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George Kastrioti (born Gjergj Kastrioti, May 6 (disputed), 1405 - January 17,
1468), better known as Skanderbeg (Turkish:İskender Bey), is one of the most
prominent historical figures in the history of Albania and the Albanian people.
He is also known as the Dragon of Albania and is the national hero of the
Albanians. He is remembered for his struggle against the Ottoman Empire, through
the work of his first biographer, Marin Barleti. |
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GJERGJ KASTRIOT SKENDERBEG 1405 -
1468
Gjergj (Albanian:
George) Kastrioti was born in Kruja from Gjon Kastrioti, lord of
Middle Albania, who was obliged by the Ottomans to pay tribute
to the Empire. To assure the fidelity of local rulers the Sultan
used to take their sons as hostage and bring them up in his
court. Gjergj Kastrioti attended military school in the Ottoman
Empire and was named Iskander Bey which in Turkish means Lord
Alexandre.
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 Raguse, Venice, Vladislas of Hungary
et Alphonse V of Naples. Sultan Murat II gave him the title Vali
which made him the General Governor of some provinces in central
Albania. He was respected everywhere but he missed his country.
In 1443, during the battle against the Hungarians of Hunyadi in
Nish (in present day Serbia), he abandoned the Ottoman Army and
captured Kruja, his father's seat in middle Albania. Above the
castle he rose the Albanian flag, a red flag with the black
double-headed eagle, the present-day Albanian flag, and
pronounced to his countrymen the famous words: "I have not
brought you liberty, I found it here, among you". He managed to
unite all Albanian princes at the town of Lezha (League of Lezha,
1444) and united them under his command to fight against the
Turks.
During the next 25 years he fought, with forces rarely exceeding
20,000 against the most powerful army of that time and defeated
it for 25 years. In 1450 the Turkish army was led by the Sultan
Murad II in person, who died after his defeat in the way back.
Two other times, in 1466 and 1467, Mehmed II, the conqueror of
Constantinople, led the Turkish army himself against Skenderbeg
and failed too. The Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer Kruja 24
times and failed all 24 of them.
Skenderbeg's military successes evoked a good deal of interest
and admiration of the Papal state, Venice and Naples, themselves
threatened by the growing Ottoman power across the Adriatic. The
Albanian warrior played his hand with a good deal of political
and diplomatic skill in his dealings with the three Italian
states. Hoping to strengthen and expand the last Christian
bridgehead in the Balkans, they provided Skenderbeg with money,
supplies and occasionally with troops. One of his most powerful
and consistent supporters was Alfonso the Magnanimous
(1416-1458), the Aragone king of Naples, who decided to take
Skenderbeg under his protection as vassal in 1451, shortly after
the latter had scored his second victory against Murad II. In
addition to financial assistance, the King of Naples undertook
to supply the Albanian leader with troops, military equipment as
well as with sanctuary for himself and his family if such a need
should arise.As an active defender of the Christian cause in the
Balkans, Skenderbeg was also closely involved with the politics
of four Popes, one of them being Pius II (1458-1464) or Aeneas
Sylvius Piccolomini, the Renaissance humanist, writer and
diplomat.
Profoundly shaken by the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Pius II
tried to organise a new crusade against the Turks; consequently
he did his best to come to Skenderbeg's aid, as two of his
predecessors Nicholas V and Calixtus III, had done before him.
This policy was continued by his successor, Paul
II,(1464-1473).They gave him the title Athleta Christi.
For a quarter of a century he and his country prevented Turks
from invading Catholic Western Europe.
After his death from natural causes in 1468 in Lezha, his
soldiers resisted the Turks for the next 12 years. In 1480
Albania was finally conquered by the Ottoman Empire. When the
Turks found the grave of Skenderbeg in Saint Nicholas church of
Lezha, they opened it and held his bones like talismans for
luck. In 1480 the Turks invaded Italy and conquered the City of
Otranto.
Skenderbeg's posthumous renown was by no means confined to his
own country. Voltaire thought the Byzantine Empire would have
survived had it possesed a leader of his quality. A number of
poets and composers have also drawn inspiration from his
military career. The French sixteenth-century poet Ronsard wrote
a poem about him and so did the nineteenth-century American poet
Longfellow. Antonio Vivaldi, too, composed an opera entitled
Scanderbeg.
Skenderbeg today is the National Hero of Albania. Many museums
and monuments are raised in his honour around Albania, and among
them the Museum of Skenderbeg in his famous castle in Kruja.
Bibliography: Noli, Fan S.: George Castrioti Scanderbeg, New
York, 1947 Logoreci, Anton: The Albanians, London, 1977.
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