element of every Serbian army , serving as heavy cavalry (the proniiars) and infantry (the voynici), In fact most armies included only

3149-434: The medieval Serbian military . Armed with spears and pentagonal wood shields padded with metal, they supported the noble knights as their second line on the battlefield. In the middle of each wooden shield, there was a round metal knob that held the shield together. Gusar light cavalries were a traditional Serbian force, which meant that they usually were not hired as mercenaries from Spain or Germany. Their style of fighting

3216-412: The most recent army [supplied to the sultan] from Greece, there were 3,000 Serbian horse, which the despot of the province had sent under the command of one of his sons. It was with great regret that these people came to serve him, but they dared not refuse.' Konstantin Mihailović reports that when the treaty with Serbia was renewed under Mehmed II the obligatory tribute was set at 1,500 lbs of gold and

3283-498: The neighbouring village of Čarađe lied. According to Marko Šuica, there is no information on him in historical sources. Early rose the maiden of Kosovo , Early rose she on a Sunday morning, Rose before the brilliant sun had risen. She has rolled the white sleeves of her robe back, Rolled them back up to her soft white elbows; On her shoulders, fair white bread she carries, In her hands two shining golden goblets, In one goblet she has poured fresh water, And has poured good red wine in

3350-630: The ones of the Cossacks . According to Webster's the word hussar stems from the Hungarian huszár, which in turn originates from the Serbian хусар ( Husar , or гусар , Gusar ) meaning pirate , from the Medieval Latin cursarius (cf. the English word corsair ). A variant of this theory is offered by Byzantinist scholars, who argue the term originated in Roman military practice, and

3417-401: The other. Then she seeks the wide plain of Kosovo , Seeks the noble Prince's place of meeting, Wanders there amongst the bleeding heroes. When she finds one living midst the wounded Then she laves him with the cooling water, Gives him, sacramentally, the red wine, Pledges with her fair white bread the hero. Fate at last has led her wand'ring footsteps Unto Pavle Orlović, the hero, Who has borne

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3484-518: The reign of King Matthias Corvinus. Initially the first units of Polish hussars in the Kingdom of Poland were formed in 1500, which consisted of Serbian mercenaries . In addition to her land forces, Serbia occasionally also had a very small fleet, provided by the communes of Dulcigno (modern Ulcinj), Budua (Budva) and Cattaro (Kotor), sometimes by Ragusa (in exchange for a year's tax-exemption), and briefly by Venice (which provided 4 new galleys,

3551-538: The south of the empire, primarily in Macedonia . He was defeated and killed by the Ottoman Turks in 1371 in the Battle of Marica . In 1371, Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović emerged as the most powerful Serbian lord. He created the largest state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empire; his state is known in historiography as Moravian Serbia . Its government and army were better organized than those of

3618-513: The troops garrisoning Beroia in Macedonia in 1341-50 were German mercenaries too. Even at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 it is significant that many of Lazar mercenaries were German and Hungarian according to a Florentine account, while a mid-15th century Ottoman source reports that his army included Wallachians, Hungarians, Bohemians, Albanians, Bulgarians and Franks, doubtless chiefly mercenaries. Another says he employed many mercenaries from among

3685-432: The very latest, probably served and certainly made by Ragusan engineers. In fact, Ragusan chronicler Mavro Orbini (1563–1614) claims that knez Lazar Hrebeljanović used guns against župan Nikola Altomanović even as early as 1373. Guns were apparently employed in the field by the Serbians as early as 1389 at the Battle of Kosovo , being clearly mentioned in one later Ottoman chronicle ( Mehmed Neşrî ) and alluded to in

3752-476: The war between Stefan Dečanski and Stephen Vladislav . In 1398 Nikola Zojić , a governor of Ostrovica, retreated to Ostrvica after the failure of his attempt to overthrow Stefan Lazarević   and to establish direct vassalage to the Ottoman Empire. Zojić  took monastic vows to avoid the death penalty. In 1414 voivode Mazarek is mentioned as a governor of Ostrvica and Rudnik. Ostrvica

3819-635: Was a Serbian knight, one of the military commanders under Prince Lazar that fell at the Battle of Kosovo (1389) against the Ottoman Empire . According to folklore, Orlović was the son of voivode Vuk Orle , the Lord of Soko Grad on the Drina . After the death of Stephen Uroš V the Weak , Orlović held the mining town of Novo Brdo , as well as his father's possessions on Mount Rudnik in central Serbia . According to legend, Pavle Orlović's four sons escaped their hometown to Čarađe, near Gacko, after

3886-559: Was a large bombard (called Humka, meaning 'Knoll') captured from the Bosnians the same year. In 1455 there were as many as 3 large cannon, 5 other guns and 55 handguns in the fort guarding the great silver mine at Novo Brdo . Serbian armies were composed of lance -armed light and heavy cavalry, plus infantry (armed with spears , axes , and above all bows and, later, crossbows ) and a baggage-train ( komora ) manned by shepherds ("Vlachs"). Most of their armies tended to be small because of

3953-601: Was against the order of Murad II . Evliya Çelebi described Ostrovica as the "town of Rudnik". He explained that it was founded by the Serbian King Miloš, captured by Ottomans , recaptured by Christians to be captured again by the Ottomans on 19 May 1521. Pavle Orlovi%C4%87 Pavle Orlović ( Serbian Cyrillic : Павле Орловић ) is a semi-mythological hero of the Kosovo cycle of Serbian epic poetry ; he

4020-461: Was among the strongest in the Balkans before the Ottoman Empire 's expansion. Prior to the 14th century, the army consisted of European-style noble cavalry armed with bows and lances (replaced with crossbows in the 14th century) and infantry armed with spears , javelins and bows. With the economic growth from mining, mercenary knights from Western Europe were recruited to finalize and increase

4087-479: Was at the expense of the Byzantine Empire. Dušan set his sights on the Byzantine capital of Constantinople itself, dividing his lands into 'Serbia' and 'Romania'. Dušan was crowned Emperor (Tsar) of Serbs and Romans in 1346. He modeled his court on that of Constantinople, calling his officials by Byzantine titles such as caesar, despot, sebastokrator and logotet (logothete). However, following his death,

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4154-412: Was captured by the Ottomans several times, first in 1431 and again in 1438. The Serbian despot recaptured it in 1443 during the Crusade of Varna , but the Ottomans captured it again in 1444, only to be restored to Serbia later in the year. Branković and Eirene used Ostrovica as their summer retreat, and had a mint in the castle. When the Ottomans captured Ostrvica in 1451 they razed it to the ground. This

4221-498: Was close behind him, And the third, Toplica Milan , followed. "I by chance stood then within the doorway When there passed young Miloš, the great warrior, In the whole world no more splendid hero; On the ground his clanking saber trailing, Silken cap with proudly waving feathers, Many-colored mantle on his shoulders And around his neck a silken kerchief. Then he gazes round and looks upon me, He takes off his many-colored mantle, Takes it off, and gives it to me, saying:" "Here, oh Maiden,

4288-540: Was fighting against the Ottomans, and later he supported Mehmet I rise to power in the Battle of Çamurlu . After him the Branković dynasty came to power. They continued developing modern military battle tactics. Despot Đurađ Branković who ruled Serbia from 1427 to 1456, constructed the Smederevo Fortress , which was the largest medieval lowland type of fortress in Europe. This fortress had 24 towers and

4355-411: Was similar to the noble knights. They used the eastern style of fighting: they would charge into the enemy ferociously, and try to cause mass havoc. As for their role with the foot soldiers, they were more like support cavalry. When the foot soldiers were losing the battle, the Gusars would charge into the enemy's flank, hoping to cause them to rout. They would repeat this charge from different angles while

4422-733: Was that raised by Dušan in 1355 for his proposed attack on Constantinople, which numbered 85,000 men according to later Ragusan chronicles. After the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, Ottoman suzerainty was accepted by the Serbian rulers in Macedonia: King Marko (Vukašin Mrnjavčević's son), Konstantin Dragaš , and Radoslav Hlapen . By 1388, Djuradj Stracimirović Balšić , the lord of Zeta , also became an Ottoman vassal. Stefan Lazarević and Vuk Branković accepted Ottoman suzerainty in 1390 and 1392, respectively. Stefan Lazarević ceased to be an Ottoman vassal and ally in 1402, when he became

4489-527: Was to guard the frontier. Dušan's Code of 1349 (the Zakonik, extended and completed in 1354) actually states that any damage inflicted by an invading army had to be compensated for by the border-lord through whose lands the enemy had entered, another article stating that similar pillaging committed by brigands had to be repaid seven-fold. The Byzantine chronicler Gregoras , as ambassador for Andronikos III to Emperor Dusan , encountered some krayishnici (men of

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