The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

human history. Yes, the flower of the Serbian aristocracy and manhood perished in that fatal battle of Kossovo. All of them went grimly to their gory graves, the beautiful, brave and bold. But the Turks sustained a grievous blow. How fierce and how important was that fatal engagement may be judged by the fact that the leaders of both armies, the Serbian Tsar Lazar and the Turkish Sultan Murat, were both slain in the battle. The Western European nations, realising the Turkish danger and recognising the Southern Slav nation as its principal opponent, anxiously awaited the news of the issue of the battle. A false rumour of victory reached Paris and a solemn Te Deum was held in Notre Dame, as we know from the records of that church, to celebrate the victory of the Serbians over the Mussulmans.

Notwithstanding the disaster of Kossovo on the 28th of June, 1389, the Serbian nation and its States continued their resistance and lingered on for more than a century, although they could never regain their former strength. The capital of Serbia proper had since the death of the Emperor DuSan been moved from Skoplje (Uskub) in Macedonia to the north, and with it was also shifted the centre of the Serbian State. Tsar Lazar had his capital and held his diminished Court at Krugevac. After 13889 his son, who assumed the title of Despot, transferred his capital to Belgrade, and his nephew and heir,

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