Everything about Skanderbeg totally explained
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (
6 May 1405 –
4 December 1466) (
Albanian:
Gjergj Kastriot Skënderbeu, widely known as
Skanderbeg,
Turkish İskender Bey, meaning "Lord or Leader Alexander"), or
Iskander Beg, is one of the most prominent historical figures in the history of
Albania and of the
Albanian people. He is also known as the Dragon of Albania and is the national hero of the Albanians. Through the work of his first biographer,
Marin Barleti, he's remembered for his struggle against the
Ottoman Empire, whose armies he successfully ousted from his native land for two decades.
Service in the Ottoman Army
Born in
Dibër north-east Albania, Skanderbeg was a descendant of the
Kastrioti family.
According to Gibbon, Skanderbeg's father, was
Gjon Kastrioti (John Castriot), lord of Middle Albania, that included
Mat,
Krujë,
Mirditë and
Dibër. His mother was Vojsava from the Tribalda family, (who came from the Pollog valley, north-western part of present-day
Republic of Macedonia), or from the old noble Muzaka family, a Serbian Princess, historically considered as such. Gjon Kastrioti was among those who opposed he attended military school in
Edirne and led many battles for the
Ottoman Empire to victory. For his military victories, he received the title
Arnavutlu İskender Bey, (
Albanian:
Skënderbe shqiptari,
English:
Lord Alexander, the Albanian) comparing Kastrioti's military brilliance to that of
Alexander the Great.
He was distinguished as one of the best officers in several Ottoman campaigns both in Asia Minor and in Europe, and the Sultan appointed him General. He even fought against
Greeks,
Serbs and
Hungarians, and some sources says that he used to maintain secret links with
Ragusa,
Venice,
Ladislaus V of
Hungary, and
Alfonso I of
Naples. Sultan Murat II gave him the title
Vali which made him General Governor.
Military campaigns in Albania
On
November 28,
1443, Skanderbeg saw his opportunity to rebel during a battle against the Hungarians led by
John Hunyadi in
Niš. He switched sides along with 300 other Albanians serving in the Ottoman army. After a long trek to Albania he eventually captured Krujë by forging a letter(born
Gjergj Arianit Komneni) and married his daughter Andronike (born Marina Donika Arianiti).
Following the capture of Krujë, Skanderbeg managed to bring together all the Albanian princes in the town of
Lezhë (see
League of Lezhë,
1444). Gibbon
Skanderbeg fought a
guerrilla war against the opposing armies by using the mountainous terrain to his advantage. Skanderbeg continued his resistance against the Ottoman forces until his death, with a force rarely exceeding 20,000. He won 13 major battles against the Turks, and only lost 2, both by betrayal.
In the summer of 1444, in the field of Torvioll (literature says it happened at Vaikal), the united Albanian armies under Skanderbeg faced the Otomans under direct command of the Turkish general Ali Pasha, with an army approximately 25,000. Skanderbeg had under his command 7,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. The 7,000 cavalry were hidden behind the enemy lines in a nearby forest under the command of Hamza Kastrioti and Moisi Golemi. At the given signal, they descended, encircling the Turks and giving Skanderbeg a much needed victory. His victory echoed across Europe because this was only the second time an Ottoman army was defeated in a set place battle on European soil. In the coming years, Skanderbeg defeated the Turks two more times, once in 1445 in Moker (Dibra), and once more in 1447 in Oranik (Dibra).
Although it's commonly believed that Skanderbeg took part in the
Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, he actually never arrived. He and his army were en route to reinforce the mainly
Hungarian army of
John Hunyadi, but the Albanians were intercepted and were not allowed passage by the forces of
Dan II of Wallachia and
Đurađ Branković of
Serbia, as the latter had agreed that while he'd aid Skanderbeg against the Venetians, he wouldn't against the Turks. About the time of the battle,
Mehmed II also launched an invasion into Albania in order to keep Skanderbeg busy. Although Hunyadi was defeated in the campaign, Hungary successfully resisted and defeated the Ottoman campaigns during Hunyadi's lifetime.
In June 1450, an Ottoman army numbering approximately 150,000 men led by Sultan
Murad II himself laid siege to Krujë. Leaving a protective garrison of 1,500 men under one of his most trusted lieutenants,
Vrana Konti (also know as
Kont Urani), Skanderbeg harassed the Ottoman camps around Krujë and attacked the supply caravans of the sultan's army. By September the Ottoman camp was in disarray as morale sank and disease ran rampant. Murad II acknowledged the castle of Krujë wouldn't fall by strength of arms, and he lifted the siege and made his way to
Edirne. Soon thereafter in the winter of
1450-
51, Murad died in Edirne and was succeeded by his son
Mehmed II.
For the next five years Albania was allowed some respite as the new sultan set out to conquer the last vestiges of the
Byzantine Empire. Christianity in the Balkans was dealt an almost fatal blow when the Byzantine Empire was extinguished after the
Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The first real test between the armies of the new sultan and Skanderbeg came in 1455 during the
Siege of Berat, and would end in the most disastrous defeat Skanderbeg would suffer. Skanderbeg had sieged the town's castle for months, causing the demoralized Turkish officer in charge of the castle to promise his surrender. At that point Skanderbeg relaxed the grip, split his forces and left the siege location. He left behind one of his generals and half of his cavalry at the bank of the river
Osum to finalize the surrender. It would be a costly error.
The Ottomans saw this moment as an opportunity for attack. They sent a large cavalry force from
Kosovo Polje to
Berat as reinforcements. The Albanian forces had become overconfident and had been lulled into a false sense of security. The Ottomans caught the Albanian cavalry by surprise while they were resting in the shores of the Osum. Almost all the 5,000 Albanian cavalry laying siege to Berat were killed. A reason of this defeat of Skanderbeg's army, was the betrayal of his nephew, Hamza Kastrioti who was an officer of Skanderbeg's cavalry that passed on the Ottoman side with other Albanian forces and gave the Ottomans important information about the location and the organization of the Albanian troops. Later Hamza Kastrioti was captured in the battlefield by Skanderbeg himself, and imprisoned in the castle of Krujë.
In 1457, an Ottoman army numbering approximately 90,000 meninvaded Albania with the hope of destroying Albanian resistance once and for all; this army was led by
Isa beg Evrenoz, one of the only commanders to have defeated Skanderbeg in battle, and
Hamza Kastrioti, Skanderbeg’s nephew. After wreaking much damage to the countrysidethe Ottoman army set up camp at the
Ujebardha field (literally translated as "Whitewater"), halfway between Lezhë and Krujë. After having evaded the enemy for months, Skanderbeg attacked there and defeated the Ottomans in September.
In 1461, the Sultan proposed including
Moisi Arianit Golemi, a cavalry commander;
Vladan Giurica, the chief army quartermaster;
Muzaka of Angelina, a nephew of Skanderbeg, and 18 other noblemen and army captains. These men were sent immediately to
Istanbul and tortured for fifteen days. The second siege of Kruja was eventually broken by Skanderbeg, resulting in the death of Ballaban Pasha from
firearms.
A few months later in 1467, Mehmed, frustrated by his inability to subdue Albania, again led the largest army of its time into Albania. Krujë was besieged for a third time, but on a much grander scale. While a contingent kept the city and its forces pinned down, Ottoman armies came pouring in from
Bosnia,
Serbia,
Macedonia, and
Epirus with the aim of keeping the whole country surrounded, thereby strangling Skanderbeg’s supply routes and limiting his mobility. During this conflict, Skanderbeg fell ill with
malaria in the Venetian-controlled city of Lezhë, and died on
January 17 1468, just as the army under the leadership of
Leke Dukagjini defeated the Ottoman force in
Shkodër.
Papal relations
Skanderbeg's military successes evoked a good deal of interest and admiration from the
Papal States, Venice, and Naples, themselves threatened by the growing Ottoman power across the
Adriatic Sea. Skanderbeg managed to arrange for support in the form of money, supplies, and occasionally troops from all three states through his diplomatic skill. One of his most powerful and consistent supporters was
Alfonso the Magnanimous, the king of Aragon and Naples, who decided to take Skanderbeg under his protection as a vassal in 1451, shortly after the latter had scored his second victory against Murad II. In addition to financial assistance, the King of Naples supplied the Albanian leader with troops, military equipment, and sanctuary for himself and his family if such a need should arise. As an active defender of the Christian cause in the Balkans, Skanderbeg was also closely involved with the politics of four Popes, including
Pope Pius II, who hailed him as the Christian
Gideon. Shkodër was the last Albanian castle to fall to the Ottomans and Venetians evacuated Durrës in 1501. Albanian resistance continued sporadically until around
1500.
The union were invested with a Neapolitan dukedom after the Turkish pressure became too strong. They obtained a feudal domain, the Duchy of San Pietro in Galatina and County of Soleto (Lecce, Italy). John, Skanderbeg’s son, married Irene, daughter of Serbian prince
Lazar Branković and a descendant of the Byzantine imperial family, the Palaeologi.
Two lines of the Castriota Skanderbeg family live onwards in southern Italy, one of which descends from Pardo and the other from Achille, both being natural sons of Duke Ferrante, son of John and Skanderbeg’s nephew. They are part of the Italian nobility and members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta with the highest rank of nobility. The only legitimate daughter of Duke Ferrante, Erina, born from Adriana Acquaviva, inherited the paternal estate, bringing the Duchy of Galatina and County of Soleto into the Sanseverino family after her marriage with prince Pietrantonio Sanseverino.
Unfortunately several people in the past as well as in the present abuse the Castriota Skanderbeg surname, pretending falsely to descend from Giorgio Castriota.
Name
His names have been spelled in a number of ways: George, Gjergj, Giorgio, Castriota, Kastrioti, Castrioti,Castriot, Kastriot, Skanderbeg, Scanderbeg, Skënderbeg, Skanderbeu, Scander-Begh, Skënderbej or Iskander Bey.
The name,
Skanderbeg (pronounced "skander bei") has the following explanation: The name which can also be written "Skenderbeu" is the Albanian way of writing the Greek name
Alexandros (
Skender or
Skander from Turkish and Arab "Iskander") and the Turkish
Bey (Lord or prince). The last name
Kastrioti refers to a toponym in northern Albania called
Kastrati in
Dibra, where Skanderbeg was born. Because the
Albanian language wasn't written at that time, the written and used languages were Latin and Greek. His name was
Gjergj Kastrioti and "Skander Bey" wasn't part of his name, "Skender" was given by the Sultan and he later also gave him the "Bey" title as he was awarded by the Turkish Sultan, meaning Lord Alexander, referring to the likeness to
Alexander the Great, also a great warrior. Thus his name was Gjerg Kastrioti and his title was "Lord Alexander".
Seal of Skanderbeg
A seal ascribed to Skanderbeg has been kept in
Denmark since it was discovered in 1634. It was bought by the National Museum in 1839. The seal is made of brass, is 6 cm in length and weighs 280 g. The inscription (laterally reversed) is in
Greek and reads
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ.ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ.ΕΛΕΩ.ΘΥ.
ΑΥΤ.ΡΩΜ.ΟΜΕΓ.
ΑΥΘ.ΤΟΥΡ.ΑΛΒ.
ΣΕΡΒΙ.ΒΟΥΛΓΑΡΙ.
Several words are abbreviated, but an English translation might be:
King. Alexander. By the grace of God. Emperor of the Romei (Romans, probably meaning Byzantine Greeks). The Great. Ruler of the Turks. Albanians. Serbs. Bulgarians.
If this seal is authentic, it indicates that George Kastrioti declared himself king, using the name Skender in its Greek form. (Greek or Latin were the customary languages for royal inscriptions in the Middle Ages.) The titles highly exaggerate his actual power, but this was often the case for Medieval rulers. Skanderbeg is apparently seen as a successor of the Byzantine emperors, as shown by the title and the double-eagled crest, during this period a symbol of Byzantine power. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD, such claims were made also by the Russian Czars.
Legacy
As part of his internal policy programs, Skanderbeg issued many edicts, like census of the population and tax collection, during his reign based on Roman and Byzantine law.
When the Ottomans found the grave of Skanderbeg in Saint Nicholas, a church in Lezhë, they opened it and made amulets of his bones, for example, Barleti claims that the Sultan was killed by disease under the walls of Kruje.
Skanderbeg's posthumous fame wasn't confined to his own country. Voltaire starts his chapter "The Taking of Constantinople" with the phrase
A number of poets and composers have also drawn inspiration from his military career. The French 16th century poet Ronsard wrote a poem about him, as did the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Antonio Vivaldi composed an opera entitled Scanderbeg(External Link
). For Gibbon, "John Huniades and Scanderbeg... are both entitled to our notice, since their occupation of the Ottoman arms delayed the ruin of the Greek empire."
In 1855, Camille Paganel wrote Histoire de Scanderbeg, inspired by the Crimean War.
Monuments outside Albania
- The palace in Rome in which Skanderbeg resided in 1465-66 still bears his name. A statue in the city is dedicated to him. The square where the statue resides is named "Piazza Albania".
- In 2006, a statue of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg was unveiled on the grounds of St. Paul's Albanian Catholic Community in Rochester Hills, Michigan, the first Skanderbeg statue in the United States.
- Monuments or statues of Skanderbeg have also been erected in: Skopje, Debar, Priština, Geneva, and various locales throughout southern Italy where the Arberesh community dominates.
List of Skanderbeg's battles
Skanderbeg fought 25 battles and 24 of them ended with victory. The one loss was a battle in Berat.
Battle of Vaikal
Battle of Oronik
Battle of Mokra (Dibër)
Battle of Lower Dibra
Battle of Ujebardha
Battle of Torvioll
Battle of Kumaniv
Battle of Pollog I
Battle of Pollog II
Battle of Ohër
Siege of Berat
First Siege of Krujë
Second Siege of Krujë
Third Siege of KrujëFurther Information
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