Giorgios Kastriotis aka Gjerg Kastriot Skanderbeg

[Tsontos]

Scanderbeg:
'The eagle of the east'

His stronghold at Kroia.

Skenderbeis, the last resistance fighter against the Ottomans put up much resistance in the Balkans to stop their armies marching across much more of Europe. A figure largely forgotten by Greeks of today, Dean Kalimniou has unearthed some interesting facts about the man who even managed to inspire Vivaldi...

OF all the great Balkan heroes, perhaps the least remembered is Giorgos Kastriotis, Scanderbeg. A master of international diplomacy and indomitable freedom fighter, he was one of the last warlords to resist the oncoming Ottoman onslaught even after the fall of Constantinople, carving an empire out for himself in Albania and Epirus. In the process, he conceived of a Balkans united in a trans-national empire. For this ultra-national approach, encompassing schemes as far as Hungary and Wallachia as well as his indomitable spirit which led him to resist the Ottomans for twenty five years, Kastriotis is claimed by both Albanians and Epirots alike as a national hero.
That Giorgos Kastriotis left a legacy that approached mythical proportions cannot be doubted. He was born at Kroia, now in northern Albania in 1405. It is said that when his mother was pregnant, a gigantic dragon appeared in her dreams-its head lying at the confines of the Ottoman Empire and its tail stretching as far as the Adriatic Sea. When still in his cradle, he was able to crawl out and reach for his father's guns using them as his playthings. Although his early life is shrouded in obscurity, it seems fairly certain that his father, Ioannis Kastriotis, an Epirot noble in northern Albania, upon becoming an Ottoman vassal, sent Giorgos to the Sultan's court as a hostage.
At the Sultan's court, Kastriotis, who was required to convert to Islam was at once noticed for his bearing and good looks. Admired for his bravery and daring a brilliant future was promised to him in the service of the Ottomans. He learned Turkish, Slavonic, Italian and Arabic as well as his native Greek and Albanian and excelled in the study of warfare and horsemanship. His military prowess was so great that taking part in various Ottoman campaigns in Europe and Asia Minor, he became general of Adrianople.

Despite enjoying an illustrious career, Kastriotis was to relinquish it for the life of a rebel. Several motives are postulated as to the reason for this. In 1439 the Senate of Ragusa in modern day Croatia, who had in the past honoured Ioannis Kastriotis by bestowing honorary citizenship on his sons, removed the name of Giorgos on the grounds he had embraced Islam. This made the secretly Christian Kastriotis wish to return to his roots. Another legend relates that just before his death, Ioannis Kastriotis secretly sent messengers to his son, lauding the example of freedom fighter Arjanit Komninos, an albanised descendant of one of Byzantium's greatest families whose revolt in Northern Epirus had been brutally suppressed and exhorted him to follow suit. More plausibly, after Ioannis Kastriotis' death in 1442, the Sultan occupied his patrimony and awarded it to Albanian renegade Hassan Bey instead of Giorgos and an enraged Giorgos resolved to desert the Sultan and claim his inheritance.

In 1443, Kastriotis abandoned his post at the battle of Nish in Serbia, where the Ottoman army was defeated by a Christian coalition to stem the Ottoman advance into Europe, led by Hungarian prince Janos Hunyadi. Entering the Chancellery of the Sultan with a sword in his hand, Kastiotis bade the Grand Vizier sign a 'firman' granting him title to Kroia. He then gathered 300 Epirot and Albanian soldiers serving under him and entered Kroia. After publicly proclaiming himself a Christian and flying the Byzantine double-headed eagle flag on the battlements of the fortress, he asked the local inhabitants, both Greek and Albanian, to choose between Christianity or death. Many were massacred for refusing to renounce Islam. Although this ruthless policy suggests that Kastriotis, henceforth known both to his followers and the Ottomans as Scanderbeg or 'Lord Alexander' in admiration for his military prowess, saw himself engaged in a religious war against his former masters, it appears he saw himself too as a last defender of Byzantium in the lands that once were under the sway of the Komnenian despots of Epirus.

Pitted against the might of the Ottoman Empire at its zenith, such ambition would have been quixotic and futile had Scanderbeg not possessed military genius and political vision unrivalled among his feudal contemporaries. Realising that lack of unity among the tribal leaders of Epirus and Albania had facilitated Ottoman expansion, on 1 March 1444, he engineered an alliance of all chieftains in a struggle against the Ottomans under his command. The multi-ethnic force's first baptism of fire was made on 29 June 1444.

Scanderbeg met the army of Ali Pasha on the field of Torviolli and owing to his intimate and thorough knowledge of Ottoman military theory and practice, completely annihilated it, causing the deaths of eight thousand Ottomans.
Scanderbeg's victory reverberated around Europe. In Rome Pope Eugene IV thanked God for the triumph of Christian arms and the courts of Europe knew there was another power in the East besides Hunyadi which could confront the Ottomans. The battle of Torviolli captured the imagination of Alfonso the Magnanimous of Naples, who dreamed of establishing a Catalan empire stretching from Barcelona to Constantinople. Pope Eugene began organising a crusade against the Ottomans and invited Scanderbeg to participate. Nevertheless, Murat II succeeded in obtaining a ten year peace treaty from Hunyadi, to avert the threat of crusade. The treaty was a triumph of diplomacy for Scanderbeg, who intrigued with Hungarian nobles to link Hunyadi's crusade with his own cause. Pursuant to the treaty, signed on 12 July 1444 at Szeged, the Ottomans pledged never again to set foot in the territory under the rule of Scanderbeg.

Scanderbeg saw little reason to desist from striking at Ottomans. He continued to launch attacks against them, deflecting further punitive strikes against him by Murad. Scanderbeg was never subdued. His military successes were due to the flexibility of his skilful guerilla tactics which were likened by the Ottomans as the attack of an eagle swooping down from its eyrie. Yet Scanderbeg was not just a guerilla fighter. He sought to unite the Balkans into a coalition which would be the stepping stone for the expulsion of the Turks from Europe and Asia Minor, so as to re-vitalise the Byzantine Empire, now reduced to Constantinople and its environs.

To achieve this, he sought to assist Polish King Ladislaus and Hunyadi's strike against the Ottomans in Bulgaria. In a gigantic pincer movement, Scanderbeg's troops would attack the Ottomans from behind and destroy them. However, Scanderbeg's followers refused to follow him. Their homeland was free and saw no reason to become involved in affairs that did not concern them. Scanderbeg stressed that if the coalition was defeated, there would no longer be any Christian troops to disturb the Ottomans and keep them away from his lands before the tribes acceded to his request. However the delay in taking this decision proved fatal to King Ladislaus. Clashing with the Ottoman army alone at Varna on 10 November 1444 before Scanderbeg could get his troops there, he lost the battle and his life. As he was delayed in his advance by the Serbs, who fought with the Ottomans, Scanderbeg pillaged Serbia, while recruiting Poles and Magyars, fleeing from the desolation of the Varna plain, under his banner.

Scanderbeg hurried home in 1450 upon learning that Ibrahim Pasha had laid siege to the key town of Beration in Northern Epirus. For five months the Ottomans squandered men and munitions on the walls of the fortress; the Sultan promising to recognise Scanderbeg as King of Epirus and Albania in exchange for his submission in vain. On 26 October 1450, he lifted the siege at a cost of twenty thousand men. Scanderbeg gave chase to the Ottoman army, pursuing it beyond the frontier. Humiliated and desperate, Murat returned to Adrianople, dying of a stroke the following year.

For a while peace reigned and during that brief interlude, Scanderbeg married the daughter of Arjanit Komnenos. Shortly after the wedding, King Alfonso of Naples placed him under his protection as a vassal and he found himself at the head of his troops, defeating Dalip Pasha and Hamza Pasha (1452). He then defeated the Ottomans at Skopje in 1453, vainly attempting to cross Macedonia and relieve Constantinople of its Ottoman besiegers. Scanderbeg's forces had to suppress a rebellion by his erstwhile Albanian lieutenant Mojsi of Dibra, who was promised a kingdom by new Sultan, Mehmet. Scanderbeg could not reach Constantinople and on 29 May 1453, Constantinople fell.
Incensed but powerless, Scanderbeg focused on expelling the Ottomans from the Balkans. After dealing with rebellions by his Islamised nephew, Hamza Kastriotis, and the Albanian Djukagini and Mallesori tribes, Scanderbeg was called upon as a vassal of King Alfonso's successor, Ferrante to defend the Kingdom of Naples against the incursions of the French Duke D'Anjou. Mehmet's envoys were making repeated peace overtures to Scanderbeg and Pope Pius II promised aid for a crusade to the Epirot prince if he would aid Ferrante. Scanderbeg compromised, signing a peace treaty with Mehmet on 27 April 1461. The Epirot and Albanian chieftains welcomed the advent of peace after eighteen years of uninterrupted fighting. Meanwhile, in direct parallel with ancient Epirot King Pyrrhus, Scanderbeg crossed the Adriatic and reached Puglia on 25 August 1461, just in time to rescue King Ferrante from the siege of Barletta as well as capturing Trani and expelling D'Anjou.
After these victories, his wife sent word that Ottoman armies were moving towards Epirus. On 23 September 1463, Scanderbeg declared war on the Sultan, shattering his army under Shermet Bey, at Achrida. He then returned to Kroia to await the troops that were due to arrive under Pope Pius' leadership. Fate decided otherwise, Pius dying in Ancona while preparing to sail to Epirus. With the death of Pius, his crusade collapsed. This in itself was a great victory for the Sultan, who sent out an army under Ballaban Pasha, an Albanian renegade. Ballaban fought Scanderbeg in April 1465 at Ahrida and Dryinoupolis in Northern Epirus and was outdone.

In rage, Mehmet personally led a vast army to Kroia and placed Scanderbeg's stronghold under siege. Scanderbeg slipped out of the castle and secretly made his way to Rome, where he received a hero's welcome from Pope Paul II, naming him defender of the Christian faith. Little help was forthcoming, despite being showered with honours. A Cardinal took Scanderbeg aside and advised him he would have to abandon his Orthodox faith and embrace Catholicism. Scanderbeg refused.

He returned to Kroia at once, accompanied by a small contingent of Venetian soldiers, and attacked Ballaban, who had taken over the siege, killing him and destroying his army with a stratagem. As there was no other way out, Scanderbeg at night let a flock of goats with candles on their horns, through a secret passage. The Ottomans, deceived by the lights of the candles, followed the flock through the passage. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, Scanderbeg trapped them and destroyed them. Since that time Scanderbeg kept a goat's head on his helmet to commemorate his victory. This was a great blow to the Sultan, who in the spring of 1467, entered Epirus, burning and destroying everything in his path. Realising his forces were diminishing, he called a Council of Chieftains to determine a war plan at Episkopi in 1468. Upon his arrival at Episkopi, just before the opening of the Assembly, he was struck down with malaria. From his deathbed, the indomitable fighter directed the defence of Skodra. News of a victory at Skodra reached him as he was dying. He called together all his princes and the Venetian ambassador and exhorted them to continue the fight against the Ottomans until they were expelled.

Giorgios Kastriotis Scanderbeg, known also as 'the eagle' died on 17 January 1468. A last beacon of hope in a world that was to fall under Ottoman rule for the next four hundred years, his conquests barely survived him. Internecine struggles between his sons and rival chieftains soon provided an opportunity for the Ottomans to conquer the eagle's eyrie. During his remarkable life, Scanderbeg not only was a thorn in the side for the Ottomans. More than any other Greek potentate, he was heavily involved in the affairs of the West, assuming legendary status. His career gave both Albanians and Epirots the necessary self-confidence and will to resist foreign domination. The Albanians adopted his coat of arms as their national flag and consider themselves 'Shqiptare' - sons of the Eagle while the Epirots revere him as a last prince of Byzantium. Both claim him as their own.

Scanderbeg's posthumous renown was by no means confined to his own lands. Voltaire thought the Byzantine Empire would have survived had it possessed a leader of his quality. His life inspired poems by French poet Ronsard and Henry Longfellow. In the eighteenth century, when the Ottomans were suffering defeats in the Balkans, there was a revival of interest in the life of Scanderbeg, inspiring operas by Vivaldi, Francouer and Lacepede as well as plays by Harvard, Whincop and Lillo in London.
Scanderbeg's legacy remains. His son married Irene Palaiologina, of the Byzantine royal family and fled to Italy. His descendants lived in Naples, Lecce and Ruffano. One of these, Isabella Castriota Scanderbeg was a noted poet of the eighteenth century while her namesake Isabella Stasi Castriota Scanderbeg is an Italian TV documentary writer and producer who lives in Rome.

Old habits die hard. Recently, Giorgio Castriota Scanderbeg, a bank employee of Naples, has made a claim to the Albanian throne. Paradoxically enough in the light of his achievements, except in Epirus this great revolutionary, who transcends nationalism and overcame immense obstacles to ensure the freedom of the Balkans, is largely forgotten by the Greeks.

http://www.neoskosmos.com.au/030120/...re_index.shtml

[Tsontos]

some nice vids on youtube

YouTube - Georgios Kastriotis " title="YouTube - Georgios Kastriotis" target="_blank">YouTube - Georgios Kastriotis

YouTube - Georgios Kastriotis 2, Greek Medieval... " title="YouTube - Georgios Kastriotis 2, Greek Medieval..." target="_blank">YouTube - Georgios Kastriotis 2, Greek Medieval...

[Hermes]

Hey guys are u going hard or its just not knowing all.
Olvios come on,we all know G.Kastrioti was orthodhox, but u have to know that not all orthodhoxs was greek.e.x>The Arberesh (albanians) of south Italy (= Arvanitis in Greece) are orthodox ,their churchs are with greek letters and their religion survived to the catholic church and to the Pope.sory but they dont speak greek , just albanian and feel it too.Their songs are about their Prince G.Kastrioti.G.K was also "princeps arbanesis" and so on ,if it is Epirus u mean ,oh...sory its another question,for its borders and for his popolation and for Pirros too.

Also u must know that albanian wasnt written at the times,the written and used languages was latin and greek.How could this Prince write and be understood by the other ones u mention.Now i am writing in English but i'm not englishman.
About those Greek Princes u also must know that still the 20th century people were mentioned in Balcans in general like turkish,greek and latins(are the catholics of north Albania >Latins, i dont think so , but they so were mentioned)

If u have information about the son of George Arianiti Comneni, Kostandin Arianiti:he survived to the turks escaping in Italy.There he keept his Tittles and honours and was called SOMETIMES as "Kostandino il greko",but he wasnt and no one beter than me and my family knows that.
All u have to make is to make the diffenrence of what was greek as nationality and what was as greek culture.
The Arberesh of Sicily , near Palermo,Piana degli Albanesi,still years 1990 were called offically too like "Piana dei Grecci"bcz there all orthodhox were called greeks.But when the Greek politic (by the state)was becoming worse and worse against albanian identity,they , proud of what they were and feel changed the name into "Piana dei Albanesi".

[Tsontos]

His seal:



The inscription reads: "Alexander is an Emperor and a King. Emperor of the Romaic nation (Greeks) and King of the Turks, the Albanians, the Serbs and the Bulgarians."



The Despotate of Epirus:

Despotate of Epirus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Despotate of Epirus (Greek: Δεσποτάτο της Ηπείρου) was one of the medieval Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire, founded in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond. The term "despotate" is a misnomer, as the first rulers of Epirus did not hold the court dignity of despotes, which was in any case not a hereditary title associated with any particular jurisdiction.

The Despotate was founded in 1205 by Michael Komnenos Doukas, a cousin of the Byzantine emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. At first, Michael allied with Boniface of Montferrat, but having lost Morea (Peloponnese) to the Franks at the battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros, he went to Epirus, where he considered himself the Byzantine governor of the old province of Nicopolis and revolted against Boniface.

[Tsontos]

[Flipper]

Yeah, I not really sure about his origin. Northern Epirots claim he is Greek. In any case he was a hero for the Shqipetars. I believe he is of Albanian origin but he might have been like other Arvanites, very fond of any greek heritage. In any case, his seal is really awesome. Doesn't matter what he was, his words tell all the truth! Alexander Emperor of the Romaic nation!!!!!

[Tsontos]

In my opinion he is a figure for Greeks, Albanians and Serbs. His mother was Serb. He himself was a Greek and his state was a Greek successor state of the Byzantine empire after the fourth crusade. Many of his cheifs under him were Albanians and they made up a large part of his army. He has "descendents" (not literal but in the sense that they were his people) in Italy who are Albanians. Yet at the same time many of his troops and subjects were Greeks as well as Serbs and Bulgarians

[Ervald]

Originally Posted by Voulgaroktonos

Funny how he is meant to be the 'father of the Albanian nation' yet he would have never of used to word 'albanian' or 'shiptar' in his life to describe himself

Im not sorry to interrup you, but...

all the italian historian who spent their life by Gjergji's side to write about his life are saying quiet the oposite..

Why dont you read Barlet's book about him? he wrote about him and what language his was using.

His father wasnt called Ioanis, thats a greek version, like John Marx in greek u will say that Ioanis maksimos?

He was called Gjon and his wife was from Montenegro, a place of albanian majority!


anyway its stupid me to write more, you should open a history book better.

[Ervald]

Skanderbeg

George Kastrioti (born Gjergj Kastrioti, May 6 (disputed), 1405 - January 17, 1468), better known as Skanderbeg (Turkish:İskender Bey), is one of the most prominent historical figures in the history of Albania and the Albanian people. He is also known as the Dragon of Albania[1] and is the national hero of the Albanians. He is remembered for his struggle against the Ottoman Empire, through the work of his first biographer, Marin Barleti.

Biography

Service in the Ottoman Army
Born in Dibër, Skanderbeg was a descendant of the Kastriotis, who were one of the principal families in what was then called Arberia (today Albania).

According to Gibbon,[3] Skanderbeg's father, Gjon Kastrioti, was a hereditary prince of a small district of Epirus or Albania that included Mat, Krujë, Mirditë and Dibër.[4] His mother Voisava was a princess[5] from the Tribalda family,[6] who came from the Polog valley, in modern-day Macedonia. Gjon Kastrioti was among those who opposed[7] the early incursion of Ottoman Bayezid I, however his resistance was ineffectual. The Sultan, having accepted his submissions, obliged him to pay tribute and to ensure the fidelity of local rulers, George Kastrioti and his three brothers were taken by the Sultan to his court as hostages. After his conversion to Islam,[8] he attended military school in Edirne and led many battles for the Ottoman Empire to victory. For his military victories, he received the title Arnavutlu İskender Bey, (Albanian: Skënderbeu Shqiptari, English: Skanderbeg, the Albanian). In Turkish and Albanian this title means Lord Alexander the Albanian, comparing Kastrioti's military brilliance to that of Alexander the Great).

He earned distinction as an officer in several Ottoman campaigns both in Asia Minor and in Europe, and the Sultan appointed him to the rank of General by giving him a cavalry force of 5,000 men. Some sources claim that he maintained secret links with Ragusa, Venice, Ladislaus V of Hungary, and Alfonso I of Naples

Fighting for freedom
On November 28, 1443, Skanderbeg saw his opportunity to rebel during a battle against the Hungarians led by John Hunyadi in Niš. He switched sides along with 300 other Albanians serving in the Ottoman army. After a long trek to Albania he eventually captured Krujë by forging a letter[7] from the Sultan to the Governor of Krujë, which granted him control of the territory. After capturing the castle, Skanderbeg[3] abjured the prophet and the sultan, and proclaimed himself the avenger of his family and country. He raised his standard (that later became the Albanian flag) above the castle and reportedly pronounced: "I have not brought you freedom, I found it here, among you." Skanderbeg allied with George Arianite[9](born Gjergj Arianit Komneni) and married his daughter Andronike (born Marina Donika Arianiti)[

[Ervald]

...Following the capture of Krujë, Skanderbeg managed to bring together all the Albanian princes in the town of Lezhë[11] (see League of Lezhë, 1444). According to Gibbon[3] reports that "Albanians, a martial race, were unanimous to live and die with their hereditary prince" and that "in the assembly of the states of Epirus, Skanderbeg was elected general of the Turkish war and each of the allies engaged to furnish his respective proportion of men and money". With this support, Skanderbeg built fortresses and organized a mobile defense force that forced the Ottomans to disperse their troops, leaving them vulnerable to the hit-and-run tactics of the Albanians.[12] Skanderbeg fought a guerrilla war against the opposing armies by using the mountainous terrain to his advantage. Skanderbeg continued his resistance against the Ottoman forces until his death, with a force rarely exceeding 20,000.

Although it is commonly believed that Skanderbeg took part in the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, he actually never arrived. He and his army were en route to reinforce the mainly Hungarian army of John Hunyadi, but the Albanians were intercepted and were not allowed passage by Đurađ Branković of Serbia as he had agreed that while he would aid Skanderbeg against the Venetians, he would not against the Turks. About the time of the battle, Mehmed II also launched an invasion into Albania in order to keep Skanderbeg busy. Although Hunyadi was defeated in the campaign, Hungary successfully resisted and defeated the Ottoman campaigns during Hunyadi's lifetime

In June 1450, an Ottoman army numbering approximately 150,000 men[citation needed] led by Sultan Murad II himself laid siege to Krujë. Leaving a protective garrison of 1,500 men under one of his most trusted lieutenants, Vrana Konti (also know as Kont Urani), Skanderbeg harassed the Ottoman camps around Krujë and attacked the supply caravans of the sultan's army. By September the Ottoman camp was in disarray as morale sank and disease ran rampant. Murad II acknowledged the castle of Krujë would not fall by strength of arms, and he lifted the siege and made his way to Edirne. Soon thereafter in the winter of 1450-51, Murad died in Edirne and was succeeded by his son Mehmed II.

For the next five years Albania was allowed some respite as the new sultan set out to conquer the last vestiges of the Byzantine Empire. The first real test between the armies of the new sultan and Skanderbeg came in 1455 during the Siege of Berat, and would end in the most disastrous defeat Skanderbeg would suffer. Skanderbeg had sieged the town's castle for months, causing the demoralized Turkish officer in charge of the castle to promise his surrender. At that point Skanderbeg relaxed the grip, split his forces and left the siege location. He left behind one of his generals and half of his cavalry at the bank of the river Osam to finalize the surrender. It would be a costly error.

The Ottomans saw this moment as an opportunity for attack. They sent a large cavalry force from Kosovo Polje to Berat as reinforcements. The Albanian forces had become overconfident and had been lulled into a false sense of security. The Ottomans caught the Albanian cavalry by surprise while they were resting in the shores of the Osam. Almost all the 5,000 Albanian cavalry laying siege to Berat were massacred. When Skanderbeg made it to the battlefield, everything was over; the Ottoman cavalry had already left for Anatolia. A reason of this defeat of Skanderbeg's army, was the betrayal of his nephew, Hamza Kastrioti who was an officer of Skanderbeg's cavalry that passed on the Ottoman side with other Albanian forces and gave the Ottomans important information about the locatin and the organization of the Albanian troops. Later Hamza Kastrioti was captured in the battlefield by Skanderbeg himself, and imprisoned in the castle of Krujë.