Nicopolis 1396 The Last Crusade

by Nicolle, David; Hook, Christa

• ISBN13: 9781855329188
• ISBN10: 1855329182
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-15
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

By the second half of the 14th century, the once mighty Byzantine Empire had been reduced to little more than the city of Constantinople. In 1391, the Ottoman ruler Sultan Bayazid I 'The Lightning' besieged the city. Pope Boniface IX preached a crusade and a French-led army of 10,000 marched east. At Nicopolis they met the Ottoman army in battle. Ignoring the advice of their Hungarian and Transylvanian allies, the Crusaders charged the Turks and were in turn smashed by the Ottoman heavy cavalry. The last Crusade ended on the banks of the Danube as the Crusaders desperately sought to escape from the pursuing Turks.

Author Biography

David Nicolle was born in 1944, the son of the illustrator Pat Nicolle. He worked in the BBC Arabic service for a number of years, before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He later taught world and Islamic art and architectural history at Yarmuk University, Jordan. He has written many books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years. David lives and works in Leicestershire, UK.

Table of Contents

Origins of the Campaign	p. 6
The Opposing Commanders	p. 14
Crusader Leaders
Ottoman Leaders
Opposing Forces	p. 19
Crusader Armies
Ottoman Armies
Serbian Armies
The Opposing Plans	p. 30
Crusader Invasion Plans
The Ottoman Defence Plan
The Campaign	p. 33
Assembling the Crusading Army
The Invasion Bayazid's Response
The Battle
Bayazid's Revenge
Aftermath and Reckoning	p. 72
Ransom and unlearned lessons
Victory and the greater threat
The Battlefields Today	p. 80
Chronology	p. 82
Further Reading	p. 86
Wargaming Nicopolis	p. 88
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