THE INVASION OF KOSOVO FROM THE OTTOMANS IN THE XIV CENTURY

Abstract

After the death of King Dusan which resulted with the fall of Raska, the economically advanced cities in Kosova: Novobërda, Trepça, Prishtina, Prizreni, Peja etc., remained partially under the Slavic reign of Stefan Lazar and Gjergj Brankoviq, whereas the western cities remained under the reign of Albanian aristocratic families such as Balshaj and Dukagjini. After the successful campaigns of Ottomans in 1427-1428 and 1441, the territory of Kosova was conquered by the Ottomans. The successful Hungarian and Polish campaigns against the Ottomans in the Battle of Nish in 1443, managed to overthrow the Ottomans from the Balkans. However, after the Battle of Varna in November of 1444, the Ottomans regained reign on the territory of Kosova. Seeing that Gjergj Brankoviq resurfaced as an Ottoman ally during this time, the Ottomans acknowledged him the right to reign over a large part of the Kosovar territory, as a vassal. After the fall of Constantinople on the 19^th of May 1453, Sultan Mehmet II in the spring of 1455 initiated a strong military operation, and managed to ultimately include a large part of the Balkans, including Kosova, under the Ottoman reign. In 1455, the Ottomans conquered: Novobërda, Trepça, Prishtina, Janjeva, Vuçitërna and Lipjan. After the conquest of Novobërda, Bellasica and Klina were conquered as well. Prizren was initially conquered in 1455, but thereafter an insurgency against the Turkish conquest erupted and as a result the Ottomans only managed to ultimately conquer it in 1459. The Turkish conquest of Peja as well as a large part of Dukagjini Plain occurred in 1462. After these events, Kosova fell under the Turkish reign which lasted until 1912.

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