The Second Battle of Kosovo, which took place in 1448, is considered the culmination of Hungarian aggression to avenge the heavy defeat inflicted on them by the Ottomans at the Battle of Varna in 1444. However, the Ottoman army defeated the Magyars again, thus paving the way for the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
On October 17, 1448, a coalition of crusader armies led by the Kingdom of Hungary and Wallachia led by John Huniad, the experienced Hungarian military leader and guardian of the throne of Hungary at the time, attempted to avenge the heavy defeat inflicted on them by the Ottomans in the Battle of Varna in 1444, by declaring war against the Ottoman Empire, In the last major attempt of the Crusaders to liberate the Balkans from Ottoman rule, and an attempt to support Constantinople and relieve it under the pressure of the Ottomans.
The valiant Ottoman army stood steadfast under the leadership of Sultan Murad II, and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Hungarians, in a fierce battle that took place for three continuous days in the Kosovo plain, just as the First Battle of Kosovo ended in 1389, in which the victory was an ally of the Ottomans.
One of the most important results of the battle was the confirmation of the Ottoman Empire’s extension of its control in the Balkans, which paved the way for the conquest of Constantinople five years later, specifically on May 29, 1453, when it was conquered by the son of Sultan Murad II, the young Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror.
The Ottomans before the conquest
The Ottomans enjoyed great valor and composure, especially during the early centuries of their empire, whose lands extended to the three continents of the ancient world. The first half of the fifteenth century witnessed successive victories that opened up many Roman lands for them, and these victories culminated in the conquest of Constantinople.
After Sultan Murad II subjugated the country of Morea (now southern Greece) in 1446, and then put down several revolutions and intrigues that took place against the Ottomans in southeastern Europe, the Sultan devoted himself to confronting Iskandar Bey, who rebelled with the joint support of Pope Nicholas V and the ruler of Hungary, John Hunyad, against Ottoman administration.
Hunyad had estimated that he needed more than 40,000 fighters to defeat the Ottomans, and sought to include the Albanian forces led by the rebel Skanderbeg, who had led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire for nearly 25 years.
In 1448, the commander of the Hungarian army, Johanna Hunyad, crossed the Danube to join forces with Skanderbeg, but on October 17 of the same year, his army collided with the Ottoman army.
The two groups appeared on the plain of Kosovo, after Hunyad failed to locate the main Ottoman army and it was believed that the latter was still in Edirne, the Ottoman capital at the time, but the Ottoman army took the initiative and surprised Hunyad’s army by surprise, and the two armies met in a fierce battle, specifically in the area Blimentin in Pristina Province, the capital of now Kosovo.
The most intense battle in the early Ottoman era
Historical sources consider the Second Battle of Kosovo to be one of the bloodiest and bloodiest wars of the early Ottoman era, compared to the First Battle of Kosovo, which took place between the same armies nine years earlier. The size of the two armies doubled in the first battle, and the number of the Ottoman army ranged between 40 and 60 thousand fighters, and the Hungarians were between 24 and 30 thousand fighters.
The first days of the battle began somewhat calmly, as the two sides built their defenses, and the battle began with separate clashes, skirmishes between the cavalry, and panic broke out in the Hungarian cavalry when they saw the impossibility of penetrating the heart of the Ottoman army, which led to the escape of some wings of the Hungarian army from the battle in the first days.
On the following day, the Ottoman knights "Sipahiler" defeated the Hungarian knights in a utter defeat, and this was followed by a night crusader attack using chariots and cannons against the central position of Sultan Murad II on the night of 19/18 October, which resulted in many Bloodshed, but without decisive military results.
On the third and last day of the battle, corresponding to October 19, 1448, the Ottomans killed a huge number of the Crusader army, to take over the rest of them.
Decisiveness and the Ottoman victory
The victory of the Ottomans in the Second Battle of Kosovo was thanks to the wisdom of the Ottoman Sultan, who used the Sepah cavalry to encircle the cavalry of the flankers of the Crusader army. In addition to the encirclement process, the Ottoman army launched a general attack along the line of contact between the two armies in order to distract Hunyad from the main attack.
The maneuver succeeded, and the Sepah knights reaped with the sword all the knights of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Hungary.
The second battle of Kosovo ended any hope left by the Crusaders in stopping the advance of the Ottomans towards Constantinople, as the Hungarian kingdom no longer had the military or financial resources, and the way became open for Sultan Mehmed II (the Conqueror), the son of Sultan Murad II, to impose a siege on Constantinople, to be opened in 1453.
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