September 25, 1396

Battle of Nicopolis

Ottoman victory at the Battle of Nicopolis

The coalition's decisive argument was about honour: the French and Burgundian nobles demanded the first charge rather than yield it to troops who had fought the Ottomans before.

25 September 1396, outside Nicopolis

A Christian coalition that had been besieging the Ottoman-held Danubian fortress of Nicopolis met Sultan Bayezid I's relief army on 25 September 1396 and suffered a comprehensive defeat.

One modern reconstruction puts the coalition at roughly 12,000–16,000 and the Ottoman force at 15,000–20,000; medieval estimates run much higher and are unreliable.

The line-up was not simply Christians against Muslims: Stefan Lazarević's Serbian contingent fought for Bayezid, while Byzantine troops and Italian fleets supported the crusaders.

The charge that was claimed as a right

According to the survivor Johann Schiltberger, the French-Burgundian contingent under John, Count of Nevers, insisted on attacking first, despite Sigismund of Luxembourg's preference for troops experienced against Ottoman tactics.

It broke through the forward formations and was then surrounded and largely unhorsed or captured. Sigismund's remaining force was defeated by the Ottoman army and its Serbian vassal contingent.

Sigismund escaped to the Danube and boarded a galley; Schiltberger says desperate men clinging to overloaded boats had their hands struck away and drowned.

The morning after

The next day Bayezid ordered the captured crusaders brought before him. Schiltberger reports that many were executed, while selected nobles were spared for ransom and younger captives were retained.

Schiltberger was about 16, and in his account survived because Bayezid's son noticed his youth. He wrote after a long captivity, and his numbers need caution — his 16,000 crusaders is useful testimony, his 200,000 Ottomans plainly inflated.

Ransom negotiations for the high-ranking French and Burgundian captives began shortly afterwards and produced major early diplomatic contacts between the Ottomans and western European courts.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

Modern scholarship generally accepts 25 September, although some older narratives give 28 September.
Army and casualty totals are highly uncertain. Schiltberger's 16,000 crusaders is useful testimony, but his claim of 200,000 Ottomans is plainly inflated.
Schiltberger wrote after a long captivity; his personal experiences are valuable, but his speeches, totals, and precise tactical reconstruction require caution.