The Kosovo curse ( sr, Косовска клетва / ''Kosovska kletva'') or Prince's curse ( sr, Кнежева клетва, link=no / ''Kneževa kletva''), is according to legend, a curse said by

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

ian

Prince Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval List of Serbian monarchs, Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbia ...

before the

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...

. Lazar curses those Serbs who ignored his call for war against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Constantine of Kostenets Constantine of Kostenets ( bg, Константин Костенечки, Konstantin Kostenechki; born ca. 1380, died after 1431), also known as Constantine the Philosopher ( sr, Константин Филозоф), was a medieval Bulgarian scholar ...

recorded that Lazar issued "invitation and threat" to Serbian states which is preserved in the

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry ( sr, Српске епске народне песме, Srpske epske narodne pesme) is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The ...

in the form of the curse. From 1778 to 1781,

Avram Miletić Avram Miletić ( sr, Аврам Милетић) (1755 – after 1826) was a merchant and writer of epic folk songs who is best known for writing the earliest collection of urban lyric poetry in Serbian language, Serbian between 1778 and 1781. Fa ...

composed a

miscellany A miscellany is a collection of various pieces of writing by different authors. Meaning a mixture, medley, or assortment, a miscellany can include pieces on many subjects and in a variety of different forms. In contrast to anthologies, whose aim ...

of 129 songs ( sr, Песмарица/Pesmarica) which also included the song "A history of Musić Stefan" containing a form of the Kosovo curse. One form of the curse appeared in the 1845 edition of the collection of Serbian folk songs by

Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...

. It is an updated version of an 1813 text by Karadžić with stronger

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

overtones. Karadžić's "Kosovo curse" is inscribed on the

Gazimestan Gazimestan (, , ) is the name of a memorial site and monument commemorating the Battle of Kosovo (1389), situated about 6-7 kilometres southeast of the actual battlefield, known as the Kosovo field. The name is a portmanteau derived from Arabic ' ...

monument, where the Battle of Kosovo was fought.

Text of the curse

References

History of Kosovo Curses Serbian inscriptions Serbian nationalism in Kosovo {{Ottoman-stub

Text of the curse

See also

References