The Siege of Shkodra (book)

The Doge Leonardo Loredan, addressee of The Siege of Shkodra. Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan by Giovanni Bellini (1501)

The work begins with a prefatory note to the doge of Venice, Leonardo Loredan, with Barleti describing his reasons for writing. Then the work is organized into three large chapters called “books.”

The first and briefest book gives attention to historical background information about the Turks, the Ottoman sultans, and the city of Shkodra.

The second and largest book describes Mehmedʼs failed efforts to conquer Shkodra in 1474 and continues with a detailed account of his second effort in 1478 (which was ultimately successful despite significant Ottoman losses). In this second book, Barleti describes details of the pre-siege incursions of the akinci, the build-up of Ottoman troops, information about how janissaries were trained, the arrival of camels and chariots with equipment, the production and positioning of artillery around Shkodra’s Rozafa Fortress, the arrival of Sultan Mehmed II in Shkodra, the assault of the cannons (including daily tallies of shots fired), the life and faith of the Shkodran besieged, and five general Ottoman attacks intended to penetrate the breaches in the walls—all of which conclude in failure to conquer the citadel.

The third book describes the sultanʼs decision to halt further attacks upon Shkodra but to attack three smaller citadels aiding Shkodra: Žabljak Crnojevića, Drisht, and Lezha. After describing the successful Ottoman conquest of these cities, the third book records the sultan retreating after ordering a siege force in place in an attempt to starve the Shkodran citizens into surrender. The work concludes with the Shkodran besieged learning of a peace treaty between Venice and Mehmed II, in which Shkodra is ceded to the Ottoman Empire. The citizens are reported to be faced with a choice to either emigrate to Venice or to stay in their city under Ottoman rule. Barleti records all the Shkodrans choosing emigration over subjugation.

The first Latin version emerged in 1504, published by the Venetian Bernardino de Vitalibus. It was republished in 1566 in Basel, Switzerland and in 1578 and 1596 in Frankfurt, Germany.[4]^: 8 In 2018 Venetian scholar Lucia Nadin discovered in Paris a manuscript by Marin Barleti, dated ca. 1500, presumed to be the original manuscript of De obsidione Scodrensi (scholars have begun to study this manuscript)[5] and it was published in 2022.

The Albanian version’s date of publishing coincided with the 50th anniversary of Albania’s declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire. The work was translated by the Albanian Latin scholar, Henrik Lacaj and included a 20-paged introduction by historian Albanian Alex Buda, the head of the Albanian Academy of Sciences. The Albanian version also included Buda’s scholarly notes (endnotes), George Merula’s essay “The War of Shkodra” (about the siege of 1474), and Marin Beçikemi’s panegyric delivered to the Venetian Senate.

The English version was published in Albania by Onufri Publishing House in 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Albania’s declaration of independence. The work was translated and edited by David Hosaflook[6][7] and includes translations of Buda’s introduction and notes, Merula’s “The War of Shkodra,” and Beçikemi’s panegyric. It also includes accounts of the siege of Shkodra from early Ottoman historians, new scholarly notes, the historical context by Prof. David Abulafia, new maps based on the information in the book, and appendixes including Barleti's chronology of battle events.