Athleta Christi: George Kastrioti Skanderbeg

Elton Varfi

The Conflicts with Venice

Despite the enthusiasm of the Christians and Pope Eugene IV, George Castriot did not seek the heavy mantle of the leader of Christianity against Islam. Skanderbeg did not want to drag his people into a bloody and unequal struggle against the Ottoman Empire, not only to protect the King of Naples, who feared for his Apulian beaches, but also for the Pope, who showed apprehension at the thought of the Turks landing in Italy and threatening the Roman seat of Christianity.

When the Sultan deprived him of his sacred right to rule his own lands, Skanderbeg decided to change his name and faith. He had longed for the union of the Albanians to keep the Turkish colossus at bay, as he knew that alone, despite his absolute valor, he would not be able to dominate without the cooperation of other Albanian princes in defense of national independence.

The heraldic emblem of the Castriot family

Meanwhile, in Adrianople, Murad II, furious over his defeat at Mocrene, was preparing to invade Albania from various fronts with two armies of 30,000 men each. But just as he was about to implement his plan, news that Hunyadi had gathered many soldiers in Hungary to threaten the Empire's border dissuaded him from deploying such a large force from his territory. He decided to send an army of 25,000 men under the command of Mustafa Pasha against Skanderbeg. This experienced commander, mindful of his predecessors' defeats, chose a different war strategy. Instead of venturing into territories prone to surprises (it was inevitable that Skanderbeg knew the movements of the enemy troops), he decided to advance with his troops in a compact manner, entrenching in positions as they were occupied. He aimed to avoid pitched battles and march decisively towards Krujë, destroying everything in his path to arrive advantageously in the capital, leveraging the inevitable terror that such a war of extermination would cause among the population.

The occupation of Krujë could mark the end of hostilities in Albania. Mustafa Pasha's plan seemed to yield good results. Faced with the rapid advance of the Turkish forces, the population fled in terror, taking refuge in the mountains and fortresses. George Castriot watched and waited for the right moment and the most suitable terrain for the battle that Mustafa Pasha wanted to avoid. As the Ottoman army advanced, the Albanian cavalry circled around it, and Skanderbeg, who was tracking its movements, waited in ambush. Seeing that the awaited moment had not yet come, George Castriot resorted to cunning, showing the Turk that he was less shrewd than himself. Skanderbeg pretended to be discouraged, moved away from the enemy, and to deceive him, took the mountain route to escape, skillfully eluding the Pasha's informants.

Mustafa Pasha truly believed he had defeated the Albanian Prince merely through the terror his name as a warrior inspired. Thus, the Ottoman army let its guard down on the battlefield, behaving as if they were in a fully conquered and secured place. On the night of September 27, 1446, the Albanian warriors stormed the Ottoman camp from all sides, catching them in their sleep. Overwhelming the guards, the attackers assaulted every tent, killing anyone who crossed their path. Mustafa Pasha, not realizing what was happening, managed to escape with the remnants of his army to avoid certain death.

The news of George Castriot's victory quickly reached Rome and even faster to Adrianople. Only the reputation of Mustafa Pasha and the affection Murad II had for him saved him from the Sultan's wrath. The Pope once again proclaimed George Castriot as the most faithful defender of Christianity and urged other allied heads of state to follow Skanderbeg's courageous actions.

At that moment, George Castriot no longer thought of the Sultan and the wars against him but focused on strengthening an undisputed authority at home, aiming to consolidate the Albanian nation more strongly and centrally in his hands, effectively turning a land divided until then into various tribes into a state.

Helping him in this political endeavor was Murad II, who had temporarily ceded the throne to his son Mehmed. Deprived of their leader, the Ottomans would hardly seek to avenge their defeats in Albanian lands; the moment was opportune to make the various tribes increasingly cohesive. However, this centralizing policy of George Castriot found an unexpected obstacle in Venice's attitude.

After a long series of negotiations, Venice finally managed to agree on peace with the Sultan. Aware that the Turks, at least for the moment, would not bother the Albanians, especially because Murad II and his son Mehmed, who had made peace with the Emperor of the East, were saving their energies to attack Constantinople. Thus, for the time being, George Castriot had nothing to fear from the Muslims, but this stance did not align with Venice's objectives. The Republic was concerned about the continuous strengthening of George Castriot's power in Albania.

With appropriate diplomacy, Venice had removed Neapolitan dominance over Zara and Corfu, turning the Adriatic into the Gulf of Venice. Despite this, would it tolerate a power growing stronger every day in the Adriatic due to the events? If the Albanian were freed from the Turk, where would he direct his commercial traffic? It could only be done by sea, as the presence of Muslim forces precluded the land route.

The seal of George Castriot Skanderbeg

Skanderbeg, maintaining friendly relations with the King of Naples, who was oriented towards the Adriatic and showed interest in the East, could also rely on the support of the Holy See, intent on strengthening his authority so that Albania would not become the main road for Turkish troops, which, if they managed to land in Italy, would certainly aim for Rome. With the hostility of the Ottomans ceased for a while, George Castriot's authority grew day by day, and the Republic risked, by not countering it, seeing the material and moral link between Otranto and the opposite shore, which had made the Adriatic impassable and which Venice had broken after years of targeted strategy, being reformed. Reinforcing its suspicions was the assassination at the end of 1444 of Lekë Zaccaria, lord of the city and district of Dagno. This prince, without heirs, had made a pact with Skanderbeg that upon his death, the lands would pass into the hands of the Albanian leader, with whom he bordered. This meant a further expansion of Skanderbeg in the Adriatic. Instead of a minor lord, the Republic would face a powerful leader who, having expanded his domains, would become a land neighbor to the Serenissima.

Venice, in its interest, had to hinder this growth of power and effectively prevented it. The Dukagjini and Princess Bora, mother of the late Zaccaria, were skillfully subdued by the Republic. The former claimed ancient rights over the district, and the princess abandoned those places, taking refuge in Shkodra, subject to Venice, ceding every right to the Republic and leaving it fully free to define the matter with George Castriot as it saw fit.

The matter of Dagno was the pretext pursued by Venice for a long time. Strengthened by the divisions among the Albanian princes even before Skanderbeg arrived, Venice occupied the place, forcing the Albanian to face a fait accompli. But the Republic had miscalculated, deluding itself that Skanderbeg would resign to the situation. He gathered the League's lords and, outraged by the event, proposed declaring war on the Republic. The Princes were hesitant, considering it risky to fight on two fronts since the war against the Ottomans was far from over. But in the end, it was decided to fight against the Republic of Venice.

Skanderbeg entrusted Uranaconti with 4,000 men to defend the borders from a possible attack by Mustafa Pasha, who was presumably tasked by the Sultan to launch a new incursion against the Albanians. Skanderbeg set out with 14,000 men to assault Dagno. Upon arrival, he demanded the city's surrender. Receiving a clear refusal, he besieged it and marched towards Durazzo, also under the Republic's control.

Meanwhile, a messenger from Uranaconti informed George Castriot that Mustafa Pasha was about to resume the fight and it was necessary to end the war against Venice immediately to avoid the risk of being engaged on two fronts. Skanderbeg then decided to attack without delay. He crossed the Drin and moved towards Shkodra, where a Venetian army of 15,000 men, including 11,000 Albanians under the command of Daniele Juric, captain of Shkodra, awaited him.

On July 3, 1448, the two armies began the battle. George Castriot attacked with such ferocity that he killed 2,000 Venetian soldiers and took more than 1,000 prisoners. The army's commander was seen fleeing. Terrified by the unexpected outcome of the battle, the Serenissima realized it had deluded itself into thinking it would prevail with the command of a leader proven in many wars and many times victorious.

George Castriot also mistakenly believed that this battle marked the end of hostilities. The besieged of Dagno held firmly, and the fortress's captain again refused to surrender. Skanderbeg deemed it prudent not to continue hostilities against the Serenissima. He released all prisoners except the leaders, fortified Balsha fearing a Republic counterattack, and reassembled the princes loyal to him. When he learned that his nephew Hamza Castriot had conquered the Drivasto region belonging to Venice, he harshly reprimanded him as it was not his intention to continue hostilities with the powerful "lady" of the Adriatic.

Obeying the Sultan's plans, Mustafa Pasha, commanding 15,000 men, attacked Uranaconti from the Ochrid front. Uranaconti held his ground and sent messengers to Skanderbeg. If the Ottomans occupied the heart of Albania, the lord of Krujë would be lost. Convinced that Venice, under the heavy blow of the Scutari defeat, would stay in place, George Castriot, commanding 6,000 men, advanced towards the assailants, meeting them unexpectedly near Ochrid, where the Turks planned to suddenly strike Krujë. Mustafa Pasha tried in vain to avoid the battle, which would take place under geographically unfavorable conditions for him. Thus, he attempted but failed to save his army with a timely retreat.

Skanderbeg attacked him, inflicting another defeat, as the Turkish commander had already suffered at the hands of the Albanian armies. Five thousand died on the battlefield, and Mustafa Pasha himself was captured by George Castriot.

Meanwhile, the Venetians took advantage of the situation. Knowing him engaged against the Turkish forces, they advanced with a strong army against the fortress of Balsha. The defending commander, realizing the futility of fighting, abandoned the place and retreated beyond the Drin. The Venetians razed the fortress, which was one of George Castriot's strongholds. The news of this defeat reached him the day after his victory over Mustafa Pasha. He immediately retraced his steps, pillaging much of the Scutari district (forgetting his rebukes to his nephew) and began attacking Dagno and Durazzo with such violence that the Venetian Senate was the first to propose peace.

The negotiations held in Alessio were brief. The Venetian delegates Paolo Loredan and Andrea Venier, and those of Skanderbeg, Bishop of Krujë and Abbot George Pellini, on October 4, 1448, secured for the Republic sovereignty over Dagno and for George Castriot an annual tribute of 1,500 ducats and other minor benefits. It was also established that Venice would consider the Albanian its ally and renew commercial treaties with him.

Given his victories, George Castriot could not claim to have concluded an excessively advantageous peace, but the Albanian leader was always concerned about the Turkish threat, and his instinct as a good ruler advised him to remain on friendly terms with the power he would never have come to arms against unless compelled to do so.

Bibliography

"Historia e Skënderbeut," Marin Barleti. Tirana 1968.

"L’Albania ed il Principe Scanderbeg," F. Cuniberti, Roux Frassati e C° Editori, Torino 1898.

"Storia di Scanderbeg," Fan S. Noli, (translated by Francesco Argondizza), Rome 1924.

"Scanderbeg," Alessandro Cutolo, Milan 1940.