Athleta Christi George Kastrioti Skanderbeg

Elton Varfi

Introduction

When he heard that they were mourning the death of the king Lek (Alexander) Dukagjini, Prince of Epirus, he came running out into the square. With his face darkened by grief and his voice muffled, tearing his beard and robes, he said,

"Come, come quickly all of you, O Arbëresh princes![1] Today the gates of Epirus and Macedonia are in tatters; today our walls and our fortifications have fallen; today all our strength has been lost; today our thrones and our power have been overthrown; today, with this man, all our hope is extinguished."[2]

It is precisely from here that this story must be told—from the end. From these words that sound so dramatically prophetic. Never before in the history of a people has the death of a king caused such ominous consequences.

After the leader's death, the Albanians continued their resistance for another century. Their most loyal ally was the mountainous terrain of Albania. The Albanians who did not accept the conversion to Islam retreated to these very mountains and organized resistance, but were eventually defeated by the Ottomans. The hatred the Ottomans felt towards the Albanian people resulted in fierce repression, causing a mass exodus of the ethnic Albanian community to be remembered as one of the most tragic events the nation suffered.

During the invasion, the Turks destroyed works of art, denied the Albanian language, and even banned the teaching of it. The 'Sublime Porte' was tolerant with non-Islamic subjects; in fact, it allowed Greeks to be taught their language. However, the treatment of Albanian subjects, even if they were Muslim, was different. Turkey had, in fact, forbidden the opening of Albanian schools and even the official use of the language. They burned the books and documents written in the original language so much so that today the many scholars in search of traces that can be traced back to Albanian documents or books are obliged to carry out laborious searches in foreign archives.

With the great exodus, many of the important and influential personalities of the time left, especially those who came to be known as the 'intelligentsia,' who put their culture, talent, and knowledge at the service of another country; in fact, illustrious names of Albanians can be found in the universities of Padua and Bologna at that time.

The Birth

The name Kastrioti appears for the first time in 1363. In this very year, a Kastrioti is recorded as the captain of Kanina. In 1389, the princes of this house were equal in dignity with the first princes of Albania as George Kastrioti took part in the war council before the Battle of Kosovo. In 1407, Giovanni (John) Kastrioti is mentioned in the Venetian archives. According to information from Barlezio, Giovanni Kastrioti belonged to an ancient house in Mati. George Kastrioti was also born in 1405 in Mati. His father John Kastrioti was Lord at the head of a vast territory protected by impregnable fortresses: Croia, the capital; Petrella near Tirana; Petralba and Stellusio on the Mati; and Sfetigrado[3] in the upper Dibra. From 1407 to 1430, despite pressure from Muslim forces, the struggle between the Sultan and the prince continued in these fortified places. John took Princess Voisava, the daughter of another illustrious Albanian leader, the Prince of Pollongo, a region located between Gostivar and Skopje, as his wife. Barlezio said that the inhabitants were Bulgarians, but the princes may have been Albanians since the time of the Balscia. John Kastrioti had nine children by his wife: five girls, Mara, Jella, Angelina, Vlaika, and Mamiza; and four boys, Stanisio, Reposio, Constantine, and George. The first four daughters went as brides to allied princes: Mara to Stephen Cernovich, Prince of Mount Nero; Vlaica to Gino Musacchio; Angelina to Vladano Arianita Thopia Conmeno Golemi, Prince of Cermenica and brother of Arianita of Kanina; Jella to Paolo Stresio Balscia, Prince of the region between Croia and Alessio. Mamiza then went to marry Charles Musacchio Thopia as Scanderbeg returned to Albania.

The story goes that when George's mother was pregnant with him, she dreamt that she gave birth to a dragon so enormous that it covered the whole of Epirus with its body; its head stretched as far as the border with the Turks, who were devoured with its bleeding jaws; instead, its tail kept it submerged in the sea on the border with Christian territories, especially with the Venetian Republic.

As soon as the dream was told, his father John rejoiced, expressing an easy interpretation. He prophesied that Voisava would give birth to a child who would become a great man, recognized for his deeds and exploits in war. He would be the Turks' fiercest enemy but also their most renowned commander, protector of Christianity and respectful towards the Venetian Republic.

When the child was born, a sword-shaped birthmark was seen on his right arm as if someone had painted it.

These legends reported by Marin Barlezio in his work on the hero's life and deeds fueled his fame even further, giving him a legendary and mysterious aura. Here, however, a necessary note must be made.

Skanderbeg. From the work: M. Barletius - Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis - Rome 1506.

All historians who dealt with George Castriota Skanderbeg obtained most of their information either directly or from other sources from two works that are considered fundamental to this day: M. Barlezio's Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis, Rome 1506, and Giammaria Biemmi's Historia di Giorgio Castrioto detto Scander - Begh, Brescia 1742.

Barlezio, a contemporary Albanian hero and spectator of many of the events he described, was generally considered a source of absolute truthfulness and impartiality. Historians also attributed the same reputation to Biemmi. The latter claimed to have based his work on a hypothetical Historia Scanderbegi edited per quandem Albanensem based on a book written by a soldier from Antivari and published according to him in Venice in 1480, in which he claimed to have fought with Skanderbeg. A Romanian historian, Francesco Pall[4], proved that Biemmi was a forger who invented the existence of the Antivari chronicle to write his book. Biemmi is cited by both Fan S. Noli in his History of Scanderbeg and Barlezio in the preface of his work in the Albanian version as a truthful source.

The war between John Kastrioti and the Turks, as we have already written, lasted from 1407 to 1430, and John Kastrioti was repulsed and forced three times by the Turks into a difficult and onerous peace. John Kastrioti had to hand over his four sons to the Sultan as a confirmation of his submissiveness, with the obligation on the part of Murad II to have them educated according to the canons of the Christian faith and to set one of them free after John's death to allow him to occupy the seat of his ancestors; but on the other hand, he had to surrender to him the fortress of Sfetigrado, the lower and upper Dibra, all of which guaranteed a condition of absolute security for the population.

Subsequently, he formed a defensive and offensive alliance in respect of which it became his obligation to send an army to the Sultan in any war he waged. Thus he had to recognize Murad II as his High Lord with the obligation to pay annual tribute as a sign of his subservience.

In the Sultan's Court

It was 1421 when the young George Kastrioti left his father's house and followed his brothers to the Sultan's court. When he arrived at the Turkish court in Adrianople, the Sultan, violating the pacts, forced him to convert to the Islamic religion and even changed his name. So George became Skander bey, which in Turkish means Prince Alexander.

Compared to the princes in Murad II's court, Kastrioti was able to express his aptitudes by sharing the hostage situation. His beauty, grace, and strength made life easy for him. While the other hostages were liable to die—either from natural causes or from poisoning—the Albanian boy was respected like any other prince in the Islamic court.

Murad II. Unknown. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Alinari photo). From the work: Scanderbeg, Alessandro Cutolo, Milan 1940.

He learned to speak Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Slavic, and Italian. He studied the art of war with learned and experienced masters. Every game of arms became familiar to him; every horse became docile to his commands. In wielding the sword, the bow, the lance, there was soon no one in the court who was his equal. The young Skander pawed; it was no longer enough for him to fight for fun. He dreamt of fights, wars, battles to be won. It did not weigh on him that although born a Christian and become a Muslim, he had to support the crescent against Christians as well. George Kastrioti asked the Sultan for real war. Murad II was pleased with such courage but restrained that overbearing quiver with opportune denials. Sultan Murad II favored Skanderbeg and neglected no opportunity to show him his benevolence.

But he could not contain it for long.

Powerless in the face of so much energy, convinced that he could harness it for the glory of the empire, Murad II appointed his hostage a Sangiak (the first military rank at the time after that of Pasha) and as soon as he came of age, sent him off to fight in Asia and Europe, coming out glorious. It seemed foolish to entrust the army to a young man, but the facts belied all gloomy predictions. During the siege of a fortress in Anatolia, like Alexander the Great in India, he climbed the wall, raised his banner, and entered the city first. Sultan Murad II raised his rank and entrusted him with the command of more important expeditions. Before long, the Mongols were overwhelmed by Skanderbeg's Turks who always returned victorious, taking prisoners and countless spoils of war with him. His fame grew day by day, the army loved him, his comrades took him as an example. There was no war enterprise of any importance in which Skanderbeg did not participate. He fought in the East against the Greeks, against the Magyars; within a few years, his name was cherished by the Muslims and feared by their enemies.

In 1439, the Senate of Dubrovnik, as part of its deliberations, appointed the sons of John Kastrioti as honorary citizens even though they had converted to Islam. This was possible thanks to the intervention of their father who ensured that his sons were Christian citizens even though they had converted to Islam and that they were waiting for the opportune moment to flee Adrianople and return to their people and their faith.

A heated discussion ensued. If the first three sons of John Kastrioti accepted conversion to Islam as an absolute necessity, living in Adrianople, could the same be said for Skanderbeg who had gained fame as a feared warrior by serving Islam and had sown terror and spilled rivers of blood even in the Christian states of the Balkans? Could he consider himself a good Christian who Murad II considered to be one of his most valiant officers, one of the most faithful interpreters of his thoughts, one of the most ready executors of his orders? George Kastrioti's name was removed from the register of honorary citizens. The Ragusan Senate regarded the Albanian prince as the fiercest soldier of Islam.

Meanwhile, as John Kastrioti grew old, two of his sons died in unclear circumstances. They were probably poisoned to eliminate the embarrassing heirs to the principality of Mati. Another, who became a monk, retreated to Mount Sinai, and the fourth, who had fully converted to Islam, once again ventured rebellion by making a pact with Arianite George but receiving a flat refusal from Adrianople to the honorable terms of peace he proposed. He agreed with Arianite and the local chiefs, incited them against Islam, and drove out the Turkish garrisons. But the news of the uprising did not faze Murad II at all who ordered Ali Pasha Evrenos to move in with his own army and subdue the rebels. The Pasha's forces fought in vain against the troops commanded by Arianite who defended the position and with extreme advantage forced the Turks into a disorderly flight. Ali Pasha Evrenos found safety along the Ionian Sea, availing himself of only a few men. In Europe, George Arianite was recognized as the defender of Christianity but the Sultan's reaction was swift and very ruthless. The cities were put to the sword, the inhabitants slaughtered. Europe realized that the victories of Arianite George were sublime episodes of individual valor and that it took more than that to keep the danger of Islam away from Europe.

One after another, the towns that had rebelled were retaken. Fortifications that seemed impassable were taken by the Turkish hordes, and villages that still kept the fire of rebellion burning were destroyed. Terror spread everywhere, rendering every ideal of independence futile.

Drawing from the book by M. Barlezio

When John Kastrioti died in 1442, Murad II broke the pacts made in 1421 and did not allow Skanderbeg to succeed his father as direct heir. In fact, as soon as the death of John Kastrioti was known, a Turkish army commanded by the renegade Hassan bey Verzesda entered Albanian territory by order of the Sultan and took possession of it, occupying above all Croia, Lisso, and the places that were under the direct dominion of the Kastriots; this enterprise succeeded perfectly because the Albanians were certain that Skanderbeg, the only survivor of the Kastriots, had come into possession of his father's domains and were therefore not prepared for defense.

In addition, he relegated George Kastrioti's mother Voisava and sister Mamiza to a remote corner of Albania, obtaining a small plot of land from the Sultan that was not enough to guarantee their existence.

On this occasion too, the Sultan wanted to test Skanderbeg's loyalty and at the same moment that he was certain that his troops had occupied Albania, he ordered his best soldier to put him in a position to obtain what was rightfully his; but Skanderbeg, having been informed in time of the events that had occurred, was able to play cunningly with the Sultan and by manifest actions of false servility and loyalty, but which nevertheless appeared sincere, declined the generous offer declaring highly that his only desire and coveted honor was to serve the Sultan, to whose prosperity and power he would continue to devote all his energies, hoping that his Sovereign would deign to count him among his most devoted servants, a condition that would compensate him far more than the possession of the domains he had inherited.

What was the real reason why the Sultan prevented George Kastrioti from returning to his homeland? Was he afraid that once he returned, his subordinate would resume the war that George Arianite had started against him?

Murad II did not realize, even though he had a distinct and astute oriental mentality, that assigning the Kastriots a sacred fiefdom by virtue of old legacies would have steered a warrior such as the valiant Skanderbeg, known to Islam, in a completely different direction.

When news came that his mother had not survived the physical and moral abuse suffered by the renegade Hassan bey engineered by Murad II, George Kastrioti waited impatiently for the opportune moment to free himself from the Turk and to finally live his true existence.

At that precise moment, a subtle game of cunning took shape between Murad II and his hostage. One feared the possible reactions of the Albanian prince and spied on his every gesture, questioning him to scrutinize his innermost thoughts, while the other was very careful to conceal the true motions of his soul, knowing full well what fate would be reserved for him if the Sultan suspected his resentment. The glory he had won in so many battles would not have helped him avoid a terrible end.

While many Albanian princes, lending their services to the Muslims, never forgot their homeland, plotted the resumption of freedom and independence without concealing their desire and intentions, often paying with their lives, George Kastrioti concealed with an apparent calmness through false devotion a deep hatred that grew larger and larger in his heart every day.

He absorbed the Sultan's mistrust while waiting for the right moment to execute his well-conceived plan.

In the mind of the young Albanian was gradually maturing the achievement of the grand design to take his homeland away from Muslim rule and make it independent.

The favorable opportunity presented itself to him in 1443.

Bibliography

Barleti, Marin. Historia e Skënderbeut. Tirana: 1968.
Cuniberti, F. L'Albania ed il Principe Scanderbeg. Turin: Roux Frassati e C°, 1898.
Noli, Fan S. History of Scanderbeg. Version by Francesco Argondizza. Rome: 1924.
Cutolo, Alessandro. Scanderbeg. Milan: 1940.

[1] Albania was called Arbëria in those days, and its inhabitants were called Arbëresh.

[2] Historia e Skënderbeut, Marin Barleti. Tirana 1968. Free translation by Elton Varfi

[3] This fortress is situated on the right bank of the Black Drin River, to the east of Upper Dibra, quite far from the river, but it overlooks its course in the section between the two Dibra regions.

[4] Une nouvelle historie de Scanderbeg - Remarque sur le livre de M. Gegay, in Revue historique du Sud-Est européen, an. XIV, no. 10, 12, Bucharest 1937.