Ottoman Empire

[Mihais]

In the form you put it,zero.The Christians that were recruited in the Janissary corp were taken at a young age and were always in small number.The corp had at best 10-12000 men(expanded to 30000 than to 70000 in the 17th century,but by then the original traditions were declining and recruitment was handled in a different manner).However,my guess is that you're more interested in the Yugoslav Wars,which is entirely another matter.Why not start another thread on this subject.

p.s I'm not to keen to fall on my back reading the same old nonsense about evil Serbs that seems to be the norm in the political,media and academic circles.But it really is another subject.

[troung]

I was reading at the end part of the War Of The World by Niall Fergusson that the reason for the war in Bosnia inthe 1990s was due to Milosovic tapping into serbian Nationalism by reviving memories of the battle of Kosovo and saying that the Bosnians were islamised serbs who taken sides with the Ottomans and converted to Islam against the serbs.

Orthodox Serbian heavy cavalry fought under the Ottoman banner at Nicopolis and Ankara.

[Mihais]

Orthodox Serbian heavy cavalry fought under the Ottoman banner at Nicopolis and Ankara.

And they fought damn well.And Marko Kralijevic,a folk hero,died during Bayezid Ildirim's failed expedition N of the Danube.Fact is Serbs were sometimes allied,sometimes enemies of the Ottomans during late 14-mid 15 century.They became staunch opponents only after Serbia fell in 1459.From then onwards there was almost constant struggle up until the 1st Balkan War,either as allies of various enemies of the Turks or during LIC's on the frontier(after the rebirth of Serbia as a state,of course).From there the reputation as fierce enemies of the Turks comes from.

[great one]

How strong is the memory of the Battle of Kosovo considered a national tradegy in Serbia today?

[Mihais]

It's a sort of Alamo for the Americans.Or what's Gallipoli for the Australians.Something that evokes tragedy,heroism,sacrifice for the country,something that unites all Serbs.It's the symbolic start of a dark period and the end of their great state(although the Tzardom was finished before the arrival of the Turks and the really dark age started a few decades after the battle).In a sense it's a founding myth.

[Big K]

Orthodox Serbian heavy cavalry fought under the Ottoman banner at Nicopolis and Ankara.

Yildirim Bayezid and the Serbian Prince were relatives if i remember well.

[Mihais]

Aren't you confusing them with Murat II and the Despot Brankovic?IIRC his daughter Maria was the sultan's wife.

[Big K]

Aren't you confusing them with Murat II and the Despot Brankovic?IIRC his daughter Maria was the sultan's wife.

Battle of Nicopolis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stefan Lazarević (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Лазаревић; 1374 – 19 July 1427) was a Serbian Despot. He was the son and heir to Prince Lazar (Serbian: Knez Lazar, Кнез Лазар), who died at the Battle of Kosovo against the Turks in 1389, and Princess Milica (Милица) from the subordinate branch of the Nemanjić (Немањић) dynasty. His sister, Princess Olivera Despina, married the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, his brother-in-law, with whom he sided in a number of battles. Despot Stefan was a poet and a moderniser. His reign and his personal literary works are sometimes associated with early signs of the Renaissance in Serbian lands. He introduced knight tournaments, modern battle tactics, and firearms to Serbia.

Battle of Ankara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Armies of the Ottoman Turks, 1300-1774, David Nicolle & Angus McBride remarked that "[t]he size of the two armies are reliably estimated at 140,000 on Timur's side and no more than 85,000 under Sultan Bayezid I".[15] Medieval historian J. B. Bury stated that both armies were of equal size, with Bayezid's army mainly composed of infantry and 5,000 to 10,000 Serbian heavy knights led by Despot Stefan Lazarevic.[7]

the main reason of Ottoman defeat was that many Turkic units changed sides and attacked Ottomans during the 14 hours of fighting

as far as i know the only unit that did not betray Yildirim Bayezid was the Serbian Heavy Knights and Prince Lazarovic which i have great respect.

[troung]

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