Kosovo curse

The Kosovo curse (Serbian: Косовска клетва / Kosovska kletva) or Prince's curse (Serbian: Кнежева клетва / Kneževa kletva), is according to legend, a curse said by Serbian Saint Lazar Hrebeljanović before the Battle of Kosovo. Lazar curses those Serbs who ignored his call for war against the Ottoman Empire.^[1] Constantine of Kostenets recorded that Lazar issued an "invitation and threat" to Serbian states which is preserved in the Serbian epic poetry in the form of a curse.^[2]

From 1778 to 1781, Avram Miletić composed a miscellany of 129 songs (Serbian: Песмарица/Pesmarica) which also included the song "A history of Musić Stefan" containing a form of the Kosovo curse.^[3] One form of the curse appeared in the 1845 edition of the collection of Serbian folk songs by Vuk Karadžić. It is an updated version of a 1813 text by Karadžić with stronger nationalist overtones.^[4]

Karadžić's "Kosovo curse" is inscribed on the Gazimestan monument, where the Battle of Kosovo was fought.

Serbian Cyrillic	Serbian Latin	English
Ко је Србин и српскога рода, и од српске крви и колена, а не дош'о на бој на Косово, не имао од срца порода, ни мушкога ни девојачкога! Од руке му ништа не родило, рујно вино ни пшеница бела! Рђом капо док му је колена!	Ko je Srbin i srpskoga roda, i od srpske krvi i kolena, a ne doš'o na boj na Kosovo, ne imao od srca poroda, ni muškoga ni devojačkoga! Od ruke mu ništa ne rodilo, rujno vino ni pšenica bela! Rđom kapo dok mu je kolena!	Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birth, And of Serb blood and heritage, And comes not to fight at Kosovo, May he never have progeny born from love, Neither son nor daughter! May nothing grow that his hand sows, Neither red wine nor white wheat! And may his progeny be feeble until any left!

• Miloš Obilić
• Onamo, 'namo!
• Serbian epic poetry