Krujë Krujë Albania

The Albanians' resistance to the Turks in the mid-fifteenth century wins them acclaim all over Europe.

Gjon Kastrioti of Kruje was one of the Albanian clan leaders who had submitted to Turkish suzerainty.

He was compelled to send his four sons to the Otto-man capital to be trained for military service.

The youngest, Gjergj Kastrioti (1403-68), who will become the Albanians' greatest national hero, captures the sultan's attention.

Renamed Iskander when he converts to Islam, the young man participates in military expeditions to Asia Minor and Europe.

When appointed to administer a Balkan district, Iskander becomes known as Skanderbeg.

After Ottoman forces under Skanderbeg's command suffer defeat in a battle near Nis, in present-day Serbia, in 1443, the Albanian rushes to Krujë and tricks a Turkish pasha into surrendering to him the Kastrioti family fortress.

Skanderbeg now re-embraces Roman Catholicism and declares a holy war against the Turks.

Albanian resistance to the Ottoman Empire, with support from Naples and the Vatican, continues mostly in Albania's highlands, where the chieftains even oppose the construction of roads out of fear that they will bring Ottoman soldiers and tax collectors.

The Albanians' fractured leadership, however, fails to halt the Ottoman onslaught.

Krujë falls to the Ottoman Turks in 1478; Shkoder succumbs in 1479 after a fifteen-month siege; and the Venetians evacuate Durres in 1501.

The defeats trigger a great Albanian exodus to southern Italy, especially to the kingdom of Naples, as well as to Sicily, Greece, Romania, and Egypt.

Most of the Albanian refugees belong to the Orthodox Church.

Some of the emigres to Italy convert to Roman Catholicism, and the rest establish a Uniate Church.

The Albanians of Italy will significantly influence the Albanian national movement in future centuries, and Albanian Franciscan priests, most of whom are descended from emigres to Italy, will play a significant role in the preservation of Catholicism in Albania's northern regions.

Albanian chieftains gather on March 1, 1444, in the cathedral of Lezhe with the prince of Montenegro and delegates from Venice and proclaim Skanderbeg commander of the Albanian resistance.

All of Albania, including most of Epirus, accepts his leadership against the Ottoman Turks, but local leaders keep control of their own districts.

Under a red flag bearing Skanderbeg's heraldic emblem, an Albanian force of about thirty thousand men holds off brutal Ottoman campaigns against their lands for twenty-four years.

Twice the Albanians overcome sieges of Krujë.

In 1449 the Albanians rout Sultan Murad II himself.

Later, they repulse attacks led by Sultan Mehmed II.

In 1461 Skanderbeg goes to the aid of his suzerain, King Alfonso I of Naples, against the kings of Sicily.

The government under Skanderbeg is unstable, however, and at times local Albanian rulers cooperate with the Ottoman Turks against him.

When Skanderbeg dies at Lezhe, the sultan reportedly cries out, "Asia and Europe are mine at last. Woe to Christendom! She has lost her sword and shield."

Gjon Kastrioti of Krujë, one of the Albanian clan leaders who have submitted to Turkish suzerainty, had been compelled to send his four sons to the Ottoman capital to be trained for military service.

The youngest, Gjergj, who had been renamed Iskander when he converted to Islam, had participated in military expeditions to Asia Minor and Europe and captured the sultan's attention.

When appointed to administer a Balkan district, Iskander had become known as Skanderbeg.

After Ottoman forces under his command suffer defeat in a battle near Nish, in 1443, Skanderbeg rushes to Krujë and tricks a Turkish pasha into surrendering him the reputedly impregnable Kastrioti family fortress.

Skanderbeg then re-embraces Roman Catholicism and declares a holy war against the Turks.

Skanderbeg's Albanian resistance forces rout Sultan Murad II himself in 1449-50, defeating a siege of the fortress of Krujë in 1450.

Now a hero to the West, Skanderbeg receives aid from Venice, Naples, Hungary, and the papacy.

The Albanians have twice overcome sieges of Krujë.

Skanderbeg, who is partially subsidized by Venice, Naples, and the papacy, had in 1448 gone to the aid of his suzerain, King Alfonso of Naples, against the monarchs of Sicily.

The government under Skanderbeg is unstable, however, and at times local Albanian rulers have cooperates with the Ottoman Turks against him.

After a seventeen-year struggle, the successes of Skanderbeg's resistance fighters, who have often employed guerilla tactics against the Turkish invaders, lead in 1461 to a major victory that enables Skanderbeg to force a ten-year truce on the Porte (the Ottoman government).

Mehmed heavily besieges the fortress of Krujë in 1465, devastating the Albanian countryside and costing Skanderbeg his Albanian allies, who desert him.

Skanderbeg nevertheless repulses the invasion.

Skanderbeg successfully repulses another attempt in 1466, bringing to thirteen the total number of major Turkish invasions he has combated since 1444.

Resistance to the Ottoman Empire, with support from Naples and the papacy, continues mostly in Albania's highlands, where the chieftains even oppose the construction of roads out of fear that they will bring Ottoman soldiers and tax collectors.

The Albanians' fractured leadership fails to halt the Ottoman onslaught, however.

Davud Pasha is a converted Muslim and formerly Christian Albanian, who during his childhood was conscripted through the devşirme system in the ranks of the Ottoman army, where he was converted to Islam.

As Beylerbey of the Anatolian Eyalet in 1473, he had been one of the commanders of the Ottoman army in the decisive victory against Ak Koyunlu in the Battle of Otlukbeli.

He is in 1478 given control of the troops marching against Shkodër, Albania by Sultan Mehmed II, who marches against Krujë.

Davud Pasha manages to capture the city, which is the last stronghold of the League of Lezhë, thus ending the Ottoman-Albanian Wars.