Battle of Maritsa

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Battle of Maritsa
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
Serbian-Ottoman Wars
BG-1371.jpg
The Ottoman advance after the battle of Chernomen.
Date September 26, 1371
Location Maritsa River (near Chernomen (today Ormenio) in Greece)
Result Decisive Ottoman victory[1]
Belligerents
 Serbian Empire  Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Vukašin Mrnjavčević †
Uglješa Mrnjavčević †		 Lala Şâhin Paşa
Gazi Evrenos
Strength
20,000[2]-70,000 men[2][3][4][5][6] 800 men[2][7]
Casualties and losses
heavy combat losses[8]
thousands drowned[9]		 low
Medieval Serbian-Turkish Wars

The Battle of Maritsa, or Battle of Chernomen (Serbian: Маричка битка, бој код Черномена, Bulgarian: Битката при Марица, битката при Черномен, Turkish: Çirmen Muharebesi, İkinci Meriç Muharebesi in tr. Second Battle of Maritsa) took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (today Ormenio in Greece) on September 26, 1371 between the forces of Ottoman commanders Lala Şâhin Paşa and Gazi Evrenos and Serbian commanders King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his brother Despot Jovan Uglješa [10][11][12][13] who also wanted to get revenge of First Battle of Maritsa.

Contents

Battle [edit]

The Serbian army numbered 20,000[2]-70,000[2][3][4][6][5] men. Despot Uglješa wanted to make a surprise attack on the Ottomans in their capital city, Edirne, while Murad I was in Asia Minor. The Ottoman army was much smaller[14] Byzantine Greek scholar Laonikos Chalkokondyles[2] and other sources[7] give the number of 800 men, but due to superior tactics, by conducting a night raid on the Serbian camp, Şâhin Paşa was able to defeat the Serbian army and kill King Vukašin and despot Uglješa. Thousands of Serbs were killed, and thousands drowned in the Maritsa river when they tried to flee.[9][15] After the battle, the Maritsa ran scarlet with blood.[15]

Aftermath [edit]

Macedonia and parts of Greece fell under Ottoman power after this battle. The battle was a part of the Ottoman campaign to conquer the Balkans and was preceded by the Ottoman capturing of Sozopol and succeeded by the capture of the cities of Drama, Kavála and Serrai in modern Greece. The battle preceded the later 1389 Battle of Kosovo, and was one of many in history of the Serbian-Turkish wars.

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ Sedlar, Jean W., East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500, (University of Washington Press, 1994), 385.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Vladislav Boskovic: King Vukasin and the disastrous Battle of Marica, GRIN Publishing, 2009, ISBN 3640492641, page 11.
  3. ^ a b The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993, ISBN 0852295715, page 855.
  4. ^ a b Ion Grumeza: Roots of Balkanization: Eastern Europe C. E. 500-1500, University Press of America, 2010, ISBN 0761851348, page 93.
  5. ^ a b Julius Emil DeVos: Fifteen hundred years of Europe, O'Donnell Press, 1924, page 110.
  6. ^ a b Otto Kaemmel: Spamer's Illustrierte Weltgeschichte: mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Kulturgeschichte, O. Spamer, 1902, page 740 (German)
  7. ^ a b Theodor Veiter: Volkstum zwischen Moldau, Etsch und Donau: Festschrift für Franz Hieronymus Riedl : Dargeboten zum 65. Lebensjahr, W. Braumüller, 1971, ISBN 3700300077, page 294 (German)
  8. ^ Rossos, Andrew, Macedonia and the Macedonians, (Hoover Institution Press Publications, 2008), 40.
  9. ^ a b Gustav Friedrich Hertzberg: Geschichte Griechenlands: Th. Vom lateinischen Kreuzzuge bis zur Vollendung der osmanischen Eroberung (1204-1740), F.A. Perthes, 1877, page 323 (German)
  10. ^ K.Jirecek,History of the Bulgarians,p.382
  11. ^ J.V.A Fine, The Late Mediaeval Balkans, p. 379
  12. ^ L.S Stavrianos, The Balkan since 1453, p.44
  13. ^ Jirecek, Konstantin, Geschichte der Serben, pp. 437-438
  14. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993, ISBN 0852295715, page 855.
  15. ^ a b Harold William Vazeille Temperley: History of Serbia, H. Fertig, 1917, page 97.

References [edit]

  • Rossos, Andrew, Macedonia and the Macedonians, Hoover Institution Press Publications, 2008.
  • Sedlar, Jean W., East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500, University of Washington Press, 1994.
  • Stavrianos, L. S. The Balkans Since 1453, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000.
  • Turnbull, Stephen R. The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699, Osprey Publishing, 2003.

External links [edit]

Portal icon Military history of the Ottoman Empire portal

Coordinates: 41°43′N 26°13′E / 41.717°N 26.217°E / 41.717; 26.217

Ottoman Empire Battles involving the Ottoman Empire by era
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Ottoman victories are in bold.
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