Editing Battle of Kosovo (section)

==Army composition==
Estimates about army size vary, but the Ottoman army was larger. It is likely that the army led by Lazar had 12,000/15,000 to 20,000 troops against 27,000–30,000 led by Murad.<ref name="Humphreys46">{{harvnb|Humphreys|2013|p=46}}</ref><ref name="Sedlar30">{{harvnb|Sedlar|2013|p=244|loc=Nearly the entire Serbian fighting force (between 12,000 and 20,000 men) had been present at Kosovo, while the Ottomans (with 27,000 to 30,000 on the battlefield) retained numerous reserves in Anatolia.}}</ref> A higher estimate places the size of Murad's army up to 40,000 and Lazar's up to 25,000 troops.<ref name="Cox30">{{harvnb|Cox|2002|p=30|loc=The Ottoman army probably numbered between 30,000 and 40,000. They faced something like 15,000 to 25,000 Eastern Orthodox soldiers. [...] Accounts from the period after the battle depict the engagement at Kosovo as anything from a draw to a Christian victory.}}</ref> Ottoman historian [[Mehmed Neşri]] who authored the first detailed report in Ottoman historiography about the battle of Kosovo in 1521 represents the Ottoman imperial narrative. As an Ottoman Sultan died before or during the battle, the size of the Christian army is presented as significantly larger in Ottoman sources. Neşri placed it at around 500,000, double the size of the Ottoman army.{{sfn|Emmert|1991|p=11}} According to historian [[Noel Malcolm]], Ottoman writers were most likely eager to build up the size and significance of Lazar's army, which they described as vastly outnumbering Murat's, in order to add to the glory of the "Turkish victory". Moreover, Malcolm claims that the Ottoman sources lack reliability.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=62}}  Regardless of the exact army size, the battle of Kosovo was one of the largest 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.<ref name="Humphreys46" /> The Ottoman army was supported by auxiliary troops from the [[Anatolia]]n [[Turkmen people|Turkoman]] [[Isfendiyarids|Beylik of Isfendiyar]],<ref name="KarpatZens2003">{{Cite book |last1=Karpat |first1=Kemal H. |author-link=Kemal H. Karpat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gNMlAQAAMAAJ |title=Ottoman Borderlands: Issues, Personalities, and Political Changes |last2=Zens |first2=Robert W. |publisher=Center of Turkish Studies, University of Wisconsin |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-299-20024-4 |page=35 |quote=Troops of his emirate seconded Murad I in the battle of Kosovo Polje (1389), as indicated in the "Book of Victory" (Fatih-name) issued by Bayezid the Thunderbolt.}}</ref> and comprised no more than 2,000 [[Janissary|Janissaries]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kortüm |first=Hans-Henning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bdmAAAAMAAJ |title=Transcultural wars from the Middle Ages to the 21st century |publisher=Akademie |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-05-004131-5 |page=231 |quote=But having been established under Murad I (1362–1389), essentially as a bodyguard, the Janissaries cannot have been present in large numbers at Nicopolis (there were no more than 2,000 at Kosovo in 1389)}}</ref>

Lazar's main forces included the Serbian contingent from his own principality, troops brought by his son-in-law, [[Vuk Branković]], and Bosnian forces under [[Vlatko Vuković]], sent by Lazar's ally [[Tvrtko I of Bosnia|King Tvrtko]] of Bosnia.<ref name="Emmert3a">{{harvnb|Emmert|1991|p=3|loc=Given the divisiveness among Serbian lords which generally characterized the decades following Dusan's death, the fact that Lazar, Vuk, and Tvrtko were able to conclude an alliance against the Turks was reason for at least some optimism.}}</ref> Based on Neşri's account, [[Đurađ II Balšić]] has also been linked to the Christian coalition which fought in the battle. The hypothesis about his participation is considered to be "almost entirely false" as he had become an Ottoman vassal; he was in hostility with Lazar's ally Tvrtko I; and at the time of the battle he was most likely in [[Ulcinj]].{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=62}}

Both armies contained soldiers of various origins.<ref name="Humphreys46a2">{{harvnb|Humphreys|2013|p=46|ps=:Both armies – and this is a fact that is ignored by the hagiographic telling – contained soldiers of various origins; Bosnians, Albanians, Hungarians, Greeks, Bulgars, perhaps even Catalans (on the Ottoman side).}}</ref> Lazar's Christian coalition included Albanians, Croatians, Hungarians and Bulgarians.<ref name="Somel 2010 p. 36">{{Cite book |last=Somel |first=S. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UU8iCY0OZmcC&pg=PA36 |title=The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4617-3176-4 |series=The A to Z Guide Series |page=36}}</ref><ref name="Cox29a">{{harvnb|Cox|2002|p=29|loc=But there were also certainly Bosnians and Albanians, who were Christian at the time, among the Christian fighters}}</ref><ref name="Humphreys46a2" /> [[Teodor II Muzaka]], [[Dhimitër Jonima]] and other Albanian lords and aristocrats participated in the battle on the side of the Christian coalition, bringing a band of Albanians to join Lazar's army.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=63}}<ref name="a">Serge Métais, ''Histoire des Albanais'', [[Librairie Arthème Fayard|Fayard]], 2006.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Xhufi |first=Pëllumb |year=2011 |title=La Macédoine Occidentale dans l'histoire des Albanais du VIIe au XVe siècle |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=276164 |journal=Studia Albanica |language=fr |issue=2 |pages=3–21 |issn=0585-5047 |quote=Cette faiblesse a été cependant passagère, car au XIVe siècle, on mentionne de nouveau comme maître de cette aire Andrea Gropa, qui a participé en 1389 à la bataille de la Plaine du Kosovo, aux côtés de Théodore Muzaka.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Petritsch |first1=Wolfgang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn5pAAAAMAAJ&q=Kosovo:%20Mythen,%20Daten,%20Fakten |title=Kosovo - Kosova: Mythen, Daten, Fakten |last2=Kaser |first2=Karl |last3=Pichler |first3=Robert |publisher=Wieser |year=1999 |isbn=9783851293043 |edition=2. Aufl |location=Klagenfurt |pages=32–33 |language=de |quote=... geantwortet haben und sich mit einer Armee von 6.000 Mann nach Kosova aufgemacht haben soll. An der Schlacht auf dem Amselfeld nahmen auch andere mäch- tige albanische Fürsten teil : Demeter Jonima , dessen Reich sich über die..}}</ref> Of those Albanian lords, Teodor II Muzaka died during the battle, alongside a number of fellow Albanians.<ref name="Petta123">{{harvnb|Petta|2000|p=123|loc=Giovanni Musacchi esule in Italia, provano la contemporanea presenza di rami cristiani e musulmanio; e accadde anzi che i figli di un Teodoro Musacchi, caduto nel 1389 sul campo di battaglia di Kosovo, dove aveva combattuto a fianco dei serbi, divenissero musulmani, e che uno di loro, già sangiacco di Albania, cadesse nel 1442 combattendo contro gli ungheresi.}}</ref><ref name="Muhadri">{{Cite journal |last=Muhadri |first=Bedrı |date=2021-03-29 |title=The Battle of Kosovo 1389 and the Albanians |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1645262 |journal=Tarih ve Gelecek Dergisi |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=436–452 |doi=10.21551/jhf.898751 |issn=2458-7672 |s2cid=233651440 |quote=The famous Albanian prince, Teodor Muzaka II, was killed in this battle, as well as many other Albanian comrades. |doi-access=free}}</ref> Contemporary Greek authors list among participants northern Albanians, those of [[Himarë]], [[Epirus]] and the coast.<ref name="Di Lellio2">{{Cite book |last=Di Lellio |first=Anna |title=The Case for Kosova: Passage to Independence |publisher=Anthem |year=2006 |page=32 |quote=Far from arriving in the 'enemies' trucks' the Albanian population, from the lake of Shkodra to Kosova, were one with the other Christian populations At the time of the Ottoman invasion of 1389, Greek authors mention, after the Serbs and the Bulgarians, the Northern Albanians, those of Himarë, Epyrus and the coast. |isbn=1-84331-245-X}}</ref> Based on Ottoman sources, it is claimed by Albanian historiography that the Albanians accounted for around a quarter of the total number of troops in Lazar's coalition, primarily under the command of Dhimitër Jonima, Đurađ II Balšić and Teodor II.<ref name="DiLellio2009">{{Cite book |last=Di Lellio |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IDEqAQAAIAAJ |title=The battle of Kosovo, 1389: an Albanian epic |publisher=I. B. Tauris |year=2009 |isbn=9781848850941 |location=London |page=12 |quote=A more elaborate representation of the Battle, based on Ottoman sources, attributes to the Albanian leaders Balsha, Jonima and Muzaka an organized Albanian contingent as numerous as one-fourth of the entire Balkan coalition.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Myftiu |first=Genc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHQtAQAAIAAJ&q=Albania,%20a%20Patrimony%20of%20European%20Values |title=Albania: a Patrimony of European Values Guide of Albanian History and Culture Heritage |publisher=SEDA |year=2000 |page=14 |quote=Two years later Gjergj Balsha II, Teodor Muzaka and Dhimitër Jonima fought in the battle of Kosovo... a quarter of the military force in the anti-Ottoman coalition was Albanian...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Iseni |first=Bashkim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAdlqwCm_9sC&pg=PA84 |title=La question nationale en Europe du sud-est: genèse, émergence et développement de l'identité nationale albanaise au Kosovo et en Macédoine |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2008 |isbn=978-3039113200 |location=Bern |page=84 |language=fr}}</ref> However, the known exaggerations in Ottoman sources cast reasonable doubt on the reliability of their figures.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Emmert |first=Thomas A. |title=The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301220618/https://cmes.arizona.edu/sites/cmes.arizona.edu/files/Background%20-Battle%20of%20Kosovo%20poetry.pdf |quote=It is only in 1512 that a highly detailed description of the Battle of Kosovo appeared among the Turks. This account by Mehmed Nesri, however, would become the major resource for subsequent descriptions of the battle, not only in the Ottoman world but in Western Europe as well. (..) He clearly intended to describe a significant Ottoman victory at Kosovo and thus exaggerated much of his narrative in order to magnify the success of the Turks. We can easily summarize its content:(..) since the Christian forces had three times as many men as the Turks.}}</ref>{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=62}}

Historian [[Dejan Djokić (historian)|Dejan Djokić]] has claimed that it is improbable that Lazar commanded a broad coalition composed of Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Hungarians, Germans and Vlachs, in addition to his and Vuk Branković’s armies and reinforcements from Bosnia.{{sfn|Djokić|2023|p=127}} Historian [[Daniel Waley]] has stated that next to nothing can be said with assurance about the numbers and multi-ethnic composition of both armies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Waley |first1=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qkuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA255 |title=Later Medieval Europe: 1250-1520 |last2=Denley |first2=Peter |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-317-89018-8 |page=255}}</ref>

A group of crusaders linked to the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Rhodes]], led by [[John of Palisna]], has been suggested as participants on Lazar's side by Croatian historian [[Neven Budak]], who quotes in the Italian [[Chronicle]]s {{Lang|la|Annales Forolivienses}}, "{{Lang|la|Domino Johanne Banno cum Crucesignatis}}" (Ban John with those marked by a cross).{{sfn|Budak|2001|p=287}} According to Budak, "{{Lang|la|Domine Johanne Bano}}" probably refers to John of Palisna the Ban of Croatia,{{sfn|Budak|2001|p=287}} but the writer of the Chronicles could have been honouring someone who was no longer a [[Ban (title)|ban]], such as [[John Horvat]].{{sfn|Budak|2014|p=69}} British historian and Hospitaller scholar [[Anthony Luttrell]] disputes Budak’s assumption that "{{Lang|la|crucesignati}}" means the Knights Hospitaller, stating, “Hospitallers wore a cross but technically were not crusaders or {{Lang|la|crucesignati}}, how the author of the {{Lang|la|Annales Forolivienses}} understood the term is uncertain.”{{sfn|Runciman|Hunyadi|Laszlovszky|2001|p=281}} Budak himself suggests that the term could simply designate warriors who marked a cross on their clothing, a customary practice before going to war against infidels.{{sfn|Budak|2014|p=69}}

===Troop deployment===
[[File:Battle of Kosovo, disposition of troops.svg|thumb|upright=1|right|Troop disposition]]
Serbian forces assembled at [[Kosovo field|Kosovo Field]] approximately 3 miles northwest of [[Pristina]]. Prince Lazar led the Serb center, [[Vuk Branković|Branković]] took command of the right, and [[Vlatko Vuković|Vuković]] commanded the left, which also included the foreign contingents.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=64}} The formidable Serb cavalry took their place at the forefront, with lighter cavalry armed with bows positioned on the flanks.<ref name="Tucker" />

Murad led the Ottoman center, entrusting his younger son Bayezid and his commander Evrenoz with the European troops on the right wing; Murad's other son, Yakub, led the Anatolian troops on the left.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=64}}<ref name="Tucker">{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHpVn68GCogC&pg=PA138 |title=Battles that Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=9781598844290 |page=138}}</ref> The wings were fortified with around 1,000 [[Archery|archers]], while the [[Janissary|Janissaries]] held the central position, supported by Murad and his cavalry guard standing behind them.<ref name="Tucker" /> Ottoman sources claim that Murat also placed camels in front to scare the Serbian cavalry.{{sfn|Malcolm|1998|p=64}} One of the Ottoman commanders was [[Pasha Yiğit Bey]].<ref name="ÇelebiŠabanović1996">{{Cite book |last1=Çelebi |first1=Evliya |author-link=Evliya Çelebi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=029pAAAAMAAJ |title=Putopisi: odlomci o jugoslovenskim zemljama |last2=Šabanović |first2=Hazim |publisher=Sarajevo-Publishing |year=1996 |page=280 |language=bs |quote=Paša Jigit- -beg, koji se prvi put pominje kao jedan između turskih komandanata u kosovskoj bici. |access-date=26 July 2013}}</ref>