Battle of Nicopolis
Nicopolis, Ottoman Sultanate
What happened
King Sigismund of Hungary led a crusader army that included French knights under John, Count of Nevers, against the army of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. After the Battle of Kosovo, the Ottomans had taken much of the Balkans, so a crusade was called to push them back. At Nicopolis on the Danube River, the French knights insisted on leading the charge. They rode against the Ottoman line and ran into a fresh corps of sipahis that Bayezid had kept in reserve, and the crusader army was defeated.
Why it matters
Result: Ottoman victory. Leaders: Bayezid I / Çandarlı Ali Pasha against Sigismund, King of Hungary and Croatia / Mircea the Elder. Why it matters: The defeat ended the crusade and the Second Bulgarian Empire. Western Europe made no further moves against the Turkish advance in the Balkans until the 1440s.
What came next
Many captured knights were ransomed. Bayezid went on blockading Constantinople.
Did you know?
John of Nevers earned the nickname 'John the Fearless' for his bravery in this battle.
Timeline
- 1389 CEBayezid I becomes Ottoman sultan.
- 1394 CEBayezid begins to blockade Constantinople.
- 25 September 1396 CEBayezid defeats the crusaders at Nicopolis.
- 1397 CEA delegation leaves Paris to negotiate the ransoms of captured knights.