UNDER HUNGARIAN SUPREMACY 187
army was commanded by the Sultan Murad in person ; the right wing was led by his son Bayazet, and the left by his son Yakub. The fight began early on Wednesday, June 15, 1389, and raged all day. For a long time the fortunes of the battle seemed doubtful, and both sides fought with heroic courage. But at last Bayazet succeeded by a sudden attack in throwing the Servian left wing into confusion. At the same time Yuk Brankovic, whose name has been handed down to the execration of the whole Servian race as a traitor, abandoned the field of battle with all his division. Then Vlatko Hranic and the Bosnian contingent began to give way, and the main body of the Serbs was driven slowly back. Knez Lazar, after fighting like a lion, was killed in the mêlée ; Murad was mortally wounded in his own tent by the Servian chief Milos Obilic, who pretended to be a traitor and to have information to give him. He was himself cut down instantly, and then Lazar’s head was brought in by attendants to cheer the dying Sultan, who expired soon after.
    The Turks did not follow up their victory, and from the first news of the fight which he received Tvrtko thought that the Christians had triumphed, and sent messages to that effect to the foreign Powers. In the churches of Florence Te Deums of victory were sung, and the Republic congratulated the Bosnian king. Even when the true result was known no one realised at the time what a crushing blow had fallen on the Slavonic peoples of the Balkans. The native princes continued to fight among themselves regardless of their impending doom, and Tvrtko, who was the most power-