The Battle of Rovine took place on 17 May 1395. The
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...
n army led by
Voivod Mircea the Elder
Mircea the Elder ( ro, Mircea cel Bătrân, ; c. 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited t ...
opposed the
Ottoman invasion personally led by Sultan
Bayezid I the Thunderbolt. The Turkish force heavily outnumbered the Wallachian troops. The legend says that on the eve of the battle, dressed as a peace emissary, Mircea cel Bătrân talked to Bayezid asking him to leave Wallachia and promising him safe passage back. The
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
proudly insisted on fighting.
Battle
The battle took place probably near the
Argeș River
Arges or Argeș may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Romania
* Argeș County, a county in Muntenia, with its capital at Pitești
* Argeș Region, an administrative division from 1950 to 1952
* Argeș River, which flows through the Southern ...
,
but the exact location is disputed. The Wallachian victory is confirmed by numerous sources and historians.
[
During the battle, a key tactical role was played by the Wallachian ]archers
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...
who severely depleted the Ottoman ranks during their initial attack.[Cronica bulgară la I. Bogdan, Ein Beitrag zur bulgarischen und serbischen Geschichtschreibung, în Archiv für slavische Philologie, p. 530. The historical sources mention that the sun was blocked out by the vast number of arrows.] Bayezid's vassals, the Serbian lords Stefan Lazarević
Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall ( sr, Стефан Високи / ''Stefan Visoki''), was the ruler of Serbia as prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427), ...
and Marko Mrnjavčević
Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...
, two of the greatest knights of the time, participated and fought bravely; Stefan showed great courage, Marko was killed in action.
An alternative historical view is that the dramatic confrontation lasted not just a single day, but an entire week, being in the first stage a war of positions. The fierce battle ended with heavy casualties for both sides, eventually each army withdrawing from the battlefield. Although Wallachians pushed back the enemy, the Ottomans were able to defend their resulting position relying on the personal guard of the Sultan composed of Janissaries
A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
. This was the impregnable position of the Ottoman defense a year later, in the famous Battle of Nicopolis. This tactical innovation became a fundamental element of the Ottoman war strategies until the 18th century. The army of Mircea, sustaining heavy casualties, and unable to break the defense of the Sultan's camp, was finally obliged to withdraw. Because the Ottoman Empire was not able to conquer Wallachia at this time, Rovine remains one of the most important battles in Romanian history.[
An epic description of the confrontation is presented in the poem "Scrisoarea a III-a" (''The Third Letter'') written by the Romanian national poet, ]Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active membe ...
. The Dečani chronicle describes the battle and reports that Prince Marko
Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...
and Constantine Dragaš
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
died fighting. The same source mentions that Marko's brother, Andreja Mrnjavčević Andreja ( sr, Андреја) is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Andreja Apostolović (born 1996), Serbian football midfielder
* Andreja Efremov (born 1992), Macedonian footballer
* Andreja Gomboc (born 1969), Slovenian astrop ...
, also perished during the fight.[Successors of the Mrnjavčević family and theritories under their power 1371–1459](_blank)
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, PhD thesis of Aleksić Vladimir (2012), p. 147.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rovine 1395
1395 in Europe
Conflicts in 1395
Battles involving the Ottoman Empire
Battles involving Wallachia
Battles involving Serbia in the Middle Ages
1395 in the Ottoman Empire
14th century in Serbia