Battle of Nicopolis
The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied Crusader army of Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, Polish, French, Burgundian, German, English, Knights Hospitaller, Iberian, Italian, Bohemian, Serbian and Byzantine troops (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and leading to the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire. It is often referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis as it was one of the last large-scale Crusades of the Middle Ages, together with the Crusade of Varna in 1443–1444. By their victory at Nicopolis, the Turks discouraged the formation of future European coalitions against them. They maintained their pressure on Constantinople, tightened their control over the Balkans, and became a greater threat to Central Europe.
| Battle of Nicopolis | |||||||||
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| Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe and the Crusades | |||||||||
miniature by Jean Colombe (c. 1475) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Ottoman Empire
Vassal: |
Crusade:
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Stefan Lazarević |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 10,000–20,000 | 17,000–20,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Considerable Ottoman losses |
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Nicopolis Location within Europe | |||||||||