Page 360 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Sima M. Ćirković
men-landowners. a few decades earlier, a Serbian Despot, whose territories were approximately that of Prince Lazar and Vuk Branković’s territories, in a plan for the defense of Hungary against Ottoman attacks, had an obligation to raise 8.000 cavalrymen, while the Bosnian King and three feudal lords gave 9.000 cavalrymen. it is not possible that either one or the other side had greater potential during’ the Kosovo battle.
in most ancient sources, there are few details on the course and most important moments of the battle. in the above-mentioned reply of the Florence Municipality to King Tvrtko, Murad’s death was mentioned along with the con- gratulations for victory “gifted by Heaven.” There, the feat of twelve noblemen, who, gathered by mutual oath, made their way to Murad’s camp, and where one of them thrust a sword into the ruler’s throat and loins, was praised. in that letter, written on the basis of the King’s message and of
the facts heard and known from rumors and letters only four months after the battle, the historical basis of the event, which would be talked and sung about in future cen- turies, lies.
it is not possible to conclude from this, most ancient source, anything of the heroe’s personalities, and we can- not even tell to which part of the army he belonged—La- zar’s, Vuk’s or Tvrtko’s. Only in sources a decade later is his name—Milo or Miloš—mentioned. From the most ancient sources, we get to know just a few facts about Prince La- zar’s death. He was probably killed during the typical Otto- man slaughter, after the battle, as a sign of revenge for their killed warriors.
The texts from the later period, unequivocally, speak of Ottoman victory and Christian defeat, and even in Serbian tradition this defeat was connected to the “collapse of the Serbian empire.” On the contrary, in the most recent sourc-
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