The Battle of Nicopolis (1396 AD)

By the late 14th Century Bulgaria struggled desperately against the danger of Islam invading Europe. In 1393, Turnovo, the capital of Bulgaria fell and the king Ivan Shishman is besieged by Islamic invaders in Nicopolis (Bulgarian fortress on the Danube River). In 1395 the last medieval Bulgarian king Ivan Shishman is killed defending the fortress of Nicopolis. The once mighty Byzantine Empire had been reduced to little more than the city of Constantinople itself and Sultan Bayazid I "the Lightning" besieged the city.

The father of Bayazid - sultan Murat has created the infantry of Janissaries that was composed of Christian children robbed from their family. The usual practice of Islam soldiers was, after having killed the parents and having raped the girls, to cart off the young boys in order to raise them in the Islamic religion and to create elite troops. The Janissaries take a paramount importance in the military and political sphere of the Ottoman dynasty.

In response to a crusade preached by Pope Boniface IX a Christian army of 10,000 under the leadership of John of Nevers, son of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, marched to the relief of Christians savagely oppressed by the soldiers of Islam. On 25 September 1396, at Nicopolis they met the Ottoman army and its Serbian and Arab allies in a battle. Ignoring the advice of their Hungarian and Transylvanian allies, the Crusaders charged the Turks and were in turn smashed by the Ottoman heavy cavalry and Serbian mercenaries. The defeat of 1396 blew away the last hope of Bulgarian people for delivery. Thus, this year is considered as the year when Bulgaria tumbles down under the oppressive Ottoman domination for almost 5 centuries.

In the famous Battle of Nicopolis, a Christian army of French, English, Germans, Italians and Knights Hospitallers under the leadership of John of Nevers, son of the Duke of Burgundy, and the Bulgarian infantry and Hungarian army under King Sigismund of Hungary give a heroic combat against the Islamic army of Ottomans and its Serbian and Arab allies.

Jean Froissart's in his picture Battle of Nicopolis, Brugge, XVth century, emphasizes the dramatic defeat of the Christian Army.

The Battle of Nicopolis, Jean Froissart, Brugge, XVth century

In the late 14th century the eyes of Western Europe began to turn to the east as the old enemy began to reassert himself - the Turks. With a fervour that had not been seen for decades, the chivalry of western Europe responded by marching east to their greatest disaster ever.

Eastward marched an army of English, French, Germans, Italians and Knights Hospitallers under the leadership of John of Nevers, son of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. It joined a Hungarian army under King Sigismund of Hungary. marching along the Danube, capturing Bulgarian towns, and advancing deep into new Turkish territory. But their advance was halted at the town of Nicopolis, which resisted the Crusader siege for over two weeks.

With the Crusader's stalled, Ottoman Sultan Beyezid saw his chance. He marched to the town's rescue, choosing a defensive position straddling the road to the city with his flanks protected by ravines. Sigismund advised a cautious approach, but the western crusaders would have none of that. Instead, they charged straight at the Ottomans. They hurled back the Turkish light horse, and pursued straight into a wall of Janisseries protected by stakes. Finally. breaking their way through the infantry, the disordered crusaders were attacked and destroyed by the waiting Ottoman heavy cavalry.

Far to the rear, the Hungarians followed up, slaughtering the disorganized Ottoman infantry. It almost looked like the Hungarians might win the day until Bayazid's Serbian vassals emerged from ambush to overthrown Sigismund's banner and throw the whole Crusader army into rout.

It was a devastating loss. Sigismund escaped by ship, but John was captured and later ransomed. John's ransoming was the exception; Bayazid, enraged by his heavy losses, slaughtered most of his prisoners the next day. The few that survived were given to his victorious soldiers as slaves.

The final crush of small Christian states in Balkans struggling desperately against the tyrannical Ottoman dynasty invading Europe and devastating Balkans under the banner of Islam, will arrive with the disaster of the Battle of Varna, 1444. This defeat will fade away the last hope of Bulgarian and other Christians for delivery and end any serious attempts to prevent the invasion of East Europe by Ottomans for centuries.

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Other Resources

Available from the De Bellis Bookstore: David Nicolle's Nicopolis 1396: The Last Crusade (Campaign Series #64) on the French-led crusade against the Ottomans in Bulgaria, with 14 color plates.