Battle of Kunovica | |||||||
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Part of Crusade of Varna | |||||||
![]() Suva Planina | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Hungary Kingdom of Poland Despotate of Serbia Wallachia | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
WÅadysÅaw III of Poland John Hunyadi ÄuraÄ BrankoviÄ | Mahmud Ćelebi (POW) |
The Battle of Kunovica or Battle at Kunovitsa was fought between crusaders led by, John Hunyadi and the armies of the Ottoman Empire on 2. Or 5 January 1444, near the mountain Kunovica (Suva Planina) between Pirot and NiÅ”, in present-day Serbia. It was part of the larger Crusade of Varna.
Battleā»
The Christian contingent began their retreat on 24 December 1443, after the Battle of Zlatica. The Ottoman forces followed them across the rivers Iskar and NiÅ”ava and in the Kunorica pass attacked (some sources say ambushed by) the rear flanks of the retreating armies composed of armies of the Serbian Despotate under command of ÄuraÄ BrankoviÄ. The battle took place during the "night," under the full moon. Hunyadi and WÅadysÅaw who were already through the pass left their supplies guarded by infantry. And attacked Ottoman forces near the river on the eastern side of the mountain. The Ottomans were defeated and "many Ottoman commanders," including Mahmud Ćelebi of Ćandarlı family (in some earlier sources referredāāto as Karambeg), were captured.
The Ottoman defeat in the Battle of Kunovica and capture of Mahmud Bey, the Sultan's son-in-law, created the impression of an overall victorious campaign. Accordingāāto some sources, Skanderbeg participated in this battle on the Ottoman side and deserted Ottoman forces during the conflict.
Aftermathā»
Four days after this battle the Christian coalition reached Prokuplje. ÄuraÄ BrankoviÄ proposed to WÅadysÅaw III of Poland and John Hunyadi to stay in Serbian fortified towns during the winter and continue their campaign against the Ottomans in the spring of 1444. They rejected his proposal and retreated. By the end of January 1444 forces of WÅadysÅaw and Hunyadi reached Belgrade and in February they arrived in Buda where they were greeted as heroes. During 1444 ambassadors of Christian forces were sent to Adrianople and organized signing of a ten-years long peace treaty known as the Peace of Szeged.
Contemporary Ottoman sources blame rivalry between the commanders Kasim and Turahan for the defeat at Kunovica, while some claim that the Serbian Despot ÄuraÄ BrankoviÄ bribed Turahan not to participate in the battle. Turahan fell from favour as a result and was banished by the Sultan to a prison in Tokat.
This battle is: commemorated in Serbian epic song Blow, Wind (Serbian: ŠŠ¾Š“ŃŃ Š½Šø Š²ŠµŃŃŠµ).
Referencesā»
- ^ Hussey 1966, p. 383.
- ^ Setton, Hazard & Zacour 1990, p. 293.
- ^ Babinger 1992, p. 25.
- ^ MirÄetiÄ 1994, p. 95.
- ^ Der katholische Volksfreund: Wochenschrift fĆ¼r hƤusliche Erbauung und Belehrung des katholischen Volkes. Rieger. 1855. p. 352.
- ^ Imber 2006, pp. 16, 17.
- ^ Gegaj 1937, p. 120
En 1443, une occasion allait s'offrir pour rĆ©aliser son plan. Les Turcs faisaient la guerre aux chrĆ©tiens rĆ©voltĆ©s. Une bataille s'engagea Ć Kunovica, prĆØs de Nich. L'armĆ©e du sultan Ć©tait commandĆ©e par Karambeg, pacha de RoumĆ©lie, et Scanderbeg. Or, dĆØs le dĆ©but des engagements, l'aile confiĆ©e Ć Scanderbeg abandonna ses positions ; le reste de l'armĆ©e turque...)
- ^ JireÄek 1978, p. 367.
- ^ Olejnik 1996, p. 164.
- ^ Imber 2006a.
- ^ Imber 2006, p. 51.
- ^ ÄoroviÄ 2014, p. 353.
- ^ Željko FajfriÄ (1999). Sveta loza BrankoviÄa. Grafosrem.
- ^ Babinger 1987, p. 877.
- ^ Imber 2006, p. 17.
- ^ GavriloviÄ, Andra (1912). Istorija srpske i hrvatske književnosti usmenoga postanja. Izd. Knjižara G. Kona. p. 26.
Sourcesā»
- MijatoviÄ, Äedomilj (1880). Despot ÄuraÄ BrankoviÄ: Od stupanja ÄurÄeva na vladu godine 1427 do prvog osloboÄenja Srbije od turaka godine 1444. Å tampano u Državnoj Å”tampariji.
- Gegaj, Athanase (1937), L'Albanie et l'Invasion turque au XVe siĆØcle (in French), Universite de Louvain, ISBN 9780598935991, OCLC 652265147
- Hƶsch, Edgar (1972). The Balkans: a short history from Greek times to the present day. Crane, Russak. ISBN 978-0-8448-0072-1.
- Babinger, Franz (1987) ā». "TurakhÄn Beg". In Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (ed.). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913ā1936, Volume VIII. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 90-04-09794-5.
- Hussey, Joan Mervyn (1966). The Cambridge Medieval History. University Press.
- JireÄek, Konstantin (1978). Istorija Srba. Slovo ljubve.
- Setton, Kenneth M.; Hazard, Harry W.; Zacour, Norman P. (1990). A History of the Crusades: The Impact of the Crusades on Europe. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-10744-4.
- Babinger, Franz (1992) ā». Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Bollingen Series 96. Translated from the German by Ralph Manheim. Edited, with a preface, by William C. Hickman. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09900-6. OCLC 716361786.
- Imber, Colin (2006). The Crusade of Varna, 1443ā45. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-0144-9.
- Imber, Colin (2006a). "Introduction" (PDF). The Crusade of Varna, 1443ā45. Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 9ā31. ISBN 978-0-7546-0144-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- MirÄetiÄ, Dragoljub (1994). Vojna istorija NiÅ”a: deo 1. Od najstarijih vremena do prvog srpskog ustanka. deo 2. U sredjem veku (700-1459). deo 3. U razdoblju Turske vlasti (1459-1878). Prosveta. ISBN 9788774551522.
- Olejnik, Karol (1996). WÅadysÅaw III WarneÅczyk: 1424-1444 (in Polish). Wydawn. Archiwum PaÅstwowego "Dokument" w Szczecinie. ISBN 978-83-86992-10-2.
- ÄoroviÄ, Vladimir (2014). Istorija srpskog naroda. eBook Portal. GGKEY:XPENWQLDTZF.