ОДЈЕЦИ КОСОВСКЕ БИТКЕ У ХРОНИКАМА ЖАНА ФРОАСАРА
ECHOES OF THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO IN THE CHRONICLES OF JEAN FROISSART

Summary/Abstract: In the third book of his Chronicles, Jean Froissart provides an extensive account of the Hungarian–Ottoman conflict between „conte de Nazara/ Lazara“, and „Amorath-Bacquin“. Within the framework of this research, we propose the hypothesis that Froissart’s narrative represents a distinctive construction, based on the echoes of the conflict between Serbian Prince Lazar and Ottoman Emir Murad at Kosovo Field in 1389. Froissart’s account of the events preceding the Battle draws upon a variety of reports and circulating rumors regarding the Ottoman advance into the Balkans and Hungary. It is certain that such information circulated in France via the papal court in Avignon, which maintained close contacts with the Hungarian royal court under the Angevin dynasty. By employing recognizable literary motifs and topoi, Froissart sought to compensate for his limited knowledge of the geopolitical situation in the Balkans. Accordingly, he depicted Prince Lazar’s domain as a border territory of the Kingdom of Hungary facing the „infidels“, i.e. Ottoman Turks. In addition, he adapted motifs from the Old French Roman d’Alexandre to shape the episode of the Turkish envoys’ mission at the count’s court, giving it a literary and symbolic dimension. From this perspective the account of the combat doesn’t align with the other known reports of the Battle of Kosovo. Beyond the absence of familiar motifs, such as the death of one or both of rulers, Froissart depicts the clash between Lazar and Murad as a typical ambush, rather than a frontal confrontation. It is possible that his depiction of the Battle may have drawn upon some kind of knowledge of the Hungarian anti-Ottoman campaign in 1395. Particularly significant are the reports of an ambush against Hungarians by the forces of Wallachian Voivode Vlad, as documented in King Sigismund’s charter for Nicholas II of Garai (1397). It is likely that Froissart (or perhaps his source) reinterpreted these accounts within the context of the Hungarian– Ottoman conflicts, given that the Voivode’s army included some Ottoman troops. Such an interpretation would imply a reversal of roles, as well as a somewhat later dating of the Third Book, or at least of the relevant episode. Furthermore, it seems more plausible that Froissart drew upon a narrative tradition independent of the late-fourteenth century events. The three mid-fourteenth century chronicles recounting the so-called Battle of Posada (1330) include certain details resembling those in Froissart’s account, particularly in the depiction of the landscape and tactical maneuvers. It should be noted that these chronicles describe the destruction of the Hungarian army as resulting from an ambush by Wallachians. On the other hand, in Mauro Orbini’s work (1601), Hungarians are assigned the same role as in Froissart’s narrative. Parallels with Froissart’s account are observable elsewhere in Orbini’s text, occasionally even more pronounced than in the descriptions of Hungarian losses in Wallachia. However, in this instance, Serbs are identified as the Hungarians’ adversaries, reflecting Orbini’s (or his source’s) account of the mid-fourteenth century Hungarian–Serbian conflict. These intertextual parallels likely reflect the circulation and convergence of multiple narrative traditions, regarding Hungarian campaigns against neighboring „schismatic“ peoples in the middle of the fourteenth century. Perhaps, this type of information was accessible in France through the Papal court in Avignon. Froissart appears to have adapted this type of narrative in accordance with the circumstances prevailing at the time he completed the Third Book of his Chronicles. Moreover, the „schismatic“ or non- Catholic elements contained in his sources, could easily be equated with the contemporary „infidels“, i. e. Ottoman Turks. Accordingly, Froissart’s limited knowledge of the Battle of Kosovo was supplemented by an account distinguished by its pronounced literary dynamism.

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