Kosovo curse

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Gazimestan monument

Kosovo curse or Prince's curse (Serbian: Kosovska kletva or Kneževa kletva) is curse said by Serbian Prince Lazar in the days before Battle of Kosovo. In the text, Lazar is cursing those Serbs who hadn't accepted his call for defensive war against Turks.

This form of the curse first appeared in the 1845 edition of the collection of Serbian folk songs by Vuk Karadžić. The earlier 1813 edition still had a version notably lacking in the appeal to Serb blood and heritage, reflecting the rise of Serbian nationalism over the first half of the 19th century.

Today, "Kosovo curse" is inscribed on the monument on Gazimestan, place where famous Battle of Kosovo occurred.

Prince Lazar of Serbia

[edit] Text of the curse

in Serbian Latin:	in English:
Ko je Srbin i srpskoga roda, i od srpske krvi i kolena, a ne došo 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 the progeny his heart desires, Neither son nor daughter! May nothing grow that his hand sows, Neither dark wine nor white wheat! And lett him be cursed from all ages to all ages!