Editing Battle of Kosovo (section)

==Background==
Emperor [[Stefan Dušan|Stefan Uroš IV Dušan]] "the Mighty" (r. 1331–55) was succeeded by his son [[Stefan Uroš V]] "the Weak" (r. 1355–71), whose reign was characterized by the decline of central power and the rise of numerous virtually independent principalities; this period is known as the [[fall of the Serbian Empire]]. Uroš V was neither able to sustain the great empire created by his father nor repulse foreign threats and limit the independence of the nobility; he died childless in December 1371,<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge Medieval History: The Byzantine Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1966 |editor-last=Hussey |editor-first=J. M. |page=549}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Frucht |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d77OEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA534 |title=Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture [3 volumes] |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2004 |isbn=9781576078013 |page=534}}</ref> after much of the [[Serbian nobility]] had been destroyed by the Ottomans in the [[Battle of Maritsa]] earlier that year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roszkowski |first=Wojciech |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kawSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=East Central Europe: A Concise History |publisher=Instytut Studiów Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Instytut Jagielloński |year=2015 |isbn=9788365972200 |page=36}}</ref> [[Lazar of Serbia|Prince Lazar]], ruler of the northern part of the former empire (of [[Moravian Serbia]]), was aware of the Ottoman threat and began diplomatic and military preparations for a campaign against them.

After the defeat of the Ottomans at [[Battle of Pločnik|Pločnik (1386)]] and [[Battle of Bileća|Bileća (1388)]], [[Murad I]], the reigning Ottoman sultan, moved his troops from [[Plovdiv|Philippoupolis]] to [[Ihtiman]] (modern Bulgaria) in the spring of 1388. From there they traveled across [[Kyustendil|Velbužd]] and [[Kratovo, North Macedonia|Kratovo]] (modern [[North Macedonia]]). Though longer than the alternative route through [[Sofia]] and the [[Nišava Valley]], this led the Ottoman forces to [[Kosovo]], one of the most important crossroads in the [[Balkans]]. From Kosovo, they could attack the lands of either Prince Lazar or [[Vuk Branković]]. Having stayed in Kratovo for a time, Murad and his troops marched through [[Kumanovo]], [[Preševo]], and [[Gjilan]] to [[Pristina]], where he arrived on June 14.

{{Gallery |align=center |captionstyle= |state= |width= |mode= |noborder= | File:Knez Lazar, Vladislav Titelbah.jpg |alt1= |Prince [[Lazar of Serbia|Lazar Hrebeljanović]] | File:Murad I.jpg |alt2= |{{nowrap|Sultan [[Murad I|Murad Hüdavendigâr]]}}}}

While there is less information about Lazar's preparations, he gathered his troops near [[Niš]], on the right bank of the [[South Morava]]. His forces likely remained there until he learned that Murad had moved to Velbužd, whereupon he moved across [[Prokuplje]] to Kosovo. This was the best place he could choose as a battlefield, as it gave him control of all the routes that Murad could take. The historiographical examination of the battle is challenging. No first-hand accounts from participants in the battle exist. Contemporary sources are written from widely diverging points of view and not much is discussed in them about battle tactics, army size and other battleground details.<ref name="Emmert3b">{{harvnb|Emmert|1991|p=3|loc=The historian is faced with a difficult problem when he attempts to discover what occurred in the Battle of Kosovo. There are no eyewitness accounts of the battle, and rather significant differences exist among those contemporary sources which do mention the event.}}</ref>