Kosovo field
Kosovo field (Albanian: Fusha e Kosovës; Serbian: Косово поље, romanized: Kosovo polje, lit. 'Blackbird's Field') is a large karst field, located in the middle part of Kosovo. It is mostly known for being the site of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) between the Balkan Alliance led by Lazar of Serbia and Ottoman armies led by Murad I, and many other battles.
Geography
The large karst field is directed northwest–south. The plain stretches from Mitrovica southwards including Obiliq, Kosovo Polje (which lies in the centre), Lipjan, and almost to Kaçanik. The region of Kosovo stretches roughly from Ferizaj to Vushtrri.[1]
It is situated 500–600 m above sea level.[2]
In the central part, to the west, is the Drenica valley.
History
Medieval
The region was an economic hub of the early Eastern Roman Empire in the province of Dardania. Praevalitana (the region before the valley), a province that bordered Dardania was named after the fact that it was located directly to the west of the field. A reference to the field may appear in the early Christian cult of Florus and Laurus of the fourth century AD, which was recorded no earlier than the sixth century AD. In the recorded version in Constantinople, the geographical location of Ulpiana, which was a settlement in the field of Kosovo, is described in Greek as Eucharis Koilas (the Gracious Valley).[3]
The Kosovo field was the site of the Battle of Kosovo in June 1389, the battlefield northwest of Prishtina where an army led by Prince Lazar of Serbia fought the Ottoman army.[4] It is for this field, and the battle, that the Kosovo region and contemporary Kosovo, and in turn the historical Kosovo Vilayet and Yugoslav Kosovo and Metohija is named. The modern city of Fushë Kosovë is also named after the field.
Serbian ruler Stefan Lazarević (1389–1427) erected a marble column with inscriptions on the field, in memory of his father.[5]
Another Battle of Kosovo (1448) was fought between the Ottoman Empire and Kingdom of Hungary.
The Ottoman cadastral tax census (defter) of 1455 in the District of Branković took place in the Kosovo field which is in a part of eastern Kosovo[6]
Modern history
In 1877, the Kosovo Vilayet was established by the Ottoman Empire.
During World War I the Serbian army retreated to the Kosovo plain by November 1915, then under attack from both sides, the army withdrew across the mountains into Albania.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Dr. Dragan Ćukić (31 December 1971). Kosovo: Znamenitosti i lepote. Uros Maksimovic. pp. 9–. GGKEY:9UYXYK4U200.
- ^ Salihu, Salih, Heinrich Grausgruber, and Peter Ruckenbauer. "Agronomic and quality performance of international winter wheat genotypes grown in Kosovo." Cereal Research Communications 34.2 (2006): 957-964.
Kosovo plain (Rrafshi i Kosovés), which lies 500–600 in above sea level, and is characterised by a longtime annual precipitation of 640 mm year", and a longtime annual mean temperature of 10°C.
- ^ Rizos, Efthymios (2017). "Martyrs from the northwest Balkans in the Byzantine ecclesiastical tradition: patterns and mechanisms of cult transfer". The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity Conference. Verlag Bernhard Albert Greiner: 17. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ John K. Cox (1 January 2002). The History of Serbia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-0-313-31290-8.
- ^ Michael Grünbart (30 December 2007). Material Culture and Well-Being in Byzantium (400-1453): Proceedings of the International Conference (Cambridge, 8-10 September 2001). Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-3-7001-3602-6.
- ^ Sovic, Silvia; Thane, Pat; Viazzo, Pierpaolo (2015-11-30). The History of Families and Households: Comparative European Dimensions: Comparative European Dimensions. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-30786-5.
- ^ Ian V. Hogg (1995). Battles: A Concise Dictionary. Harcourt Brace. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-15-600397-1.
Coordinates: 42°43′03″N 21°05′06″E / 42.71750°N 21.08500°E