Skanderbeg

Beside Barleti, other sources on this period are the Byzantine historians Chalcocondylas, Sphrantzes and Critoboulos, and the Venetian documents, published by Ljubić in “Monumenta spectantia historiam Slavorum Meridionalium”. The Turkish sources – the chroniclers of the early period (Aşıkpaşazade and the "Tarih-i Al-ı Osman"), and the latter historians (Müneccim Başı) are not at all explicit, and regarding the dates, do not agree with the Western sources. The Turkish chronicles of Neshri, Idris Bitlisi, Ibn Kemal and Sadeddin only mention the first revolt of the “treacherous Iskander” in 846 H. (1442-3), the campaign of Sultan Murad in 851 H. (1447-8) and the last campaign of Mehmed II in 871 H. (1466-7).

In early November 1443, Skanderbeg deserted the forces of Sultan Murad II during the Battle of Niš, while fighting against the crusaders of John Hunyadi.[54] According to some earlier sources, Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army during the Battle of Kunovica on 2 January 1444.[55] Skanderbeg quit the field along with 300 other Albanians serving in the Ottoman army.[54] He immediately led his men to Krujë, where he arrived on 28 November,[56] and by the use of a forged letter from Sultan Murad to the Governor of Krujë he became lord of the city that very day.[54][57] To reinforce his intention of gaining control of the former domains of Zeta, Skanderbeg proclaimed himself the heir of the Balšić family.[58] After capturing some less important surrounding castles (Petrela, Prezë, Guri i Bardhë, Sfetigrad, Modrič, and others) he raised, according to Frashëri, a red standard with a black double-headed eagle on Krujë (Albania uses a similar flag as its national symbol to this day).[59] Skanderbeg abandoned Islam, reverted to Christianity, and ordered others who had embraced Islam or were Muslim colonists to convert to Christianity or face death.[60] From that time on, the Ottomans referred to Skanderbeg as "hain (treacherous) İskender".[61] The small court of Skanderbeg consisted of persons of various ethnicities. Ninac Vukosalić, a Serb, was the dijak ("scribe", secretary) and chancellor at the court.[62][63] He was supposedly also the manager of Skanderbeg's bank account in Ragusa. Members of the Gazulli family had important roles in diplomacy, finance, and purchase of arms. John Gazulli, a doctor, was sent to the court of king Matthias Corvinus to coordinate the offensive against Mehmed II. The knight Pal Gazulli was travelling frequently to Italy, and another Gazulli, Andrea, was ambassador of the despot of Morea in Ragusa before becoming a member of Skanderbeg's court in 1462. Some adventurers also followed Skanderbeg, such as a man named John Newport, or Stefan Maramonte who acted as Skanderbeg's ambassador to Milan in 1456, Stjepan Radojevic, who in 1466 provided ships for a trip to Split, Ruscus from Cattaro, and others. The Ragusan Gondola/Gundulić merchant family had a role similar to Gazulli. Correspondence was written in Slavic, Greek, Latin, and Italian. Documents in Latin were written by notaries from Italy or Venetian territories in Albania.[64]

In Albania, the rebellion against the Ottomans had already been smouldering for years before Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army.[65] In August 1443, George Arianiti again revolted against the Ottomans in the region of central Albania.[66] Under Venetian patronage,[61] on 2 March 1444, Skanderbeg summoned Albanian noblemen in the Venetian-controlled town of Lezhë and they established a military alliance known in historiography as the League of Lezhë.[67] Among those who joined the military alliance were the powerful Albanian noble families of Arianiti, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Zaharia, Thopia, Zenevisi, Dushmani and Spani, and also the Serbian nobleman Stefan Crnojević of Zeta.

Skanderbeg organized a mobile defense army that forced the Ottomans to disperse their troops, leaving them vulnerable to the hit-and-run tactics of the Albanians.[68] Skanderbeg fought a guerrilla war against the opposing armies by using the mountainous terrain to his advantage. During the first 8–10 years, Skanderbeg commanded an army of generally 10,000–15,000 soldiers, but only had absolute control over the men from his own dominions, and had to convince the other princes to follow his policies and tactics.[69] Skanderbeg occasionally had to pay tribute to the Ottomans, but only in exceptional circumstances, such as during the war with the Venetians or his travel to Italy and perhaps when he was under pressure of Ottoman forces that were too strong.[70]

In the summer of 1444, in the Plain of Torvioll, the united Albanian armies under Skanderbeg faced the Ottomans who were under direct command of the Ottoman general Ali Pasha, with an army of 25,000 men.[71] Skanderbeg had under his command 7,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. 3,000 cavalry were hidden behind enemy lines in a nearby forest under the command of Hamza Kastrioti. At a given signal, they descended, encircled the Ottomans, and gave Skanderbeg a much needed victory. About 8,000 Ottomans were killed and 2,000 were captured.[69] Skanderbeg's first victory echoed across Europe because this was one of the few times that an Ottoman army was defeated in a pitched battle on European soil.

On 10 October 1445, an Ottoman force of 9,000–15,000[72] men under Firuz Pasha was sent to prevent Skanderbeg from moving into Macedonia. Firuz had heard that the Albanian army had disbanded for the time being, so he planned to move quickly around the Black Drin valley and through Prizren. These movements were picked up by Skanderbeg's scouts, who moved to meet Firuz.[72] The Ottomans were lured into the Mokra valley, and Skanderbeg with a force of 3,500 attacked and defeated the Ottomans. Firuz was killed along with 1,500 of his men.[73] Skanderbeg defeated the Ottomans two more times the following year, once when Ottoman forces from Ohrid suffered severe losses,[74] and again in the Battle of Otonetë on 27 September 1446.[75][76]

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  This widely adopted variant of the coat of arms of Skanderbeg is based on an illustration found in the 1904 book Gli Albanesi e la Questione Balkanica[77] by prominent Arberësh author and linguist Giuseppe Schirò.
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  Skanderbeg's return to Krujë, 1444 (woodcut by Jost Amman)
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  A woodcut of the battle of Varna in 1444

Woodcut depicting an engagement between Albanian and Ottoman forces

Skanderbeg addressing the people, 16th-century engraving by Jost Amman

At the beginning of the Albanian insurrection, the Republic of Venice was supportive of Skanderbeg, considering his forces to be a buffer between them and the Ottoman Empire. Lezhë, where the eponymous league was established, was Venetian territory, and the assembly met with the approval of Venice. The later affirmation of Skanderbeg and his rise as a strong force on their borders, however, was seen as a menace to the interests of the Republic, leading to a worsening of relations and the dispute over the fortress of Dagnum which triggered the Albanian-Venetian War of 1447–48. After various attacks against Bar and Ulcinj, along with Đurađ Branković and Stefan Crnojević,[78] and Albanians of the area, the Venetians offered rewards for his assassination.[58] The Venetians sought by every means to overthrow Skanderbeg or bring about his death, even offering a life pension of 100 golden ducats annually for the person who would kill him.[76][79] During the conflict, Venice invited the Ottomans to attack Skanderbeg simultaneously from the east, facing the Albanians with a two-front conflict.[2]

On 14 May 1448, an Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad II and his son Mehmed laid siege to the castle of Sfetigrad. The Albanian garrison in the castle resisted the frontal assaults of the Ottoman army, while Skanderbeg harassed the besieging forces with the remaining Albanian army under his personal command. On 23 July 1448, Skanderbeg won a battle near Shkodër against a Venetian army led by Andrea Venier. In late summer 1448, due to a lack of potable water, the Albanian garrison eventually surrendered the castle with the condition of safe passage through the Ottoman besieging forces, a condition which was accepted and respected by Sultan Murad II.[80] Primary sources disagree about the reason why the besieged had problems with the water in the castle: While Barleti and Biemmi maintained that a dead dog was found in the castle well, and the garrison refused to drink the water since it might corrupt their soul, another primary source, an Ottoman chronicler, conjectured that the Ottoman forces found and cut the water sources of the castle. Recent historians mostly concur with the Ottoman chronicler's version.[81] Although his loss of men was minimal, Skanderbeg lost the castle of Sfetigrad, which was an important stronghold that controlled the fields of Macedonia to the east.[80] At the same time, he besieged the towns of Durazzo (modern Durrës) and Lezhë which were then under Venetian rule.[82] In August 1448, Skanderbeg defeated Mustafa Pasha in Dibër at the battle of Oranik. Mustafa Pasha lost 3,000 men and was captured, along with twelve high officers. Skanderbeg learned from these officers that it was the Venetians who pushed the Ottomans to invade Albania. The Venetians, upon hearing of the defeat, urged to establish peace. Mustafa Pasha was soon ransomed for 25,000 ducats to the Ottomans.[83]

On 23 July 1448, Skanderbeg crossed the Drin River with 10,000 men, meeting a Venetian force of 15,000 men under the command of Daniele Iurichi, governor of Scutari.[84] Skanderbeg instructed his troops on what to expect and opened battle by ordering a force of archers to open fire on the Venetian line.[85] The battle continued for hours until large groups of Venetian troops began to flee. Skanderbeg, seeing his fleeing adversaries, ordered a full-scale offensive, routing the entire Venetian army.[86] The Republic's soldiers were chased right to the gates of Scutari, and Venetian prisoners were thereafter paraded outside the fortress.[86] The Albanians managed to inflict 2,500 casualties on the Venetian force, capturing 1,000. Skanderbeg's army suffered 400 casualties, most on the right-wing.[86][79] The peace treaty, negotiated by Georgius Pelino[87] and signed between Skanderbeg and Venice on 4 October 1448, envisioned that Venice would keep Dagnum and its environs, but would cede to Skanderbeg the territory of Buzëgjarpri at the mouth of the river Drin, and also that Skanderbeg would enjoy the privilege of buying, tax-free, 200 horse-loads of salt annually from Durazzo. In addition, Venice would pay Skanderbeg 1,400 ducats. During the period of clashes with Venice, Skanderbeg intensified relations with Alfonso V of Aragon (r. 1416–1458), who was the main rival of Venice in the Adriatic, where his dreams for an empire were always opposed by the Venetians.[88]

One of the reasons Skanderbeg agreed to sign the peace treaty with Venice was the advance of John Hunyadi's army in Kosovo and his invitation for Skanderbeg to join the expedition against the sultan. However, the Albanian army under Skanderbeg did not participate in this battle as he was prevented from joining with Hunyadi's army.[89] It is believed that he was delayed by Đurađ Branković, then allied with Sultan Murad II, although Brankovic's exact role is disputed.[4][90][91] Skanderbeg was outraged at the fact that he had been prevented in participating in a battle which could have changed the fate of his homeland if not the entirety of the Balkan Peninsula. As a result of this he let his armies raid into Kosovo, he then set fire to Serbian villages and slaughtered their inhabitants to punish Brankovic. He then returned to Krujë towards the end of November.[89][92][93] He appears to have marched to join Hunyadi immediately after making peace with the Venetians, and to have been only 20 miles from Kosovo Polje when the Hungarian army finally broke.[94]

In June 1450, two years after the Ottomans had captured Sfetigrad, they laid siege to Krujë with an army numbering approximately 100,000 men and led again by Sultan Murad II himself and his son, Mehmed II.[95] Following a scorched earth strategy (thus denying the Ottomans the use of necessary local resources), Skanderbeg left a protective garrison of 1,500 men under one of his most trusted lieutenants, Vrana Konti, while, with the remainder of the army, which included many Slavs, Germans, Frenchmen and Italians,[96][97] he harassed the Ottoman camps around Krujë by continuously attacking Sultan Murad II's supply caravans. The garrison repelled three major direct assaults on the city walls by the Ottomans, causing great losses to the besieging forces. Ottoman attempts at finding and cutting the water sources failed, as did a sapped tunnel, which collapsed suddenly. An offer of 300,000 aspra (Ottoman silver coins) and a promise of a high rank as an officer in the Ottoman army made to Vrana Konti, were both rejected by him.[98]

First Siege of Krujë, 1450, woodcut by Jost Amman

During the First Siege of Krujë, the Venetian merchants from Scutari sold food to the Ottoman army and those of Durazzo supplied Skanderbeg's army.[99] An angry attack by Skanderbeg on the Venetian caravans raised tension between him and the Republic, but the case was resolved with the help of the bailo of Durazzo who stopped the Venetian merchants from any longer furnishing the Ottomans.[98] Venetians' help to the Ottomans notwithstanding, by September 1450, the Ottoman camp was in disarray, as the castle was still not taken, the morale had sunk, and disease was running rampant. Murad II acknowledged that he could not capture the castle of Krujë by force of arms before the winter, and in October 1450, he lifted the siege and made his way to Edirne.[98] The Ottomans suffered 20,000 casualties during the siege, and many more died as Murad escaped Albania.[100] A few months later, on 3 February 1451, Murad died in Edirne and was succeeded by his son Mehmed II (r. 1451–1481).[101]

After the siege, Skanderbeg was at the end of his resources. He lost all of his possessions except Krujë. The other nobles from the region of Albania allied with Murad II as he came to save them from the oppression. Even after the sultan's withdrawal, they rejected Skanderbeg's efforts to enforce his authority over their domains.[102] Skanderbeg then traveled to Ragusa, urging for assistance, and the Ragusans informed Pope Nicholas V. Through financial assistance, Skanderbeg managed to hold Krujë and regain much of his territory. Skanderbeg's success brought praise from all over Europe and ambassadors were sent to him from Rome, Naples, Hungary, and Burgundy.[102]

The Ardenica Monastery, where Skanderbeg married Donika

Although Skanderbeg had achieved success in resisting Murad II himself, harvests were unproductive and famine was widespread. After being rejected by the Venetians, Skanderbeg established closer connections with King Alfonso V[103] who, in January 1451, appointed him as "captain general of the king of Aragon".[104] Following Skanderbeg's requests, King Alfonso V helped him in this situation and the two parties signed the Treaty of Gaeta on 26 March 1451, according to which Skanderbeg was formally a vassal in exchange for military aid.[105] Authors have disagreed on whether Krujë belonged to Skanderbeg or to Alfonso V; while C. Marinesco claimed that Krujë no longer belonged to Skanderbeg, but to Alfonso, who exercised his power through his viceroy,[106] this thesis was rejected by A. Gegaj, who claimed that the disproportion in numbers between the Spanish forces (100) and Skanderbeg's (around 10–15 thousand) clearly showed that the city belonged to Skanderbeg. It is presumed that Skanderbeg de facto had full control over his territories: while Naples' archives registered payments and supplies sent to Skanderbeg, they do not mention any kind of payment or tribute by Skanderbeg to Alfonso, except for various Ottoman war prisoners and banners sent by him as a gift to the King.[107][108] More explicitly, Skanderbeg recognized Alfonso's sovereignty over his lands in exchange for help against the Ottomans. King Alfonso pledged to respect the old privileges of Krujë and Albanian territories and to pay Skanderbeg an annual 1,500 ducats, while Skanderbeg pledged to make his fealty to King Alfonso only after the expulsion of Ottomans from his lands, a condition never reached in Skanderbeg's lifetime.[88]

Skanderbeg married Donika, the daughter of George Arianit Komneni, one of the most influential Albanian noblemen, strengthening the ties between them,[109] a month after the treaty on 21 April 1451 in the Orthodox Ardenica Monastery,[110] Their only child was Gjon Kastrioti II, however an elder daughter named Voisava is mentioned in some sources as well.

In 1451, Mehmed was focused on defeating the Karamanids and Menteşe in the East, but it was in his intentions to return to Albania. During this brief period of rest, Skanderbeg took up the rebuilding of Krujë and erected a new fortress in Modrica in the Drin Valley near Sfetigrad (which had been lost in a 1448 siege) where Ottoman forces had previously slipped through unhindered.[111] The fortress was constructed in the heat of summer within a few months when few Ottoman posts were present. This came as a huge blow to Ottoman efforts whose Albanian operations were thus inhibited.[112]

Right after the Treaty of Gaeta, Alfonso V signed other treaties with the rest of the most important Albanian noblemen, including George Arianit Komneni,[113] and with the Despot of the Morea, Demetrios Palaiologos.[114] These efforts show that Alfonso thought about a crusade starting from Albania and Morea, which however never took place.[115] Following the treaty, in the end of May 1451, a small detachment of 100 Catalan soldiers, headed by Bernard Vaquer, was established at the castle of Krujë. One year later, in May 1452, another Catalan nobleman, Ramon d'Ortafà, came to Krujë with the title of viceroy. In 1453, Skanderbeg paid a secret visit to Naples and the Vatican, probably to discuss the new conditions after the fall of Constantinople and the planning of a new crusade which Alfonso would have presented to Pope Nicholas V in a meeting in 1453–54.[116] During the five years which followed the first siege of Krujë, Albania was allowed some respite as the new sultan set out to conquer the last vestiges of the Byzantine Empire, but in 1452 the newly acceded Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II ordered his first campaign against Skanderbeg. An expedition was sent under the dual-command of Tahip Pasha, the main commander, and Hamza Pasha, his subordinate, with an army of c. 25,000 men split between the two.[86]

Skanderbeg's victory over the Ottomans in the Battle of Polog, 1453

Skanderbeg gathered 14,000 men and marched against the Ottoman army.[117] Skanderbeg planned to first defeat Hamza and then to move around Tahip and encircle him.[86] Skanderbeg did not give Hamza much time to prepare and, on 21 July, he assaulted immediately. The fierce attack made short work of the Ottoman force, resulting in them fleeing.[118][119] The same day Skanderbeg attacked Tahip's army and defeated them, with Tahip killed[120] and the Ottomans were thus left without their commander as they fled.[120] Skanderbeg's victory over a ruler even more powerful than Murad came as a great surprise to the Albanians.[88] During this period, skirmishes between Skanderbeg and the Dukagjini family, which had been dragging on for years, were put to an end by a reconciliatory intervention of the Pope, and in 1454, a peace treaty between them was finally reached.[121]

On 22 April 1453, Mehmed sent another expedition to Albania under Ibrahim Pasha.[122] The same day, despite the storms, Skanderbeg launched a swift cavalry attack which broke into the enemy camp causing disorder and chaos.[120] Ibrahim was killed in action[122] along with 3,000 of his men. Skanderbeg's army continued looting before returning to Debar.[120] He returned triumphantly with his army with whom he had split his booty.[118] Five weeks later Mehmed II captured Constantinople, which deeply troubled the Christian states of Europe. Mehmed, by then called "the Conqueror", turned his attention to finally defeating the Kingdom of Hungary and crossing into Italy.[123]

Skanderbeg informed King Alfonso that he had conquered some territories and a castle, and Alfonso replied some days later that soon Ramon d'Ortafà would return to continue the war against the Ottomans and promised more troops and supplies. In the beginning of 1454, Skanderbeg and the Venetians[124] informed King Alfonso and the Pope about a possible Ottoman invasion and asked for help. The Pope sent 3,000 ducats while Alfonso sent 500 infantry and a certain amount of money to Skanderbeg.[125] Meanwhile, the Venetian Senate was resenting Skanderbeg's alliance with Naples, an old enemy of Venice. Frequently they delayed their tributes to Skanderbeg and this was long a matter of dispute between the parties, with Skanderbeg threatening war on Venice at least three times between 1448 and 1458, and Venice conceding in a conciliatory tone.[126]

In June 1454, Ramon d'Ortafà returned to Krujë, this time with the title of viceroy of Albania, Greece, and Slavonia, with a personal letter to Skanderbeg as the Captain-General of the Neapolitan-aligned armed forces in parts of Albania (Magnifico et strenuo viro Georgio Castrioti, dicto Scandarbech, gentium armorum nostrarum in partibus Albanie generali capitaneo, consiliario fideli nobis dilecto).[117] Along with d'Ortafà, King Alfonso V also sent the clerics Fra Lorenzo da Palerino and Fra Giovanni dell'Aquila to Albania with a flag embroidered with a white cross as a symbol of the Crusade which was about to begin.[127][128] Even though this crusade never materialized, the Neapolitan troops were used in the Siege of Berat, where they were almost entirely annihilated and were never replaced.

The citadel of Berat

The Siege of Berat, the first real test between the armies of the new sultan and Skanderbeg, ended up in an Ottoman victory.[129] Skanderbeg besieged the town's castle for months, causing the demoralized Ottoman officer in charge of the castle to promise his surrender.[129] At that point, Skanderbeg relaxed his grip, split his forces, and departed the siege, leaving behind one of his generals, Muzakë Topia, and half of his cavalry on the banks of the Osum River in order to finalize the surrender.[129] It was a costly error—the Ottomans saw this moment as an opportunity for attack and sent a large cavalry force, led by Isak-Beg, to reinforce the garrison.[129] The Albanian forces lulled into a false sense of security.[129] The Ottomans caught the Albanian cavalry by surprise while they were resting on the banks of the Osum River, and almost all the 5,000 Albanian cavalry laying siege to Berat was killed.[129] Most of the forces belonged to George Arianiti, whose role as Skanderbeg's greatest support diminished after the defeat.[129] The attitude of other Albanian nobility was also somewhat affected.

Second Battle of Oranik, 1456

Moisi Golemi defected to the Ottomans and returned to Albania in 1456 as the commander of an Ottoman army of 15,000 men, but he was defeated by Skanderbeg in the Battle of Oranik[130] and lost his territory of Debar to Skanderbeg toward the end of March 1456.[131] On 5 April 1456, Skanderbeg entered Kruja and Moisi fled to him professing his willingness to take up arms against the Ottomans, and Skanderbeg pardoned him,[131] remaining loyal until his death in 1464.[130] From time to time, Venice succeeded in stirring up Skanderbeg's relatives and weaker neighbors, who set up in opposition to him the elderly George Arianiti as "captain of all Albania" from Scutari to Durrazo in 1456, but in clan warfare Skanderbeg usually had the upper hand.[131] Skanderbeg took over possessions of the Zenevisi and the Balšić as well.[131] Skanderbeg's followers that ruled over northern Albania and all of the chieftains on both sides of the Tomor mountains remained loyal to him.[131]

Engraving of an Albanian assault on the Ottoman camp during the Battle of Albulena, 1457

In 1456, one of Skanderbeg's nephews, George Strez Balšić, sold the Modrič fortress (now in North Macedonia) to the Ottomans for 30,000 silver ducats. He tried to cover up the act; however, his treason was discovered and he was sent to prison in Naples.[132] In 1456, Skanderbeg's son, John Castriot II, was born.[133] Hamza Kastrioti, Skanderbeg's own nephew and his closest collaborator, lost his hope of succession after the birth of Skanderbeg's son and defected to the Ottomans in the same year.[133] In the summer of 1457, an Ottoman army numbering approximately 70,000 men[134] invaded Albania with the hope of destroying Albanian resistance once and for all. This army was led by Isak-Beg and Hamza Kastrioti, the commander who knew all about Albanian tactics and strategy. After wreaking much damage to the countryside,[134] the Ottoman army set up camp at Ujebardha field, halfway between Lezhë and Krujë. After having avoided the enemy for months, calmly giving to the Ottomans and his European neighbours the impression that he was defeated, on 2 September Skanderbeg attacked the Ottoman forces in their encampments and defeated them[135] killing 15,000 Ottomans, capturing 15,000 and 24 standards, and all the riches in the camp.[131] This was one of the most famous victories of Skanderbeg over the Ottomans, which led to a five-year peace treaty with Sultan Mehmed II. Hamza was captured[136] and sent to detention in Naples.[137]

After the victorious Battle of Ujëbardha, Skanderbeg's relations with the Papacy under Pope Calixtus III were intensified. The reason was that during this time, Skanderbeg's military undertakings involved considerable expense in which the contribution of Alfonso V of Aragon was not sufficient to defray.[138] In 1457, Skanderbeg requested help from Calixtus III. Being himself in financial difficulties, the pope could do no more than send Skanderbeg a single galley and a modest sum of money, promising more ships and larger amounts of money in the future.[138] On 23 December 1457, Calixtus III declared Skanderbeg a Captain-General of the Curia (Holy See) in the war against the Ottomans. The Pope gave him the title Athleta Christi, or Champion of Christ.[138]

Nautical chart of medieval Albania in 1455 by Bartolomeo Pareto highlights the domains under the rule of Skanderbeg.

Meanwhile, Ragusa bluntly refused to release the funds which had been collected in Dalmatia for the crusade and which, according to the Pope, were to have been distributed in equal parts to Hungary, Bosnia, and Albania. The Ragusans even entered into negotiations with Mehmed.[138] At the end of December 1457, Calixtus threatened Venice with an interdict and repeated the threat in February 1458. As the captain of the Curia, Skanderbeg appointed the duke of Leukas (Santa Maura), Leonardo III Tocco, formerly the prince of Arta and "despot of the Rhomaeans", a figure known in Southern Epirus, as a lieutenant in his native land.[138]

On 27 June 1458, King Alfonso V died at Naples and Skanderbeg sent emissaries to his son and successor, King Ferdinand.[139] According to historian C. Marinesco, the death of King Alfonso marked the end of the Aragonese dream of a Mediterranean Empire and also the hope for a new crusade in which Skanderbeg was assigned a leading role.[140] The relationship of Skanderbeg with the Kingdom of Naples continued after Alfonso V's death, but the situation had changed. Ferdinand I was not as able as his father and now it was Skanderbeg's turn to help King Ferdinand to regain and maintain his kingdom. In 1459 Skanderbeg captured the fortress of Sati from the Ottoman Empire and ceded it to Venice in order to secure cordial relationship with Signoria.[55] The reconciliation reached the point where Pope Pius II suggested entrusting Skanderbeg's dominions to Venice during his Italian expedition.

After Serbian Despot Stefan Branković was dethroned in April 1459, he travelled to Albania and stayed with Skanderbeg and supported his anti-Ottoman activities, forging plans to recapture Serbia from Ottomans and return to Smederevo.[141] In November 1460 Despot Stefan married Angelina Arianiti, the sister of Skanderbeg's wife Donika.[142] Skanderbeg gave the dethroned Despot Stefan an unknown estate as appanage.[143] With Skanderbeg's recommendations, Despot Stefan moved to Italy in 1461[144] or 1466.[145]

Skanderbeg's military expedition to Italy 1460–1462. The Northern route was taken by himself, whereas the southern one was taken by his subordinates.

In 1460, King Ferdinand had serious problems with another uprising of the Angevins and asked for help from Skanderbeg. This invitation worried King Ferdinand's opponents, and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta declared that if Ferdinand of Naples received Skanderbeg, Malatesta would go to the Ottomans.[146] In the month of September 1460, Skanderbeg dispatched a company of 500 cavalry under his nephew, Ivan Strez Balšić.[147]

Ferdinand's main rival Prince of Taranto Giovanni Antonio Orsini tried to dissuade Skanderbeg from this enterprise and even offered him an alliance.[147] This did not affect Skanderbeg, who answered on 31 October 1460, that he owed fealty to the Aragon family, especially in times of hardship. In his response to Orsini, Skanderbeg mentioned that the Albanians never betray their friends and that they are the descendants of Pyrrhus of Epirus, and reminded Orsini of Pyrrhus' victories in southern Italy.[147] When the situation became critical, Skanderbeg made a three-year armistice with the Ottomans on 17 April 1461, and in late August 1461, landed in Apulia with an expeditionary force of 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. At Barletta and Trani, he managed to defeat the Italian and Angevin forces of Orsini of Taranto, secured King Ferdinand's throne, and returned to Albania.[149][150] King Ferdinand was grateful to Skanderbeg for this intervention for the rest of his life: at Skanderbeg's death, he rewarded his descendants with the castle of Trani, and the properties of Monte Sant'Angelo and San Giovanni Rotondo.[150]

After securing Naples, Skanderbeg returned home after being informed of Ottoman movements. There were three Ottoman armies approaching Albania. The first, under the command of Sinan Pasha, was defeated at Mokra (in Makedonski Brod).[151] Upon hearing of the defeat, Mehmed II dispatched a second army under Hasan Bey. Skanderbeg and Hasan confronted each other in Mokra where the latter was defeated and lost the majority of his forces as well as being wounded himself, he surrendered to Skanderbeg and was imprisoned.[152] The second army, under the command of Hasan bey, was defeated in Ohrid, where the Ottoman commander was captured.[151] The third Ottoman army, a force of 30,000 under Karaza bey was defeated in the region of Skopje.[151] This forced Sultan Mehmed II to agree to a 10-year armistice which was signed in April 1463 in Skopje.[151] Skanderbeg did not want peace, but Tanush Thopia's willingness for peace prevailed. Tanush himself went to Tivoli to explain to the Pope why Skanderbeg had opted for peace with Mehmed II. He pointed out that Skanderbeg would be ready to go back to war should the Pope ask for it.[151]

Skanderbeg's victory with the Venetians over the Ottomans in the Battle of Ohrid in 1464

Meanwhile, the position of Venice towards Skanderbeg had changed perceptibly because it entered a war with the Ottomans (1463–79). During this period Venice saw Skanderbeg as an invaluable ally, and on 20 August 1463, the 1448 peace treaty was renewed with other conditions added: the right of asylum in Venice, an article stipulating that any Venetian–Ottoman treaty would include a guarantee of Albanian independence, and allowing the presence of several Venetian ships in the Adriatic around Lezhë.[153] In November 1463, Pope Pius II tried to organize a new crusade against the Ottomans, similar to what Pope Nicholas V and Pope Calixtus III tried before. Pius II invited all Christian nobility to join, and the Venetians immediately answered the appeal.[154] So did Skanderbeg, who on 27 November 1463 declared war on the Ottomans when a force of 14,000 was sent under the command of Şeremet bey to reinforce fortresses in the area of Ohrid.[155] Due to the upcoming crusade the Republic of Venice decided to aid Skanderbeg by sending 500 cavalry and 500 infantry under the condottiero Antonio da Cosenza, also known as Cimarosto.[156] On 14 or 15 September after luring the Ottomans out of the gates of Ohrid and feigning a retreat, Skanderbeg's forces assaulted and defeated the Ottoman garrison. Şeremet lost 10,000 men and his son was captured. The remainder of the Ottoman forces were pursued by the Albanian-Venetian ones.[157][156] Pius II's planned crusade envisioned assembling 20,000 soldiers in Taranto, while another 20,000 would be gathered by Skanderbeg. They would have been marshalled in Durazzo under Skanderbeg's leadership and would have formed the central front against the Ottomans. However, Pius II died in August 1464, at the crucial moment when the crusading armies were gathering and preparing to march in Ancona, and Skanderbeg was again left alone facing the Ottomans.[154]

Oldest illustration of Skanderbeg. A miniature included in De Romanorum magistratibus, sacerdotiisque Romanorum of Lucio Fenestella (pseudonym of Andrea Domenico Fiocco), first printed in 1475.

In April 1465, at the Battle of Vaikal, Skanderbeg fought and defeated Ballaban Badera, an Ottoman Albanian sanjakbey of Ohrid.[158] However, during an ambush in the same battle, Ballaban managed to capture some important Albanian noblemen, including cavalry commander Moisi Golemi, chief army quartermaster Vladan Gjurica, Skanderbeg's nephew Muzaka, and 18 other officers.[154] These were immediately sent to Constantinople where they were skinned alive for fifteen days and later cut to pieces and thrown to the dogs. Skanderbeg's pleas to have them back, by either ransom or prisoner exchange, failed.[154] Later that same year, two other Ottoman armies appeared on the borders. The commander of one of the Ottoman armies was Ballaban Pasha, who, together with Jakup Bey, the commander of the second army, planned a double-flank envelopment. Skanderbeg, however, attacked Ballaban's forces at the Second Battle of Vajkal, where the Ottomans were defeated. This time, all Ottoman prisoners were slain in an act of revenge for the previous execution of Albanian captains.[79] The other Ottoman army, under the command of Jakup Bey, was also defeated some days later in Kashari field near Tirana.[79]

In 1466, Sultan Mehmed II personally led an army of 30,000 into Albania and laid the Second Siege of Krujë, as his father had attempted 16 years earlier.[159] The town was defended by a garrison of 4,400 men, led by Prince Tanush Thopia. After several months of siege, destruction and killings all over the country, Mehmed II, like his father, saw that seizing Krujë was impossible for him to accomplish by force of arms. Subsequently, he left the siege to return to Istanbul.[159] However, he left the force of 30,000 men under Ballaban Pasha to maintain the siege by building a castle in central Albania, which he named Il-basan (modern Elbasan), in order to support the siege. Durazzo would be the next target of the sultan in order to be used as a strong base opposite the Italian coast.[159]

Skanderbeg Museum in Krujë

In 1466, on his return trip to Istanbul, Mehmed II expatriated Dorotheos, the Archbishop of Ohrid and his clerks and boyars because of their anti-Ottoman activities and collaboration with rebels from Albania during Skanderbeg's rebellion.[160][161]

Skanderbeg spent the following winter of 1466–67 in Italy, of which several weeks were spent in Rome trying to persuade Pope Paul II to give him money. At one point, he was unable to pay for his hotel bill, and he commented bitterly that he should be fighting against the Church rather than the Ottomans.[162] Only when Skanderbeg left for Naples did Pope Paul II give him 2,300 ducats. The court of Naples, whose policy in the Balkans hinged on Skanderbeg's resistance, was more generous with money, armaments, and supplies. However, it is probably better to say that Skanderbeg financed and equipped his troops largely from local resources, richly supplemented by Ottoman booty.[163] It is safe to say that the papacy was generous with praise and encouragement, but its financial subsidies were limited. It is possible that the Curia only provided to Skanderbeg 20,000 ducats in all, which could have paid the wages of 20 men over the whole period of conflict.[163]

Second Siege of Krujë 1466–67 — The Albanian-Venetian force under Skanderbeg successfully repelled the siege led by Mehmed II.

However, on his return he allied with Lekë Dukagjini, and together on 19 April 1467, they first attacked and defeated, in the Krrabë region, the Ottoman reinforcements commanded by Yonuz, Ballaban's brother. Yonuz himself and his son, Haydar were taken prisoner.[79] Four days later, on 23 April 1467, they attacked the Ottoman forces laying siege to Krujë. The Second Siege of Krujë was eventually broken, resulting in the death of Ballaban Pasha by an Albanian arquebusier[69][151] named George Aleksi.[164]

With the death of Ballaban, Ottoman forces were left surrounded and according to Bernandino de Geraldinis, a Neapolitan functionary, 10,000 men remained in the besieging camp. Those inside the encirclement asked to leave freely to Ottoman territory, offering to surrender all that was within the camp to the Albanians. Skanderbeg was prepared to accept, but many nobles refused.[165] The Albanians thus began to annihilate the surrounded Ottoman army before they cut a narrow path through their opponents and fled through Dibra.[166] On 23 April 1467, Skanderbeg entered Krujë.[167] The victory was well-received among the Albanians, and Skanderbeg's recruits increased as documented by Geraldini: Skanderbeg was in his camp with 16,000 men and every day his camp grows with young warriors.[168] The victory was also well received in Italy with contemporaries hoping for more such news.[168] Meanwhile, the Venetians had taken advantage of Mehmed's absence in Albania and sent a fleet under Vettore Capello into the Aegean. Capello attacked and occupied the islands of Imbros and Lemnos after which he sailed back and laid siege to Patras. Ömer Bey, the Ottoman commander in Greece, led a relief force to Patras where he was initially repelled before turning on his pursuers, forcing them to flee, ending their campaign.[169]

Elbasan fortress

After these events, Skanderbeg's forces besieged Elbasan but failed to capture it because of the lack of artillery and sufficient number of soldiers.[170]

The death of Skanderbeg – 16th-century German engraving

The destruction of Ballaban Pasha's army and the siege of Elbasan forced Mehmed II to march against Skanderbeg again in the summer of 1467. Skanderbeg retreated to the mountains while Ottoman grand vizier Mahmud Pasha Angelović pursued him but failed to find him because Skanderbeg succeeded in fleeing to the coast.[171] Mehmed II energetically pursued the attacks against the Albanian strongholds while sending detachments to raid the Venetian possessions (especially Durazzo) and to keep them isolated. The Ottomans failed again, in their third Siege of Krujë, to take the city and subjugate the country, but the degree of destruction was immense.[172]

During the Ottoman incursions, the Albanians suffered a great number of casualties, especially to the civilian population, while the economy of the country was in ruins. The above problems, the loss of many Albanian noblemen, and the new alliance with Lekë Dukagjini, caused Skanderbeg to call together in January 1468 all the remaining Albanian noblemen to a conference in the Venetian stronghold of Lezhë to discuss the new war strategy and to restructure what remained from the League of Lezhë. During that period, Skanderbeg fell ill with malaria and died on 17 January 1468, aged 62.[170]