The Battle of Edirne occurred on 11 July 1410, during the

Ottoman Interregnum The Ottoman Interregnum, or the Ottoman Civil War ( 20 July 1402 – 5 July 1413; tr, Fetret Devri, , Interregnum Period), was a civil war in the Ottoman Empire between the sons of Sultan Bayezid I following the defeat of their father at the B ...

, and was fought between the forces of the rival brothers,

Musa Çelebi Musa Çelebi (died 5 July 1413) was an Ottoman prince ( tr, şehzade) and a co-ruler of the empire for three years during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background Musa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the fourth Ottoman sultan.Kastritsis, Dimi ...

and

Süleyman Çelebi Süleyman Çelebi (also Emir Süleyman; d. 17 February 1411) was an Ottoman prince () and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire for several years during the Ottoman Interregnum. There is a tradition of western origin, according to which Suleiman the ...

, outside the Ottoman capital,

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

Background

Following his defeat at the

Battle of Kosmidion The Battle of Kosmidion ( tr, Eyüp Muharebesi) occurred on 15 June 1410, during the Ottoman Interregnum, and was fought between the forces of the rival brothers, Musa Çelebi and Süleyman Çelebi, at Kosmidion (modern Eyüp) just outside the ...

at the gates of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

on 15 June 1410, Musa retreated to the area around

Yambol Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the admi ...

and Chernomen in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, while Süleyman recaptured the Ottoman capital of

. One of Musa's lieutenants, Aliaz, was able to capture

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, where he took prisoner the Serbian lord

Vuk Lazarević Vuk Lazarević ( sr, Вук Лазаревић) (c. 1380 – 6 July 1410) was a Serbian Prince and the younger son of Prince Lazar of Serbia and Princess Milica Nemanjić. He was executed on 6 July 1410. He was born sometime around 1380. His old ...

and his nephew

Lazar Branković Lazar Branković ( sr-cyr, Лазар Бранковић; c. 1421 – 20 February 1458) was a Serbian despot, prince of Rascia from 1456 to 1458. He was the third son of Đurađ Branković and his wife Eirene Kantakouzene. He was succeeded by hi ...

. Vuk had betrayed Musa by defecting to Süleyman at Kosmidion, and was executed as a result.

Battle

Facing the approach of his brother's forces, Musa was soon forced to move south again, and briefly captured Edirne, which his brother had abandoned. When Süleyman too arrived at the city, the two armies clashed. Musa reportedly tried to have Lazar Branković cause his brother, George Branković, who was fighting with Süleyman, to defect, but without success. The battle ended in a victory for Süleyman, forcing Musa to retreat to his original stronghold around the lower course of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, where he was joined by his ally,

Mircea I of Wallachia 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 th ...

Aftermath

After the battle, Musa retreated to the area around

and Chernomen in

, while Süleyman recaptured the Ottoman capital of

. Süleyman sent an army to pursue his brother, but apparently no longer thought him a threat, and instead remained at Edirne, with the chroniclers depicting him engaged in idle pleasure. When Musa, who according to

Doukas The House of Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Δούκας; feminine: Doukaina/Ducaena, Δούκαινα; plural: Doukai/Ducae, Δοῦκαι), from the Latin title '' dux'' ("leader", "general", Hellenized as 'ðouks'', is the name of a Byzan ...

, had defeated the army Süleyman had sent against him at

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, marched on Edirne, Süleyman's forces deserted to Musa. Süleyman himself fled but was captured and executed on 17 February 1411, leaving Musa the sole master of the Ottoman domains in Europe (

Rumelia Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edirne, Battle of 1410 in Europe 1410 in the Ottoman Empire Conflicts in 1410

Battles involving Serbia in the Middle Ages History of Edirne