Scanderbeg NOLI

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BOSTON UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Dissertation
G30RGE CASTRIOTI SCANDERBB&

(1405-1^68)
by
Fan Stylian Noll

(A.B., Harvard, 1912; Mus. B., N.E. Conservatory of Music, 1938;
A.M., Boston University, 1939)
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
1945
"PhD
3 45
I
Ph. D. Dissertation
on
GSOftGS CA3TKI0TI iC AND2RBEG
(1405J.468)
by
Fan stylian Noll
APPROVED BY
3T READER
Profeeeor of History
IVasxrxQ^ 0. iuxMzr
Professor of History
To Thomas Townshend (later Lord Sydney):
• • • There is f*n abundance of military
knowledge to be plotted out of the lives of

Oustavus Adolphus »nd Charles XIX , King of
Sweden, *nd of 21 ska the Bohemian; and if a
tolerable account could be got of the exploits
of Sc^nderbeg, it would be inestimable; for
he excells all the officers, ancient and
modern, in the conduct of n small defensive
array. X met with him in the Turkish History

but nowhere else. . • .
Oeneml James s?olfe
Devizes, Sunday, July 18, 1756
(Wlllson, pp. 296-297)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAOB
I. PROBLEMS 1
II. SOURCES 8
Albanian • 8
Antiv^rlno 8
tfarinus Barl^tius 11
Denietrlo Franoo 13
Ghin Huaaehl »**•«

• 14
Italian 16
Pontsno ....... 16
Piue II 18
Sabellloo 19
Filelfo 20
Volaterrano ...... G
Raguean ....... 21
Restl and Gondola . . . . . 22
Luc; rl . 22
Byzantine ••••••• 22
Michael Ducae 23
George Phrantzee 23
LaonJcos Chalcondylae • . • • 24
Critoboulofi of Iabroe . . . . 25
Turkish ....... 25
Urudz Pen Ad 11 26
knonymov e 26
Ivlii
A
CHAPTER PAGE
A8hik-?«8ha-Zflde . . . . . 26
3aad -Ed -Din 26
lunadiin Baehi ZT
Archival Sources • * • • ZT
III. WORKS AND COLLECTIONS OF SOURCES . • 28
JovIub • 23
Zurlta ....... 28
Sansovlno 29
Lava rd In ....... 29
Sumraonte 29
Knolles 30
Mariana 30
Rlnaldl 30
3pondano 31
Duponcet 32
Muratorl 33
31e~»rnl ....... 33
Voltaire 35
General Wolfe • ••••• 35
Gibbon 36
Sleoondi 37
Farlatl ....... 37
IMMT • 38
Zinkelsen ....... 38
Grigorovich 39
Moore ....... 39
CHAPTER
Roraanin
Paganel
Mlklosleh
Sohafarik
Votgt
Thai ner
Pallraerayer
Trinehera
Hopf
Hahn
Makushev
Hagy and Nyary
Dathlar
Jirec'ek
Oalcloh
Petrovltch
Kayaer
Tajani
Pastor
I
Thalloozy
LJublo
Plsani
Farraendzln
Piako
Konltza
Cerone
Yaetrebov
CHAPTER
Schiro
Armstrong
Barbarlch
Manek and Pekmezi
Legrnnd
Krsmere •
Sufflay .
Jorga
Holi
Kortsha .
Marineseo
ttlese
B» binder
GepaJ /
Noli
IV. BACKGROUND
Eastern Europe
Rome
Naples
Venice
Rftfruea
Hungary
East ern Europe
Byzantine Empire
Balkan States
lxl
A
CHAPT2P. PAGE
Turkish ifoplre ...... 70
Al>ftwtia Bftdkgrounl 71
Racial 71
êligloua ....... 72
Geosriphie ....... 73
3oclstl 74
Economic 75
?rccursora ....... 76
Balaha • . . 76
Ghln Bua Shpats 77
3ua and LJcsha 78
George Arsr.itl 79
v. uaiffniiTT wmtmwm si
Origin 81
FeraendXln Document 81
Hopf Genealogy ...... 82
Angelo Gene-lo^y ...... 85
liluoachi Genealogy 86
Etymology r.nd Descent .... 86
Paraily 88
Principality 89
Religion and Polities .... 90
Relatione with Turkey .... 91

Legend ........ 93
Poetry 94
Longfellow* a Scsnderbes .... 95

lxii
A
CHAPTER PACrE
Discrepancies of the Legend . . • 102
Historical Probabilities . . . 104
Date of Birth 104
Early Years ... • 105
Revolt . • ... 109
VI • SCANDKRBliO AGAINST TURKEY AND VENICE . . 110
League of Alesslo . . $ 110
Restoration • • • 110
Conversion . . . • « 111
Turkish Surname . . 113
Convention • • ... 114
Vrnetian Observers • ... 117
The First Round . . • . . 117
The Army ... . . 117
The Commander . . 119
....
. .
Battle of Torvlolll 121
Venetian War . .... 123

A Wedding and a Battle . ... 124
War on Two Front* . • . . 125
Treaty of Pe ce . ... 127
Sultan Versus 3e«=>nderbeg . . . 128
Runyadi's Coasovo . . ... 129

Capture of Sfetigrad . ... 130
First Siege of Croya . ... 132
VII. SCANDERBHJ AND AEPHONSE V. AGAINST MEHMBD II 137
A Period of crises . iyr
lxiii
A
CHAPTER PAGE
Mehraed II 140
Alphcnee V .. 140
Wan di rig . 143
The Dueaghlnia 145
The Berat Di saster • 146
Moses of Dlbra 148
Haraza Castrioti 150
Vsnioe . 15*
Deaths 155
VIII. THE ITALIAN EXPEDITION .... 156
War of Succession 156
Truce With Turkey 157
PI ret Contingent »••»-#« 158
Visit to Rsguea 160
At B«rletta 160
Trsnl . 164
Return . . ..... 164
Results . ..... 165
Comment aril of Fiua II ... 163
Looting and Plundering .... 169
Plus II Versus Pontano . . • 170
Ferdinand ....... 171
IX. 3CANDSRBEG AI?D 910161 AGAINST MBHMED II 173
Towards Venice 173
Peace with Turkey • • » 174

lxiT
A
CHAPTER PAGtf
Treaty with Venice 176

Crusrde of Plus II • . . . • 178
3crrK?er-jeg Versus Halaban Pasha . . 179

Second Siege of Croya . . • • 181
Third Siege of Croya . . . • 186
Soanderbeg^s Last Dr»ye • 188
Fourth Siege of Croya .... 191
Epilogue . • 19*
Scpnfierbcjr *e Place In History . • 197
The Feasant Leader • .... 197

The Strategist 199
The Crusader . . • • 200
ABSTPJ^CT OF DI33CRTATI0H ..... 203

BMaftAPH* AND PHGT0GP.APH 210
BIBLTOGRAPHX 1
AFPEHDIX xxlx
•
CHAPTER I
PROBLEMS
It REVALUATION . Every hero in history had to pass
through the three stne-es of glorification, nulverization

and revaluation. That la to s*y t he w«s first raised to
the skies by his ndmi rers; then he was ruthlessly demolished

by his critics; finally , he was taken out of the ash-enn and
patiently, painfully and pitifully restored by sober histor-
ians, who were blinded neither by the fanaticism of the
hero's admirers nor by the fury of his cities* Scnnderbeg
was no exception to the peneml rule* And the question is:
what remains of him after historical criticism has done Its
worst to kill him and Its best to revive him? Or to go
still further: Is the story of sc^nderbeg a myth or a
historical fact? This is the first problem to be solved in
his c*se as In that of every other hero, who pnaaed from

prosale history to noetic legend
2. SOURCES. The story of ocmderbeg is as incredible

as any legend c«n be. Yet it can be written in pure and
dry-as-dust prose as well as any other story of his time.
Two Albanian historians. \ntivnrino, or the Anonymous of

Antivari, »nd Marlnus Barletlue of Scutari, wrote extensive
and detailed biographies of the hero. To be sure, they are

3
panegyrists but their story e«n be checked w* °nd corrected

by the writings of contemporary Itnlinn, Byzantine and
Turkish historians as well as by archival sources now made
available. Here again the question Is: Should literary
sources be treated on a footing of equality with archival
sources, after they have been both subjected to the enmm
rigorous historical criticism? Some extremists think that
literary sources belong to the wastebasket and that history
should be reduced to a mere enumeration of disconnected and
fr-p/nentiry f*>ets, based on archival material. Obviously,
history, as a mess and heap of files and catalogues is a
gross exaggeration, but the problem of finding the right way

out of the confusion of literary and archival sources will
alw«ys plague every historian of every subject. Here

appro xjdtfl mat ion is the only possibility, and that approx-
imation Is not very hard In the ease of 3canderbeg.
3. EXPEDITION , Critical historians generally
contend that most of Scanderber , s victories have been more
or less exaggerated by his biographers, which is true to

a certain extent, and then they Jump to the conclusion
that the whole story of 3c«nderbeg is an Inflated balloon,
which Is all wrong. They seem to forret that the central

point in the history of 3canderbeg Is a historical fact
about which there Is no doubt whatever: In 144^ Seanderbeg

3
seized the fortress of Oroya qnd defended It against Mured II
(1421-1451) *n« Mehaed II 1 tt*51-l48o) successively, for a

"tew
quarter of a century. Oroya fell only In Kp7$, A*A**s years
after 9eanderbep , s death. Consequently , the main problem In
Scanderbeg* s eareer Is this: Did Mured IX and Mehraed II in
turn make any serious effort to capture Oroya and were they
each time forced by Scanderbeg to raise the siege and with-
drew* If this question can be answered In the affirmative*
and if these major expeditions, led by the two great 3ultans
in person, are established facts, all the rest Is of second-

ary importance. The- exaggerations of Scanderbeg* a biograph-
ers deal only with minor fetalis and these details do not
weaken at all the central fact, naacly that the Sultans

failed to defeat Scanderbeg and capture his stronghold. This,
in a nutshell, is the central problem of the Scanderbeg story.

Still, the side problem of other Scanderbeg victories should
not he overlooked, because If such victories can be clearly
established, then the credibility of his biographers is
vindicated.
1 Unlike the Arabs, the Turks reserve the name of

"Mohammed" exclusively for the Prophet of Islam and use
"Mehaed" as a proper name for Moslems, but the spelling
is the same and only the pronunciation Is different.
4. FACTORS * If not properly told, the unequal struggle
of Seanderbeg and hi 8 tiny mountain canton against two of the
greatest war-lord e of the rising Ottoman Empire will certain-
ly sound like a mythical duel between a hill-billy David in
rage and two Goliaths in Iron panoplies* Therefore, care
should be taken to point out that 3c^nderbeg was not alone
In his epic struggle but that he was supported by such
powerful factors as the Papacy, the Kingdom of Naples,

the Venetian Republic, the City of Ragusa—in short the entire
Roman Catholic world whose cause he championed in the Balkans.

To these should be added the geographic, social and economic
factors which militated in f»vor of Seanderbeg, and finally

the Albanians themselves, who stood behind him to the bitter
•nd. Each factor constitutes a problem in itself and deserves
to be studied separately. The problem of discovering which
one of them was the decisive factor will always remain unsolved 9
but all of them together will help to explain aoanderbeg's
meteoric career. It goes without saying that the social and
economic factors were then, as they always are, at the roots
of all things.
5. SDUCATIpN . scanderber's military tactics were those
of mountain guerrilla warfare. And then the question arises:
Where did he learn the Job so well as to be able to stop two
great Sultans with that primitive weapon? In his native

5
mountains or In the Sultan** palace, as the legend has it?

This problem, one of the *x>et Important ones, and one of the
very first ones to face the historian is either skipped or

treated casually. Some historians accented the legend about
Soanderbeg's e»rly years, others expressed soiae doubts because

the legend is contradicted by arithmetic and chronology but
nobsdy went deeper into it An order to find a way out of that

aythloal beginning. This problem will be discussed at length
in its proper pl*ee« Here, suffice it to say that the legend
is unacceptable for sore than one reason. It should be either
rejected entirely or radically amended . Anyhow, the problem
should not, and onnnot be, elrcuTrented. Otherwise, the

I
entire biography of senderbeg is bound to be jûilt on quicksand.
6. SiTJi\CK«300ffi . The authors of the two monumental
volumes of the Aota et Diplomats Albanias2 Intended to publish

three more volumes in orêr to cower the period of 1407-1471,
which coincides with seanderbeg/s lifetime. The first Uorld
•fer put an end to their labors. Then the war ended, one of
the three scholars, the Czeoh,Conetantln Jlrecek, was dead;

soon nfter the Hungarian, Ludwig won Thalloozy, was killed in
a train collision; and finally, the Croatian, Milan von Sufflay

was assassinated by a Serbian fanatic. With the latter* s death
went to the gr°ve, not only the three unpublished volumes of
2 3ee Bibliography.
the Acta but also a History of Albania, whioh he had In
preparation. Only one chapter of the latter was s«ved from the
catastrophe, the one he had already published In the Illyrlsh *
Albanlsehe For so hung en. All this vast work has to be done all
over again. \nyhow, the task of writing the history of
Seanderbeg is now complicated by the fact that Htf sources are
scattered to the seven seas and have to be rediscovered and
rc-flshed. Some of the books are unavailable in the United
States. Some of the available ones are not to be found in
Boston or Cambridge. A Journey to New York City is necessary
for Sa ad -ed -Din's Crown of Histories in Turkish as well as for

four other much more important works. Jorga's 3hort History
of Albania, in French, is to be found only in Washington, D.C.
Fortunately, tho Library of Congress is merciful enough to lend
the book to any other public library on application, for a short
period. In spite of all these handicaps, sufficient ^terial

was available to Justify new book on 3c and erbeg.
7. RFFSR5iJC53 . The problem of getting hold of an
available book for references is not always simple. Somebody
else may be using it, or still worse, the book may have been
mislaid by a green youngster, is never on the shelf, and elab-
orate excavations are neceasary in order to dig it up again.

The lesson from these bitter experiences was to copy everything
connected *ith the subject before the book was returned to the
careless youngster and indefinitely withdrawn f roa circul-
ation. It took montha to do nil thla copying, but from tals
to an Appendix, which would sake references easier for both
author and reader, there was only one step to be taken. The
Ideal appendix would have been one containing every laportant
document dealing with 3eanderneg. That could not be done.
A separate volume *K>uld have been necessary. So the appen-
dix had to be reduced to • very sjodc3t collection of -isterlal

which has been ncdeeted or which deserves M*i e-aphasls.
Other problems will be discussed in the course cf the
dissertation as the occasion arises.

CHAPTER II
SOURCES
A. m ttBMm * The principal literary source?; for the
history of 3canderbeg are hla two major Mbrnlan bio~r ohers,

Antlvarino and S^rlctlus. Their works are supplemented by two
monor Albanian biographer ?, Deêtrlo Franco and ahln :tasnehi#

1
1. Antlv^rino * Until the ui^dle of the Will century

It was believed that Barletlus was the only rasjor biographer
of 3oanderbe£» 3ut fHatnraari* Bie^rni, an Italian priest from
Breseia, discovered an earlier anS & mare reliable biographer:
He calls him Antlvarlno * namely the Anonymous Author from

AntivAri.* To *ivoid confusion, la&i name should be adopted,
although T iiyself alhanlzed it once ufon a tlue, since the
author w*s an Albanian2 and OegaJ latinized it since the
author wrote in Latin. ' Bieirral was the first and last histor-
ian to uee Antivarlno's book, which seems to hive been ir-
retrievably lost. He preserved for us the Latin title, as he
found it at the eolonhont "©cpllclt His tori a senderbegi,
edit* per quendam Albanensem, Venetlls, impressa induatria at-
que lmpensa Erardl Hadolt de Augusta anno Domini 1480, die 2

mensls Aprllis ducante Joanne tfocenygo inclyto Duce."*
[ 1 "Autore. 11 quale dalla sua patrla d'Antlvari nomin-

*ro per sua distlnzione Antivarino." ?31eTa:nl» Prefp.e« .p«9.
2 "Tiaras!", Noli, p.7.
3 " A nti baronets", Gegaj, p.vii.
A Biommi, Preface, p. 3. Petrovlteh, po. 1-3.
Bleraml goes on to tell us thrt the book woe In
r
ft very bad
shspe, th*»t several folios were missing ftt the beginning, at
the end <md In between. The story begrm with the tenth folio,
In 1443, when 3e«nderbeg had «lre^dy etntured Oroya, end end*
ed with the ninety •second folio In 1466, when Oroya w.^s be-
sieged by Balnban Pasha after the first expedition of ?£ehned II*
In between there were two gpps, the first one In 1448 with one
ralsslog folio, which probably dc^lt with the conclusion of
peree between aennderbeg and Venice, and the second one In 1449
with two missing folios, which probably described the capture
of Sfetlgra^by iSurad II? Antlvrlno wrote his story
according to the reports of his brother, an eyewitness, who
served «s *n officer In Sc^nderbeg's Guard Battalion. He

describes Jfafpatf e>ft#/ Impartially ?nd critically every event,
good or bsd, and Is slw*ys careful to name the places and the
dntes of the various bottles, rrlvlng the d**y, the month *nd
the ye*»r, which Barletlus very rarely does. » do not know
who Antlv«»rlno w»s» There tre certain Indications th^t he may

have been none other thnn Pûl Angelo, the Archbishop of
Dur«zzo. The latter wns from Antlv^rl;^ he had a brother,
who served *s an officer In scrmdcrbe^B array;® he was the
5 Blemral, Preface, pp. 5-4 1 also Book VI, p. 456.

6 Blemral, Book II 9 pr>« 140, 144; Book III. p. 191 •
7 "Discendes d«lla casa Angell che una volta godea la
Slgnorla dl Antlvarli coel rlferlsee l'Antlvsrlno. w Blemml,
Book XI* p. 126, n.l.
8 "Pletro Angelo, fr^tello dell* Arc hive so ovo dl Dur-
azzo: questl ohe avesse 11 govemo della mlllzla— * Bleml,
Book VI, nn. 396-397; cfr. Barletlus, Book XI, p. 331: H Ad
hostemque qulngentos equltes praemlslt. ulbus Peloura Sman-
uelle et Petrum Angelum Drlv^stensem Andreas f Ilium praefecerat-
s
10
trusted adviser of scnderbeg;^ moreover, Luccari, the well-
Informed Rngusan Annalist, »s both Fallmerayer and Kopf assure
U8 t knew * History of 3canderbeg by the Archbishop of Durazzo

" 3,0
and used it in his Annr»li di Rausa ". On the other hand,
GcgaJ thinks that Antiv«rino *md the Archbishop of Durazzo

eould not have been one and the same person becuse Antivarino^s
Hlstoria was published In 1430, and the Archbishop had already
died some eleven years before, in 1469*** Still, the Historia
of the Archbishop may h«ve been published posthumously by a
younger brother or a nephew. Babinger suspects that Antiv.rino

is Jnst * fiction and th«t Biemmi is guilty of a literary
forgery bec«use Only, a specialist on Incunabula, could find no
evidence that book like that of Antivarino was ever printed

a
12
by Radolt of Augsburg in Venice. But such conclusions are
overhasty for more than one reason. To begin with, Antivarino'
book, rs it can be easily ascertained from Biemrai's frequent
9 "Omnium lnborum, periculorura atque consillorum socius
atque partieeps velut Aeneae alius Achates* Barletlus, Book X,

». 228.
10 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX. p. 9; Hopf, Oriechenland, Vol.86,

p. 122. Fallmerayer and Hopf are the only ones who refer to this
unnoticed Luccari passage. None of them had known Biemmi.
11 C-egaJ. p.viii.
12 Babinger, Blbassan, p. 94.

•
11
references and quotations, Is unquestionably an independent
source, bristling with information/4, which is confirmed by
other sources. On the other hand, as it will be shown in the
following chapter, it is rather hard to believe that a hist-
orian of Bleaml's type could commit a forgery. Very nrobabfcy,
Babinger road Biemmi^s book only here and there, as overworked

scholars have to do sometimes in the case of works which do
not belong to their major field
2. ârinus Barletius . Antivarino was a bad writer and

1'
his book perished, Barletius was a good writer and his book
survived. He was an Albanian and a Roman Catholic priest from

14
Scutari. He w«s a young man when Scanderbeg died; he knew
personally many of the hero's comrades, from whom he obtained
his information;^ he used documents for his history, especially

1 **
Venetian documents; he witnessed 1^ and described the ele{?e of
18
Seutnrl in a book published in Venice, where he ended as a
1
refugee. He wns not a southern Italian, as Jorga supposes, ^
13 "Ha scritto con uno stile rozzo e privo d'ogni

eleganza, mescolnto in oltre dl non nochl barbarisml e sole*
clsal." Bleaml, Preface, p. 8.
14 Ut de 3codra mea taceam." Barletius, Book IT, p. 35 •
15 H Kovi et ipse rriultos cives "ieos, qui variis temporibus

llllus (Scanderbegi) ausoiclis meruerunt, et y>el eo solo nomine
lngentia f*aae decora ad posteros tulere. H Barletius, Book VI,p.l58.
16 "Ego vero adjutum semper pecunia 3c«nderbegum ipsa
voluntate senatus comperio." Barletius, Book VI, p. 156.
17 Vidl multa hujuseeaodl ipse, quum lnfellcl fato a4

rt
pntriam (Scodraa) defendendam infelicia arms tenerem, cujus nunc

aemoria slcut mirlftee recreor, ita recensere sine lachrymls non
poesua." Barletius, Book VI, p. 167.
18 De Obsidione 3eodrensi, Venice, Vitall, 1504, 72 ff.
19 "Der 3udltr>llener Barletti." Jorga, Osnanen, Vol. II, p. 84

12
nor a Uniat priest of the ftreck rite, aa Rodota asserta. 20

Hie book in Renal asanec Latin "Hl s torla de Vita et Gestle
Scandcrbegl " was published In Rome between 1506 and 1510, tt
had aeveral edltlona and was tranalated In -*11 the ;?uropean
languages. 21 It served as the basis of the innumerable
work a on 3e*nderbeg from the eixteenth to the twentieth
century. Petrovlteh, in hla Bibliography ., a work of love,
ha a listed about two hundred of them, and he wa8 preparing
another volume for the worka in Slavic languages, which he

never publlahed. 22 Like Thucydldea, Barletius concave a
history as a branch of rhetoric, consieting of battlea and
aneeehes. He rarely gives the day, the -nonth and the year,
aa Antlv*rlno does, »nd with a few exceptions, hla dates are
wrong. He extola the victories of the hero and aklpa hla
misfortunes. He multiplies the Turkish dead by thousands
and reduces the Albanian loaaea to a few dozens, though
he *d"ilta that 8uch a thing can be done only in poetry, not In
hietory?' In brief, he ia ao frankly a panegyrist that aorae
20 Rodota, Vol. Ill, chap. 2, p. 24, note a. Barletiue

in Rook V, p. 141, make a It clear that he la a Roman Catholic,
when he apeake of the Orthodox Bulgarlana and their "Graecorum
errorea et ineptiaa'1 .
21 See Bibliographic e of Petrovitch and Legrand.
22 Petrovitch, pp. xll-xlli.
23 "Nam non deaunt qui vix 60 homlnum Jactura abaces-

aiese ab ea obaldlone aaserant, quod abeat multum a ratione,
ni magia penetrabilla hostium, quam nostrorum corpora dix»
erlmua, ut dell rant j^jrf poetae, quum priori oppugnatlone
nuper tot Turoarum mlllla oaesa omnea fateantur." Barletlua,
Book VI, p. 155.
13
u
critical historians, like spondanus, Gibbon and Jorga Jumped
24
to the conclusion that hie Vita ie absolutely worthless.
Marine sco is no less severe than others but he rend Barletius,
compared notes, and then had to adult that his Information
is not always b^sed on inventions and that "sometimes 1

*
what
2^
he says is confirmed by documentary sources. rt
3ometlês w Is
too little* "Very often" would be better, as It will be ihown
later. To be sure, Barletius should be used very cautiously,
but his testimony can be accepted if it is not contradicted

by other sources. This is Uakushev's attitude toward both
biographers of seanderbeg, 2^ and the Russian scholar is not
less critic**! than any of his colleague*.
3- Pemetrlo Franco . A short biography of acnnderbeg
is attributed to his treasurer, Dcmetrio Franco, a Roian
Catholic nriest, who accompanied 3canderbeg on his last Journey

27' 23
to Rome in 1446. It was originally written In Latin, but
24 ûae nemo credat, nisi qui fabulis delectatur.**

rt
Spondanue, Vol. II, ye^r 1461, p. 35^, no. 20. "In the old
and national history of Uarlnus Barletius. • • his (Scander-
beg's gaudy and cumbersome robes are stuck with many false
Jewels. Glbbon-Sury, Vol. VII, Chap. LXVII, p. 40. *Der
Suditallener 3arletti, der ein Epos nach antlkera Bluster dichten
wollte. * Jorga, Osraanen, Vol. II, p. 84.
25 "Cependant 1' information de 3»rletius ne repose as

toujours sur une invention. Farfols ce -a' 11 avarice se trouve
eonflrme par les dormees dea documents.'* iiarineaco, p. 9«
26 Makushev, Ra/^yskanla, p. Ill, note 5.
27 "Dimltrio Franco degll ottlaati di Drivasto, cugino

dl Paulo arolvescovo Angelo e spend i tore dl Scanderbeg."
Franco, Chap. XXXVII, p. 40 v.
28 Legrand, No. 44, pp. 18 -19.

14
It came down to us only In Italian translations under various
titles and with slight variations. The earliest edition is that
mentioned by Fallmerayer: Commcnt*rlo de le Cose de Tu rohl et

del 3. Oeorglo 3oand erbeg. P ri ncipe d'apyrro . Venice, 1539. 29
It was popularised by 3ansovlno, who Included It in his
Hlstorla Un iver sale .^ It la obviously an abridgement of
Barletlus's Vlta,but It differs in some details and contains
some supplementary Information. The author must have been an

ta- gives U-S
Albanian becau seethe laconic opinion of Lree Ducagln In a wnr
eounell of 1467 In two Albanian words.'1 Kopf thinks that

2
Franeo is more critical than Barletius.'
4. flhln Mueaehl * The other minor biographer after
Demetrlo Franco Is Ghln *J!usachl g a comrade-in-arms of 3eander-
beg *nd the only Albanian prince, who enjoyed the Byzantine
title of "Despot of Splrus", which was reserved for members
of the Imperial family, especially for younger brothers of
the Byzantine emperor. Ghln Musachl was one of the last princes
to le^ve Albania In 1479, a ye^r after the f«ll of 3cut?rl"
and eleven yenrs after Scanderbcg's death. In Naples, where

he was living as a refugee, he wrote a History and Gen ea logy
of the House of Musaohl^. In which he tells Incidentally the
story of 3canderbeg. The story Is undoubtedly derived from
29 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 96, note 2.
30 See Legrand anfl Petrovltch.
31 Franco, Chap. XXXYIt, p # 42 ,
32 Hopf, Orlechenland , Vol. 86, p. 122.
33 Hopf, Chroniques, p. 276.

I
15
Barletiue nnd Deraetrlo Franco, but again, It differs in
certain details and contains some supplementary information

of the highest import ance about Seanderbeg and the other
Albanian princes, which will be discussed later on, Ghin

Mueaehl is frankly hostile to 3eanderbeg, whom he considers
an upstart,^* and a usurper, who was busy annexing territories

belonging to neighboring principalities.^ Therefore his
testimony is much more viluqble than that of the other biograph*

ere, who r>re more or less panegyric. The occasion for writing
this Genealogy w*s given to Ghin :<5usnchi by a crusade, which
was being prepared against the Turks in 1510. High hopes
were entertained by the Albanian princes in exile to recover

their principalities and Ghin Musachl hastened to tell his
frhree sons in writing what p*rts of Albania belonged to their
ancient fnmily and how they should divide these p^rts among
themselves. The crusade did not materialize, but the Geneal-
ogy remained, burled in the 31hllotecca Brancaeciana of Naples
until 1863, when Hopf discovered the manuscript, and obtained

a copy from the Librarian Volpicella.^ Hopf announced his
discovery in 1864 and pointed out its importance. Four years
34 Hopf, Chroniques, p. 301.
35 Hopf, Chroniques, pp. 299-300.
36 Hopf, Chroniques, p. xxxiv.
37 In asonatsberiehte der Berliner Akadmmie der **Lssen-

sehaften, 1864, pp. 193-197. Hopf, Chroniques, p. xxxiv.
- .
16
Inter Kakushev published Its ôst inport^nt parts,- In 1873

the entire Genealogla of ahin 'Susaehi rras publighed by Kopf
in his Chroniques Greco Romanes.-^ GegaJ, erroneously, asserts

40
that it was first published bv Rieea. The letter simply
published a document in which the nene^logia is mentioned for
1
the first tirae.^ It apnears from this document that lusachi's
Oenealcf&a w-<s already known in 1606. Hahn, who ^rote a jf/£/Jtf
detailed eomment?ry on it, calls.the "pearl" of Hopf's dis-

A
_ 43
coveries.
B« ITALIAN , Only short references, dealing: especially
with Scanderbepr' s Italian expedition^, are to be found in the
works of contemporary Italian historians and annalists. But
soae of them deserve to he mentioned becaune they *re indepen-
dent sources and contain valuable information,
1. Pontano . The humanist, poet, statesman and histor-

ian, Giovanni Oioviano Pontano (1426-1503) eomes first as an
eyewitness, who aceospanied King Ferdinand of Naples in his
38 Makuahev, riusachi, 1368. 3ee Bibliography.
39 Hopf, Chroniques, pp. 270-340.
40 OegaJ, p. x, note 1.
41 Hopf, Chroniques, pn. xxxiil-xxxlv. Also Cav. Erasrao

Rleca, Istorla de 1 Feudl delle Due Slcille dl qu a dnl Faro .
Vol.11 T, 1365» ^P. 276-278, In 5 volumes, Naples, A. de Pascalt,
1859-1879.
42 Hopf, Chroniques, p. xxxlil.
43 Hahn, Reise, Vol. XVI $ p. 96

17
expeditions as hit chancellor, and who wrote a book on the
Neapolitan War of Succession.^ Pontano must have certainly
net Sc°nderbeg, when the latter came to the a ssi stance of
Xing Ferdinand in 1461. In his opinion, scanderbe^'s inter-
ventlon was of a decisive character: He s*ved Ferdinand
fro* disaster.^ Aa we shall set. in a later chanter, Pontano
was right. But this is not the only lsyurlsjrt Information
for which ws are indebted to him. He describes Scanderbeg
as he saw hira and, in passing, tells us that he a rrown

46
up young man, when he was riven as » hostage to Sultan
Mured II, a fact of fundamental lmoortanee for evrry bio«
grapher of Scanderbeg. Again, Pontano is right. Hut,
somehow or other, Pontano' I testimony on this point paased
unnoticed.
44 Sismondl admires him: Vol. X, p. 93# note 1;

Crelghton tells us that "his ohief claim to j-lory will not
rest on his historical writings". Vol. II, Apnendix, p. 534;
Capasso is fair to him, p. 5» note 2. According to Thompson,
Vol. I, p. 506, note 89: "The best and almost the only
account of NeapolitanA is by Bartolomeo Capaa^, Le Fonti. •
45 Pontano, Vol. II. Book II, p. 279. See App., no.

XXIII, p. 11.
46 "Admodura adoleseens." Vol. II, Book II, p. 279.

3ee App., No. XXIII, p. 111.
2* Flu* II • The famous humanist, Aeneas Sylvius
Plccolomini (1405-1464), who later became Pope Plus II
(1458-1464), refers to Scanderbeg, not only In his letters
and bulls, but also In two of his writings, the Description
of Asia and !3 urope» and the Commentarll. Consequently, he
is both i literary *nd an Archival source for scanderbeg.
In all but one of his writings, the Commentaries, Plus II
speaks of Scanderbeg, like his two predecessors, iiocholas V
(1447-1455) and Callxtus III (1455-1458), In highly lauda-
gory terjjs. '

But In his Commentaries, Plus II Is frankly
sarcastic about Soanderbeg's Italian expedition.^ As we
•hall set. in later chapter, Plus II, or whoever wrote or
edited t- at p~.rt of his Commentaries,^ was wrong, but the

fact remains that his testimony, or that of his editor,
prevailed over that of Pontano, *?ho was finally ignored and
forgotten, as a -natter of fact, GegaJ does not mention him
at all. On the other hand, in Pius lt f g Descrip t ion of Asia
and 2uropo > there is a very Important passage on soanderbeg's
father, which has remained unnoticed,-* which is confirmed
47 Cugnoni, No. IA, p. 132, App. No. XIII, p. xllil;

No. XIV, p. xllv; 80. XVI, p. xlv: *. • • nco t*lcs esse
nostras et Fcclealae vires, ut tuae nobilitati auxilla
praestare possimus, qu*e constantlae et operlbus pro fide
suseeptle deberl cognoseimus.
48 Plue II, Commentarll, pp. 302-303, especially Ke^

Thuoydldlan pseudo-corresoondence between 3e»nderbeg and the
Prince of Taranto, pp. 303-5.
49 Caapano, according to Pastor, Vol. Ill, pp. 40-44

and 415-18, No. 65. Also Thompson, Vol. I, pp. 485-87.
50 Pius II tells us that John Castriot, Scanderbeg 1 1

father, beoame a ^foslem and assumed the name of "Camusa", a
corruption of "Haaza". Plu8
p. 337. App. No. XI, pp. xli-xlii.
n
AslR 6t guropa,Chap.XV,
* 9 9
"
19
SI
by the Raguaan Luccarl, and which throve a different light
on 3eanderbe£ f s e^rly yenrs. The implications of this pnssa&e
will be dlaeuseed In l*ter chapter,
3» âbe l lloo (1436-1506). Fallmcrayer wa3 the first to

mention the humanist historian of Venice, Antonio Cocclo Sabcl-
2
llco, In connection with 3e«nderbeg.^ with the exception of a
few lines, Fallmerayer quotes the entire pase^ge of flnhellico
piecemeal on different occaaiona. It Is given In e^tenso

5*5 i
In the appendix without any omission. It ^Leaervea to be
emphasized* 5«bellico'a father had met Scanderbeg during hla
Itsllan expedition and 8i~<ply could not forget him. Time and
again he bo»ated to hla aon Antonio that he had seen the

Albanian hero, who, in hla own person* was worth an entire
arary.55 â we sh«ll see Inter, whot Ssbellieo h«s to sny on
Scanderbeg contradicts Plua II, or the editor of his Commcntar-
lea, and vlndlctea both Pontano and Barletiue."^
2
51 Quoted by Makuaher, Ragyakani*, Chapl IV, p. 31, note
2f Annall dl Ra ruaa . second ed., \1790, p. 159.
,
52 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, pp.5# note 3; 74, note 1; 103»not
53 App. No. XXIV, pp. lii-lir.
54 "Solebat Joannes Cocelus, pater raeu8, qui Calnbro bello

•ub Ruberto Uraino, vlro fortiealmo, allquamdiu railit«vlt, adol-
escentl mini enarmre, vldisse ae Eplrotam homlnem . .
Sabelll, Third Decade, Book IX, p. 757. App., No. XXIV, p. llv.
55 "Totque Interim ao t?»nta belli facinora tdentem, ut

merlto plua unus, quam tota equltum hostlbua formldabllia
vlderetur.
56 "Sabelll cue* Decades Reru m Venctr»rum was printed at

Venice In 1487 and immediately attained fame." Thompson, vol. I,
pp. 482-3.
20
*« BU&iQ (1399-1431). rhen Flue II was preparing hla
Crus«<3e of 1464 f which klllstf him at Arjcona, every ?ool huianiat
of the Renaissance thought It hi 3 £uty to support the famous

humanist Pope. One of these supporters was France 300 rilelfo,
who wrote several propsgasjo'l letters to the leading men of the
tires for this purpose, Some of these letters came down to us.
One of the arguments, used in there to assure the people that
the Crusade would! be successful, Is this: Se have Seariderbeg
and »• have the Albanians as our allies.^? Visit ~llclfo has to
say on ScaneVrbeg and the Albanians is very Important. He empha-
sizes the guerrilla tactics of Scanderbeg and asserts that the

Albanians were the only ones In the Balkans, ^ho stopped the
58
Turks.
5« Volntsrrano (1434-1516). Tie oldeat vindication of
Barletlus la to be found in the short biography of 3c°nderbeg,

given to us by the humanist, historian and theologian, Raffaele
Uaffei Vola terra no (1434-1516) in his Comentaril. a kind of
aieyclopedla, published In 1506 in Rome. 5 ^ Since the uncertain
57 Even Pius II uses that same argument: *H Sjuls non

his copiis avperatum lrl Turcss arbitretur? His acccdct
Georp-lue Scar.cVrbechius et Albanoruf? fortlseima manus." Plus II,
Commentarli t pp. 168-169, App. No. XV, p. xliv.
58 "Soli ex omnibus nation! bus intra I at rum et Hadrlam

,,
at Italiae fines et fortisslme Turcoa aemper 8ust^nuerunt.
Rlnaldi, Vol. X, year 1463.
59 It had 9 aecond edition in Far! a in 1516.

21
date of Barletlus* Vita Is olaced between 1506-1510, It may

be safely Inferred that Volaterrano^ Encyclopedia was
published, If not earlier, it le«st In the same yenr as the
VI t«. At any r*>te, Voliterrano Is certainly Independent of
Barletlus because he differs from him In some very Important
oolnts, which will be discussed later. The 3tras burg editor

1
of Barletlus Vita saw the Importance of Volaterrano' s short
biography »nd Inserted It between his preface and the text.^

In the prefaoe, the editor points out that the Barletlan
Story Is not a myth since It Is confirmed by Volaterrano's

Encyclopedia «nd Plu ell's Desc rip tion of Asia and Europe ****
Other Italian contemporary sources will be discussed

l«ter In the course of the dissertation, in general, It may
be s*ld that none of them Is dependent on 73»rletlus, who wrote
auch l»ter. One can glenn from their writings a short pane-
gyric biography of Sc*nderbeg, If not better, at le*et as good
«s th»t of the Albanian p»ne<7yrlet of Scutari.
C. RACKJSAN . The three Rngusnn annalists, Gondola,
Restl and l*jec«rl are not contemporary writers but they der-
ived têlr Information from enrller sources and from the
R*gui*n "rehlwes, to which they had access as patricians,

senators «nd high officials of the Republic.
60 Argentoratl, *pud Cratonem tiyllum mense Octo rl.

Anno llDXXX VI I, See Petrovlteh, pp. 10-12; Lerr«nd,
No. 7, PP. 3-4.
61 Volaterrano 1 s short biography Is reproduced In ex-

tenso also by iiansl In Rlnaldl, Vol. X, year 1460, No .41,
pp. 242-43.
.
22
1. Res tl and Gondola are the authors of the Chronica
Rofruelna, published by the Croatian Academy of \rt* md sciences.
Giovanni Gondola (d.1650) compiled the second p-rt from
1451-1484, while l«ter ann*llet t Glmfiio Restl (1671-1735),

edited the fir^t part from the origin of the City to the year
1451,
2. Luccarl . As It h«»s been already pointed out, the

Rsgus^n patrician Pletro Luoearl (d.1615) knew find used for hie
Annall dl Rausa a History of 3candcrbe ^ by the contemporary
Archbishop of Durnzao, Paul Angelo. If the Archbishop *nd the
Antivarlno rrere one and the sane person, then we rany find In
Lueeari some o f the lost ports of Antivnrlno's Hiatorla. If
they were two different persons, then Luccrl has ore served
for us the only extant fragments of a lost work on Sennderbeg.^
In either cnse, Luccarl* s book aaeu-ies the lînort^nce of a
primary source. Unfortunately, his hook i?«s not available In
any library wltAin re«ch. References to Lucc^ri nre borrowed

64
from the works of W4t other scholars.
D. BYZ '
.'TI'.'E . The nontempomry Byznntine historians
are bitterly anti -Albanian «nd antl -Catholic; two of t.bea,
Laonloos «nd Critoboulos nre also pro -Turkish; all of them
62 see Preface by 3. Nodllo, pp, i-xix, of Chronica

R«eusina.
63 See F^llmernyer, Vol. IX,p. 9# and Hopf, Crlechen-

land, Vol. 86, p. 122.
64 Fallmer*yer, Hopf, .'Mkushev, Yastrebov, Kortsha and

GegaJ
•
were nrlstocrats and high officials of t v<e dying Byzantine

65
S-ipire.
1. Klohael Du eag (XV c.) , of imperial descent, has not
a single word to s"y on Scnnderbeg. Ho 1b glal to see the
Alb*ml»ns # t' e lerbi^na nnfl the Bul<? o rl c ns slaughtered b the
Turks: They «re punished by ttod for their revolts against the
Holy Byzantine Emperors. But he la not as rabidly anti-Cath-

ollc «*s the others and criticizes his f ellow-Byzaiitlnes, who
67
preferred the Turk to the Fr ~,nk.
2. Qeorge Phrantzes (1401-1478) , of Const nntlnople,
frankly hates and despises the Albanians, whoa he calls! "The

68
aost wicked and the most worthless Albanian nation". He Is
glad to announce In three laoonic passages that Seanderbeg's
father, John Csstriot, was crushed by 3ultan Murnd II, that
Scnderbeg w«s routed by Sultan rJehmed II *md was dead and rone.
70
lut, *s Falloerayer remarked , he is the first historian who
gawe us the e^ct ye*r of his death, namely 1468.
65 On the Byzantine historians of the XV century, see

Krumbaeher, pn. 100-107, «nd VSslliev, Vol. II, pp. 350-355
and 406-409.
66 Duons, Chap. VI, p.25.
67 Krumbaeher, p. 104; Ducas, p. 291.
68 Phrantses, Book IV, Ch«p. XVI, p. 391
69 Phrantzes. Book I, Chap. XXXII, p. 92; Book IV, Chap.

XXII, pp. 425, 429-430.
70 Pallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 13.

24
3. Laonicos C hal c ondylas (XV c#), of Athena, Is the

,
most mbldly antl -Catholic of the group. He wants his readers
to believe that, once unon t tirne, a female Pope eat on Sînt
Peter's throne; that she bore a baby In front of the altar

during a pontifical mass; that the c<»rdinnl8 took drastic
aeasures to prevent the recurrence of such | scandal; and
that since that time every newly elected Pope had to give
tangible evidence of his male sexi Ho Is frankly sorry that
the Roman Catholic Seanderbeg escaped unharmed from the dis-

72
aster of Herat In V*55* Yet, he had to ndît th*t neither
liurad II nor Xeh-nee II succeeded In defeating seanderbeg and

that both of thes failed to capture the desperately defended
stronghold of Croya.^ In view of Ms hostility, It is highly
significant th^t he said that much. On the other h*ind #
Laonicos has a soft spot for Seanderbeg* s father-in-law, George
Aranltl Comnenl. He depcribes his victory against All Evrenos

74
at some length with obvious pleasure. The reason is that
George Aranltl h«d Imperial Byzantine blood In his veins from

some distant female Comnena grandmother. As a rule, Laonicos
gets mixed up with his dates, places and events.
71 Laonicos, Book VI, p. 303«

72 Laonicos, Book VI II, p. 433.
73 Laonicos, Book VTI, 335; Book VIII, on, 432-3.

74 Laonicos, Book V, pp. 250-251.
25
4. Crlto bouloa of Imbroq (XV c), the panegyrist of

Mehmed II, 7 5 i8 cert" Inly the most decent of the group, at
least in one respect: He admits that the Albanians and the

other nations of Europe *nd Asia, who resisted the Turks, were
76
fighting for liberty. Moreover, he describes more extensive-
ly the l*st two expeditions of Mehmed II against Steanderbeg,
giving the correct years, and he is the only Byzantine
historian who describes a Scanderbeg victory against Balaban

Pasha in 1467.^ Critoboulos w*e completely ignored as a
source for the history of Scanderbeg until very lately: In
1909 Jorga mentioned him In some footnotes, ^® and Roth quoted

70
from his Life of Mehmed II without giving his source.
E. TURKISH . We get only wwtfHsw fragmentary and some*
times contradictory information *bout 3c?nderbeg from the
Turkish annalists. They *re, of course, glorlflers of their
Sultans nnd do not admit any scanderbeg vstory. But they
have to admit that he and his Albanians refused to pay tribute.
All of them oonflrm the two expeditions of Sultan Mehmed II
against 3ennderbeg. Their scanty testimonies from a hostile

source, like those of the Byzantine historians, are extremely
valuable.
75 On Critoboulos sec Thompson, Vol. I, p. 447; Vasiliev,

PP. 350, 352-3, 406, 409; Krurabneher, p. 107.
76 Critoboulos in Greek, Book I, Par, 63, p. 41.
77 Critoboulos in Greek, Book V, Par. 91, p. 339;
App., Ho. XXVIII, Par. 91, p. lvii.
78 Roth, p. 99.
79 Jorga, Osmanen, Vol. II, pp. 93, 139.
80 For the Turkish annalists see Hammer, Vol.1, pp. 21-24;
(Continued on the next page)
/ 26
1. Urud? Ben Ad 11 (XV e.) adults in looonlc
ft
81
sentence th«*t liurad II failed to capture Croya.
2. The Anonymous (XV o.) of Giese naively telle
us th*t Murad II raised the siepe of Oroya because he did
not w«nt to sacrifice a single soldier for fifty such

- _^ re 82
fort sees*
3. Aahlk-Pae ha -Zade (1400-1485) is the first Turkish
annalist who tells us that Scanderbeg wâ educated In the
palace of Sultan Sursd II end that he w^s granted a

military fief in Albania;**' but Sc°nderbcg revolted *nd was
duly punished by 3ult*»n Israel II and 5ult<m Kehêd II.

M
4. Saad-ed-Din Ibn Hasand^ (1536-1599) writes MP*

extensively but he sl-nply repeats the story of Ashik-Pasha-
Zade with a few variations. The only new information he
85
adds Is that Sc^nderbeg died as a destitute refugee abroad.
Saad-ed-Din is the best-known Turkish historian because his
Crown of Hlstorles^ translated into Italian by the Rngus.m

Bratuttl. But Hammer thinks that the Bratuttl translation is
Of"
very faulty.
Church, pr>. 286-87, note 1; Kramers, Encyclopedia of Islam,

Vol, III, po. 466-o7 and 722; Babinger, Oesehichtschreiber,
P. 15, 23-25, 35-5T, 123-126, 234-J5; Vaeiliev, Vol. II.
p. 352; Tho-npeon, Vol. I, pp. 447 -*8; Yastrebov, pp. 245 -A7.
81 rriihosmanlsche, p. 123.
82 Altosuanlsche, Oeruan translation, p. 98; Turkish

text, p. 73; Apo. No. XXVII, pp. lvill-llx.
83. Ashlk«Pasha-Zade t Chap. Ill, p. 112.
84 Ashlk-P«sh*-2ade, Chap. 123, o. 119 and Chan. 162, p. 142,

85 Saad-ed-Din, Vol.1, p. 510.
86 Hammer, Vol. I, p.23«
27
5. nanedgla Bashl. Ahmed Ibn Lutfullah (1640-1702)
was unavailable in libraries within reach, but agîn, is It

appears from Yostrebov's quotations, he simply repents the
stories of Ashlk-Pasha-Zade and 3aad-ed-Din.^
P. ARCHIVAL SOURCE^ . According to Thalldczy,

Jirecek and Sufflay, at least three monumental volumes would
be needed for the archival sources covering, the period of
Scanderbeg. The three scholar* died before they could e*rry
out their plT.. Consequently, tê documents remain scattered
in various collections of related sources. The most l"»r>ortint
of these «re those of ?inaldi t Theiner, âkushev, LJubie, Jorâ,
Trlnehara, Th??lloczy <*nd Cerone. On the other hand f Zurlta,
Kopf, Pastor and ^rinesco used archival documents for their
works.®® A pood deal remains buried in the archives or In

neglected collections of sources.
88 For the collections and works of the scholars

mentioned, see Mbliography.
• • *
CHAPTER III
WORKS AND COLLECTIONS OF SOURCES
1
15*8. Jovlus « Bishop of i.ocera, g*ve a place to
Scanderhag In his ?Hogln . Hie Information does not seem
to be derived exclusively from Barletlus and Franco.
Incidentally he refers to * oortr*>lt of HmJlrtu with

a prominent nose, which he stw at the .luseura of Florence.
4
He mentions Sc**nderbeg also In his Comênt^rlo .
1562, Zurlta. who wrote the Annals of \r»rxm from
archlvl material, ^ Is the first to mention the treaty,

concluded between 3e-mderbeg and Alphonse V of Aragon and
Naples In 1451. He ndde that Alphonse V was rewarded by
*he "great assistance" Sc«nderbeg gave to his son Ferdinand

6
In 1461.
1 The year preceding each Item Is that of the first

edition of the respective work dealing with 3canderbeg.
References in this dissertation are soraetliea made to Inter
editions, lndloated In the Bibliography.
2 Jovlus, florin. Book III, pp. 229-234.
3 "Naeo proralnente decenternue lncurvo . • • utl

ex coll»tlone ejus lmaglnle cuae In ûeaeo epeetatur, vldere
llcult." Ibid ., d. 835
4 Comm e ntarlo d elle Cose de' Turchl . Venice, 1531

Petrovlteh, p. 13^
5 Thompson, Vol. I, ppp 581-582.
6 Zurlta, Vol. Ill, p. 322.

«
29
1564. Sansovino . the historian of Venice, pop-
ularized 3eanderbeg in It«ly by including Franco's

biography and B^rletlue' Siege of Scutari in his Universal
History which had several editions.?
1576, L"v<»rdln . the French nobleman from Vend ome,
popularized Seandcrbeg in France with hie Hlatoire . which
is a literal translation of Bsrletius' Vita, supplemented
by occasional details frora Franco.

He is the first to
o
attribute the title of King to seanderbeg.^ An Snglish
translation of his work by Z.J. Gentleman was published

10
in London in 1596.
1601. SujTHonte., In his History of N aples, re.
produced almost literally all the passages dealing with

11 Finally,
3e«»nderbeg fron Pontano, Plus II f and Zurita.
he lectures Barletius severely for asserting that se«nder-
beg took p»rtt in the final battle of the Neapolitan War

of Succession at Troja in 1462. 12
7 Petroviteh, p. 172.
8 L»v*rdin, Book XII, chap. 2, p. 357.
9 Lrvardin, Book II, chap. 2, p. 37.
10 Petrovitch, p. 56.
11 suiwonte, Vol. IV, Book VI, pp. 133-139, 180,184-185,

&CA&$$ 205, 300, 400-407, 412.
12 Ibid., p. 407 J "E pereio p,li scrittori devono
essere raolto avvertiti a non dire fallacle, perehe facilmente
si discoprono, e rlraangono col noae di buggisrdi."
30
1603. Knolleg . In his Historic of t he Turks, telle
us the story of Se^nderbeg uncritically, according to

1
Barletlus, ' with several extensive passages literally tmns-
l«ted. Very probably General Wolfe of Quebec had re«d a
14
later edition of this work, since he writes that he "met
with hla (Scanderbeg) In the Turkish History but nowhere

else.- 15
1605,.'^rlma . In his History of Spain , mentions

1
the treaty of 3eanderbeg with Alphonse of Naples, ** accord-
ing to Zurlta, and then describes the last battle of the
Neapolitan War of Succession ">t Troja, according to B«rletius,

17
with Scanderbeg participating In It.
1644-1677. Rlnaldl . a continu^tor of the famous
Cardinal B»ronius, In his SDoleslastlo°l Annuls, tells us

piecemeal the story of scanderbeg uncritically, according
1
to Barletlus, ® but lncldentally|he reproduces various
13 "Marlnus Barletius. . • whose authoritie. . . we

follow." Knolles, p. 332. See also op. 281-238, 292-303,
311- 332, 365-A03.
14 A sixth edition appeared In London, 1687-1700, In
3 volumes. See p. 819 of Guide to His torical Literature by
Duteher, George Matthew, Allison, William Henry, and others.
New York, Tamilian, 1937 1222 np.
15 "111 son, pp. 296-297.
16 Mariana, Vol. IT, Book XXtX« chap. 10, p. 43-44.
17 Ibid .. Book XXIII, ohap. 3, no. 60-61, 68.
18 Rlnaldl, Vol. IX, ye»rs 1442-1444, 1448-1450,

1452; Vol. X, ye*rs 1457 -A$ 1458, 1460, 1463-1466.
s
31
papal briefs and documents, which *iake his work a valuable
collection of archival soirees, though so"ieti~iea he êta

mixed up with their dates. Besides the papal documents,
19
he "lvee ua one excerpt from Volaterrano ^nd two from
Filelfo. 20
1680 • S pondano . a French Calvinlst who ended as a
Roman Catholic Bishop and a oontinuator of Cardinal Haronius,
la the first debunker of Barletiua, whom he handles very

21
roughly in hi a Ecclesiastical Annala . He saw the discrep-
ancies of the Barletian story about Seanderbeg's e^.rly yenrs 22

23
and hi a oeace with tfehmed II In 1463; he agreed with Plus II,
or the editor of his Commentaries, in idnimlzing the importance

of scanderbeg 1 8 Italian expedition end denied the latter*
participation in the last battle of the Neapolitan War of
Succession at Troja, in spite of Parian* 1 a preference for

24
the Barletian version.
mmtui
19 Rinaldi, Vol. X, ye«r 1460, No. 41, op. 242-243;
Appendix, No. XXV, pn. lv-lvii.
20 Ibid., year 1463, No. 52, pp. 365-366 and year 1464,
No. 13, p. 394; App. Nos. XX and XXI, pp. xlviii-1.
21 Spondanua, Vol. II, year 1461, No. 20, p. 354.
22 Ibid ., year 1431, No. 31, PP. 165-166.
23 Ibid ., year 1463, K»« 9, p. 362.
24 . . tametai "laluerit Mariana (lib. 23, Gap. 2)

Marino Barletio credere. Ibid., year 1461, No. 20, p. 354.
32
He sdds that, with all due respect for heroes, like
Seanderbeg And Hunyadl, he Is umble to believe the
25
exonerations of their panegyric biographers. As a
witter of fsot, Spondanus Is the first eritie«l historian of

Scanderbeg.
1709. Durtoncet. the pious Jesuit father, defends

26
Barletlut against Spondanus; he agrees with ?iarlanA that
27
Scanderbeg took part In the battle of Troja; he believes
that the Barletian story can stand on Tte feet with a few
alnor re -arrangements, if only the Thucydldian speeches were

28
suppressed; he rewrites the corrected story without the
latter in his Hls to lre: but he loses heart when he reaches

the end. There he feels that Barletlus was In a hurry to
29
finish the story. He is right. As Fallmerayer proved a
century and a half l«ter, Barletlus laid Scanderbeg to his

gr*ve two years too soon. In 1466 Instead of 1468, and had
to crowd the events of his last five yeTS within the mrrow
limits of three years only. Duponcet was the first to
tee that 'something was wrong with it. He was also the first
to call our attention to what Pope Callxtus III had to say

about Scanderbeg in his briefs of June 15 and Sept. 11, 1457.
25 "3ed sic solent ecriotores Vit^rum Herojum multa

oratorio In eorum l*udea flngere, quae etlam fid em nonnullls
verls detrah*nt". Spondanus, year 1461, No. 20, p. 354.
26 Duponcet, Preface, 00. 111-lx.
27 Ibld.,pp.xvill-xlx.
28 Ibid ., op. vl-vli.
29 Ibid ,, o.ili.
30 Ibid ., op. x-xil.
1730-1733* aura tori « the •
rent It»lisn scholst,
compiled and edited the works of annalists, like 3imonetta #
Crlbelll, 3nnudo and Canensius, who refer to ScaneVderbeg
tMt incidentally. He la also the author of the Annnls
o f It°lv « in which he summarizes the results of hie mon»
umentql editions and compilations covering at perfcod of
twelve hundred ye*>rs t from the sixth to the eighteenth
oentury.^
1742, 31 e^ml is the direct successor of 3pond mius,
from whota he Inherited almost all the doubts and suspicions
against Sarletius. Therefore he searched the libraries
within ranch and discovered Antivarino's mutilated Historic,

which he rightly considered a more reliable aouree than 3ar-
letlus'a VI ta .and uaed it as a basis for his Is tori a .
Barletlua w«s suffered to help only in filling the paps of
Antivarino's missing folios. So far a8 the Italian
expedition la concerned t Biemmi la certainly the severest
critic of both Barletlus and Scanderbeg and surpasses every
other debunker from Spondanus to Voigt and from Voigt to
10 Ibid .', pp. x-xli.
31 3ee Bibliography.
32 "Dove e mane ante, faro servlre di suppllmento

11 Barleelo. H Bie^mi, Preface, pw, ix-x
3*
Jorga." He disregards Antlvsrino'a testimony whenever It Is
not confirmed by any other source, and he has only contempt
for the Thucydldlan pseudo -correspondence between 3c*nderbeg

and the Prince of Tsr«»nto, which Plus II, or his oosthumous
35
editor, gave us In the Comment«rli. Consequently, It Is rather
h*rd to agree with Bablnger, who suspect* th«t M#sat may be
guilty of a litemrv forpery and may have invented an Antlvarlno

who never existed, exeept in his own Imagination. A historian
of Ble^nl'e type could not have done that cheap trick, fût that
Is not the only guarantee t v *t Antlv»rlno is not a creation
of Bl seal's Imagination. Antlvorlno's Hlstorla can be recorw
structed from Ble^ml's frequent quotations and cnn st^nd on
Its own feet as an Independent source of Information, very
frequently confirmed by other soircee. Blemml did not neglect a
33 On 3or letlus t . .In ruesta ssedlzlone. . . 11
Barleslo, per l'e salt a alone del sua Eroe e stato un favol-
•gglatore fufrjo) dl mi sura." Blemni, Book VI, p. 403. On
3c**nderbe« ; . • riando nell* Albania avendo arreeato plu

ajuto al Re Ferdlnando colla sua comparsa al lldl dell'lt-^lla,
if che In tutto 11 tenmo nel ouale vl ristette alia sua difesa."
Ibid., p. 405.
34 "Due fattl partlcolarl, dl cul non trovasl memorla

veruna appresso gll altrl f»crittorl, sono da e?so racontatl.*
Ibid., p. 404.
35 "Ma eesendo 11 mlo oentlmento che le lettere

degglano easer tr*»swrltte second o le precise parole degll
orlglnall. . • per nucsto ho tralasci^to dl fame la copla."
Ibid., p. 403.
besides Antivsrino and B^rletlus. He used Franco, Volater-
rano, ?ont*no, Fllelfo f Rlnaldl, Sagredo, and even Phrantzes
and Chaleondyl^s. No source known to any of his contempor-
aries escaped him. And so far as style is concerned, his
Istorla Is one of the best ever effltteV on 3er?nderbeg. Yet
his work, so l^port^nt as I source, a hi ?tory, *md a piece of
literature^ s unknown to scholars like^«n<* Fallmerayer, and
was contemptuously Ignored by scholars like Jorga and , arrineeeo.
175^. Voltaire devoted a short chapter to Scanrierbeg
in his Essal sur les coeurs des Nations , in which he emphasizes

two important f^côrs, which helped Seanderbeg In his eemoaignsi
the Albanians themselves as a race of fighters and the mountain-
ous character of the country.^ Another important factor is
pointed out In a short reference concerning Sc^nderbcg's

guerrilla tactics. . His conclusion follows: "31 les
empereurs grece nvalent ete des 3c>nderbegs, 1* empire d* orient

-38
se seralt conserve.
1756. General Wolfe deserves a place here for a single
reference, which is worth a volume. In his opinion, which is
that of an exoert In the er*ft, Scanderveg "excelis all the

</
officers, ancient and modem, in the conduct of a small
defensive army.
,36 Voltaire, Vol. IV, chap. XC, p. 2A7.

rr Ibid .. Chap. XCI, p. 252.
38 Ibid .. Chap. XCI, p. 247. I owe this reference to
fejeal, on. 126-127.
39 'Allison, 00. 296-297. I owe this reference to
Newman, p. 231.
36
1776-1778, Oibboq is a debunker of both Barletiua

and 3e«^nd«rb«g.^° Re has doubts about seanderbcg's victories
In Albania and minimizes the i-snortanee of his Italian expedition

as Plus II, Spondanus and Biemrni had done before him.** He
ends by asserting that 3eandcrbeg died as a ref igee in Messio,
AO
as Saad-ed-Din does. Re goes still furthers He has only
oonteapt for a hero, who begins his career as an apostate, a
traitor and a deserter, and who makes war against his benefactor,
namely Sultan Murad XI, in whose palace Scanderbeg wae brought
up, according to the Barletian legend.*' That charge is reit-
erated by other historians again and again until Jirccek came
dXM forward with a different story about Scandcrbeg'a early

44
years and education* Bury, injf a footnote, reminds the
reader that, besides Barletiue, there was another biographer,

Antlvarlno, who wae unknown to Gibbon.^
40 Qibbon-Bury, Vol. VII, chap. LXVII1, p. 40,
41 Ibid . .p. 153.
42 Ibid ., p. 153; Sa*d-ed-Dln, Vol. I, p. 510.

A 3 Ibid ., p. 151.
44 Jlreoek, Bulgaren, p. 368.
45 albbon-Bury, Vol. VII, chap. LXVIII, p. 150,

note 40.
37
1315. Slsmondl . In his History of the Italian
Republics, tells Incidentally the story of Seanderbeg,

46
based mainly on Barletlus And Pontanus. He admires the
latter4* and Is fsir to the former. But he has doubts about
the second siege of Croya by Mchmed II In 1A£7 49

In 1467* 9 ft*
Be ma
was thm
the
first to discover that Paul II , surrounded by his Cardinals,
bestowed on Seanderbeg a consecrated hat and a sword of

50
honor. In a special ceremony,
1817. F*rlatl. the great Jesuit scholar, collaborated
for twenty years with Father Fillppo ftieeputl of Padua, who

intended to write a complete ecclesiastical history of Illyrla.
The material they collected filled three hundred manuscript

volumes. In the meantlae Rleeputl died and Parlatl Inherited
the monumental collection. He managed to publish four volumes
before he died, leaving the manuscripts to Father Coleti, who

publlehed four more volumes. The whole work fills eight well
executed folio volumes. The seventh volume deals with the
history of the Roman Catholic Church In Albania. Incidentally,
Fmrlati tells us the story of 3c«nderbeg,^* based on Barletlus,
Blemsil, and papal briefs reproduced from Rinaldl and other
sources. friXi Eclectic and mildly critical, Farlati is the
46 aissjondi, Vol. X, pp. 191-257.
*7 fold ., p. 93# » ot « !•
48 Ibid ., p. 250, note 1.
49 "Comme l'une de ces campagnes ne dlffere point de

1* autre,. . .
A Je soupgonne Barletlus d'avolr raconte deux fols
de suite les semes exploits. H Ibid . .p. 250
first and the last to writs ths history of Scanderbeg from
an ecclesiastical point of vlsw. On ths other hand, in his
monumental seventh volume, ha gave us ths religious back-
ground of Roaan Catholle Albania At the tl^s of Scanderbeg.
1827. Hammer w^s the first European historian who

eould readily use Turkish, Persian and Amble texts. At ths
beginning of eaoh volume of his History of ths Ottoman Empire

hs enumerates his oriental sources. Modern scholars havs
addsd very fsw names to his exhaustive lists of authorities.

Yet in telling ths story of Seanderbsg hs somehow follows
2 He
Barletlus, uncritically and almost sxeluslvsly.^ mentions
ths Turkish annalists only ones, when they inform ue that

Sultan Manned II founded ths fortress of Elbassan in 1466,^
thus vindicating ths much maligned Barletlus.
1840. Z ink si sen was more crltloal than Hammer and
followsd Barlstlus very cautiously In his story of Scanderb
but hs did not know Bismral and could not use any orisntal
sources. Saad-ed-flln was ths only Turkish historian available
to him in Bratutti's faulty translation* For instance, ths

description of a Scanderbeg victory by Saftd-ed-£ln, i?hich
Zlnkeisen mentions in a footnote,^ is not to be found in ths
52 H^fr, vol. I t pp. 368-373, 458-461, 490-493.
53 Hammer, Vol. I, Book XIV, p. 492, nots 9.

54 Zinkeissn, Vol. I, Book I, chap. IX, pp. 758-793;
Vol. II, Book II, chap. II, op. 118-140, and chap. VI, ft
pp. 388-396.
55 Zlnkeisen, Vol. I, Book I, chap. IX, p. 779 • note 1.

Turkieh text of that historian. 5 *
1848. Grigorovlch . a Russian Professor of Odessa

University, discovered in the Codex of the Serbian Chllandar
Monastery of ilount Athos, two entries, in which Soanderbeg
ie mentioned for the first time. Document e confirming these
entries were discovered b Kovaehevleh, and one of them was

58
published by Kovakovieh. This document confines indirectly
Jireeek' s contention that Seanderbeg was over twenty |#§M of
ape when he was given as a hostage to Sultan ifiurad ttj^
18$0« appro' a Scanderbea is a corrected verslou of

6Q
the English translation of Lavardin's ljlstol,rc by Z.I. Gentleman.
And this is the only extensive history of Soanderbeg in English.
1853-1856" • Roman! n. in his History of Venice, written
from archival sources, is fair to Seanderbeg in his occasional

references and denounces the Maeehlavelllan duplicity of the
56 Certainly not in the Constantinople edition ft 1862,

a copy of which Is available In the Library of the City of New yorfc.
57 Jireeek, Bulgaren, p.22.
58 Hovakovieh, year 1*26, No. 62, pp. 467-468.

59 Jireelek, Bulgaren, p. 368; Forschungen, p. 144, note 1)
Jireeek, Serben, Vol. XX, p. 183, note 5*
6cTUf business in this work has been to concentrate lavar-

dln*s history by rendering the language more concise. • . the
uncouth antiquated language of the English translator, it is
hardly necessary to state, has been changed to a more modern
style.* iloore. Preface, p. 6.
Venetian Republic toward e him.
1855. Paganol tried to lnprove upon Duoonect Just as
Duponeet A tried to improve upon Lavsrdin previously, but the
reeult wee the same old etory of B*»rletius with nore emphasis
on the Turkish eide of the picture according to Ch*lcondylas
and Banner. Bie-nrai and F*rlati were unknown to Paganel. Keven
thelees, hi a uncritical Rlstolre . written in brilliant French,
easily overshadowed all other books on Soanderbcg. It was

62
translated into Oerrsan in I856 and into modem Greek in
63
1061.
I858. ^lklosieh. in his tfonu a enta S erbl ca^ published
the faisoutf Vnlona document of 1368, in which 1 Castriot is

14
enticmed for the first ti?ae in history.
1860-1862. Schafarlk. in his Acta Vcneta^saonK the
documents concerning the Southern Slavs, g«*ve us also a good
many documents dealing with 3canderbeg and the Albanians. In

this respect his collection of Venetian sources is one of the
richest and has been surpassed only bv the Llstlne of LJubie.
As a matter of fact, the latter skipped a very Important

65
document of 1464, which is to be found only in iJchafarlk.
It deals with Araniti's sons and leaves noyf doubt that
Araniti, Seanderbeg'a father-in-law, was already der,d at

CI Ho-ntoL.rLin- , "l><£ IV, p.
• 3 .
62 Petroviteh, pp^. U5-116and 169; Manek-Pek!aezi,p.32.
63 Le grand, p.95. Ho. 249; Petrovitoh, p.169; Ropf,

Grl eehenland # vol. 86, p. 122.
s
64 amotion, p. 178.
65 Sebafarik, Vol. II, Ho. DIX, pp. 531-552.

41
that tine.
1356-1863. Volgt. the biographer of Plus II, Is the
worst of all debunkers of both Scanderbeg and Barletlus. To
Volgt, Barletlus is the popular author of a Book of Lies^

and Sosnderbeg is only the famous ehleftain of a band of horse*
thieves, as it was proved in his Italian expedition, according
to the Coraaentarloo of Pius II, or rather his posthumous editor.*

King Ferdinand, aeeordlng to Volgt, was only too gl??d to see
Seanderbeg hurry away to Albania to stea a new Turkish invasion.'

Of course, the entirely different story of Pontano the aye -wit-
ness is slaply ignored. Marine sco is certainly right In
accusing Volgt of exaggerating for the eake of originality.^ 1
66 Gegaj, on the basis of a Neapolitan inecription,

thinks that Aranltl died in 1470. flegaj, p. 57, note 2.
67 "Bel Barletlus Vita Seanderbegl, Lib. IX. clnea viel

gelesenen aber sieralleh wertlosen Lugenbucho. • .
Volgt, Vol. Ill, p. 159.
68 "Dlese Albanesen . . . zeigten sloh la freshen Lands

wie elne Rauberhorde, . • und wu eaten rait beaonderer Geschlckt-
liehkeit Vieh susaaraensurauben." Ibid .. p. 159.
69 Pius II, Coraraentftrll, p. 302.
70 "Be war fur Fernando kein Verlust aJLs er[3crmderbeg] in

seiner Kelraath durch den Sultan bedroht, zuruckFing."
Volgt, Vol. Ill, p. 159.
71 Esageration de Volgt par esprit d'orlglnalite'."

ttarlneseo, p. 9.
42
I86O-I863. Thelnsr- second only to Klnaldi, gave us
a considerable number of papal briefs concerning Albania and
Scnderbeg In hit monumental collections. The famous Letter

of Callxtus III to Scanderbcg, bearing the d*to of Sept. 11, 1457
and emphasized by Duponeet, la to be found In its full text only
In Theiner's Mojjujiejn&ft- 72
1866. Fallme raver is both a debunker and a vindicator
of Barletiuei cl^. debunker in so far as he perfectly agrees
with Volgt that t value or the worthlessness of Barletlus 9

testimony is best illustrated by his description of Scanderbeg's
Italian expedition;*^ a vindicator in so far as he gave us the
best story of Soanderbeg ever written and yet he derived his
information principally from Barletlus with only a few bits of
supplementary details gleaned from other literary sources,
Bieroil and Fnrlati were unknown to hlm 9 and he hardly used any
archival material aft all. But he read Barletlus from beginning
to end, without omitting a single Thuohdldlan speech of his, and
eaw the important points through the mass of the endless des-
criptions and through the floods of the panegyric declamations*

Other critical historians, before and after him, failed to see
the foreat for the trees. Fallmerayer with his eagle eyee
surveyed the main trees and reached the heart of the forest.
72 Theiner. Monuments Sacra, Vol. II, No. CCCCI*aaII,

PP. 303-304; App. Ho. Ill, pp. xxxii-xxxiv.
73 "Dor wahre Wert Oder vlclmehr Unwert der blo&raphis-

ehen Composition des Barletlus trltt bei dleser Apullscnen Ex-
pedition am aeutllchsten henror." Pallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 76.
A3
He pour* his bitter sarcasa on both Seanderbeg and hit
Albanian tribesmen at every step, and yet he is their greatest
panegyrist as a whole. He gives that general impression not
only as a foreenal writer but also as a cool historian: He
emphasized the m*Jor expeditions of the two great Sultans,

is
which ended in utter failure and which constitute the îet of
the story. He pointed out some of the principal factors of
the Turkish defeat: first- a fanatically freedom -loving race
7*
of warriors; second, a gre*t aa9ter of blitz guerrilla
tactics.^ Another ranjor ?*llaerayer contribution la the

discovery of the right year in which So*nderbeg really died,
namely 1468, as given by the Byzantine Phrantzes, which put
an end to the ohronologlcal chaos of the last years of

76
Sounderbeg. Other contributions will be enumerated in the
course of this p^per as the occasion arises. Unfortunately,
Pallmerayer* s brilliant work remains buried in two volumes
of I review under a title, which hardly supcests that
Seanderbeg constitutes Its central part. As a matter of fact,
fallmerayer' s original pl«n w«s to tell the story of the
Albanians in Greec e,, as the title of his treatise surgeets.

The Albanians in Albania with Senaderbeg rere supposed to
74 "Freiheitsfanatieohes Volk". Fallraerayer, Vol. VIII,

p. 666. "Die Illyro-Albaner waren von Jeher und sind noeh
heute das aggressive Element, die Kriegerkaste, die KsLAtriJa
des Illyrlsehen Kontlnents." Ibid ., p. 660
75 Fallaerayer, Vol. IX, p. 51.

76 Ibid ., p. 13.
'
serve only as I background to the story of the Alb a nians,
In Greece which Fallaerayer loft unfinished.
1866. Trlnchora published In his C odies Ars go nâo
sons Import ant letters of King Ferdinand of Naples to his

77
envoys, to Scnderbeg and to the letter's widow, ônlea.
1867-1373. Hoof is the first seholarwho wrote an

out 11ns of the history of rjedleval Albania and of seanderbeg
on the basis of archival naterlal which he himself discovered.

One of his <*«Jor discoveries Is that of Ghin Musaehl's
Genealogy, a very important source for the history of Seander-
beg. Fro* that document and froo other sources he cot^lled
ths genealogies of the medieval princely families of .'.lbanla,
which should be used very cautiously. *or Instance, according

to the Genealogical Table of the Castrlot'f Rouse ^ by Hopf,
the groat grandfather of 3eanderbeg was a Serbian, named
Branllo Caetriot, because these two naaes atvpeFr In a Valona

document of 1368.*^ But Sufflay thinks thnt Hopf read Into
that document something that was not there. Of course,
the wrong Interpretation made Hopf very popular aTsong Serbians

and Pan-slavlsts.
77 Trlnehera, Vol. U pof

1
33. 54-5, 88.04, 87-86,
191-192, 439-441.
78 Hopf, Chronlques, Oenealogloal Tables, p^. 53o#fl$.

79 Klkloslch, p. 178; Novakovle, No. Lil, pp. 190-191;
Acta, Vol. II, Mo. 249, p. 57.
80 Acta, p. 57, col. 2, note 1.

•
1867-1 869. Hahn. a collaborator of Hopf, trav-
eled extensively in Albania, visited the battlefields ctf
acanderbeg, wrote a detailed commentary of Ghin iJusaohl f t
Genealogy and compiled genealogical tables of the medieval
princely families of Albania. His conclusions appeared
in his treatise ifalee du roh die Gebleto dog Drln und Wardar .
1868-1882. IUHMBi ûs 3***1 Professor of the
University of Warsaw, continued the work of Hopf, the more
so because he inherited from Fallmerayer hie pet theory that
the Albanians and the Greeks were respectively albanlaed
and hellenized Slavs, Ke tried to prov© it with archival

Material in his book on the 3lavs in Albania » Ke did not
prove it exactly but he $«?ve us a short history of medieval
Albania and of Scmderbeg** based on archival material,
which can be read with profit as a new book, because It

remained burled In Russian under a misleading title. More-
over, it has **t %Nl end a valuable chapter on the economic
conditions of medieval Albania under Venetian domination.**2
Along with the archival material, Makushev used V6ry

cautiously the literary sources also, namely 3iemml, Barleti»s,
91 Sakushev, Raayskanla, chap. IV, pp. 80-115» on

Seanderbeg.
82 Makushov, Rasyskanla, chap. V, pp. 116 -153

1
46
Mueachi and Franco, °? His collection* of source* are at
valuable as his book on the Slavs in Albania* In 1871 he
published the most important parts of 'iusaehl's Genealogy,

and in 1882 appeared the second volume of his Monuments.
which Is seoond only to Ljubio's LI a tine in lnportnr.ee as

a source-book for the history of Scanderbeg. It contains,
among other documents, the correspondence of 3cnnaerbcg

1
with the Prince of Taranto and with Ferdinand of Ks.plea.
As Makushev himself tells us 9 he obtained copiaa of these
letters from Cecehetti, the archivist of Venice,
1875. Kagy a nd Ifvarv published in/ their A*ta
Set era a document In which Scanderbeg si*ns himself as
Captain General of the King of Haples*
1875 (*). Dethler published the oreek text and

a French translation of the Byzantine panegyrist of Kehmed II #
Critoboulos of Imbros, a hitherto neglected source for the

history of 3c*nderbeg. We have discussed the book before
and we shall return to it again in the course of this paper.
&5 2igL&* • PP« 80-81.

84 tlakusbsv, Honumenta, Vol. II, pp. 117 -118.
85 Makushev, Rasyekania, chap. IV, p. 103, note 2.
86 Xagy-Nyary, p. 117.
•
47
1876-1918. flypfal «ade valuable contributions as a
historian, whose books on the Bulgarians and the Serbians hart
not yet been superseded. On the other hand, he collaborated
with Thalloosy and Sufflay for the two volumes of the

8
and other collections of sources. ^ Joreoever, he was the
first to contend that deanderbeg wê brought up In hip native

qtt
SK>unt*lns and not In the palace of Sultan Murad II.
1880-1899. freloloh. In his history of the Balehas,
gave us the background of Scanderbeg. Oil the other hand.

In collaboration with Thalloosy, he compiled the Dtploaat -
art urn H v num
rru . which OOMloAM PMM Is^0Sj9%0«I o\*cu norte
dealing with 3cnnderbeg.
1831. Petroyltcb, published a Bibliography of
8onnderbOR. a work of love, beautifully printed In red and
black, which Is more than Its title Implies. It can bo
still used with profit booauee it gives details about tho
authors and ths contents of the books listed, rhich are not
usually found in common bibliographies.
1885. Kayser discovered V at ?ope Nicholas 7

called Bonnderbeg a q ha anion of Christ^ some ten years
57 See Blbli ography
38 Jlroosk, BuXgaren, p. 368.
89 Kaysor, nn. 215* note 3; App. No. I, p. xxx.

48
before Callxtus lit did 90 in his famous letter of September
11, 1457. Kereover, he Informs us that Nicholas V refers to
Sesnderbeg repeatedly in his briefs, Ur^pjfjrtunately, the
Bullarla containing those briefs are not available In any

library within reach.
1836. Ta.1anl« sn Italo-Albpnian scholar, is a pioneer
of the type of Hopf and Makuehev. Be tried to write the story
of Scanderbeg on the oasis of Neapolitan archival material

without ncgleotlne the literary sources of Blerami, Bafcletlus,
Pontano and Chalcondylas. He is rather unknown to historians
ef Scanderbeg and he is mentioned only by Plsko In his biblio-

graphy. 51 He is the first to refer to Voltaire's chapter on
Seanderbeg and to a Venetian document, which may prove the
2
authenticity of ôsnderbeg's armor now in the Vienna Museum,^
1886-1891. Pastor had the privilege of writing his

History of the Pones from Vatican nrehival sources which were
unavailable to his predeeesaore. Ranks, Creighton and voigt.^'
In those sources Pastor discovered that some of the most

brilliant victories of Seanderbeg were confirmed in black and
white beyond any reasonable doubt Consequently, he restores
90 TaJ*ni, Vol. II, pp# 56-126, devoted to 3c«n*ierbeg.
91 Pieko, Bibliography, p. 5*
92 ?ajanl£ Vol* II, p # 126, note 6.
93 Thompson, Vol. II, p. 547.
94 Pastor, Vol. II, p. 246.

the pulveri sed statue of the hero as best he could and put
It back where It stood traditionally, before Volgt has

knocked It down, near the statue of the Transylvanian Yanko
95
Runyadi. Pastor wade another ^rent contrlbutlont He establish-
ed on the b^sis of an eyewitness testimony that So^nderbeg
fl I
wjis by fnr over sixty years old when he visited Rome in I4$6v
the itaplioatlons of this discovery are far reaching. On the

other hand, so far as the Italian expedition is concerned.
Pastor agreed with Pius II, or his posthumous editor, and
Ignored Pontano's testimony to the exact contrary.
1887-1918. Thalloczy collaborated with Gelelch for the
ptploaatartum teggBgsjd with Jiree'ek and Sufflay for the

two volumes of the Acta , and again with Jlreeek for the |ejg
U rkunden. all which contain 1 ôrt.ant i—memli c^nnerÂ
Seanderbeg and his b*ck£round. ESoreover, he discovered the

treaty of 3eni*U<rbeg with Alphonae V, which he obtained from
the Catalan echolar Rublo y Lluch and which hs gave &<vay to
98
Cerone for publication in 1903.
1875-1891. L.lublc . in his ten volumes of Llstlne.
along with the water! al concerning the Southern Slavs f gave

us the richest collection of Venetian documents dealing with
S5TS3T
96 Pastor, Vol. IV, p. 88, note 2.
97 Pastor, Vol. Ill, p. 113* note 1.
98 Cerone, Vol. XXVII, p. 5, note 1.

50
Albania and Sc»nderb<?g. The lntter could e«eily fill a
very big volume In themselves. LJubie copied all theae

documcnta hlmaelf at their aource but a good many 0f them
were re-di8coverics # because we find them also in earlier
collections, especially in the Acta Veneta of Schafarlk.
1891 • Pi sr.nl $ in hi a L eVcnde de .Sc^nderbeff . tried to
solve the riddle of the early ye*ra of the hero. He reached
the oonelualon that the old Barletlan legend, with a minor
amendment dominatea the field hecauae It la aapported by the
teati-ionlee of some Turkiah annalists, who aasert that 3c and er-

go
beg wna brought up in the palace of 3ultan Murad II. ^ Piaani's
treatise la Important in many respects: It emphasizes the nee*
eealty of solving this problem; it shows that it ia not very

eaey to demolish Barletius in this and in other cases; but it
also proves that this legend cannot be accepted without any
amendment at all.
1892. Fermend£li} definitely solved a problem which
plagued the historians of Sonnderbeg. The document he

discovered in a Franciscan monastery makes it ele«ir that the
surname of C^strlotl meant only that the family originated from
a village called "Caatrloti*.

100
99 Aahlk-Pnaha Zade, chap. Ill, p. 112s Saad-ed-Din.

Vol. I, p. 361.
100 Fermendzin, pp. 560-561; App. No. XVI f p. lvii.

51
1894. Plsko la the first historian who wrote an
extensive and detailed biography of 3c>ndorbeg t b^sed on
both literary and *rcMval sources. The lqtter were

101
conveniently included in an Appendix. He was the first
to establish the date of the Berat disaster in 1455 but
he clung to the wrong year of Scanderbeg's dentil, in 1467,

102
in spite of Fallraeraycr. luarinesoo is unfair in branding
h* 8 Scanderbeg story as mediocre. Re is right in
denouncing him for not indicating thit some of the documents
in hii Appendix were borr owed from alakuehev's ifonuncntn i

tfhe reason ra»y have been of a political character: Plsko, as
an Aus t rian consul did not want to damit that he hnd anything
to do with a Rue at an ! This is the only explanation because
Plsko /rave the sources of all the other documents of his

105
Appendix and stopped only at .iaku8hev t s name. He does
exactly the sane thing in his bibliography, in which he
106
mentions everybody else exoept the Russian echoler.
1897-1910. Konltza . the Albanian scholar, published

in his review "Albania" important articles in French, dealing
107
with Scanderbeg.
101 lisko, Appendlcep, no. 115-162.
102 Plsko, p. 111.
103 Marine sco, p. 8, note 3.
104 Ibid .
105 Plsko, Appendices, pr> # 115-162.
106 Plsko, Bibliography, pp. 4-5.

(«-) ^
sur les Arm es de Sc and erbeg . (b) Esiste-
107/\ Rco herchee
t-il un portrait authentique de~3oander eg? (o) La Topographle
dca Campagnes de aeanderbeg contre les Turcs. Manek-Pekmezi^^] D i
52
1903 • C crone , the Italian scholar, wag the first to
publish the treaty of 3oanderbeg with Alphonse of Naples In the
|Hmf storlco per l e Provlncle Na polit ane *
1904. Yastrebov . the Russian consul of Prlzren and

3alonica, g*»ve us the mo3t *et">lled topographical description of
Northern Albania, as a background for the history of Scnndert^pg,

which he was planning to write. He was the best e?uiooed for t>e
task. He knew all the languages, including Albanian and Turk-
ish. He had read all the sources and all the authorities
nv»ll*ble at his tine. He could quote Saad-ed-Dln and

v
Uunadzlm Bashl In the original.
TOO
™
Bablnger was the only one
who could do It after him. Yastrebov never told the story
he had so patiently prepared. But he gave us enough to
regret what went down with him to the grave. His unfinished
work. Old Serbia *nd A lfrHUfh with a strong pro-Scrblan bias,
appeared full of misprints in the 3crblan review 3oomenik > Q

13 '
There it lies neglected and Ignored. But it Is full of
Taluable Information, to which we shall refer later on.
104. Schlrp . the Ifcalo -Albanian scholar, in hie book
on ^The A lbanians a nd the Balkan ûeetloii . dlsoussed the

relations of 3canderbeg with the Kings of Naples and reproduced
some of the documents oubllshed by Trlnchera, Itfakushev and
Cerone wm».».
*v>* .< 111
108 Cerone, Vol. XXVIII, year 1903, PP« 172-173*

109 Yastrebov, Vol. XU, p. 249,
110 See Bibliography.
111. Schiro, pp. 199-Wand 598-603.
£061
25
• z .
53
1905. Armstrong, in his fferoes o f Defeat emphasl zed
the similarity of the 3e»nderbeg etory with that of
Vercingetorlx of Oaul, ShA*&l of Oueasus, Abd~cl-Kader of
Algeria, Tecurnseh of Ohio, And Koseiuzko of Poland, who fought

A
a hopeless h At tie for freedom Against overwhelming imperialism.
His ScAnderbeg story is b*sed on BArletlus, Lavardln and Koore.** 2
1905. B^rbarlch. an Italian officer, tells the story
of 3c«mderbeg in a fgw p^ges according to Bleî rather than

Bnrlctius.**' He emphasizes the guerrilla tactlejs and the
geographical factor M tbe secret of tfcanderbec's successes
in Albania. As an expert, he read between the lines of
Bieraail and Plus TI, or the editor of his Corcse ntarll , how
SeAnderbeg, with his light CAvalry And his blitz strategy^
outmanoeuvered Pieolnino and the French with their obsolete
heAvy cavalry in It^ly. In this respect, BArbArich is
perhaps the only modern historian who saw what really happened
In exped tion, thus vindicating both Fontano And
thfct 1
115
BArletlus.
J.909. <utek. Pekmezl. **^ and stot gave us a useful
Albanian Bibliography , in which not only books but also
artieles on Seaatefb eg «re listed, eapeciAlly those by

Konltaz, published' in his review Albania . A list of Albanian
bibliographies on *lbaniA between 1833 and 1908 appears at the
112 Armstrong, pp # 137 -272

113 BArbArich, p. 178, note 1. Pages 177-193 deal with
So^nderbeg.
114 B^rbarlch, pri. 190-192.
115 Ibid ., p. 188; note 2.
116 An AlbAnlan scholar and diplomAt. His collaborators
were AustriAne.
beginning of the book fitter the preface,
1912* Lerrand . the French scholar, gave ue the

1- test Albanian Bibliography . He himself had listed 497
Items* The work w*s completed and pifcllshed posthumously by

117
his pupil, Guys, who brought the number of Items up to 724.
1913 • Kram ers, a Dutch professor of the Leyden

118
University, published In the Encyclopedia of Islam an
article on Semderbeg, derived from Turkish as well as other
sources. He used especially the Anonymous of Giese, Ashlk-

v 119
Pasha-Zade and Munadslm Bashi. Saad-ed-Dln Is not
mentioned and Uruds£ of Bablnger was not available to hla
120
because he has been discovered and mibllshed much later.
1916-1924. 3ufflay. the Croatian professor whose
•eholarly labors were interrupted by an as^resin's bullet,

collaborated with Thalloezy and Jlro&ek for the two volumes of
the Acta and wrote their learned Latin annotations; he describ-

ed "bi_e.^Ju€,\J aX- Aîeory-lec
ed the religious oonditionsA as a background to the 3c a riderbeg
story j and to this he added a short survey of the town life

u 122
of Albania In his Burgen und stadte.
117 Legrand; Preface, pj vil.
118 Kramers, Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. Ill, o . 466-467.
119 Ibid. , p, 467.
120 Fruhosmanlsch e Jahrbucher des Uru dsch was published

for the first flme by Bablnger in 1925 • See Bibliography.
121 Prof. Dr. HI lan von Bufflay. Die Klrchcnzu stand s |j|
Vorturkl schen A lbanlen. in Illyrlsch-Alb«nlsehe Forse hunr.en,
r>p. 183-28?. In a~fobtnote It Is pointed outt "Dies let das
IX Kapltel elner oeschichte Alb^Lens voran der Verfasser arbeltet,
122 See Bibliography.
55
1899 -1919 • Jorga. the Rumanian scholar, la the In test
debunker of Barletlus and Scanderbeg. Very probably, he never
re*d the Vita of Barletlus, whon he calls a Southern Italian. 12 '
Be ignores Blemmi, Musachl and other literary sources. He keeps

Se*nderbeg always fleeing for his life and allows him to come
b«ek only in order to suffer new reverses and catastrophes.

Re thinks he is giving th« plain facts. But hi a f^cta, as they
are given in his Histo r y of the Turks are a futuristic nese of
disconnected s.reds of information, from which one con get only
a headache. Fortunately, that information comes mostly from
sources, and t ose sources are usually indicated In the foot-
notes, which are treasure-houses. The references and cross-
references conatltute the most Important part of Jorga* s histor-
ies. The text Is almost worthless and seems to be there only
to spoil his footnotes! Jorga is in his element only as a
eomoîler of archival sources. In his Notes and Excerpts he

gave us some very important documents concerning Albania and
Scanderbeg. I have already pointed out that he showed us the
way, a^ w nys In a f ootno^ e f to a neglected Byzantine source,
namely Crltoboulos of Imbros. Jorga gave his worst in the

Short History of Albania . There "re hardly any footnotes
to relieve the chaos of the text.
1921. Noll wrote the first extensive history of
Scnderbeg from the Albanian point of view. He used the
1^3 "Sudlt-llener 3*rletti". Jorga, Osmanen, Vol. II,

56
literary sources of Blem'nl, Barletius, Musaehi and Fr«noo
but the archival sources at his disposal were only thoee
provided by Thalloesy and Jlrccek In the Zwei Urkunden. by
Flsko In his Ar>T>endlx an* by Hopf In his Greece and Chronl guea.
Some of the ôst Important works and collections of sources
were either unknown or unavailable to hl^n. The work was
written originally In Albanian and published In Boston In

1921. An Italian version by Francesco Argondlzia was published
In Rome two ye^rs later. In 1923.
1923. Kortsha .ln «» Doctoral Dissertation submitted to
the University of Vienna, discussed Throe Problems of the
Scanderbeg «tory: Was scanderbeg tributary to any overlord?

(a)
125
(b) Did Scanderbeg offer to hand over Croya to Venice In 1450?
126
(o) Was Scanderbeg abandoned by his comrades In 1457? In
answering these questions Kortsha used all the works and

collections of sources known at that time, and all the books he
needed were available In the rioh libraries of Vienna. Consequent-

ly his work Is important in itself as a discussion of Ir.nort^rtt
problems as well as in its references to -rarlous works and

sources. The dissertation was written originally in German. It
is available in the United states only in the Albanian trans-
lation by the author himself^ at the Public Library of

Hew York City.
124 Kortsha, pp. 3-65.

125 jbld.. PP. 66-92.
T2j IoTd .. dp. 93-107.
57
1923« *arlnescg . a Rumanian scholar, gave us ft monograph
on the relations between 3eanderbeg an^ King Alphonse of Naples

based entirely on the Aroh lvo de I n Corona de Arôn of ,
Barcelona. Unlike Jorga, Marinesoo knows how to organists his
material *nd did his Job bo well thnt no other period of

Scanderbep's % career Is now so elsar as t v e one he described
so masterfully. When the other periods of 3c«nderbeg are
similarly illuminated, then the time will come to make a
synthesis of the whole without fumbling In the dark here and
there* Nevertheless, It Is rather hard to agree with
Karlneseo on oertaln points. For Instance, the period he has
% re- ted Is certainly not the most brilliant one of Ocanderbeg,

127
as he asserts. and a« GegaJ fourteen years after admiringly
12^
reaffirms. This period, covering approximately eight years,
f rots 1451-1458. Is plainly one of transition between t»o pairs of
climactic m*Jor expeditions led by the two great Sultans, the/
first under 2£urad II In 1449*1450 and the second under êhmedll

In 1466*1467. Ihls Is tfarinesco's major sin of commission.
There Is also major sin of omission: Blexml'a name Is

a
129
sdsalng from aarlnesco* • bibliography and Is never mentioned
1^0
In the course of his treatise. These are undoubtedly
'
avec Alohonse (1451). voue a determiner d *une

127, "Traits'
anlere decisive l'aetivlte' de Georges Cnstriot^ pendant sa parUle
la plus brlllsnte, o'est a dire Jusqu'en 1458." riarlnesoo, p. 42.
123 "Pendant ies annees 1451*1458. les plus belles de

l'hietoire alb-maise. . GegaJ, p. 37.
129 Harlneseo. Bibliography, pp. 1*6.
130 Marlnesco seems to think that Barletlus Is the

"unique source" for the Mographv of seanderbeg. iarineseo, p. 8.
That means that he did not read Plsko's book, which he dis-niisee
as •mediocre". /\ p. 8, note 3»
58
unpardonable sins for a scholar of Marincsco's caliber. Le:ser s
sins will be mentioned In pa^slng^ l*ter on **s the occasion
ari sea.
1925-1929. Qless> a German achol*r, •Isoovered and
published the Old Tu rk ish Chronicles and A8hlk«PashA-2aae, f

both of which confirm the two pairs of major expeditions
by Uurad IT and k»ehmcd II respectively, thus vindicating
131
Bsrletlus.
1925-1931. 3*blnfte£ . another German scholar, gave
us a very important book on the -Turkish Historians * He nlso

v
discovered «nd published the f^r ly Turkish Annals of Jrudz
and two inscriptions dealing with the founding of the fortress

132
of Slbass«n by Ish— d II in 1466, thus vindicating B^rletius
and Antivsrino.
1 "
1937. Oagaj. - nn lb-ninn scholar, submitted a
doctoral dissertation in French on Albania and the Turkish

Invasion ln^ the f i fteenth Century to the University of
Louvain, wîch published it in 1937. Of course the book
deals mostly with Seanderbeg, whose story it tcLls on the

basis of both literary and nrehlval sources. It is the most
131 Ut,osm*niseho, in German, op. 94-95, 93, 150;

ABhik-F*f:h*-Zade f pp. 112, 123, 162.
132 B^blnger, Vol. XXaIV, pp. 95-96.
1^3 IMd .» p. 97, note 3.
134 Pronounced ft hegây.

59
up -to -ante etory of the hero ever published In any language •
It is bristling with information and t-se material is very

well organised* But it oust have been written in a hurry, as
all dissertations are; because sotse tiroes details of a secondary

nature, which belong to the footnotes, appear in the text and
frioe-versa, important matter belonging to the text appears in
the footnotes* Though a Roman Catholic clergyman, ftegaj did not
overemphasize the part played by the papacy^ and he may be even
accused of not emphasizing it sufficiently* He made two major
contributions which deserve to be mentioned: On the basis of
archival material, he established the dates of Scanderbeg'a

Italian Expedition in 1461-1462* 55 and of his victory over
Balaban Pasha in 1467;*^ he compiled an extensive bibliography,
whieh can serve *s a basis for a complete one on the subject.*^

His major sin of omission is the absence of an index, which is
unpardonable for a book of reference like his* There are a
few other shortcomings: Pontano, Crltoboulos and the Turkish
Annalists, with the exception of the Latin Leunclnvius and
Bratutti's Italian translation of 3aad*ed-Din,are misaing in

Oegaj's bibliography; 3canderbeg t s guerrilla tactics are not
duly emphasized; social and economic f»>rtors are neglected*
135 OegaJ, pp. 125-129.
136 G«g*J, p. 145.
ITT GegaJ, pp. xv -xx.

60
1945. Noll comes back with revised version of the
tory he told twenty-four years before. He hesitated long to
undertake the Job «fter he had read GegaJ's book, which he firstd^
thought wae almost the last word on the subject , but he is
now well satisfied that there is a good deal to add to and to

Improve upon. Here are eomc of these additions and improvements:
(a) For the f \rst time the works written on the subject and
the major contributions made by various scholars are enumerated
o
end dlscussrd in an extensive chapter, (b) An up-t^-date
bibliography, with some hitherto neglected items, is a^ded.
(c) Various neglected documents and sources, like Pont.«no,
Critoboulos of Imbros and some Turkish Annalists, are used and

duly emphasised, iiome of these are given in an Appendix ,
whieh will be further expanded when this paper is published*

(d) The legend of the e*rly years of Scanderbeg is eliminated
and this oerlod is dealttf with critically on the basis of
neglected literary and archival sources, (e) The ranjor
expeditions of Murad II and Uehraed II are treated as the
eentral point of the 3ennderbeg story, (f) The light cavalry
And the guerrilla tactics are considered as the secret of hie
military achievements, (g) The ports played by the Papacy,

the Kingdom of .Naples, and the Hepublic of Venice, as well as
the social, economic and geographic factors which contributed to

3eanderbeg 9 a successes, are especially emphasized*
CHASTER IV
B AC KO ROUND
A* Western Surooe . Soanderbeg's Albania was predomlnanlly
Row>n Catholic. Consequently, the entire Roiaan catholic world,
whloh at that time embraced all of Europe with the exception of
Russia and the Balkan Peninsula, was deeply interested in Scan-
derbeg f s struggle against the Turks. It goes without saying that
the countries bordering on the Adriatic sea, like the Papal State,
the Kingdom of Naples, the Venetian Republic, the City of Ragusa ^d
and the Kingdom of Hungary, threatened by impending Turkish Invas-
ion, were more vitally concerned and did their beat to help the
Albanians stop the Turk* at their gates* Their sunport proved to

be inadequate. Nevertheless, it was substantial enough to make the
Albanian resistance reach epic proportions.
1. Rome . Volgt and Fallmerayer tell us that the Popes

helped Se^nderbeg only with apostolic benedictions and panegyric
exhortations.* This is both unfair and misleading. There is

documentary evidence to prove that Pope Nicholas V (1447-1453),
Callxtus in (1453-8), Plus II (1458-1464), and Paul II (1464-1473)

helped Seanderbeg with hard cash amounting to thousands of golden
2
ducats from the papal treasury. Moreover, it is safe to assume
that the sums of money they gave him were in eêh c^se higher than
1 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 38; Volgt, Vol. Ill, p. 54.
2 Cugnonl, No. XXXIX, p. 100; App. , No. XII, p. xliil;

F«rlati, Vol. VII, p. 421; App. No. VIII, p. xxxlx; Marlnesco,
p. 132; Canenslus, p. I48 f note 3; Appl, No. XXII, p. 11;
Pastor, Vol. IV, p. 86, 39-90; (JegaJ, p. 144, note 5» p. 145»
notes 1, 2; Bertolotti, Petrovitch, p. 117.
. •
62
those of any other single state, * To these should be Added the
funds raised by the legates of the Popes for Scanderbep* s crusade,
both in Albania and abroad, especially in Dalmatla.* The reasons

for this unfailing support were obvious: Albania was the last
Roman Catholie bridgehead in the Balkans and the Popes were doing
everything in their power to keep it and enlarge it. Since the
eleventh century the Popes were conducting an uninterrupted Crusade
agninst the Arabs and the Turks. sc*nderbeg was their staunchest
ally, because for about twenty-five years he fought continually
against the eoraaon eneay with only two short interruptions of about
six months each.^ Callxtus III admits in a letter that 3o*nderbeg

6
did more for the faith than all the other Catholic Princes. In
another letter Callxtus advises his legate to hand a part of the
crusade funds raised in Dalmatla to the King of Bosnia so that,
encouraged by this finanoial support, he migftt become "another
3 In 14o7 Icanderbeg received In cash 1,500 ducats from

Ferdinand of Naples, 3,400 froa Venice and 9,^50 froa Pope Paul II.
See Trinchera, Codloe Arago neae , p. 90; LJublc, Vol. X, Ho. CCCCi,
o. 387. Ibid .. No7~CCCCXVI, p. 399; Pastor, Vol. IV. pp. 86, 89-90;
Oegaj, P p7"T44-l45.
4 Theiner, Monuaenta 3lPvoruin. Vol. I, No. DCVT, pp. 427-428;

Ibid., No. DCXIII, p. 432; App. , No. IV, pp. xxxv -xxxvi, *lso
No. VI , np. xxxvi -xxxvi 1
'
5 About six months in 1461-2 and about seven months in 1463
6 *Ha« cum te semper pro tua excellent 1 strenultate, proque

memorabllibuE gestis tula ultra onjnes catfrollcoe ^rlnctpeo de fide
et rellgione Christiana opticus raeritum sentiaaus. . Theiner,
Monu^nenta Sacra. Vol. II, p. JOJ; App., Ho. Ill, p. xxxii.
,
63
Scanderbeg".''' The good old Spanish Pope knew perfectly well
that hard ensh, and not emnty rhetorio, was needed to produee
a erus«der of ScRnderbep* s type. In view of these facts. It
is rather hard to understand why In Langer's world History
the Popes *re not even mentioned, though they certainly deserved
a
the first olace, «e Sc^nderbeg's financial supporters.
2. Naples . After Rcse cones N«ples as a close second,

and very naturally sc, becusf the eastern coast of the
Nespollt^n kingdom at some points between Brlndisl and Vallona
is only fifty miles. In self -protect ion the Kings of I>oles
helped Sennderbeg to protract hie resistance and defend Albania,
which was in a sense Neapolitan bridgehead. Moreover, as
Varlneseo shows, it was not only self -protection which motivated
the conduct of the Neapolitan Kings, but also their dream of
creating a Mediterranean Catalan Empire, stretching from

Barcelona to Constantinople.^ Together with Naples and Sicily,
Alphonea V, King of Aragon inherited the ambitions of his
predecessors, left* Frederick II, Robert Guiseard and Charles
d'AnJou. Documents published or used by scholars like Hakushev,
7 ! T ut earum subsidio alter ad expugnatlonem

Turcorum vlrillus animetur, alter scilicet Se*nderbegua. . H
.
Rinaldi, Vol. X, year 1457, No. 20, p. 107; App., No. VII,
p. xxxvili.
8 Langer, William Leonard, A n She yc 1 ope dl a of ôrld

Hlptory. Houghton iifflin, Boston, 1940, pp. xxxil -TT155 + lxvi
P. 332.
9 "Sroieade oui allait rendrc le roi Alphonae %* maitre du

bassln oriental de la edlterr-nee, co ~o ll v etait deja de oelul
de l'Oeoident." Marine sco, p. 45; Jorga, Breve Hlstolre . pi 47.
10 Hakuehev, Monument^ Slavo rum. Vol. II, pp. 148-9*

64
Cerone, 11
Trlnehera, 12 and finally Harlnexco, 1 ' prove
conclusively th*>t Sennderbog received from Naples v^ry
lrroortant assi stance In money, ammunition, food and auxiliary
troops. On the otheijhand, It is a growl exaggeration to
plêe the Xlngs of Naples as protectors of scanderfceg before

the oopes and *n absurdity to consider Seanderbeg as a mere
Neapolitan or Venetian condottlero as Jorga 1 * and Lander do. 1 ^
3. Venice. Makushev describes the policy of Venice in
her Albanian possessions as a w«*r of extermination ag*lnst all

1^
Albanian social classes* In the Albanian cities of Durazzo,
Alesslo, Scutari, Drivasto, Dulolgno and Antivari, which were
annexed by Venice, the srlstocraey was humiliated, the bourgeoisie
was ruined and the free peasants were turned into serfs* As a
rule, annexation of Albanian territory c^rae only as the last
et"ffe of the procedure. The Albanian chieftains were subsidized
and encouraged to fight the Turks until they bled white and were
re-dy to surrender unconditionally to Venice rather than to
Turkey as the lesser evil, ^fter surrendering they were treated
U fleronc, Vol. XXVIII, p. 210.
12 Trircher, Codlco Aragonog e. p. 90.
l; Marineseo, p. 97, note 2; pp. 130-1.
14 ". v . • Lersoue k un certain moment, las tropes du »
Sultan «rrlverent a le ehasser, 11 ne ressentit aucune humil-

iation a «ller eontinuer en Ittflle, eo^r-e simple chef de
nercensires, la cuse de ce rol de N°.plee f qui avait eti ausal
un de ses constants protecteurs. * Jorga, Brev e lstolre . p. 45.
j
"
15 Condottle re. educated at the Turkish court.
rt
. ,
Langer, World History , p. 332.
14 Mnkushev, H azy sk^nln. pp. 146 -7*

65
as colonial slaves. If the chieftains happened to be too
strong to be crushed by the Turks, Venioe di£ not hesitate to

•tab the* In the b*efc by inciting civil w«r a^wng then or
ev^n by declaring nir against them. Venice did that gainst
I
the Bashao 1M repeated the s-?ne procedure aâin^t Sonderbeg. At
leaet three tines Scandcrbeg offered to hand over Croya to the
Venetians in order to save it from the Turks, but %hM Venetians
refused because they believed that ênd^rbeg «rith his highland -

ers w»s too strong to become their obedient sorvnt. They r>re-
ferred to h-*ve Croya raptured fcf the urka r^tha** ffeai possess it
fchemselves before its inhabitants were down ami out. As a matter
of fret, they took over the defense of the city only after
Saanderbeg's ds»th in 1468, and thsy annexed the city only in
14?4, when the people were exhausted and could be safely en-
slaved. Tn that fashion the Venetians allowed all the cities of
Southern Albania to fall to the Turks, though they were again
*nd «g»in offered a chance to take them under their protection
had they chosen to do so. Obviously, the Venetians thought that
Albania could be wrested from the Turks much easier than from
the *lb»ninna themselves. Curiously enough, with a few s ort int er *
ruptions^ they yept on subsidising ?c*ndcrbeg though they hated

his eorrfi«lly: sometimes, because they wanted to make w«r ajninst
17 Tn 1449, 1450 an* 1466.

66
the Turks without ??ppe°rlng to do so. In order to defend

18
their Albanian colonies; soae times, because they were,
19
forced bo buy pe*ee from the "formidable" Sc«nderbeg, as
in 1448 «nd 1457; sometimes, because, they were scared to

de*»th by ¥ehmed II, *s in 1453 after the capture of Constantin*
ople; sometês, because they needed Scanderbeg bsdly ^s an
ally against MM Turks as in 1463-68. But even In this last
period they allowed their proveditors in Albania to sabotage

3oanderbeg «t every step and atRb him in the tack. Finally,
Soanderbeg refused to accept any Venetian auxiliary troops
unless they tere plaood under his immediate command. 20 A few days
before 3cnderbeg died, special envoys were sent by the Venetian

Senate to Albania la order to investigate and report on SennAer-
ber's complaints against the treacherous provedltora, who were

part Inly acting under orclora and who might h?ve been guilty
PI
only of overr*qeMng themselves,
4. Ragusa . This rioh city never forgot its Roman

origin and kept on using Latin and Italian as its off icial A even
22
after it w«s completely slavlolzed. It was nominally under
13 ". . .C*etait falre aux Turc3 une gusrre defensive

•*»ns en avoir 1 air. Jor*a, Breve Kletolre . p. 46,
19 Romanln, Vol. IV, pp. 243 -A.
20 LJuble, Vol. X, p. 334.
21 !fakushev, R*zysk«*nla « !>• 111.
22 "In Ragusa wurden die Rathsprotokollen ohne Unter-

brechung bis sttSJ Fall der Republlk (1803) stets latelnlseh gefuhrt.
Kooh lm spnteren llttelalter hleseen die Ragusaner bel den S1&-
wen L«tlni ebenso wle Itilien von lhnen Latlnska dentil a undî
die It^lieni sche spr*che Lntln ak l Jezlk genannt wurde. Jlrecek,
Hondolsstrsg-en. p. 4.
67
Hungarian suzerainty but otherwise It enjoyed unrestricted

self -government. Its array «utf navy were too weak for defense
and It w*s helpless against agression. Money and tr*de were

the only weapons of the Ragusan patricians and they used both
for subsidizing all those who opposed Turkey, the most
dangerous a&rressor of the time, 3eanderb*>g w~s t^.elr n^turil
ally at well as their customer to whom they sold their w^res.

2*5
Moreover, they acted as hie banker3. The city had a large
Albanian population and some of the Albanian citizens had

ttfc
aanaged to rise to the ranks of the upper classes. " Like
all/yD^lmatlan cities, Raffusa was flooded by Albanian clerpy-nenji
25
and monks who almost monopolized all church offices. This
explains the cordial relations between Mfettflti and scanderbeg as
well as the splendid receptions he was gtven whenever he visited
the city. It Is almost certain that his troops were transported
to It«ly and back to Albania In 1461-2 on Raguean ships.
23 "tflklosieh, Ko. CCCLVI, p. 442; also So. CCCLXXXV, p. 481,
24 "Man trifft hier (in Ragusa) auch iiitglieder der

*>riv* stlnerPatrizlerfami lien Su-iraa, Palorabo, Lepore mnd Span
an." Sufflay, Klrchenzugtande in Forgchuflfleii . p. 256;
PO. 125 -o7
25 3ufflay f Klrchenzuatande . in Fo rschu ngcn. Vol. I,

pp. 265«£67.
26 Villar!, p. 247.
t
5* Imp Like er'ery other Suropesin nation, the
Eunff^rlms drc*nt of cspturlng Ccrstantinople, They besieged
It soon «fter they had esufe the* r first a^pe^ranoe In Europe*
They filled then, but In the fifteenth century they^had a real
ehanoe. Their only competitor w*s the Turk. They had a great
general to lend them, Yanko Hunyadi, and their King Ladlslaue IV

combined the crowns of both Hungary and Poland. They soon discover-
ed thit they were no eiatch for the Turk and passed from the
Offensive to the defensive, Apn'.n, ^-mderbrg their natural

ally. In 1*57 Pope OllxWa III ndîsmS hit l©e*^tc in Ragus* &o
distribute the crusade money, raised In Daltaatla In three e~ual
shares to the King of Hungary, the King of Bosnia and Scanderbeg.
Barletlus, Btewnl, Laonleos, Crltobouloe, Bonflnius and the
R«gusan sources speak again and again of the alliance between

28
3c»nderbeg and the Hungarians.
B» B« stern Europe,. The old empires of the East were
falling apart one «fter the other, and a new empire w«s rising
ever their rulrs. The felling empires were t v cse of the
Bytantlnes, the Bulgarians and the Serbians; the rising one
was that cf the Qsaanli Turks.
£7 Thelner, ionumenta slavorum. Vol. I. No. DCXIII,

p. 432; App., Nol VI. pp. rxxvl -xxxvi'l.
28 Br r let 1 us. Book II, pp. 51-57; Ble^rai, Book I,

PP. 59-65; Laonleos, Book VII, p. 357; Crltobouloe In French,
Book V, Par. 91; App. ? No. XXVIII, p. lxxli; Bonf!niv»8 i
Antonius, Pe ru v ling* r 1 c a rum I;e c g d e s , Francfort, Andrea weehel,
1581, pn. 3*3 S3, year 1448, "pT^fl; Katona, Vol. XIII,
PP. 300-307; Vlllarl, pp. 229-230.
"
69
1. Byzan ti ne Smplre . Before 1082 It was an Empire of the
One Thousand and One Cities. After 1082 It became an Inspire of
the One Thousand »nd One Fief a. Then and there Constantinople
fell and not In 1204 nor In 1453. The trade privileges, granted
to the Venetians In 1082,ruined the cities and turned the
prosperous bourgeoisie Into a hungry and turbulent Lurapenproletnri

On the other hand, the l«rge estates gr^du^lly induced the free
pcs^nts to serfdom. Then the Byzantine Fmnir© broke Into One

Thousand and One Fragments. Die hi In his 3yz ance.<'yrHndeur et
30
Decadence, describes this f«t*l rise of Feudal! em § which
pulverized the Byzantine E"ir>lre and prep^r*d the way for the
fall of Const ant i no nje to the Venetians in 1204 and to the i
Turks in 1453. The hopelessness of the situation was clearly a

In the slogan of the Byzantine defeatists: Better the Turk
th^n the Fr^nk ! All they had to do was Just to choose ft
roaster. They preferred the Turk and they got him.
2. The Balkan ^t^tes . Bulgaria and Serbia in the
fifteenth century <ere nothing but caricatures of the dying 3yz*

antine E-opire. Their population eonslsted of two cl«s«?es only,
the landowners *nd the serfs.^" Their bourgeoisie w*a net strong
29 Vasiliev, Vol. II, rj P# 396-7, on eomnune of

Thee splenica.
30 Diehl, Chap. Ill, he Peril Feodal et || Lutte dea

Classes, pp. 165-179.
31 "Das Volk war grosstenteila lelbelgen." Jlrecek,

Pulg*rsn« p. 374. "Die Bnuern w«ren in alien Christ lichen
BalkansT»* ten zuletzt sehr bedruekt. . .
3 rt
JirceV*, >erben.
n
Vol. II, p. 100. i#ML4 Serb! en w*r nach 1371 kein einheitllches
Reich uehr, nur ein Konrlomerat von Adelsterrltorlen.
Ibid., p. 104.
*
70
enough to play »n important part. They fell Into the lap of the
Turk like ripe pluaa.
3. The Turkish arnnlre. The 1'urks cane In Europe as
the It be ra tor 8 of the serfs and of the onnresi'ed classes. They
promised them emancipation. This explains to a certain

extent how they succeeded in conquering such a v*st l£n?ire in
•uch a short time. There were other reasons. They were the
first to create a standing national army, the Janissaries,

33
who fought for Turkey and not for a salary. 'fhc historians
do not «p:ree on the methods by which the Janissaries were
recruited. Langer thinks that the famous devahlrme or child
tribute w*»s used only occasionally, "nd the usual method w>s
th«t of seleotlng the recruits from young prisoners of w«*r.
But the method does not matter - the result was the same. The
Turks were also the first to use extensively heavy siege
artillery for battering the walla of f ortrer-aee.^ Moreover,
they managed *t least In the first three oenturies of their

history to have ** stable government and a highly trained
administration. Fêry office from the lowest to the highest was
32 "Die Turken v kanen als Befreier der Bauem und

der Bogomllen." Jtrecek, Bulger en . p. 374 • "flegen dlejenigen
Christen, welche kelnen,, Tlderst^nd lelsteten, traten die Turken
mild sufj suchten »ber uberall die Bauera genen die Kerrcn zu
gewinncn, und verspraehen ihnen voile Freihelt."
Jlrecek, Serben, Vol. II, p # 102
13 Mitchell, Brig. Gen. William A., Outl i nes o f tti

vorl^'s MlllMXt .Hl ^grY t Harrlsburg, Pa., *i-±ttp.ry Service
TffWtfg^Tr^ Company," 1940, ppm 752, 1006, p. 246.
34 Impressment and the levy of christian children ware

only gradually and irregularly resorted to In Turkey In order
to keep the ranks of the regiments filled.
L*nger-Blake, Qsm^nen . o. 563.
35 Mitchell- Illltarv History. P-r. 1027* P. 259.
71
open to any duly trained Christian, who embraced Islam* It
was a democratic equality of opportunity, which attracted

converts by the thousands from a feudal world, in which all
36
higher offices were monopolized by the upper classes*
C. Albanian Background* The plebeian Cato thought that
w^rs are fought by peoples and not by their commanders* Accord-

ingly, he wrote history of Home In which no conrrwnder was named,
and the only n*rae occurring In his history was that of an
elephant**^ Csto exaggerates when he considers the commanders

as mere figureheads but he Is certainly right in reminding us
who does the real Job and who should get the first credit for
fighting wars and winning victories* Anyhow^ his contention
la best Illustrated by Scanderbeg's crusade. It w-s a peoples'
war, and It w*e only natural that the Albanians performed rairacsea
under a born commander, who personified the spirit of the people*

a combination of various factors enabled the Albanians to flrht
of the most heroic wars In history when everybody around
them, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian and ft reek, fell flat before

36
the trlpaphant Turk*
1* Racial * The Albanians are the descendants of the

old Xllyrlansi the original Indo-Suropem settlers of the
e-*^^ coast of the Adriatic Sea from Italian Venice in tha
North to Greek Aearnanla In the South* Their name la that
36 "Die Relohs-und Hofamter waren ausschllesallohes

Elgentum der Boyaren, wie in Serblen naoh Bys ant lnl schwa
astern* * Jlreoek,
37 Thompson, Vol. T, r^. 64-65.
38 Pallserayer, Vol. VIII, p. 710* v
39 Thallocsy, Porachungen> Vol. X. p. Ot Jlreeek.
Forachungen. Vol. I, p. 64* "Bas Illyrische (continued on next pag
72
of the Xllyrian elan of Albani a aontlonod for the first
40
time by Ptolemy in the IX century A.D. They Inhabited what
is Central Albania today and what was Albania proper down to
the XV century* The name was extended later to lnelude all
neighboring Xllyrlan olane. Alexander the Great characterises
the Xllyrlane and the Thraolans as the stoutest^ the asost

1
warlike of all Europeans.* Consequently, the Albanl, «ust
hare been the toughest of the rôe slnoe they succeeded in

surviving Roman, Slavic and Byzantine Imperialism.
2* R«llgloy « Christianity was preached In Albania

by Roman missionaries as it is proved by almost all the
42
ecclesiastical terms In Albanian whloh are derived from Latin.
As a part the Xllyrloum, Albania belonged to the Roman see until
Ceo X, the X saurian, detached it from Rome in 734 and gave it to
the patriarchate of Constantinople. In the meantime, the Bui.
garians and the Serbians drove a wedge through Macedonia to

Salonlea and prevented the Greek Patriarchate from ever getting
a firm hold on Albania* The Crusades undid almost entirely

all the gains the Byzantine Patriarchs had made, which con*
slsted of three Greek Orthodox wedges: one from Jnnlna to
1st elne Satem-Spraehe. . Jokl, IUvrler» Vol« VI, p. 38«

"Das Albardsehe 1st elne Satemsprache. • • Aehnllche Verhalt*
nlsee flnden wir im Xllyrischen. . .* Jokl, Albanor. Vol. I,
p. 89. "Das Albanlsehe is sowohl mit dea iilyrischen als ait
dem Thrakisehen nahe verwandt." Ibid .. p. 91
40 Jlreeek, For sc bunion. Vol. I, p. 66.
41 Arrianus, Flavlus, Anabas^, s Alex and rl „ Greek text with
an English translation by E. Xllff Hob son, L#eb Classical
Library, Bew rork, Putnam, 1929, In two volumes. Vol. X, Book II,
ohap. 7 f p. 149.
42 fleshy from mlfifajj gften,n from sanctum; a^tari from
(continued on the next page)
73
Valona In the South; a second one from Ochrida to Croya; and
43
a third one from Ipek to Scutari and Antlvsrl. But theee wedges
were rather weak and were slowly driven back or altogether sup-
pressed. In the fifteenth century Albania was preponderantly
Roman Catholic, with eighteen episcopal sees, some of which hare

an uninterrupted history fro* the dawn of Christendom down to
44
our own days. Hvery bishop was a collector of Crusade
45
money for Scnderbeg; every monk was his propaganda agent.
Religion gave to the Albanians the unity they lacked as a
Stnte. Religion served also as a llnk t connecting them with
the west.
3. Geographic . Albania Is roughly divided Into three
unequal zones: the lowlands on the seacoast with a semi*
tropleal climate, studded by olive groves; the wild highlands

In the background with a semi .arctic climate, teeming with
bears and wolves; and In between the undulating hill country,
green with pasture lands. It Is an amphitheatre sloping towards
the Adriatic Sea, with Jagged mountains covering about three
fourths of the area and barring access to the lowlands. Torrent-
ial and ae«nderlng rivers rush down from the highlands towards
the sea, making the mountainous hinterland a labyrinth of
alt »rem ; kreshma from quadra ge si mam ; kershendella from Chrletl

Natalia krukl from crucem ; etc.
;
43jsuf flay, Klrohenzustande In Forschungen . p. 189.
44 Farlatl, Vol. VII, Dp. lx-xlv; Jlrecek, Handelstrassgn.

p. 16.
45 Thclner, Monument" slavorum. Vol. I, No. DC VI,

pp. 427-8? App.,No. IV, pp. xxxv-xxxvl.
74
towering penks, insidious pisses «nd Infernal valleys. It is
certainly one of the most difficult terrains of the European

continent. The Turkish annalist Urud£, who must have seen those
mountains, describes thamas Inaccessible even to the crows and

46
accessible only to demons (Iblls), like the Albanians. It was
an ideal ground for Seanderbeg's guerrilla warfare. ^

4. Social . Ihere were three social classes In
Seanderbeg *e Albnnia: the free pe^smts of the highlands
and the hill country; the merchants of the flourishing towns

46
of the seacoast; and the petty nristocrats, or rather the
patriarchal chieftains of the highlanders. Some of the
aristocrats wavered and sometimes ran over to the enemy but
most of them made common cause with the two other classes.
These were solidly and bitterly opposed to Turkish domination.

They wanted to remain free, serfdom and slavery were unthinkable
46 Urudz, Fruhosmanlschc Jahrbiicher . p. 137.
47 Barbarieh, p. 192.
48 "Den Blntrltt in das Land (AXbanlen) ermogllchten

ausser den Hafen der Kustenstadte besonders die z&ndungen der
Fliisse, und zwar besuchten die mlttelalterischen rCauffahrer
nloht nur die heute noeh schlffb^re Bojqna und den Drln,
sondern auch den Mat, den Ism, den Vrego (skumbl), den oevol
(Semanl), und die Vojuss^. Das waren die Flumlnarla . fiumare/
de 1* Albino , an denen besonders am Vrego fcnd Devol, ein
bedeutender Getreldehandel bluhte; das flache Alb*nische
Kustenland, das Jetzt gans verodet 1st, war damals mit uppigan
Korasa^ten bedeckt. . • " Jirecek, Handelsetrassen,. p. 63.
75
to them* As Hakushev puts It: An Albanian could not be a
49
alive. Nobody in the slave markets of Turkey would buy an
Albanian or a Hungarian slave because they were Impossible to
50
handle and too dangerous for their masters. Pallmerayer is
51
right In calling them fanatically freedom -loving. The Tureo-
ph
phile Crltoboulos confirms it: Rather than surrender to the
Turks, they hurled themselves from the rocks down to the
52
ravines, preferring death to slavery.
5. Economic . With the exoeption of Crlbobouloa, all
the other historians unanimously assert that the Albanian

highlanders refused to pay tribute to the Turk. The Turkish
annalist, Urudz, puts It in a laconic form: yhey pay tribute

53
to nobody ! Crltoboulos gives us the economic reason: Because
i 5*
they hava. noj money . And that was true about the overwhelming
majority of the population, which was agricultural or pastoral
and had not yet reached the stage of money economy. Sometimes,
49 "Albanec ne raog byt rabora." Makushev, Razyskanla.

p. 122,
50 "Nulla enim gens, nullum captivorum genus diffieilius

emptorera lnvenlt, quam Epirotae et Hungarl, utpote quoe mini me
servitlo aptos, et 1 iperiosos nlmls dlcant, neque unquam ex
els bonos Turcns fieri consuesse. 1
* Barletlus, Vita . Book VIII,
P. 239,
51 "Frelheitsfanatlsehee Vol." Fallmerayer, Vol. VIII, p. 666.
v 52 "Quelejues-uns d'entre les Illyriens. fcoyant les ^hopll-fcce

a leurs trousses, et ne trouvant aucun refuge ae preoipiterent
dea roc hers dans les ravins, et perirent." No. XXVIII. p. Ixvlii.
53 "Klmseye Kharatch vermezler." Urudz, Fruhosmanlsche

J »hrbucher . p. 137.
54 "Car lis n'avalent pas d* argent." Crltoboulos In

French, Book III, Par. 97, p. 240; App., No. XXVIII, p. lxili.
76
when they were hard pressed by the Sultans, Crltoboulos poes
on to s«y, the Albanians would promise to pay tribute like
the others, but they changed their olnd very soon and reverted
to their rebellious intransigence.^ in other words, promissory

or nominal tribute was all they could afford to pay, but real
tribute In money or kind wae out of the question.
B« Precursors . Scanderbeg was not an isolated

phenomenon In Albania. Others before him succeeded in unifying
the Albanian peasant! against foreign domination, and all of
them without exception turned orlmartly to the Popes for pro-

tection, and the Popes were always glad to help them. Curiously
enough, all the leaders came from the Greek Orthodox Wedges,
which the popes wanted to annex: The Balshas from the wedge of
Ipek-Scut*ri-Antivarl ; the Ottriotis and the Thopias from the
wedge of Qchrlda -Oroya; the Musachls, the Shpatas and the Buas
from the wedge of Janlna~Valona.
1. Bnlgha . Balsha I and his three sons, Staslmir,
Seorge and Balsha Junior, rebelled soon after Car Dueh^n'e

denth and succeeded in unifying Albania from Antlvari to
Argirocastro In the West* from Argirocastro to Cnstorla in
the South, from Castorla to Oehrida and Prlzren in the East
and from Prizren to Scutari and Antlvari in the Nofrth. They
55 "Dej'a auparavant, le Sultan 24orat t pere du Sultan

aetuel, leur await fait la guerre avec une grande armee et
avec dee forces lmposantes. ... Cependant 11 n* await pu prendre
le pays et le soumettre completeracnt. Mb 11 av°lt seulement
f«it avec eux une convention, qu'ils lul paieralent un certain
tribut annuAel. . • Peu de temps lis se conformerent aux convent 1 onfl ;
mals bientot lis s'en deslsterent, ne donnerent pas le tribut, et
en falsant des incursions, lis parooururent les terres du Sultan
et les endommagerent." Crltoboulos in French, Book III. Par. 93;
Appi # No. XXVIII, pp. lx-lxi.
77
even extended their Northern frontier up to the Narenta valley
below Raguaa, and they ruled over a territory twice aa large
at modern Albania* Their auccesa la explained primarily by
the fact that they broke away from the Greek Orthodox Church
and joined the Roman Catholic Church In 1368* thua Identifying
56
themselves with Roman Catholic Albania. Albanian unity
under the Balahaa lasted until 1479* when George I, the
gre teat of the dynasty* died* Then the Turka came and the
Balahaa were aqueezed to de^th between the Venetian and the

Turklah mllletonea. Venice supported t>e Balahaa until they
ahook off the .Serbian yoke and atabbed he^ In the back when
they became too dangerous for her Adriatic empire* At Scander-
beg'a time* the Balahaa were reduoed to a 8mall atrip of

territory between Aleaalo and Scutari* which waa their original
home*^ Scanderbeg claimed to be their protector and their
58
successor as well*
2* Qhln Sua Shpata . The war of liberation from 3erbian
56 Theiner, ônumenta alavormn . Vol. I* pp. 261-363*
57 "Quldam ex Albanlae proceribua oognoraento Balsa." II

cite Orlblnus qui i u l auaal affirme: "« . .ex indigcnls nobllibua
Albanlae." Du Cange, Illyrloum Vetus et Novum , np. 131-132*
quoted by GegaJ, p. 16 f note 4. Âls verwandter (der Balaa)
erechelnt ein Alb<mese* der Volvode Nokola Zaeharla, herr Von Budua."
Jlree'ek* Serben, I. p. 425. "Der Ilerr von Nord-albanicn
Georg II Balaa." Sufflay. Forachungcn. Vol. I, p. 296.
"Albanese e»»ttolico.romano Giorgio II stracimlrov Balaa. M Gelclch,
Balscldl. p. 187; cfr. Gelcieh, c&ttaro . p. 135; Acta Albanlae .
Vol. rlj year 1396* No. 548. p. 146; Fallmerayer, Vol. VIII. p.
691: .."Balsch aenlor, der neue Gheghlache (Nord-albanl ache)
Eroberer. . Ibid ., p. 692: "tfenn aber die alten chroniken
ersahlen, Georg Balach ael mit 10*000 Mann ia Banat elngebrochen
und h«be ea mit Albaneaiacher Grausamkeit verheert* so let hler
nlcht an daa heute aogenannte Banat von Teaesvar zu denken."
53 Magno Chronicle, in Jorga, (continued on next page)
78
yoke wns fourht in Southern Albania by Ghin Bua Shpata of
Arte ((j. 1400) • He also extended the frontiers of hie
dominion to the South beyond Aetolia end Aearnania* And
exactly At the tine when George I Balsha orushed the Bosnians

in the Banat in 1379» Ghin â Shpata won a brilliant bietory
against the oombined arrsies of the Serbians, the Greeks nnd

the Neapolitans and compelled thera to raise the siege of his
capital, Arte. The tactics he had used were repeated by

59
Seanderbeg at Croya again and again in 1450 and 1466*7*
l^tccL clhX kôsfyx*- < fctuL- a~->uL Vet^t, /^josfax- ;
^
3. fttow&ej^^piefra^âfr^^
V^WvtuwÂ» teith WUi/yli^ht CAv«lry^4Mi defeated
Nioephorus II, Despot of Eplrus and Thessnly, at the battle
of Acheloos In 1358, which was a real class w»r. Nioephorus II ,
with an nray of Greeks and mercenary Seljuk Turks, wanted to

re-establish the landlords dispossessed by the Albanian
highlanders, who had emigrated into Greece since the beginning
of the fourteenth century with the Cantaeuzenea*^ This class
Hot eg. Vol. Tff9 p. 191, note 1: "In sorni tre conquisto degli
pTtri luoghi in Albania et feese potente, dlgando essere herede
de B»lea et voler 11 paeee fu de quelle"
59 Fallnerayer, Vol. VIII, p. 704.
61 "Die Griechen waren uberall fur den Kachkoamen der

ajten Landesfursten die Alb»ner gegen ihn. Nlkephoroe wollte
naallch duroh elne gewalts»me Rest duration den grundbesltz auf
(continued on the next page)
s
79
war explains the bitter h»tred of the Byzantine aria toe rats
against the Roman Catholic Altan5 art peasants, as it is
exemplified by the writings of Fhrantzes, Ducas, Chaloondylas
and Critoboulos*
4. George Aranitl,. ^1ftH**iiViM& rrcat A of the

na*je
Thonia dynasty is that of George Aranitl Thopia Comneni

(d. 1461), father-in-law of Scanderbeg. He was the first to
inflict a resounding defeat in 1433 on a Turkish army under
All Beg *2vrenoz, which he had succeeded in trapping and cut-
ting to pieces in the insidious Aerooeraunian passes of

Kurvelshl. He became a famous man overnight all over Europe.
Pope Eugene IV, Alphonse V of Naples, and the Holt Roman

Emperor Slgismund took him under their protection. Even the
Bysantlne Chaloondylas, whose heart was softened by Aranitl*

rt
distant Coanena gre^t -grandmother, had to ad nit that ea in
expeditlone magnan glorlam lnvenit Arlanites Comneni fillus

..62
operlsque memorabilibus pestis admodum celebratus est.
die Zustnndfl vor 8 Jahren zuruekzubrl ngen. . • Aber bald folgte ein
Auf stand der Albanesen. Der Despot Nikephoros wurde mit seinen
grleehischen Stratloten und turkisehen 3oldner an Acheloos
(Aspropotamos) yon den albanlsehen Edelleuten mit ihren leicht
besVegllohen Krlegsvolk vollsta.ndig geechlagen und fiel lo
Kampfe. (1358, Kantakuzenos IV, chap. 43.) Jirecek, Serb en.
Vol. I, p. 416; ofr. Fa lime ray er, Vol. VITI, p. 674.
62 Laonleos, Book V, p. 251. Aranitl won two more

t
victories against the Turks, see Diplomat arium Ragusanura,

1434, Aug. 16, p. 386-7i "... acerriinum bellum ipsl
Albanenses commlserunt, adeoque res successlt, quod ex Turels
multi et multl oeolderunt; similiter (continued on next page)
80
et Albanenaea damnum raeaperunt ex aula, aea tanien In

n
catapo cua rletolra remAnaerunt. . Also Ibid 1435
Feb. 16, p. 389s "In feato Sanetl staffaril post solea-
nltatea Natlvltatls Doalnl no3trl Jaau Christ! Ysaeh
to 1 rod a Teucer, qui aagno at potent! exerc It/u in Albano
conveners t et ad oujus oppositua oonaistebat Arnith 3pata
principalis doaiinu8 et dux In Albano, cua vallda aanu
Albanorua coa^' ttantea preliua et acerriaa invlcea diaieantea,
ab eodea Ami th conflletua est et eonveraua In fugaa, quod
eua pauelealale evaaua est Ipse ysach« u
CHAPTER V
LEGENDARY BEGINNINGS (1405-1*43)
*• ORICfflf * Fallmerayer pointed out the futility

of wasting any time at all about the origin of families
1
like those of the Albanian Highlander chieftains. With
a few exceptions, thcip beginnings are rather humble end
2 1
obscure, like those of the Balshas and the Castriotls.
1. The Fcrmendzln Document , As fflree'ek tells us 9
every Albanian had two names, a first name, which was
seldom a national one, and a second name, which was that

4
of his clan or his village. For instance, the family
names of Castrlotl, Balshlf tfusaohl, Araniti and Shpata**
1 "Den Or sprung elnes Albanlschen St amrahauDt lings

zu erprunden 1st elne eben so verbebliehe als unnutze uuhe."
Fallmerayer, Vol. VITI, p. 712.
2 "L'Orblnl . . . scribe . . .one ai giorni dl

Dusan 11 Balsa abbla posseduto nulla altro che un illaggio
della Zedda." Geloioh, Zodda, p. 30. efr. Jlree'ak, Serb en.
Vol. I, p. 425.
3 "Sapplate eom'l'avo del Slgnor Scanderbeg. • .

non ebbe plu de due easali. . Hopf, qhroniquea . p. 301.
4 Jlr<»eek, Forsohunf en . Vol. I, p. 70.

T
5 There are two villages called lalshl . one in

Northern Albania and another in Southern Albania. y Botn forms,
Balshl and Balaha. are possible In Albanian. Jlrecek thinks
that the root Is Tllyrlan and t'-ie suffix 3erbian or Rumanian.
3ee Serb en . Vol. I, p. 425. The suffix -aha is not unknown
In Albanian, as is shown by family names like Uosha and
ânehieha of the sano period.
6 Balshl, ttuzVui, Araniti and Shpata are ised to t: Is

day as surnames in Albania.
are Just names of villages, which still exist In Albania.
The Fer»end£ln document proves eonolualvely that the
Cast rl otls were so called because they originated froa a

7
village called C»strlotl In the region of Has . Luc carl,
cjuoted by Fallmemyer, confirms it though he misspells

both the village and the region. The latter, though
misspelled was e«sily recognizable, but the misspelled
Villa Castratl Instead of Castrlotl was a source of
confusion because there is a Castrate, elan In i'orthem

Albania, and there is also a Castrlotl village In
10 v
Northeastern Albania. The Femiendzln dooument,
hitherto Ignored, makes It clear that * at was meant

is the C«striot^ village and not the Castrat^ clan.
2» Hopf Genealogy . Bra nllo Cq s trlotaôrlg^n c
serbe. Is given as the gre»t -grandfather of Scanderbeg

11
In Hopf 's genealogical table of the Gastrlotl family.
7 "Castrioieh (sic) de Caatriotl In provincla Az

in Eplro." Ferraendzln, p. 56O; App., No. X*VI, p . lvil.
8 "Giovanni Caatrioto. Slgnor di Crul laqual

f*miglla usei d« Castratl villa nella gluriadit5one in As
in Albania, r>oco discosto d«l fiu^.e Drllon. Luccarl, pag.
In dieser Stelle muss etatt As. well fler Italiener In
Fremdwortcro d*e H nlfjrht aussprechen kann, Has gelesen
werden, Fallêrnyer, Vol, VTTT, p. 713, note 1.
9 Barb" rich, p. 177
10 Yastrebov, pp. 123# 226-227.
11 Hopf , Chronlcues . p. 533; efr. Hahn, fcctse, Vol.

XVI, p. 115.
83
The story of this ancestor rests on the Valona Document of
12
I368 '
and on phrase of 3panduglno, the author Of a
13
Treatise on the House of Os-aa n^ A document, containing
the oath, taken h; Alexander Conner* Aaen, the Bulgarian
Prince of Valona and Ganlna, ae a honorary citizen of

Ragusa, be«rs t be. signature of a Castrlot . governor of
Canlna 9 along with those of other notables. The name
of this Cast riot Is preceded by th*t of a certain Branllo .
a Sl«»wlo name, which Hppf reads as the first name of this
strict, But A thers Is s Slavic conjunction which

v
seeaa to make them two different nersons, as Sufflay asserts.
12 The document has been published in the Slavic

original bv ilklosich, No. CLIII, Sept. 2, 1368. pp. 178-179;
and by Hovakoviah, Hoi LUX, 00, 190-191; In I Latin trans-
lation by Sufflay, In Acta, "o. 259^ p. 57, wlthânnotations.
It has been commented ur.on by Thallooz? Bnd Jlrecek In Zwel
Urku nden * p« 38, and In I Orschu nften, . p. 137.
13 Hopf, Chronlquc s. pp. 315-335; 3ansovino, pp% 189-215;

ofr. Lybyer, Appendix , p. 310.
14 The si gnaturcs In ilavlc are aa follows: "Prodan

'/ojevoda 1 Mlkleus, kef alia vavionakl Branllo 1 kef alia
a
kanlnskl Kastrlot. . . In Latin: "Prod an vojvoda
et ilkleus,
H
castellanus lulonae Branllo et oastollanus Canlnne Kaatrlot. • .
Acta . No. 2*9, p. 57.
15 Cuia nomen hocos (Kastrlot). . • sine nomine proprlo

apoareat, Hopf, 2, 122, et Makushev, 1st Haa. 51, no*uen
Br?nllo ad Id pertlnere censebant, Id :uod et ordo verborua et
ea cuas In .ota praecedente dlxlmu,s ac etlam iusachl In sua
hlstorla strleto refutant. . Sufflay In Acta. ifo. 249. p.57#
col. 2, note 1. Thalloezy and Jlrecsk In Zwe l Urkundcn . In
Arohlw fur Slavlsche Phllologle, Vol. XXI, p. "88, assert:
Naoh den Texte gehort Branllo kaua zutj Namen Kastrlot, wle es
Hopf veretanden hat." 3ut In B&
llMiMBi P« 137 they change
"Nach den Texte gehort Branllo vlel l elcht zura
tholr mind:
Naraen K»etrlot, wis ee Hopf werstanden hat." The Italics are
ours.
84
But even Emitting th^t Brsni lo Is the first name of this
Co*trlot f thnt does not me*n that he was a Serbian because,
«=» t« Jlreeek tells us, the first naê of an Albanian was
seldom Albanian but either Greek, Slavic or Latin. Finally,
there is nothing in the document to indicate th^t this Branllo
Ctatrt ot was the great -grandfather of sc^ndffrbeg. Consequently,
all we have tr say to Hopf l«! "Tint <"o chores en deux mots!"
The atory of Spanduglno 1s not lesu controversial. He character-
ises 3eanderbeg as "per nstura Serviano" according to Kopf's

17
reading, and "per natione servlano" according to Sansovino's
reading. Spandugino's manuscript, published b Hopf, was

lo
written in 1535, that is to say Jttty -seven years a^ter
So^nderbeg's death, which means that it is far from being the
testimony of I contemporary. No indlention is r>iv*n of the
source from which Spandt^jino obtained this information, every-

thing else he has to say on the subject and especially the
stories of and erne? 1 s aword and Sultan :*iurad Il's death
under the walls of Croya in 1450, are unquestionably derived

from Sarletius and Franco, which moans that he is not an
independent source. Thalloczy ind Jlrec'ek characterize the
16 Jlreeek, ôrachunren . Vol. I, p. 70.
17 Hopf, phronlques. p. 3*54.
18 -»an.eovino, Spanduglno . p« 201.
19 'ôpf, ^hrontque s. Introduction, p. xxxv.

etory of nesnderheff'a Serbian descent aa a legend.
Pieard rightly concludes! "Mala, *e la a conclure que lea
Caatrlota etaiant de souehe slave, cane l'affirae
Spsndugino, 11 y a la difference entre le fait et 1* hypo these. 11
Pimllyâ ftegsj reaarkj, there ia mother AlMM to be heard,

v
who aiav know a otic thing about It, nnêly •j©«nder :Gg hi-naelf.
In letter to the Prince

a Taranto, he proudly cilia
22
himself an Albanian,
3. Angelo Genealogy . According to taint Angelo Flavlo
Coameno of Drlv<»eto and Antlvari* a relative of Archblahop
Paul Angelo of Dura?so, Scanderbeg'e great •grandfather and

grandfather *ere respectively called Conatantlne and George
C-atrlotl. Mow, according to Haflaaer, I prince of that name
who aay have been ~c->nderbep; , 8 grandfather Nat psrt In the
battle of Koasovo In I389 and told the aeubcra of the

24
Chrlatlan War Council how victory could he won. Unfortunately
20 w Bel Spandugino. . . alnd 3agen von einea serbiachen

Ursprung deraelbcn (der Kastriota) zu lesen t doch der Name 1st
ohne Zweifel <~rieohiac v K atrlotl a von sine.* Crtsnaaeii âgtrlon ."
?-
Forsohungen . Vol. I, p« 13o.
21 Fisnni, p. 190
22 *$ol ci ehlaadaaai Spiroti,' i£*kusev, ô au senta

1
Slavorua. Vol. II, p. 12*<; Plsko, A pp. pn. 149-150^ ^Splrotl*

w*s the generic ne-rte for all the Albanian! in the fifteenth
century, while Albanian was the particular nnne of the
inh«bltrnta of Central Ala ania.
23 3f?e Cstrloti Genealogical ?«ble of Zu Csngfe, p. 270.
24 "Ira felndllchen Kriegsrath n&r der Vorschiag # den

Felnd waehrend der Naeht ansugreifen, von Georg Caatriota aua
dea uebersnithigen Grande Verworfen worden, daae die Naeht die
Plueht der Feinde beguenatigend, ale lhrer gaenzliehen Nlederlagc
entziehen koenne." Haaaer f Oaraanen. Vol. I, p. 177.
a
86
25
Flarlo Comneno la very unreliable as a compiler of genealogies
and Han-ner does not give us the source from which he obtained
his Information. The story may be an anaohronlera of some
Turkish annalist*
4. Musachl Ge n ealogy . Ghln Musachl gives Seanderbeg

a different grandfather and emphasizes the point; "You must
know that Seanderbeg 1 s grandfather w*s called Paul Castrloti,

and he had not more than two villages, called 3lgna and Lower
26
Gardhi. Paul's son, John Castrloti, became Lord of Matla."
His son Scinderbegj "after recovering the paternal strte seized
the olty of Croya, whleh his father did not possess. then he
annexed "Dibra, Birlna, namely Randlsia, Toraonlsta and Ml si

27
and the region of Guonlml down to the se»eoast. In other
words, the C«strlotls were upstarts and usurpers. Barletlus
Indirectly confirms tfusaehi because he has not much to say
about Seanderbeg* a genealogy and for the first tlîe he becomes
laconic, which Is not his habit, and tells us only that his
28
ancestors originated from tfatl.
5» Etymology and Descent . Cqstrlotls In Greek me^ns
25 "Andrea Angelo Comneno, fameux auteur de genealogies

fausses. . .* Hopf, Chronl ques . Introduction, p. xxxv.
26 "Sapplate com 1 l'avo del Slgnor Seanderbeg se chin-no

Slgnor Paulo Castrloto, e non ebbe plu de due casali nomlnati
Slgna e Gardi .1 posts si ; e de questo Slgnor Paulo nacque 11
Slgnor Giovanni Castrloto, lo ouale se feoe Slgnor della Matla?
Hopf, Chronl cues, p. 301. "II Slgnor Giovanni Castrloto, patre
del 3igr.or se-nderbeg fu slgnore del paese nomine la i^tls.*
Ibid . .p. 298.
2? %• .Dopo che reeupero la ?iatla, stato p«terno,

s'lnsignorl della cltta de Croi a, (continued on next page)
87
29
an inh->blt»nt of Ostrlon f and critoboulos uses It in
"*C 31
that sense*' This w«?s sufficient for Dlrltzae to claim
Sean«lerbeg rs a Greek because there are several villages
called Castrlon in Greece. There ^re some in Albania also
bee use this word meant originally H

a little castle**.
Yastrebov is shocked by this Greek claim and handles Dimitzas

32
ery t.,
roughly.
ch'il patre non I'hobbe, . Ibid ., p. 299. . .Fu signore

non solum dell-- Matla, ma si fe Signore de Crola f de Dlbra, de
Blrina, oloe de Randlsla, Tomonlsta e Mi si a lo paese de Guonimi
sino alia marina. 9 Ibid ., pp. 298-299.
H
28 Bt quia neaue latere penltus 3canderbegi genus aequum
duco 9 nc~ue oanem avorura ejus st-riem prescribere in anlnso est,
ilium unum attlglsse contentus ero, auctores gentis C^striotae
ex Aemathia noblll ortu fluxiese, imperi t^sseque pa gloria
fortuna-ue in Epiro." Barlctlus. Vlta* Book I, p. 1.
29 " Castrlotls von einem Ortsnamen castrlon . Thalloczy

and Jlrecek. Forsohungen . Vol. I, p. 136.
. "Castrlotis a loco
Castrlon. n Sufflay, Acta , p. 57, col. 2, note 1.
30 Criboboulos in Greek, Book III, par. 82, p. 217.
31 Petrovltch, p. 117; Legrand, No. 356, p. 122.
32 Yastrebov, pi). 228, 253.

88
B* FAMILY . With John Castriotl, Scanderbefr* s father,

w« »re on firmer ground. We have no connected story of his life
but we poaaeaa a considerable number of documents from which we
may glean ao-ne fragmentary information about him. He married
Voisav* Trlpalda of Folog," who bore him four sons and five
daughters. George, the youngest of hie sons, became famous
under the Turkish surname of Scanderbeg, but we know very

little about the three others.'* Hie daughters were married
n
33 E la Ti*dre de detto Signor Scanderbeg, moglle del
detto 3lgnor Giovanni, hebbe nome Signers. Voisava Trlpalda e
venne da bona parte." Hopf, Chronlqueg. p. 301. On p. 308
tfueachi tells us that Voisava was Albanian from the Musachl
family. Barletius, Vita . Book I, p. 1, writes: "Uxori
Vo1s«vae nomen erat, non Indignant eo viro, turn pater nobllis-
slmus Trlbalorum princess. . Franco, chap. I, p. 2vj
"Et la matre dl esso Scanderbeg, chiaaata voisava, fu flgllola
del slgnore dl Follogo, one e,una parte del la Macedonia et
Bulgaria. " According to Jlreeek: "Polog, Jetzt Tetovo, am
oberen Wardar." Serben . Vol. II, p. 6.
3* 3tanisha, Reposhi and Const^ntine. Reposhi was a

holy man, beeame a monk and died in the Monastery of ^lgna,
as Mueachi telle us: "Reposlo predetto fu huomo de santa vita
e se n' ando al Monte Sinai e si fe frate e 11 morse. " Hopf,
Chron l gueg , p. 295» Constantlne must have died In Turkey
before lA3o, beo»uee neither he nor Reposhi are mentioned
after thnt ye^r. stanisha, the eldest son, must haVe
been the one who was Bent as a "hostage" with contingents
to help the Turks in 1410, the Serbians in 1422 and again the
Turks In 1428. He is not he«»rd of after 1445, when
both he «nd Scanderbeg beoame honorary citizens of Venice.
Jorga, Notes . Ill, p. 194
39
to neighboring princes so that John Castrlotl became the
father-in-law of the lost Important chieftain* of Northern
1. Frlncl sallty . John Castrlotl Inherited from his

father Paul only two villages, sign* and Lower Gardhi,^ but
he added to them the region of aatl,"' and extended hie
territory froa Prlfcren to Shufadaya on the Adriatic 3ea.-^
He was strong enough to offer to Venice In 1411 an auxiliary
corps of 2,300 horaemen for a pension *f 1000 ducats a year.^

Was Croya included in his principality? Ghin Musachl says it
40 41
was not. Luooarl says it was, and there are two documents
35 Mara with Stefan Cemojevieh of Montenegro;

Angelina with Vladan Aranltl, brother of George Aranltl; Yella
with Ohln Sfusaohl, not of the Genealogy ; Vlayka with >tefan
Stresi B»lsha; âmltza with ûsachl Tnopla, after her father's
death in 1445.
36 Hopf, Chronlques. p. 301. Signa and Lower Gardhi

are situated in Northeastern Albania near the Drln River.
Y^strebov, pp. 224-4, 251; Hahn, Relec. Vol. XV, p. 23.
37 Hopf, Chro nlnucs * pp. 298, 301.
38 Thalloczy and JireSck discovered and published a

trade treaty between John Castrlotl and Raguea, from which
It appears that his territory extended from the 3erbian
border to the sea. Forschungen . Vol. I, p. 146.
39 LJubio, Vol. VI, dp. 175-6.
40 H Crola, eh'il patre (Giovanni C«striotl) non l'hebbe."

Hopf, Chronlqueq. p. 299.
41 "Giovanni C*strioto, Slgnor di Crui. . Lucoarl,

Anna 11 dl Rausa . p. 86, quoted by Fallmerayer, Vol. VIII,
P. 713.
90
which Bee* to confirm it.
2. Religion and Politics,. In religion John Castrloti
whs typically Ubanian.^ *Y*\fewi*i»SfiSt Or rather, he had a J
different one in accordance with hie shifting political
orientations. He was a Rcraan Catholic aa an ally of Venice
in 1407; a Greek Orthodox aa an »lly of otefan Lazarevlch of

43
Serbia, fron 1419-1426; a Moslem aa an ally of Murad II
44
from 1430*1438; a Roman Catholie again in 1433 as an ally
45
and honorary citizen of Ventoe and Ragusa; he died a good
42 In 1407 John Castrloti asked the Venetians to use

their influence with the Pope to prevent the annexation of
the diocese of Croya by the Bishop of Aleesio, because that
diocese had beon In his territory for centuries* "Cum
eplsoopatus Albanie laa sunt octlngenti anni fuerit In terrie
et contracts sua." LJubic. Vol. V, p. 94. cfr. Forge hungen .
Vol. I, p. 138. Again LJuble, Vol. VTII, p. 133, 1422-3,
oontalns this note: "Quid soriptura et rcsponsum fuit domino
Johanni C«striotti circa Raguseos transeuntes per viam
Scut«rl et Croye."
43 In 1419 John Castrloti and Balsha III are accused

of persecuting Roman Catholios. 3nfarlk, Vol. I, No. ATI.
p. 383; LJubiC, Vol. VI X, pn. 284-5; Jorga, Notes . Vol. I t
29 M»y» 1*19, P. 100; Gelolch, Zedda. p. 320 • fn 1426 John
Castrloti bequeaths two villages to the Serbian Greek Orthodox
Monastery of Chilandar In aount Athos. Novakovioh, year 1426,
Ho. 62, pp. 426-468. Forschungen . Vol. I, p.
44 "In hac terra (Albania) potens Caausa (Johannes
Castrlota) fult, nul Christlanis p»rentibus ortus, parua
tenax Catholloae fldei, ad Jiahuaetls insaniâ decllnavlt. . •
Qeorglus Seanderbeehlus eius haeredltatea aeoeplt. • . Plus IJ,
rt
Asia and Europe* Chap. XV, p. 337; A pp., No. XI t pp . xll-xlii.

v
T is conversion of John Castrloti and his adoption of the
Uohaaaedan name of Hamza, latinized as Caausa, is confirmed by
Luec«rl, Anna 11 dl Ra usa . second edition, R«gusa, 1790, p. 159,
as quoted by ^kushev, ~azysk«»nla . p*81, note 2; * "orto
C»musa (Giovanni Castrlota) i barbarl avevano occupato Smazia
o Vuaestla suo pntriraonlo.
45 Thalloczy and Jlreoek, For ec hung en . Vol. I, p. 142;

LJublo, Vol. IX, p. 214; Uakushev, Razyskanla, p. 63, note 1.
91
Christian In 144*.*°
3* Relations with Turkey . John C^strloti brgan to
flirt with the Turks In 1410, when he notified Venice that he
was compelled to give them his son as a hostage* The Venetians
had reasons to believe he was not telling them the exact tifath*
Xn 1422 John Castrlotl came- hack with a slnil»r story* This
tlae he notified Venice that he was compelled to gtv« hie son

48
as a hostage to the despot of Serbia* As a natter of f»ct,
he h*d sent his son Stanisha with an auxiliary corps to help
the Serbians against the Venetians at Scutari.*** Curiously
enough, In 1426 all his fo-jr eons were with his In Albania,
as Is proved by the £hll«nd^r dooument discovered by the
Russlan^Grigorovich,*' and published by the Serbian^

1
Novakovich.^ But In 1^28 John C*strloti came for the third
tine with a new version of the sane old story: This time he
notified Venice ^hot he should not be held responsible if his
son, who had become a "Turk and a Ztoslem", should Invade

52
Venetian territory* The Venetians never believed him and
46 "Oed qu*n levlter Christum deserult, tarn facile

Mahu metis sacra eontempslt* Redilt enlm ad oatemam leer em,
st quaavis u trpraque religion em contempserl t, neutrl f ioue,
Chrlstianus t*men morl quam Turca maluit." Pius IX, -.sla and
Europe. Chap, XV f p. 337; App., No. XI, p. xlli.
4? "Ipsum esse astrlotum a Turcls et habere proprium

natua In obsidem *pud eos, et quotidle infest^rl*, ut insos
Turcos permitt»t per pnasus et loca sua deseendere ad terrltoria
st loca nostra domination! su>-Jeeta. M rouble, Vol. VI, p. 51.
48 *aiser*t f ilium suum ad doainua despotum.*LJubie,Vol.

XIII. p. 211.
49 Makushev, Razy ak^nla * p* 62*

50 Forschungen . Vol. I. o* 144. note 1*
51 Ibid ;/ Novakovlch. ye»r 1426, No. 62, pp. 467-8.
•\0 .Trtfiira K'nt aa \Tr\~\ T nn A*7C A Hoi
. Mi.
e f^tto Turchc e lueeli
p WWMr^#û¥-i^
92
replied politely th»t he oould use his p«temal influence on
hi a son and dlssuê him from carrying out his aggressive p

53
Inn?, negotiations must have followed and somehow or other
the Venetians succreded in winning him away from the Turks, In

1430 when Venlee w*s at war *lth t v, e Turks, who har? captured
Venetian Salonloa, John Câtriot sided with tfcf Venetians «nd

paid the penalty. He was crushed b •
leak Ber; ^rcnoz of Scopla
and so he and his sons had to become "Turks nr.d ;

oeleTa" in
order to save w* *t they could from the cntêtrophe. He had
also to cede a part of his principality to the Sultan but he

was allowed to keep the rest as a Turkish vassal.^ In 1438
John Castrloti recovered from this reverse and prepared a new

oorae-baok.^ He died hefore he could do It. His youngest
son, George Castrloti, staged the come-back for him.
pourrait neanmolns donner rtes ordres a son flls. H
54 Thalloczy and Jlreeek, in Forgchungcn. Vol. I #

pp. 140 -141 , describe this catastrophe on the basis of Ragusan
archival documents. B«rletlue, Vita, Book tl t pp. 31-32*,
mentions the cession of Dlbra as one of the conditions of
peace imposed on John Castrloti t "Haec loca (Dibrae) olim
Joannl patri subjects f urerc, tsmen (ut Jam dictum est) ab
Amurathe oppressus, pacem ab eo petltam tullsset, una cum
filiif obsldlhus Dibras quoque eft pacti condltionlbus
tradldit."
55 Forschungen . Vol. I, pi 142; LJubic, Vol. IX, p. 214;

Makushev, Razyekanla» p. 63, note 1,
93
C. LBS END . The early years and the early career of
Seanderbeg are shrouded In mystery, it have only a legend
and a few are nival documents to guide us for a period covering
at le«et thirty-eight years, from 1405 to 1443. Here is the
legend as told by Barletius^ and repeated with a f^w variations
by Franae*^ John Castrioti, defeated by riurad II,
coapelled to give Mi his four sons as hast* get? when oeorge, the
3
58
youngest of them # w^s only nine ye°rs old. The four hoys
were educated atf the te*A6l/4t yî 'M/WM/MtUiiyt/MM*

as Moslems at the School of Pages in the Sultan 1 • palace.
59
Three of the* were treacherously eliminated by poison. The
youngest, sumamed Seanderbeg, as a favorite of the iultan
was spared and soon became a SandzakeBeg, a famous cavalry

general in the Turkish Array When Scanderbes' s father died B
Mured XI annexed his principality instead of giving it to the
rightful heir # Seanderbeg. That was the straw that broke the
easels back. Then and there 3e«nderbeg decided to regain his
lost principality and avenge the murder of his brothers* His

opportunity earns in 1443. At the battle of Nlsh, he helped
Kunyadi to win an easy victory by deserting the Turks at
56 Barletlua, Vita. Book I, pp. 2-16*

57 Franco, pp. 2v.-9r*
5$ *V!x dura enim nonua attlgerat annum." Barletiua,
Vita. Book I f p. 3-
59 "Aaurathes satis eonjectans molestiasimum id el et

fratribus apud se degentlbus vlsurura, utpote qui debltum slbl
iraperlum non lnlquls votls taoite expectarent, perfidlam suam
seouttus, fr tres prlmum Seanderbegl (ut fama est) ocoulte
truetls lnsldlls veneno absuraptos, sustulit de medio,
Barletius, Vita* Book I, p. 9*
60 "Sanzachl insignibus prlmum decoravit." Barletius,

Vita, p. 4.
the critical aonient. During the rout he forced the Sultan's
chancellor to give him a decree to surrender Croya to hin
ae the new governor of Albania. Then Se«*nderbeg killed the

chancellor, rushed to Albania, seised Croya and raised the
1. xoetry . Very probably Barletlus *nd Franco got
that Elld Vest Story from Albanian folk songs. It la bad
history but It makes good poetry, as w^s proved by Longfellow
who set to verse ltt climactic end and gave it a place la his
Tsles of a a nyslde Inn ,^ Varnhagen thinks that Longfellow

62
got the legend fro* 3arletlus and improved upon it but he
it wrong. The poesn Is derived from Fr?nco, whose variations
are faithfully reproduced by the American poet.^' Longfellow
auet have also read the Turkish Annals of Leunclavlus because

,
he calls Croya by Its Turkish name: Ak Hls«er» ths White Castle.

Here Is the poem:
(Continued on the next page)
61 Longfellow, Tlenry Wadsworth, Tales of a fta-.-slde j
Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1891, pp. Ill +fffl The gpanlaST

Jc^'s Second T*.le. 3c^nr1arêg; .pn. 253-258.
62 Varnhagen, Herraann, Longfellow' a Tales of a Ways 4
Inn und Ihre Snellen. Berlin, wei dVnn, 185*7 vili + ESS.
'
3e«nderbeg, pp. 127-131.
63 Koll, Longfellow , pp. ?4-30.

*5
The Spanish Jow'e Second Tale
3C ANDERS SO
From Tales of a Wayside Inn
(pp. 253-259)
by
HENRY WAD3W0RTH LONGFELLOW
The battle Is fought and won

By King Ladlslaus, the Hun,
In fire of hell and death's frost,
On the day of Pentecost.
And In rout before his pafch
Fro ia the field of battle red
/lee all that are not dead

Of the army of Amurath.
In the da rake s s of the night

Iskander 9 the pride and boast
Of that mighty Othman host,
frith his routed Turks, takes flight
Froia the battle fought and lost

On the day of Pentecost;
Le«ving behind him dead
The army of Amurath,
The Tanguard as it led,
The rearguard as it fled,

Mown down in the bloody swath
Of the battle's aftermath.
"
But he e«red not for Hospodars,
Nor for Baron or voivode,
As on through the night he rode
And gazed at the fateful st~rs
That were shining overhead;
But smote hi a steed with his stiff,
And smiled to himself, and said:
"This Is the time to laugh, M
In the middle of the night.

In a hilt of the hurrying flight.
There f»ê a Scribe of the Xing
we* ring his signet ring,
And sild In a voice severe:

"This Is the first dark blot
On thy name, aeorge Ostrlot!
Al«s' why art thou here,
And the «?rmy of Amurath slain,
And loft on the battle plain?
And Iskander answered and said:
"They lie on the bloody sod
By the hoofs of horses trod:
But this was the decree

Of the watehers overhead;
For the war belonged to God,

And in the battle who are we,
Who are we, that shall withstand
The wind of His lifted hand?*

Then he bade them bind with chains
Thle man of books ftod brains;
M
And the Scribe said: »?hat misdeed
Have I done, that, without need,
Thou doe at to r.e this thing?*
Xnd IsSandsr answering
Said untt> hira: "Not one
Misdeed to me hast thou done;
But for fear that thou should st run
And hide thyself from "?e,
Have I done this unto thee.
"Now write ue a writing, Scribe,
And a blessing be on thy tribe
A writing sealed with thy ring,
To King Anurath's Pasha
In the city of Croia,
The city moated and walled.
That he surrender the same
In the name of my master, the King;
For what is writ in his name
Can newer bo recalled. 1*
And the Scribe bowed low in dread,

And unto Iskander said:
"Allah is gre«t and Just,
But we are as ashes and dust;
How shall I do this thing,
When I know that my guilty head

will be forfeit to the King?*
Then awl ft a3 a shooting star
The curved and shining blads
Of Iskander's scimitar
Prom Its she»th, with Jewels bright,
Shot, as he thundered: "write:"
And the trembling 3eribe obeyed,
And wrote In the fitful glare
Of the bivouac fire apart,
With the chill of the raid nip at air

On his forehead white aiid bare,
And the Skill of death in Me heart.
Then «p«ln Iskander cried:

"Now follow whither I ride.
For here thou "mist not at«y.
Thou ah* It be as ny dearest friend,
And honors without end
Shall surround thee on every aide.
And attend thee night and day."
But the sullen Scribe replied:
"Our pathways here divide;
Mine ieadeth not thy way."
And even as he spoke
Fell a sudden scimitar stroke,

When no one else was near;
And the sorlbo sank to the ground,
As a atone, puahed from the brink
Of a black pool, might aink

-
With a aob and disappear;
And no one saw the deed;
And In the stillness nround
No sound »P8 hern bjut the sound
Of the hoof a of Iakander'a steed.
As forward he sorang with i hound*
Then onward he rode and nf-^r,
tflth ao-i roe three hundred "ien.
Through river and forest pal fen.

O'er the *ount«»in3 of Argent-ir;
And hi a he»rt wr»s 'aerry within,
Then he crossed the river Irin,
Antf saw in the gleam of the lorn
T!-e Xiite Castle /ik-Hiaear,
The city Croia called.
The city .floated and WllXtig
The city where he was born,
Antf above it the uornin t\ st»r»
Then Me trumpeters in the v*n

On their silver bugle e bier.
And in crowds about hin ran
Alb«nlnn and Turkoman,
Thnt the sound together dre*.

And he feasted with his friends,
And when they were warn with wine,
He said: "0 friends of mine,
Behold what fortune sends.

And the fates design!
King Araurath commands
That my father's wide domain,
This city and *»11 Its lands,
Shall be given to «n« «$ain."
Then to to Castle tfhite
He rode In I Sgll state,
And entered In u% the gate
In «11 his fir-rjs bedight,
And g-'ve to the Pasha
^ho rul«d In Crola
The writing of the King*
3c-.lod with his signet ring.

And tho fash* bowed hi a herd,
An«! after n
. silence said:
"Allah is Just find grert!
I yield to the frill divin< :
The city and lands pre trine;
7/ho shrill contend with fftttft"
Anon from the castle walls

The orescent banner falls,
And the crowd beholds instead,
Like a portent In the sky,

Xekander'e banner fly,
Ehe Black P>.£le with double head;
And a shout ascends on high,
For men's souls are tired of the Turks,

And their wicked w*ys and works,
That hwe m«de of Ak-Htsstr
A city of the plague;
And the loud, exultant cry
Th*t echoes wide *nd far
Ie: "Long live Semiderbeg!"
It w«s thua I sk a nder ciiue
Once MM unto Ms
And %hm tidings, like W i flMMj
Of a Q*nfl«S9«ti«a blo^n
By the winds if IbNMMPj ran.

Till the land *as in I blaze,
And the cities f-*r and Btft?j
Sf-yeth Ben Joshua Ben Moir,
In his Book of the Words tho Do
">vore t- "
fin "an man
'.'<ould take the tip of his enr."
INTERLUDE.
H M
Kow thnt li fter ;iy own heart,
The Poet cried; *one understands
tMP swarthy here 3ca.nderbec,
Gauntlet <">n hand ml boot on leg.
And skilled in ev^ry warlike art.
Riding through his Albmian lands,

And following the suspicious star
That shone for him o'er Afc-Hlssar.

102
The Theologian *dded here
Hie word of praise not less sincere,
Although he ended with a Jfcbe;
"The hero of romance and song
Was born," he said, "to right the wrong;
And I approve; but «11 the sane
That bit of treason with the Scribe
Adds nothing to your hero's fame."
The Student praised the good old times,
And liked the canter of the rhymes,
That had a hoofbe«t in their sound; . . .
2. Discrepancies of the Legend . The Barletian story of
the first 38 ye»rs of 3cndcrbeg has all the earmarks of a
melodraaa. It begins with the kidnapping of a child and it
ends with the murder of an innocent scribe. Even Plsani, who
is ready to accept the legend as a whole, is shocked by

64
eertaln details and suggests a minor amendment* Others are
65
more radical and reject the entire legend. Here are some
of the discrepancies which make It unacceptable.
a. Arithmetic . According to Barletius, Scanderbeg
64 , .Episode, que J'ai du supprimer en tra"nscrlvant,

du secretaire oblige, le polgnard sur la poitrlne, de signer
l'ordre de liyrer Croia aui fils ê Je«n Cas f riota." Plsani,
p. 191.
65 Jireoek, ûl g aren. p. 368; Hakusher, Rasyskaiiia.

pp. 82-85.
•
103
was given as a hostage to Jiurad II at the age of nine?** That event
must have taken place in 1412, since Scanderbeg was bom in

67
1403, according to Barletius. But in 1412 it was Mehmed X
who reigned in Turkey and Uurad II who ascended the throne A
nine years later in 1421.

b. Foison . The death of Scanderbeg 1 s three brothers
from poisoning during their captivity from 1412-1443 is con-
tradicted by both archival and literary documents. Venetian
documents tell us that Stanisha, the elder brother, was still

68
alive in 1445, when he became an honorary citizen of Venice.
Another brother, Reposhi, ended his days peacefully in a

monastery of Signa, in Northeastern Albania, according to
Mueaohl, a contemporary of the Castriotis.^ There are
documents contradicting other details of the legend.
66 Barletius, Vita, Cahp. I, p. 3.
67 This date is inferred from Barletius, VI tr. m

ehap. XIII, p. 372s "Anno Domini MCCCCLXVI , extremum
diem suura obi it. Pertur igitur Scanderbegue 63 annos
natue, 24 sui imperil anno e vita mlgrasee. -
68 Forschungen . Vol. I, p. 142; LJubic, Vol. IX, p. 142;

Makushev, Razyskanla. p . 83.
69 Hopf, Chronlques . p. 295

104
c. Education,. The Inner contradictions of the legend
*re simply fantastic . A little boy la sent to a school of
Pages and Courtiers In an imperial palace, tikes the full course

70
of about fifteen years, and graduates as the wildest of all
cowôtjs and hill-billiesi Or still worse, the little boy Is
brought up as a pious Moslem from his teens to the forties, and
then he beoomce one of the most fanatical Christian crusaders

of all tines J These and other Inner contradictions are In
themselves formidable enough to rule out the legend even If
there were no documents pointing In another direction. Fortun-

ately, there are such documents, which show us the way out of
these mythical beginnings and which give us a more plausible

Introduction to 9canderbeg*s career and achievements.
D. HISTORICAL PROBABILITIES . They can be summarized
as follows: As a master eY Kuerrlllero. 3cnderbeg was so
typlo«lly Albanian, that he could have learned his Job so

well, not In the dultan's palace, but in the greatest
School of Guerrilla Warfare In Europe, In his native Albanian
mountains among his fellow Highlanders. Here are some details,

based on the available archival and literary sources:
1. Date of 31rth « There Is no reason to doubt that
Soanderbeg was approximately 63 years of age when he died, as

71
Barletius tells us. His testimony is confirmed by an eyewitness,
who sa^him in Rome in 1466, about a year and a month before his
death.'* Therefore we can place his birth approximately in the
ye^r of 1405.
70 Lybyer, chap, on College of Pages, pp. 73*78.
71 Barletius, Vita . Book XIII, p. 372.
72 "E horn* molto de tempo paspa 11 60 anni." Pastor.*
Vol. IV, p. 88, note 1.
,
105
2* Early Yots . As Jircc'ek tells us, there Is evidence
and there are documents to prove that 3eanderbeg was brought up
In Albania and not in the Sultan's palace. Here they are:

a. Since all contemporary historians agree that
T5
Sc»nderbeg w>s given as a hostage to 4urad II (1421*1451)
:
it follows automatically that 3oanderbeg was not a boy of

74 7*5
sight years' or nine'*' but a grown up young njan of more than
sixteen when that event took place,

b. Pontano, an eyewitness, tells us explicitly that
Se«nderbeg was a grown up young nian when he was given as a

76
hostage to Murad IX*
o. Two documents, in which John Castrlotl and his sons
as co-regents respectively buy a c»etle from, and bequeath
two villages to, the Chilandar Monastery of Mount Athos,
prove conclusively that George Castrlotl Scanderbeg, whose
Christian nams appears in both of thsra, was not in ths Sultan's
palaos but in his father's home in Albania at least until
1426, that is to say until hs was at least twenty -one years

77
Of aps.
d. Thers is a probability that Scanderbeg was serWLng
in the army of the Sultan in 1428, but the wording of ths

document implying It makes it clear that hs was receiving
"~ ff Barletius, Vita. Book I, p. 2; Franco, chap. I, p. 2 v;
Ropf, Chromques. p. 274; LaonicoB, chapiVII, p. 350; Pontano,
Vol. II, Book II, p. 279; App., No. XXIII, p. Ill;
Aehik*Pasha-Zade, chap. III. p. 112; 3aad-ed-Din, Vol. I, p. 361.
74 "Fanclullo di otto anni." Franco, ohap.I, p. 2 v.
75 Barletius, Vita . Book I, p. 3« Volatsrranus, Book VIII,
w
P. 188; App., No. XXV, p. Iv: Qsorglo puero novea annoruo."
76 "Georglus admodum adole scans." Pontano, Vol. II, Bookll,
P. 279; App., No. XXIII, p. Hi.
77 Forschungen . Vol. I, p. 144; Kovakovioh, No. 62,
year 1426, pp. 467-8; Jirecek, Bu Iga reru p. 368.
106
orders from hi a father rather than fros the Sultan.^® That
aeons that Seonderbeg wos living at horae in Albania, that he

w«s sent by his father only occasionally to serve with
Albanian contingents in the Turkish *rmy and thot his father

could order him to disregard the Sultan's orders. Otherwise,
disobedience of this kind would have cost him his head if
Sc«*ndcrbeg was serving in the regular array of the Turks, within
•asy reach of the Sultan*
e. Now it is not necessary to assume that Seanderbeg
became a /J|ofeammedan in the Sultan's pal~ce under pressure*
More probably he did it under the gentle persuasion of his

79
father, who became a "Turk and a Moslem" as PlusII tells us
80
in his neglected passage, possibly after the disaster of
81
1930. The conditions under which John Castrioti obtained
82
peoce o n be read tetween the lines of the Ragusan documents.
All his fortresses were razed to the ground; two of the fortresses,
probably Oroya and Sfetigrad, were placed under Turkish garrisons;

a slice of John Castrioti's principality, probably the region of
78 "Le senat est d'avis oue le pere pourralt neanmoina

donner des ordrea a son file*" Jorga, Kotos. Vol. I, p» 476*
7© John Caetrioti's own words. Ibid.*, Vol. I, p. 475.
80 Pius II, Asia and Europe, chap. XV, p. 337; App.,

No. XXIII, p. xli-xlii:
81 frorgchunKen. Vol. I, pp. 140-141.
82 "Dl noue qua se dice, el Turoo aver tolto tute le

fortoze a Iuan Ostrioti e quelle aver ruinate, excetto due, le
qual a posto in man e guardia dl Turchi, e la oontrata aver
renduta a Iuan, saluo alcuna partieella, data a Isach."
Forsehungcn . Vol. I, p. 141.
107
83
Dlbr* f was ceded to the 3ultan; John C?:strioti was allowed
to keep the reBt of hia principality aa a vaoaal, paying a
yearly tribute and serving occasionally with hia sons in the

feudal «ray; they all embraced Islam in order to weather the
at ona and a-*ve whatever they could from the diaastroua defeat.
Before the eataatrophe, Stanieha, the older son, may have been
the only one who occasionally helped the Turk* with Albanian
84
cor.tlnênta, but After 1430, with the exoeptlon of Brother
Repoehi, all the sona of John Csstrioti had to take part in
Turkish expeditions whenever they were Invited to do so.

Still, it ia ruite pos alb le that at the end of each expedition
they were allowed to return to Albania and spend their vacations
at home. The Ragusnn documents make it clear that this disaster
took place after the capture of Salonica in 14 30.^ Pontano,
H
03 Barletlua, Vita . Book TI. pp. 31-32: Haec loca (Dibrae)
'
olio Joanni patri aub jeeta fuere, taaen (ut Jan dictum est ab
Aaurathe oppreseue, pacea ab eo petitaa tuliaaet una cum flllia
obaldlbua Dlbraa quoque ei paotie eondltlonlbua tradldlt. H
84 He seems to have helped Stefan Lazarevloh of Serbia at
Scutari in 1421*2 because his name la missing in the first
Chilandar document. See Forsohungen. Vol. I, p. 144.
35 "De nouele abiaao questo. Come avanti fo aerltto, lo
Turco obtegni Salonioho et ob at gnu do one l'ave, parte delle sue
gente aando noil** aorea e parte oontra le tenute e paoxe de Iuan
Castrioto, lequal ad esao Iuan levorno quatro forteze, zoe
caatelle, che gitorno per terra, et segondo ae dlceua, esso Iuaa
eerchana aego achordo. FqrachunKcn. Vol. I t p. 140. tbld .. p. 141:
"SPt parte <3clla eontrada e data a Turchl e parte n*e lassata al
die to Iuan. Lo lmperaôr (Murad II) ae ritjrova sot to la Janlna."
Spondano waa the first one to gueaa thnt John Caatrlotl N| com-
pelled to give hia sona aa hostages after 1430. and that Seanderbeg
waa then 26 yeara old: "Poet captam Shcesalonleam Aauratheo
continuo victoriae curau oamem citra Peloponeeum reglonea uaque ad
alnum Corinthlaoua lneredibill celorttati perdomuit. A quo, ut
Joannee Castriotua. • .paoem lmpetraret, qui bello auatlnendo
iaparea ae proapiciebat ; Croja dltionia suae Metropoli, urbe
aunitiaaiaa eeaait; obsidesque fldei dedit filios, inter quos oeor-
giua ainimua. . .Neoeaae est Georgium tunc saltern viginti sex
annorua fuisse. M Spondano, Vol. II, year 1431. No. 31 t p. 165.
"
108
v Oft
Barletlna *nd Hunadsia BasWL seim to confirm It,
f. Kwmm tells us that In 1436 Scandarbeg was
grants* s military fief In Dibra. 87 This is indirectly
confirmed b- AshikJPasha«£ade, 3aad-ed-J3in and Volatermnus,
who infora us that Scanderbeg was appointed by the Sultan
88
as hio father's euocessor* This anointment is Indirectly
86 "Verurn Amoratho ûrcp.rurn imuer^tore Graeciara vastante

Georelus ndmodua adolescens a pat re , quo res suae in
unlrernfl.it,
paoe tueretur, missus est ad ilium oboes." ontano, Vol* II #
Book II, p. 279? App. No, XXIII, p. Hi, '"Nam quua imposit©
Graecls Jugo Aaurathes Macedonian convertlsset slgna. • .Joannes
diutino defessus belle. . .paeea ab eo petere coactue, ea lege
lapetravit, ut ob sides omnes fillos traderet. • 3arletius,
Vit a, Book I, p. 2. Yastrebov, quoting from ûnadzim Bashi. or
-
froa another Turkish Annalist, pi 247, note 1, says: V 835 g.
(1431) 3ult«n Murad, zavoevav semlj. K«*striota, rzjal u nego
Vseh aynovej dlja togo, ctoby unie'toz'it nasledstvennoje p$r)ro.
87 Kramers, gndyo loped ia of Islam. Vol* III, p* 466.
Bo source is given.
88 Ashik-Fasha-Zade, chap. Ill, p. 112; 3aad-ed«Din,

Vol. I, p. 361 ; Volaterranus, Book VI II, p. 133; App., Ho.XXV,
9. It: "Rjctineto patre ae fratre Caragusio natu ma,1ore, qui
er*t obses apud Adrianopolia, Amurathca ei re gnu m patemura
tradidit." l>onieos is wrongly quoted to this effect on
account of a mistranslated sentence in Latin. 3ee Laonicos
in Greek, Book V, p. 249; ofr. Fallmerayer, Vol. VIII #
p« 722, note 2.
•
109
89
confirmed by two enigmatic passages of Barletlua. 3oon after,^
in 1478 and 1439 , 3esnderbeg and 3tanisha, who jijMM^ ware
than in Albania, beeaae honorary citizens of Venice and

Ragusa, which means that they were trying to stage a corae»
back tfeê'itfeY with their father.
3. Revolt . ±'he opportunity came in 144? -fter the

defeat of Kaslra Beg by Runyadl near Nish. Scsnderbeg rushedtJb
91
Albania and with forged docu-nents seized Croya and raised
hie red banner with the black double -beaded eagle , on

92
November 28, 1443.
59TaJ fn 1449, Barlctius, Vita , Book IV, p. 112,

,
asserts thai Seanflerbeg 9 fl rule in TIBania began in 1438:

"Hllleslmus hie ouadringenteslmus quad rage si mua nonue a
Chriatl Nativity te computabatum annus, undeclmus autem a
tempore, nuo acanderbegus obtinuerat irnperium, pridie idus
Majaa." (b) In his lrst speech from his deathbed, Scanderbeg
asserts that he had Jfjl been In Albania for thirty years,
since 14^8. Ibid* . Book XIII, p. 366: Jam trigeslmus
peraotus est annus, commilitonea raei, quod impias atque
nef arias ^ ran rat his 'Pure- run prlncir?is manus cvssi, et in
regnua avltum ac p^temum eonfugl."
90 John Castrloti Abefore the capture of Croya by
Scnnêrêg.
91 The legend dramatised the prosaic forgery of the

document which enabled Scanderbeg to get hold of Croya.
Luec«ri, Ann a 11 dl Rauaa. second edition, 1790, p. 159,
quoted by Kortsha; p. 19, note 6: "Conjrf letters false dieds
prineipio della reouperaslone della sua patrlaj c*r, GegaJ.
p. 46, note 2, quoting the aame passage from Luccari, edition
of 1605, p. 94. Barletlua, Vita . Book I, p. 13: " Fallaces
llteras ad Crojae isagistratum extorsit." Mariana, Vol II,
Book XXII, chnp. x, p. 4J: "Literis nomine Iaperatorla
eonflotls Crojam urbea paternae dltionla. • . improvisus occupat •*
92 "Auguratua eat autem Scanderbegus prima auapiola imperii

sul quarto Kalend. Decemb. anno ejuadem Domini MCCCCXLXII." Barletius,
Vita . Book XIII, p. 372. By a strange eoinoldence, on the same 28th day
,
of November, the independence of Albania was proclaimed in 1912

CHAPTER VI
3CANDERBHJG AGAINST IURKIX AND V2NICE
(1AA3-1450)
A. LSAGUE OF ALSS3I0 . In Scanderbeg' s time

Albania was divided into several tiny principalities, or
rather mountain cantons, which were completely independent
of each other but whose inhabitants were united by a
ecn-oon language, a common religion and a common class feeling.
They w«°re free peasants In a world of Balkan serfs; they were
Roman Catholics and Albanians in world of Orthodox Greeks
and Slavs or Moslem Turks; they were always ready to unite
and resist enslavement by foreign feudrl lords. They had done
so under the Balshas in 1368 against th© Serbians and now
they rose against the Turks under scanderbeg, 1 the more willing-
ly as Pope Eugene IV (1432-144?) had invited them to take part

2
in the eruspde initiated by Hunyadi.
1. Restoration . The unanimous support of the people
enabled sennderbeg to reocoupy his paternal state in a few
1. "Armati fere omnes inventi ducera tantu-nmodo et

auctorem aliquem certls animis expeetantee. Barletiue,
Vita . Book I, p. 17.
2. "Interea Eugenius IV audita faraa nunc

(Sc^nderbegum) per nuncios et literas ad noetros et fldem
prlstinam tradueere conatur. Ille confestim obweoperat; ac
rebellane tot pro religlone res gesslt quot antea contra,
ac de improvlsu Crojam, Sfetigradum, Stellurlum, Llodrtiimm
et Temnclura, opplda In ea reglone occupat." Volaterranus,
Book VIII, p. 188; App., No. XXV, pp. lv-lvi.
.
111.
days.' As a matter of fact, hi a task consisted mainly in
capturing a chain of fortresses from Oroya to 3fetigrad, which

ware held by Turkish garrisons. As we h/*ve already seen, the
countryside had been left under the control of his father,
John Castrloti,* and very probably was Inherited by Scariderbeg

after his de^th with the consent of the Sultan.^ After the
fall of Croya the small garrlaone of Fetrella, Fetralba,
St el lu si, Modrlel and Ternnci surrendered without any resist-
ance. Only Sfetlprad on the Turkish frontier had to be captured
after a short siege by Moses of Dlbra, a nephew of George

Aranitl
2« Conversion . Immediately after the capture of
Croya Scanderbeg returned to the faith of his forefathers.^
After all, as Fallraerayer remarks, he had never ceased to be
a Christian and was only nominally a Mohammedan under the

7
Influence of his father after the tisaster of 14*0. That his
conversion was not a diplomatic one like those of his fathar.
3 tfarno describes this rapid oonquest: "In zorni tre

conqulsto degll altri luoghi in Albania et feaae potent e,
dlgando eesere herede de Balsa et voler 11 passe fu de quelle *
Jorga, Notes . Vol. Ill, p. 191, note 2. Cfr. Franco, chap. II,
p. 5 "ct fra quattro giorni rleupcro tutto 11 stato
patemo."
4 **Dl nove que se dice el Tureo aver tolto le forteze a
Iuan Castriotl e quelle aver ruinate, exeetto due, le qual a
posto in m«n c guardia dl Turchi, e la oontrata aver renduta
a Iuan. . Forschungcn. Vol. I, p. 141.
5 "ffictlncto patre ac frstre Caragusio natu ma j ore, qui

•rat obses apud Adrianopollm, Amurathes el (Soanderbego) regnum
ppternum tr*dldit. H Volaterranus, Hook VIII, p. 138;
App., Ho. XXV, p. Iv. Cfr. Ashlk -Pasha -Zade, chap. Ill, p. 112;
Saad-ed-Din, Vol. I, p. 361.
(Footnotes 6 and 7 on next page)

112
w*s proved by the bloodbath which followed it, All the Moslem
colonists and converts of Croya and the other fortresses were

invited to choose between Christianity and death. Very few
answered the Invitation. Most of them refused and paid the
penalty. They were ruthlessly masSRcred. This was not a
useless act of cruelty. In accordance with the fashion of
the time, it was a declaration of a Koly War, written in

blood, a war from which there was no retreat. Scanderbeg
was burning his bridges behind him. After this cruel purge
he returned to Croya and celebrated Christmas by christening

o
his nephew Hamza,^ a son of a Moslem lady whom his brother
6 "S 3c 'nderbegh si fe sublto Chrlstiano." Hopf.

Chronlcsues . p. 274. Cfr. Diplomat^rlura Rggusanum , p. 484:
"TSsnendo ecin radio convert i to a la pant a fede Scanderbeg,
si £ nor In Albania, suppedltata la porta dl iaohometto
et abbandonatl 11 Turchi. , .*
7 "Von Skanderbeg M selbst wird vorausgese,tzt, dass er

lm Herzen nlemals nufgehort habe, ein Christ zu seln. rt
Pallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 4. Cfr. Barletius, Vita. Book I,

p. 8: ••In cute enira tanturanodo et exteriorl habitu
TBaeumetanas Inept las, intus Christiana praecepta tenacisslme
eervrbat."
8 "Et cosl face amazzare tuttl 11 Turchi che non el

volsero battlzzare." Franco, chap. II, p. 5 v. cfr. Barletius,
Vita . Book I, pp. 17-18.
9 barletius. Vita . Book I, p. 27.

113
carried in 10
3tr.nl sh* had Turkey. some fourteen years after,
this nephew returned to Islam, In whleh he had been brought
Up AS h Child.
3. Turkish Su rname * But even after Ma conversion

George Ostrioti kept hie Turkish name of sounder -Bex? and
becaae a fimoue champion of Christendom under It, while his
family name of Castrloti was all but forgotten. He was so
proud of that Turkish name that he always added It to his
Signature as a surname. 11 The reasons for this are not far
to seek. The Turkish title of Beg implied the rank of a
general, whleh soanderbeg had as holder of a military fief
in Dibra and as commander of an Albanian contingent in the

12
feudal army of the Turks. Certainly he considered the
~~
10 3arletius, Vita. 5ook X a p. 13, makea^the son of
Reposhi, whoa he oonslders as the elder brother: " Amesa
aepos fult e#reclao i.idolia adole scene, quern Repoaius, postea
Caraguslus dlotus a Turels ante %i4t insidias Ottomanl uxors
ducta eusoeperat." Cfr. Volaterranus, Vol. VIII, p. 188:
• • fmtre C»r*fruelo natu major*. . But the Chilandar
document of 1426, in Forschungon * Vol. I, p* 144, and Novakovich,
No. 62, pp. 467 -o» givea 3t^nisha as the elder brother, while
ttusachi. In Hoof *e Chronlques. p. 295, tells us that Reposhi
was a holy man and died as a monk in 31 ^na.
10a Scander-Beg means "Lord Alexander".
11 Scanderbeg in his letters to King Ferdinand of
Mf.plee and to the Prince cf Taranto respect ively signs himself:
"Glorplo Castrioto, deoto Seanderbego** and "aeorgiue Caetrioctus,
alias Sea nderbego. Makushev, fconumenta slavoruau Vol. II,
pp. 118 and 124 respectively.
12 Baric tius, VI tg . Book I, p. 4; Franoo, chap. I, p. 2*

Plsko, p. 9, thinks that the title of Sandaak-Beg corresDonds to
that of brigadier general. Cf* ^Met, C^«np w
• ojf^t^s
•
,
114
title of Beg more important than hie family name, which was
nothing but the name of a poor village, and by far higher

than the modest courtesy title of a Highlander chieftain,
latinised as donlnus . which was given to any hill-billy of
some distinction without any feudal connotation. The

adoption of this surname goes far to throve the correctness of
laisaehi's contention that the family of the Castriotle was of
humble origin. 1 ' This Is very important because it brings
Scanderbeg ne*rer to his people and shows him as he really
was * a peasant lender. He remained a modest pedant leader

even after he became the most famous general of his time. An
eyewitness who saw him 111 Rome in 1466 tells us that he went
there "with e. few horeee and as a poor man 11

, in sharp contrast
to the splendid garments of the cardinals who were sent by the
Pope to receive him.**
4. Conv en tion . Sc*nderbe£ kriew thot he could not face the
wrath of the Sultan alone, so he tried to form alliances with the

neighboring chieftains and the Venetian Republic. I convention
was held at 4lesslo t Venetian possession on the Adriatic seaeoast.
n
J.3
Sapi*te com* 1' avo del Signer Seanderbcg, . • non
ebbe piu de due caeali. . Hopf, Ghron I que a . p. 301.
14 . • et incontra 11 forono mandate le famiglie de

esrdinali. E noao molto de temno passa 11 60 annl; cum
puochl eavalll e venuto e da povero homo. " ?astor. Vol. II t
p . 36l t note 4.
115
It was Attended by the following cMeft*ln«: Paul and

15
Nicholas Ducftshini of Ducaghin In L'ortheaetern Albania;
16
Lek Z,aearia Altiaferl of Dagno near Scutari; Peter
17
Spanl of Shala and Shoe hi In Northern Albania; Lek
18
DuahJmennl of Zadriaa in Northwest ern Albania; George
19
Stresl Balaha of Mlaia between Croya and Alesaio; Andrea
Thopia of Scurla between Tirana find Durazzo *ith hla nephew,

20
Tanuah Thopia; George Aranitl Thopia Coranenl of Canlna and
Shpnta; 2* The odor Corona SJuaachi of Herat In Southern Albania; 22
15 On the fqmlly of Ducr.ghlnl, see Hopf # a ronlnuea .

p. 533; Hahn, Relae. Vol. XVI, 121-123; C-egaJ, pp. 12-16.
16 Hopf, Chronlqueg . p, 534; OegnJ, pp. 22-23.
17 Kopf, Chronlqueg . p. 535; Or.* J, p. 24.
18 Kopf, Chronlquea . p. 535; OepaJ, pp. 24-25.
19 Hopf, Chronlcuea. p. 534; Kann, Rel ee . Vol. XVI,

pp. 126-131; QepaJ, rp. 16-22.
20 Eopf, Chronlquea . p. 532; Hahn, Relse . Vol. JCYXj

pp. 106-109*. SegaJ, pp. S-12.
21 Kopf, Chronlqueg. p. 535; Hahn, Relae, Vol. X7I, pp.

109-115; CrepaJ, pp. 48-58.
22 Hopf, Chronlqueg . pp. 27C-340 and 53£; Halm, Hetae .

Vol. XVI, p . 97-102; OegaJ, pp. 25-27.
116
2
Stephen Cernojevic of Zabiak In Montenigro* with his aona; ^
24
and other chief tîna from Northern and Southern Albania.
The convention wae held on 2arch 2* 1444 25 In the Cathedral

P6
of Saint Nicholae at Aleeaio; It waa decided to form a
League of Albanian Prineea and Seanderbeg waa unanimoualy

27
elected commander-in-chief of the array ot the League.
E»eh member of the League waa left free to determine the

amount of financial and military asaistance, which he waa to
contribute. The income of" the

t! League waa eati mated at
29
about 200,000 golden ducata,
23 Hopf, Chroniquea . pp. 53*» Hahn, Reiae. Vol. XVI,

pp. 123-124. *Stephan Cernojevich hatte drei 3ohne, Ivrn,
Bozidar und Andrea8 mit dera Zunamen der Tapf ere Arwanit
(Albanian).** Fall-nerayer, Vol. VIII, p. 701.
24 The regiona repreaented in the convention of

Aleaaio coincide roughly with modern Albania plus Montenegro
In the North and mlnua a wedge from Argtroc«atro to Valona
in the South, which w*e definitively loat to the Turka in
143'-5.
25 The date ia given by Antivarlno, in 3iemmi, aook I,

p. 30: . .ch' era pel due di liarzo. •
26 . .Radunati inaleme dentro la ohicaa principale

della oitta. . . Biemmi, Book I, p. 31* • .Oranes, qui «d
oonallium evoe«ti, in teraplo raajorl in unura eongregrtl aunt. . ti
Barletiua, Vita, Book II, p. 35.
27 "Unum Bibl imperatorem ilium (Scanderbegum) atque

ducem elegerunt." Barletiua, Vita . Book II, p. 40. H Fu
dunaue con soô unlveraale conaentlmento 8tretta la propoata
lega, creondo e aalutsndo Scander-begh per loro capltano
Generale contra i Turchi," Bie^mi, Book I, p. 38* Cfr. Franco,
ehap. Ill, p. 6 v., also Hopf, Chronlquea . 274. Lav^rdln,
Book II, chap. II, p. 37, adde on the margin: "Seanderbeg ealetU
roy d Albania."
1
28 Barletius, Vita . Book II, p. 40; Bieraml, Book I, pp. 38-39.
29 M Scanderbegl proventua in Epiro ducenta annua aureorura

millia excee8lese. Barletius, Vita . Book II, p. 40.
rt
117
5. Venetian Observers . The attitude of Venice was typical.

30
They aent observers to the convention to watch and report.
They took no obligation whatever. Still, by allowing 3canderbeg
to hold hie convention on Venetian Territory, they seamed to
encourage the Albanians in their struggle against Turkish

domination.
B. THE FIRST ROUND , Upon his return to Croya Scanderbeg
began his preparations for the first encounter with the Turkish
army, which he knew was coming.
X* The Army . His armed forces never exoeeded the
number of 10,000, mostly light cavalry.' 1 Only one fourth of
them, sometimes less, came from the allied princes, whom

2
Scanderbeg did not trust very much.' It was a national
army, recruited by conscription. According to iêlchlor
Michaells^ and Franco, scanderbeg had also a standing army
of about two or three thouaand picked cavalry men, whose names

and deeds he knew by heart, and -iose meals and sleeping quarters
be shared a a a common soldier, ^rletius and Biemmi mention,
'
JO "La Republic* di'Venezla, che avea sotto 11 suo dominlo

raolte cltta dell' Albania, non avea mane at o di spedire i suoi
Deputatl, ma colla commissions di osservar solamente, che cosa si
trattaase e si risolvesse dentro l'Asaemblea, e non di prendervl
aloun impegno." Biemmi, Book I, pp. 30-31. Non defuere christia-
rt
nissimi et invictissirai Prinolpes Venetl, quorum tune i ':perlo

(ut de Scodra mea taoeam) pleraque haud ignobilia opplda et non
/ minima spiri pars poterat glorlari.* Barletius, Vita . Book II,p.35b
31 "Nee umnuam ma jus milltiae robur quara sena equitum terna-

oue peditum expeditorum milla hostibus opnosult," êlchior
Mi c ha ells, quoted by Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 8, note 2.
32 "Da Princlpi alleati non voile prendere se non poco

ajuto; 11 ouale servlese pluttosto per mostra e preuova della
conf ederazlone." Biemmi, Book I, p. 40.
( see next page for footnotes 33, 34 and 35)
118
without giving any details, 3cnnderbeg •s "praetoria eohors",^
a kind of a personal guard battalion, composed entirely of the

57
youth of Croya. Unquestionably It was this small standing
array of a few thousand veterans, which won a 11 of Scanderbeg's
victories, 38
,33 "Qua re tollenda est omnls mora, P.C., abjiclendae

jam nostrae letê consultationes, quae bellorum necessitates
expect »re non possunt, peragenda est omnis provinclq, edictura
proponendum, percensenda c^pit*, exercltus impigre scrlbendua, ne
quun hostls In conspectu erlt, et tubarura clangor ad mllltes
evoc»ndos *uribus obstrepet, nos turn sera belli consllla
quaer«»mus. M Barletius, Vita. Book TI, p. 39. H
Nan quuia unl-
versam Drovlnclnm ad recensenda capita obequitasset . . , M
Ibid. Book XII T, p. 366.
34 "Habuit In oomltatu, cum perpetuas aleret coplas,

lee tlssl morula hominum ampllus duo ml 111 a. Ho run nomlna f?cta»
que neraorlter tenere consueverat, summusque erat 1111 honor,
eul Ipse dlscumbrens de patera sua propinasset." Melchior
Micheelis, quoted by Fallmerayer. Vol. IX, p. 8.
Cfr. Jovlus, Elogla . p. 232.
35 "Almeno tre ml la e cinque cento boche dl continuo

raanglavno 11 pane suo. . • 3«dendo in grado 11 suol
prlnclpall ordlnatataente alia raensa sua, et dando qualche
volta da bere a qualcuno dl quell! col suo proprio cilice. .
Franco, chap. XXIV, p. 26 v.
36 Barletius, Vita. Book I, p. 49 •
37 "E nel oentro erasl posto Scander-begh con

Aldlno clrcondato da un battaglione dl cavallerla cb' era
tutto formato della gloventu dl Croja. »vendo voluto usare
questa distlnzione a quel clttsdini di fargll servire per
fjuardl* alia sua persona In tanto clraento. Blemrai,
Book I, p. 46. "Otrinque Crojensis nominls miles, utrinque
- Barletius, Vita .
Crojensis eura Juventus circumdabat.
Book II, p. 48.
38 "Delectu enia veterani ml litis, non nuraero vie torlas
pararl praedic*bat. H Jovlus, Elogla . pi 232.
119
2. The Coriander * Fallaerayer's description of

99
3o«>nderbeg need a only a few amendments to become perfect.
An
Se*nderbeg was both a strategist *nd a soldier. Tall and
41
athletic, he took a leading p«rt in the actual fighting
- now with his mace and now with his curved sword,
42
Ac -
eording to the testimony of an eyewitness, who served in

the s*me army with him, he alone was more formidable to the
43
enemy than his entire cavalry contingent. Like Hannibal,
39 Fallmer«yer, Vol. IX, pp. 1-8.
40 Ibid ., p. 3.
41 Ibid ., p. 5. "atatura celsa, proeeraque br«cia in

nomine pulchrior* non vis«, collum robustum obstippumque,
ut lûdatur in Athletis, humerorum mira latitude, color
c«ndidus, litenti velut purpura suffusus." Barletius, Vita.
Book I, p. 6. "Vir ailitwrl discipline, corporisque atque
anlml virtue aeque clarue. • . * Pont«no, Vol. II, Book TI,
p. 280; Anp., No. XXIII, p. Hi. "Hie igitur et indole et
virtute crevit heroica et robore corporis inoompar«*bile. rt
Volaterrono, ehap. VIII, p. 138; App., No. XX^, p. lv.

"Br«t autem usque adeo excelss statura, torosAque habitu et
robustls ortubus ac naso prominente decenterque incurvo ut
aagnl prcculdubio Herols effigiem reprae sent* ret." Jovlus,
JClogia, p. 233. "Era So^nderbeg di gr*nde statura e forôs*. , .
Franco, chap. VIII, p. 12.
42 "Bxerto br»chio nunc el*va, nunc f "lento ense

pugnantem." Sabellico, Book IX, p. 757; App., No. A XIV, p. liv.
Cfr. Fallaerayer, Vol, IX, p. 5.
43 "Totque interim ac tanta belli faclnora edentem,

ut merito plus unus, quam tota equltum ala hostibus
formidabilis videretur." Sabelllco, Book IX, p, 757;
App., No. XXIV, p. liw.
120
he w«?s * cavalry geneml and hie m*in weapon was his swift
light cavalry, moving with lightning speed. Those who saw
him at the heed of his picked esv*lry battalion could never

forget that magnificent array. *5 Kis energy was Inexhaustible
- he was equally unaffected by heat and cold - but he needed

46
enormous amounts of food and wine to keep in shape. Yet
five hours of d^lly sleep on the hard floor were sufficient for
47
him. Simple and modest in dress, like Hannibal and Napoleon,
'
he wanted his warriors to shine in gold and silk, richly fed

48
and well paid. Ha had no siege artillery and was helpless
49
against fortresses, which he covld seize only by a ruse de
guerre, ns he did with Oroya in 1443 and Trani In 1461.
44 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 7.
45 "Era un* egregio spettacolo a vederlo quando uscla

armato alia testa delle sue truppe. • Biemml, Book VI,
pp. 484-5. "Solebat Kohannes Cocclus, pater raeus. • • adol-
cscentl mini enarr^re vldisse se Epirotara homlnem, qui cum
sexcentis equitlbus Ferdlnandi nomine in Apullam transiverat. . .
rt
Sabelllco, Book IX, p. 757; App., No. XXIV, p. liv.
46 "Clbl vlnique capacissimus dicltur fuiese."

Barletius, Vita . Book I, p. 22. Cfr. Fallmerayer, Vol. IX,
P. 7.
47 H Non si spogliava mai l'armi, anzi oosl ve3tlto et

arm* to dorralva in terra sopra un tapeto. et gll bastava
dormire solamenta cinque hore et non plu." Franco, chap. VI II,
p. 12 v. Cfr. Fallmerayer, Vol, IX, p. 7.
48 Ibid. , p. 7.
49 Ibid., p. 8.
^
121
On the other hand, like Ghin Bus Shpata of Arta, he was the
terror of besieging armies, which he knew how to throw off

50
their balance with his blitz raids. As a rule his tactics
were those of hit-and-run until he could le«d the enemy

forces into n trap. Then he Jumped on theai and cut them to
pieces. Though he spent tUX hie life in battles and was
reputed to h«ve frilled thousands with his own hand, he
received M a wound only once - on his shoulder- and was
51
believed to be invulnerable. His audacity In challenging
and grappling with vastly superior forces is si iply pro-
digious and sounds so unreal that no historian should be

blamed for anproaehing his history with doubts and misgivings.
The tempt-tlon to dismiss the story as a legend is very
natural but it should be resisted until all the fscte are

carefully studied.
3. Battle of Torvlolll . All Pasha, one of the ablest
generals of Murad II t w*s entrusted with the task of punishing

Scanderbeg. With an army of about 25,000, mostly cavalry, he
invaded Albania In June, 1444. Scanderbeg, with his army of
about 10,000, traoped him In the narrow valley of Torvlolll
In lower Dibra and won his first brilliant victory on June 29,
1444. 2 3ome 7,000 Turks were killed and 503 prisoners were
50 Fsllraerayer, Vol. VIII, p. 704.
51 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 10.
52 The d-^te is given, as usual, not by Barletius but by

Blemmi, Book I, p. 54, according to Antivarino: * E accade
al 29 di Giugno, la meraorla poi del qual glomo fu nell 1
avvenlre celebr^ta dagll Albanesi come sicuro prlncipio della
salute loro."
122
taken. The Albanian losses were About 2,000 dead and 2 9 000
wounded."*^ Barletius concludes: "Lions on that day were
led by lions. 5*rt

According to Bleuml, this viotory was
greeted with great rejoicings by Pope Eugene IV, by King

Ladislaus IV of Hungary and by Philippe le Bon, Duke of
Burgundy. ^5 A Hungarian envoy was sent to Croya to conclude
56
an alliance with Scanderbeg. The epilogue of this victory
was typlc«l. Two days after the rout of the Turkish army,
Scnderbeg let his warriors loose to loot the neighboring

Turkish regions and collect their salary - each man for himself;
because, as some wisecrsckers used to say, the enem^jj territory
was Soanderbeg's treasury. The soldiers returned laden with
nondescript trophies of war and driving before them huge flocks

58
of sheep, goats, cows and horses* During the Journey home
the poets improvised songs of victory, while the satirists pourejd
their sarcasm in verse on Ali Pasha, his Begs and his soldiers,
who allowed themselves to be defeated by such a miserable bunch
53 The figures are those given by Bi6mmi, Book I, p. 55,

according to Antiwar! no, 3arletius, Book II, pp. 49-50, as
usual exaggerates the enemy losses and reduces those of the
Albanians: "Caesa sunt eo praelio barbarorura ad 22 mi Ilia,
virorum duo aillia opts, signa -sllitacria 24, Ex victorious
pauol oeoidere, vix 120 feruntur, licet vulnaratorum major
1*
longe fuerit numerus,
54 "Leonum eo die leones due tores fuisse. 1

* Barletius,
Vlta^ Book IT, p. 50.
55 Blwmai, Book I, o. 59
56 Ibid., pp, 59 -oO; Marinesoo, p. 21,
57 "Its lsetus qîsque se~uebstur ad acclpienda prom-
erita dlutlnae militiae stipend ia, Aliud enim nihil turn a duoe
posoebat mllitnris ouplditas nisi quod quisque sua manu ccpisset.
Hinc Joculariter s«eoe vlelnl Principes aerarium scanderbegi
agrua hostilem appellabsnt," Barletius, Vita . Book IV, p. 97.
Cfr. Blemml, Book II, pp, 143-144,
58 Barletius, Vita, Book II, pp. 50-51;Blemrai,Book I, p. 58,
123
of horsethlevoa! With these songs and Jokes the victors

arrived at Croya, where they were received with thunderous
shouts of Jubilation by the celebrating crowds.^
This important victory ia indirectly confirmed hy
Venetian archlvnl sources.**
C. VENETIAN WAR . Immediately after the victory of

Torviolll the attitude of the Venetian Republic changed
radically. Evidently a strong Albanian League was not

in the Interest of the Venetians, who were afraid that they
would lose their Albanian possessions. Therefore they did

everything in their poêr to stop and, if possible, break up
the League. Fearing that the League would expand to the

South, they immediately opened negotiations with the Turks
In order to get from them peacefully the el ties of Vallona,

Canina and Argirooaatro before Scandcrbeg could seize thera.^ 3.
In their opinion, 3canderbeg, and not the 3ultan, was the most
dangerous enemy of Venice in Albania. Obviously, the Torviolll
59 "Deri deb ant duces Ignavlaa suorum, quod ex

fortlsslmls bellatorlbus abactores pecorum, et ex Albani nominis
propugna tori bus, ovlum custodes factl essent, accuaabantque
ultro nunc hos, nunc illos altemls cavillantes verMs. £uid si
Alvbassa oum fracti exercltl rellquiis vos tales nunc ex allquo
loco asplceret, tan sordlda trahentes impedimenta et avarl
praemia militis? Sonne puderet nagls, mnplsque cum tan pudendl
lot oris, et crebro suorum ignavlara increparet, quod ab hujus
modi superati fuerlnt, et bellleam laudeni eesaerlnt vobis? Ita
Jugl laetitl*, festivus Tilles per multipliees Jocos, cantusquo
viae labores levabat, donee castrorum suorum custodias pro vallo
prodeuntes lngenti elamore salutarunt. " Barletius, Vita ,
Book TI, p. 51
60 "I m Juli 1444, Venedig aufforderte den Ballo von

Korfu, lm October den aolfcapitan, -nit den Turken Bef ehlshabern
In Vallona, Kanlna mnd Arglrocastro Unterhandlungen anzuknupfen,
um friedllch dlese wlehtlgen Punkte zu erlangen bevor Bie cine
Beute des Albanlschen Bundes zu warden." Hopf, Qrlochenland .
Vol. 86, p. 124.
61 Hopf, qrlechenland . Vol. 86, p. 124.
124
victory had Impressed the Venetians so profoundly that

they lost all sense of proportion.
A Wedding and a Battle , The year of 1445 began with
a wedding* Mamitza Castrlotl, Scanrierbeg* s youngest sister,
wag married to Musaohl Thopla,^ 2 The wedding took place in
Musaehiana, between Oroya and Durazzo, on January 26.^' All
the chieftains of Albania were invited to attend. During the

carousal that followed the ceremony, Lek Dueaghini and Lek
Zacarla of Dagno started a quarrel, which developed Into a
real b*ttle between their followers. It w*a a case of
"Gherehez la femmej" And the lady In question was Irere
Dushmanl of Zadrima with whom both had fallen in love. She
hapr>ened to be there, the two lovers lost their heads, and
rushed at each other's throats. Count Vrana and Vladan
Yuritza,^ who tried to separate them, were severely wounded,

the former in his arm and the latter on his head. Then it
was decided to let the two lovers fight it out. The battle
62 Musachi Thopia had divorced his first wife, Zanfina

ISusachi, a sister of Ohln Musachi, the author of the genealogy ,
who denounces 3canderbeg as responsible flor this family Intrigue.
The divorced Zanfina was remarried to Moses of Dlbra and got her
revenge by driving him to desertion and rebellion. "Scanderbeg
sparti questo matrlmonio del predetto signor Musachi e signora
Zanfina Musachi predetta, non mirando ne a Dio ne a cosa nulla
nc alii figlioli che quelll aveano, e lo donb alia Signora
Manlza sua sorella," Hopf, Chroninues . p, 298,
63 The story of the Homeric Battle of Musachiana is told

enly by Biemmi, Book II, p, 84, according to Antlvarino.
64 "Urana comes nobillissiml generis qui Simonls Altlsverl
quondam Albanlae doralnl nepos erat." Biemmi, Book III, p. 153»
note 1, In a Latin quotation from Antlvarlnol
H
65 3canderbego sanguine conjunctus erat," Barletius,
Book XI, p. 336. "Conte Giurlzza suo nipote valoroslssimo, ,,
Franco, chap. XXII, p. 24.

125
seemed to go in favor of the Dueaghinl group, when Lek Zaearla
rushed against his rival and, with a mighty stroke, stretched

hia flat on the ground. At this critical moment Count Vrana
and Vladan Yuritza intervened and pat an end to the battle.
One hundred and five dead and about two hundred wounded
covered the battlefield. This wedding must be borne In mind
because it is closely connected with t ie Venetian Wnr, the

disaster of Ber^t and the defection of .loses of Uibra.
2. War on Two Fronts 1,

Two years after to wedding
of Mamitzs, Lek Ducaghini got his revenge by mwrdering his
rival, Lek Zacarla, in an ambuscade. Bo£a, Zacsria's mother,^
•ought the protection of the Venetians and handed over to then
the city of Dagno. On the other hand, Scanderbeg claimed the
city in the name of the League and war broke out .between Venice
and Scanderbeg in 1447. The Venetians were badly defeated in
the Battle of Drin on July 23, 1448, where they lost 2,500
dead and 1000 prisoners. ^7 After trying in vain, to find an
assassin, who would murder Scanderbeg for an annual pension of

68 60
100 ducats, they turned to the Turks for assistance. 9
66 According to Bie-nmi, Book IT, p. 103» a sister, of

Count Vrana,
67 Again Biemml, Book II, p., 119, gives us the date

according to Antivarino: "Questo fu 11 suocesao della giornata
che eimentb 3c*nder-begh oontra 1 V6neziani awenuta nel glorno
23 dl Lugllo, 1* quale dlede tanto splendore alia sua spada come
lnvltta contra qualslvoglla inlmlco, quanto tutte la altre
battagllo che vinto avea contra i Turchi. This victory is
1
*
confirmed by Volaterrano, chap. VIII, p. 188: "Venetorum

exercitum ad Drinum fluvlum accurentem fugavit."
68 LJublc, Vol. IX, pp. 268-269.
69 "Voluraus, nuod ipaum coraitera (continued on next page)

126
The Turks came and were crushed by Soanderbeg at the 3attle
1/ 70
of OXanlk bn August 14, 1448, Durazso, Scutari and Dagno
71
were on the point of surrendering to 3canderbeg» Then the
72
Venetians sent Venieri to open negotiations with him. Peace
73
was concluded on October 4, 1448. It was a compromise,
because scsnderbeg ejould not fight a war on two fronts*
{ Scutari ) horteris et Juves, , • ut dicte gentes Teucrl cito

conducantur in paisuio Alb«nie ad ruinam illius 3canderbeghl
perfidi et dari, . . illis gentibus Teucri omnes favores
possibles, nulbus mediantibus dictus Scanderbego non modo
de Albania sed *3e imindo eJiciatur. M L<jubic, Vol, IX, p. 270.
70 The date of October U|g given by Antlvarino in

Blemmi, Book II, p. 135, is certainly wrong because peace
with Venice was concluded on Oct, 4 f after the victory of
Oranik and the retreat of the Turks, Whioh oust have occurred
In August or September, 3ee LJubic, Vol, IX, p. 233*
October 10, 1448: "Intelligatur preterea quod Turcus ob
oppressions 3c*nderbegl se levavit, per quam occaaionem
faoiliter ipse Scanderbegus se vcrtere posset contra loca
nostra, , , 8 The victory of Oranik is confirmed by the
papal archives, according to Kayser, ^. 215* Cfr, Pastor,

Vol. II, p, 246,
71 Romanin, Vol. IV, pp. 242-243; J,orga, Notes . Vol ZSf

p. 227, note 1, according to Magno; LJubic, Vol. IX, p. 270;
Makushev, Razyakania* p p. 37-83.
72 3ee LJubic, Vol. IX, pp. 283-285, for instructions

given by the Venetian Senate. Romanin, Vol. IV, p» 243,
remarks: "Tanto era duplice, perversa la pGlitiea dl quel
tempi, dl cui, come ognun vede, Macchiavelli un secolo dopo
non fu l'lnventore, ma solo l'ebbe svelata agli occhi dl tuttl. rt
Cecchetti, p. 3» replies: "L'osservazione e un po ingenua. • •

non ha dubblo obe la onesta e la v sehiettezza nella politlca
presso tutti git statt fu, e satlA oerapre, un deslderio."
. 73 The text of the treaty of peace is to be found in

LJubic, Vol. IX, pp, 232-283.
1
127
3. Treaty of Pe^ce . The peêe treaty , signed In
Sc«»nderbeg s eaap, stipulated that Dagno would remain
Venetian, but as a compensation Se*nderbeg would receive:
(1) an annual pension of 1400 ducats; (2) a loan of 1500
duc*ts In order to Join Hunâdi against the Turks; (3) an

annual tax exemption for 200 horse -loads of salt from
Durmzro; (4) some trade privileges for George Aranitl;
(5) a refuge In Venetian territory in case Scanderbeg and his

75
allies were driven out of Albania by the Turks; (6) two
scarlet garments every year, In return for which 3canderbeg

76
would give to Venice two hares and two altered falcons. But
this treaty did not establish real pe^ce between Venice and
Soanderbeg. A kind of an undeclared war went on f and on two
occasions, in 1452 and 1457, threatened to become official
but It was always Venice which yielded. The Venetians learned

77
their lesson from the "formidabile'*, as they called him, and
never openly challenged him again. Peace with Venice really
came fifteen years later in 1463, when Venice was at war with
the Turks and needed 3e«nderbeg badly as an ally, but even th«
n
,74 In exercity magniflcl seanderbegi apud Alexlum,"
LJubic, Vol. IX, p. 282. The negotiators were Bishop Andrew
of Croya and Abbot George Pelllnl of 3«lnt Mary of Rotezo, for
Scanderbeg; and Paolo Loredano, Count of Scutari, and Andrea
Venieri, provedltor of Albania, for Venice.
75 This privilege was granted to 3canderbeg several

times, in 1438, 1445, 1448, 1457, and 1463, after each quarrel
and reconciliation. It must have had only a symbolic value,
because even Zar Dusan of Serbia obtained It in 1340, See
Jirecek, 5erben, Vol. I p p. 379; LJubic, Vol. II, pp. 75-79,
Nos. 144, 145, 148.
76 As a token recognition of Venetian suzerainty.
77 Roraanln, Vol. IV, p. 243.

128
the Venetian/* proveditora were allowed to sabotage him at
every step until he died in 1468. No peace no^ truce
was concluded with the Turks.^ After their defeat at Ormik,
they withdrew and made preparations for their next invasion,

which came continually, year in and year out, since 1443,
Anyhow, as Biemmi remarks, the year 1448 was doubly glorious
for two brilliant victories, - one against the Venetians and

the other against the Turks.**
D. SULTAN VER3U3 SC AND EBB BE . The annual Turkish

incursions which 3cander*eg had to meet year after year were
not as irregular and unimportant as one might suppose. They
were a regular part of the tactics which the Turks used to
apply In border provinces, which they had marked out for

conouest. Those incursions served to soften up resistance and
prepare the ground for a major expedition soheduled to come

81 v
after those preliminary operations. Munadzira Bashi gives us
a list of such annual expeditions into Albania with the names

82
of their commanders, thus vindicating Scaaderbeg's biographers,
who hardly skip a year without a battle or two. These annual
78 Uakushev, Razyskanla . p. 111.

79 "Nulla pace cum ipso Seanderbego vel tregua facta. 1*
LJubld, Vol. IX, p. 284.

80 "Incomralnclo 11 sequente 1448, 11 quale fu doppiaraente
glorloso a Seander^begh, avendo egll aoqulstato due lllustrl
vittorle, una contra 1 Veneziani, l'altra contra i Turchi."
Biemmi, Book II, pp. 106-107.
81 Lybyer, p. 29.
82 Yastrebov, p. 249.
129
incursions ^nd their demoralizing effects ore masterfully
described by Ohin Jusachi: Then began the continuous wars
of the Turks in Albania, in which many chieftains and gentlemen
died; and the forces of the Turks were always increasing while
ours were decreasing; almost all the young men of Albania were
killed; there were only a few old men le*t; and their forces
were exhausted, and their states were dwindling; still we *ere
defending ourselves as best we could.**' Ag«in, the army that
came after the} softening process jrfeY was more tremendous
than men had ever seen before. It w«s the greatest, the most
efficient army of the time # and it was also the entire army of
the Turks concentrated on one point, while all the other narts
84
of the Empire were left almost undefended. Success was made
inevitable aild almost axiomatic by that sort of military
strategy, which combined superiority of numbers, machines and
efficiency.
1. Hunvadl's Cossovo . Scanderbeg was Hungary's ally

85
long before 1443, as Barletlus implies. It was only natural
86
that he should continue to be so during his entire career. Ke
could alwayi help Hunyadi by diverting Turkish forces and by
83 "Per il che incominclRro le continue guerre de Turchi

1
in Albania, nelle quail ce morsero de' raolti Signori e gentil-

huomlni; . . . aw la forza del Turco sempre creseeva, e le nostre
diminuivano. . . Li Signori glovani d* Albania erano tutti mortl;
et er*no rimastl quest! Signori; . . . tutti questi erano vecjhi,
e li piu de loro dec Una tl de forze e de st^to; . . noi pero ce
.
defendeamo al megllo poesibile. . .* Hopf, Chronlques . pp. 273-274,

84 Lybyer, chaD. IV, Section on Indivisibil ity of the Army ,
pp. 111-113.
85 "Soanderbegus contemplatus tempus, quo initum Jam-

prldem consilium, desideriumque ex anlml sententia exsolueret,
•u-nrao studio cladem Turcis proourabat." Barletlus, Vita .
Book I, p. 12.
86 See p. 68, note 28, of (continued on next page)
130
raiding Turkish territory. On two occasions he tried unsuccess-
fully to Join forces with Hunyadi, In Varna In 1444, according
to his biographers,^ and In Cossovo In 1443, according to

88
Venetian, Ragusan and Hungarian sources. Both battles were fought
«nd lost without him. Bonflnlus thinks that with hlra the battle
89
of Kossovo might have been won for the Christians, But the
Despot of Sabla, father -In -law of Murad II, refused passage to

Se^nderbeg' forces and all the latter could do w*s to punish fe
I
90
Serbian Despot by raiding his territory. In the eyes of the
Sultan this wan a new provocation over and above the old ones
and he felt he could not allow them to go unpunished.
2. Capture of afe tlgra d . Murad II had many grievances
against Scnnderbeg. Afterjthelr defeat In 1430, John Castrioti
and his sons were converted to Islam and became Turkish vassals.
They had lost all their fortresses and the region of Dibra
but they were allowed to keep the rest of their territory ae a
mi 11 to ry fief, pay an annual tribute and serve with Wl Albanian
this Dissertation; also Munadainj Bashi as quoted by Yastrebov,

p. 383. *
87 Barlatius, Book II, pr>. 51-57; Blemmi,Book I, pp. 59-65.
88 LJubic, Vol. IX, p. 283; Chronica Raguslna, pp. 291-298;

Bonfinius, p. 471; Villari, pp. 229-230.
89 Bonfinius, p. 471: . .Turcis pariter occurrerent,

ut a front e tergoque vexatl faoile vincerentur. Quod haud ab
re fuisaet, si 3andarobechui (sic), quea 1111 barbare Alexandrum
doninua vocant, praelio In tempore adfuisset."
90 Barletlus, Vita. Book II, p. 58; Blemml, Book I, p. 64.

1351
contingents In the feudal array of the Sultan, For a short
period, from 1430-1436, they complied but after 1436 they
began to drift back toward | the Pope and Venice, Hague*, and
Hungary. After John Castrlotl's death, 3c«nderbeg wa§ allowed
by the Sultan to Inherit I hi entire principality as a fief,
with the exception of the key fortresses. And what hapnened?
Scanderbeg openly revolted after the defeat of Se^lerêg

Kasia Pasha at Nlsh, seized Croya, Sfetlgrad and the other
fortresses, m*as*»ered the Moslems, raided the neighboring
regions of the Sultan and his Serbian father-in-law, and Joined
the Crusade against Islam. That was too much even for a
91
lenient 3ult«n like Kurad XX« There was room for an under-
standing with the old, diplomatic John C*stri«ti, who switched
so light-heartedly from one religion to the other, but there
was no chance for a compromise with a fanatical one-track-
minded Crusader like Scanderbeg,^ The sandsSakbegs sent to
punish him were not e ual to the task, so *.Iurad II hadjto go
himself to glwe a terrible lesson to this naive hill-billy,

who dared to challenge the mightiest of all rulers of his time,
very probably without realising what he was doing, 3o Uurad II
91 Laonicos, chap, VII, p, 375,
92 The contrast between father and son Is masterfully

described by Pius IX* in Europe and Asia , chap, XV, pp*337-338;
H
A pp. | No, XI, p, xli: Sed (Caûsa, Johannes Csstrlota)
quasi levlter Christum deseruit, tarn fseile Mahumetis sacra
contemp8it, , , Georgius Scanderbechius ejus haereditatem
aecepit. • • aetatem paene oranera In am&s pro Chriati nomine
pugnando consumpslt, . . Solusque quodemmodo reglonem illam
in Bvangelio Chrleti continult, .
132
at the head of his Array, went to
,
^
Sf|yep.grad,
93
besieged It,
oA
7
out its water -supply" arad cap tired It after an arduous siege of
-bout three months In July 1449. There under the walls of
Sfetigrad, and not in the Imperial Palsce of Adrlanople, tfurad II
and Seanderbeg got acqua^ted with each other. They had the
surprise of their lives. There, for the first time, Sesnderbeg
saw the entire Turkish array arrayed before him. There Murad II
besieged for the first time a fortress with an army of guerrilla
demons on his baok. Then each one of the two leaders realized
what he w«s up against. But neither of them was the sort of
raan to baok up. They promised to meet again. They did meet
again under t w e walls of Oroya in 1450.
3. Flrat Siege of Croya . Seanderbeg tried in vain to
recapture 3fetigrad in September and October. He gave the Job
up as hopeless after a one month's siege. In 1450 another

blow c^me from the South. Berat was lost to the Turks.^6
3ach year brought a new disaster: Dngno in 1448, afetierad in
1441, Berat in 1450. And now the Sultan was. coming to get
Q7
Croya. The people were terror-stricken. 7 ' Scanderbeg needed
93 3f BTgradj In Lower Dibra; In Albanian Ku t et 1 3hente;

In Turkish KoO*adzlk .
94 The B^rletian legend of the deid dog thrown into the
only well of the fortress by a traitor and the refusal of the
garrison to drink from that water is too naive to be accepted
as the reason for the surrender of the fortress of Sfetigrad
to the Turks. But the legend suggests the real reason, namely
that the Turks succeeded in cutting the water-supply and com-
pelled the garrison to surrender.
95 The capture of Sfetigrad by Murad II Is confirmed by

Laonleos, Book VII, p. 351; Anonymous of Giese, pp. 94-95» and
App., No, XXVII, p. lvlli; Urudt, p. 121; Jorga, Notes , p. 227.
96 Biemrai, Book III, pp. 224-225.
97 Ibid , pp. 227-231.

133
all hi a bishops to Inspire courage and hope - even though it
w»s hone against hope! 5aeh one of then came to tell the army
and the people, assembled in an onen field, of the heavenly
visions they saw with their own eyes, which went far to prove
that Se«nderbeg would be victorious and the Sultan would be
98
mashed to pieces. Seanderbeg himself had seen) a similar
vision; Saint George, the patron Saint of Albania, appeared
to him in shining armor and handed him a flaming sword with

99
which to smite the enemies of Christendom. Who oould have
any doubts about the outcome of the struggle after all these
happy omens? When the people were reassured by these apocalyptic

dre«ras, 3cnnderbeg went on with his preparations. Count Vrana,
100
as eommander of a garrison of 1500, was entrusted with the defense
of Oroya. Of eourse he was assisted by all the able-bodied
citizens, while all the others - old men, women and children -
were evacuated and sent to the mountains or the se? coast. On

May 14 # 1450, fcurad II, accompanied by his twenty-year old
son, yehmed, appeared beforeAwlth his entire array of Europe and

101
Asia. He had brought with him metal with which he built
102
ten enormous guns, hurling huge 600 pound stone shells. He
103
Immediately summoned Count Vrana to surrender the fortress.
The Count refused so the Sultan offered money. This was
98 Ibid . 229-230
pr>.
99,'^H'd .. pp. 228-229.
100 'tn eo preterea assunt virl 1500 ad defenslonem
aptlssiml. Ex quo oreditur du^modo inter se sunt virl, qui
fldem servent, exereitus predictus contra eivitatea 111am (Crojam)
frustra raolirl." Diploma tarlun R*>KU8°nua. p. 473* Crr. Ibid. .
p. 485: • .La cltta de Cruya, la qual esso Tureho non pote
vincere per l'asperlta de' monti e forteza del dlcto luogo, et
per la fldellta delle Dereone che erano In essa, che se portono
virllmente, se delibero el dlcto Tureho levarse della dicta
citt«de de Cruya.
(Footnotes 101, 102, and 103 on next page)
134
104
conteaptuously rejected so the siege began. The walls were
battered by the huge guns, a breach was made and a general
assault was ordered. It was repelled. Count Vrana hiuself was

severely wounded. 3c*nderbeg, with an array of 3,000, harassed the
besieging array night and day, disrupted the communications,
Intercepted the convoys and cut to pieces detachments sent

105
agslnst horn. As Laonioos remarks: The defenders fought
101 "Amurathes convocans Aslae Europaeque exeroltus

unlversos. . . B v Laonieos, Book V, p. 35o, "Deja auparavant, le
Sultan Uorat, pere du 3ultan actuel, leur av«it fait la guerre
avee une grande armee et avec des forces l^pos^ntes. . »* Crl-
toboulos In French, Book III, Par. 93» arts' App., No. XXVIII. p. lx.
"Teucrorum tape rat or cum ejus flllo in partlbus Albania valldlssl*
raos tenet excrcitus, et contra Crojam clvlt»tea Sc^nderbechi
oastramentatus est; quaa totls virlbus et acerrimo bello
fcppugnare «»toue oporlmere eon^tur." D lploaptnrlura Rngusanua,
p. 473. Aug. 13. 1450.
102 *Conflarl enim Jussit, postquara castra posult

contra dletaa clvitntea, ex metallo, quod secum deferrl fecerat,
bombardas duas, quarum m*Jor, sJcuti ver relatlbus habtj/uâua,
prolclt lapldea llbrarua quadrlngentarua." Diplomat a riua
Rnûs?nua. p. 473. "Longua id opus fult, quindeclm praplius dierua
spaclo, decern confeotae dlsparl allquantulua aagnitudine,
nuatuor aequalee, quae sexcentarua aaplius librsrura pondo asxa
Jaelebant, rellquae **<lu<Dentarua, harua quatuor cum duabus
aajorlbus loe^taa, quae aoenia Tyrannan versus Orientem speetant."
B^rletius, Book VI, po. 161-162. "Olammai 1 Turchl avean avuto per
1* addietro in aloun sttaeeo di Piazza tanta quantlta dl c^nnoA
dl b*tteria, e d' una tnle groasezza." Bie^rai, Book IV, p. 239.
103 Biemmi, Book IV, p. 238.
104 Ibid., pp. 260-261; Barletiua, Book VI, pp. 178-179.
105 "Csstra quotidle infestnbat, neo illua sinebat all quo

ooaento qulescere, sed ita assldue ndoriebatur, invadebat*
infestnbat, et instar torrentis, qui ex aagnie et lnundantlbus
pluvlls ex aontihus deaeentfens, omnia secum r*pit, prostemlt,
atque evertlt; sic Sc^nderbeg quoque in Turcica^ et hortilia
cngtra alio semper et alio lrrumpens latere* cladea, dâna et
jaeturas aaxlaaa inf erebnt." Barletlus, Book XII, p. 354.
Cfr. Fallmer*yer, Vol. IX, p. 51: "Mit 8,000 Veter?nen im
t<
Waldgeblrge Tumenishtl gelagert gonnte er dea Feinde kclne Ruhe,

war b»*ld n»he, bald fern, erschien la R^'cke des Heeres wo und wann
es die Turken am went ga ten vermutheten, naha Zufuhren weg und (Sber-
fiel elnzelne Abthellungen, griff Jetzt bel Tag, Jctzt bei Nacht,
Jetzt alleln, Jet/t zugleich mit den belageaten das feindllche
Lager an, k«m und verschwind wi 9 der Blitz.**
135
desperately ind Scanderbes was always present wherever hig
106
assistance was needed. During the five months that this
•Die struggle was going on, the Venetians were tasking money
107
selling food and ammunitions to the Turks. The Albanians
were furious. They killed some of the merchants and confiscated
their merchandise. War with Venice was threatened. But the
Venetians yielded. They ordered the Count Durazzo to help

103
the Albanians and not the Turks. Early In October Scanderbeg
<jL c. s p e- a. oct*L/
made * ÂtywwnMj* move: Re offered Croya to the Venetians.
1C^
They refused lt. On October 26 , the Sultan raised the siege
and returned to Adrlanople. And so the visions of the Bishops
110
really c*me true. The Sultan was defeated. He withdrew,
leaving several thousand de»d under the walls of Croya. And
Fallmerayer concludes: Thus ended the first act of the «ia-C-CL~tr
in *
Albanian
, . j
tragedy.
106 "Nec taraen supers re potuerunt oppldanos, qui praeter

spem pugnabant." Laonicos, Book VII, p. 335. "Somperque
preeens erat, ubleumque ejus opera desiderabatur." Ibid ..
Book VIII, p. 4?3.
107 Me~.~ii, Book IV, p. 256; Ljubic, Vol, VI, p. 4:

"91 ha letters d 'Albania, che 11 Turco si trova a enmpo sotto
Crola, che Scanderbeg si difende valorosaraento; e che se 11 conte
41 Scutari non somninistrasse farine e pane fresco al Turco,
questl avreVbe levato 11 carapo.'* Also Liagno, quoted by Jorga,
Motes, Vol. IH t np. 260-261.
108 Biemmi, Book IV, pp. 257-260; aagno, quoted by Jorga,

Notes. Vol. rn f pp# 200-251.
109 Makushev, aazyskanla* p. 90; Jorga, Not eg. Vol. Ill,

I*e 2? novembre, le son at report <iux lettren rlu
rt
p. 260:
14 octobre d'Augustin de 'Renerio', provediteur de Dagno, qui
annongalt que 3o*>nderbeg avalt offert a la Republlque 'per ilium
abb at em' Crola, qu'il cedera en cas de refus aux Turca. Veniss
veut bien reconclller Scnnderbeg avec le Sultan; elle a anpris
avec satisfaction la fin du sl^ge de Crola, mala elle prie Scantier-
beg de garder Crola pour lai-meme."
(Footnotes 110 and 111 on next page)
136
110 The failure of Sultan ûrad II to capture Oroya

is confirmed by the Anonymous of Gleae, p. 93; Urudz, p. 123;
Laonlooa, Book 711, p. 335> Critobouloe in French, Book V,
J?ar. v 75» and Ayp., No. XXVIII, p. lxlxj " p6$k aup*ravant
le pere du Sultan (liehraed II) avait eassye de dlfferentes
aanleres, par assaut, par des canons lane ant dea pierrea, et
p«?r un long siege de s en rend re maltre, aaia en rain."
Sc<mderbeg t in hi a letter to the Prince of Tyrant o, writes
on the eiege of Oroya: % . . Contra tanto podere la defesi
et conservai, fin che con d^nno et vergogna 11 Turchi ae
lev*irono et con poca gente raqulatai qucVlo, che rnolti inlmicl
In longo aviano guadagnato. Xakushev, Uonu ner>ta Slavorura .
r
Vol. II, p. 122.
111 Pallraerayer, Vol. IX, p. 53: "ait dem Abzuge der

Turken von Croja w*r der Spate Akt ira grossen Albanaaen-Draraa
ausgeBplelt."
CHAPTER VII
SCANDERBBO AND ALPHONSB V AGAINST MEHStED II
(1451-1458)
A PERIOD OF CRI3S3 . The Rumanian scholar, Constantin
Marinesco, who wrote a scholarly monograph on this period. Is
certainly wrong In calling it the most brilliant part of

Seanderbeg's career,* It la rather a period of crises between
two climactic triumphs, thnt over the first pair of expeditions
led by Sultan Uurad II in 1449-1450 and that over the second
pair of expeditions led by Sultan Manned II in 1466-1467.

Scanderbeg had Just weathered the first storm and was preparing
feverishly to meet the second one. During this period of
transition one crisis followed closely upon the heels of
another, soae of them severe enough to engulf a lesser man
than Scanderbeg. The first crisis came soon after Murad II
raised the siege of Oroya and returned to Adrlanople, where
he died at the end of January, 1451. 3c*nderbeg returned
triumphantly to Oroya and became overnight the most famous
general of his time.' With a handful of about 10,000
warriors, of whom only one third counted as a real army, ha
1 Marine sco- p. 42; cfr # p. 57, note 127, of this

paper. GegaJ, p. 87, agrees with Marinesco; cfr. p. 57,
note 128 of this paper.
2 Barletius, Vita, Book VI, p. 186, makes him die

under the walls of Oroya: "post haec dicta, obmutescens,
dimidiura fere ejus dlei in angustia spiritus consumpslt,
turn obortis ante oculos tenebrls, petltara tot Christ lanorum
odlls aniraan exh«lavit." Very probably Barletius was
misled by Volaterrano. Book VIII, p. 188, and A pp., No. XXV,
p. lvl, who gives that impression: "CroJam quatuor Jam
menses obsidebat, turn moritur. . . * Spandugino, in Hopf,
Chronloues . p. 334, copies Barletius. As a matter of fact,
Murad IX died in Adrianople after a wild carousal, lifce
Alexander the ftreat, in 1451. (continued on next page)
138
had repelled a mighty hoat about ten times Tiore numerous
4
than hi a own, led by a grct war-lord with the best trained
officers and the most modem artillery of that time.-* acander-
beg's contemporaries were simply amazed by his extraordinary
achievement and could hardly find words to express their
admiration.** 3ut the price he paid for It was rather high
because, as AnRtole France once remarked, glory Is very
expensive. Everything around him lay In ruins. The walls

of Oroya were battered by the huge guns beyond recognition;
the countryside from Sfetigrad to Durazzo was devastated
by the Invaders as well as the defenders, who applied the
tactics of searched earth |* thousands upon thousands were
killed and maimed by six yepre of continuous Intensive
warfare. LionGy was needed for reconstruction, for relief,
for salaries, for reorganization and for defense. Who
would provide that money? The League of Alesslo, of course.
See Chaleondylas, Book VII, pÛMf; Ducas, Chap.^nKIK, p«^<M9.
3 "Cosi termlno quest* anno 1450, in cui Scander-begh

aequlstossl la gloria e la riputazlone del piu eccellente
Guerrlero del suo secolo." Blenl, Book IV, p. 285; Cfr.
Jirecek, Serb en . Vol. II, p. 193* "Skender Beg wurde dadurch
elner der beruhratesten Manner der Zelt. H
(
4 "Omnibus satis comparatls, et coplis Jam certo *^

nuraero perfectls, 160 ougnatorum mlllla fulsse omnes eonveniut."
Barletlus, Vita, Book VI, p. 158. "Un Uffizlale Turco che fu
fatto prigione sul fine dell* assedlo dichlarb che da princlpio
non passavno 11 numero dl cento raila. Al che poi aggiungendo
i guastatori, i vivnndieri, 1 bagaglioni, e quella bassa gente,
ch Y e sollta segulr 1* arraate non sono lontano dal credere che
potessero in tut to arrivare al mentovato numero di cento e
sessanta mi la." Biemml, Book IV, p. 234.
5 Lybyer'e book, published in 1913* marks an epoch. Only

after that year did historians begin to have an idea of the
Turkish «rmy in the XV and XVI centuries, (oontinued on next page)
139
But that League also had been smashed to pieces, like
everything else. Some chieftains, like the Spanis, the

8
Dushaanis and the Alti sferi s, had left the League since the
9
Venetian War and the rest, including Oeorge Aranitl, had
deserted, one after the other, right and left, to the Turks
or the Venetians, during the sieges of Sfetigrad and Croy*

10
in 1449-1450. Very few, mostly close relatives of 3c«»nderbeg t
remained loyal to the bitter end, and even some of the latter
were wavering. How many of them would be able to stand another
shook? ffas there at least e gleam of hope that the Turku
would not come back? There w*s certainly none.
Cfr. p. 70, notes 32-35, of this paper.
6 "Cum his saepisslme barbarorua copias suis longe

majores, conserto proeljô, fudit fugavitque. " Sabellico, Book IX,
p. 757, and App., No. X_IV, p. llv. "Cum ille semper parva menu
ingentes hostlua eatervas funderet, ac fugaret." Volaterrano,
Book VTTI, p. 188, and A-p., No. XXV, p. lvl. "Obstitietis enira
eura parvis admodum eopiis multls et innumeris Teucrorura gentibus,
clvit«tem et onpidjdtvestra illesa preserva stie contra irapetua et
aolea tantl apparatus, ex quo apud Deua premia eterna conseque-
mini, apud reges, principes totumque orbem lmmortalea laud em
et giorlaa. • . * Ragusa to 3c°nderbeg, in Jorga, Notes . Vol. II,
p. 460, and App., No. XIX, p. xlviii.
7 "Applgliossi 8*tf*ittdki secondo la consueta sua franchezza

e oonfidenza al partito suggeritoli dal Conte Urana e Vladenio
C-iurizza, suol intirai amlci; e fu di disertare, e spogliare tut to
11 paess colla stessa forma oho avea tenuto al tempo dell*
invasion! d* Amurate, cornmandando ai villicl dl ritirarsi co 1
viverl, bestlami, e ognl lor effetto dentro le citta e fortezze,
senza laseiar alia oaapagna cosa che potesse servir dl nutrimento
al nlmlco. • Biemai, Book V, p. 35fc« "Et in breve tempo
tutto fu rldotto ne f luoghi chiusi, • murati, tagllato, e di strut to
clo ohe restando al di fuori potea glovare al nimioo, H Ibid . p«357.
8 Biemai, Book II, pp. 102-3, 105, 110
9 "Arrianite gi^> destinato suo suocero aveagli intiaato che

non aspetasse plu da er?so eowenlmento dl sorts alcuna, se non aveese
prima »demfrlto alia proaessa di sposare sua figliuola, ricusando
di accettar le raggionl ch* egli onponea a tali sue preaure."
Biemmi, Book III, p. 226. Cfr. Hahn, Reise . Vol. XVI, p. 113.
(footnote 10 on next page)
140
1. Mehmcd II • ifeirad I* was succeeded by his son,
Mehmed II at the age of twenty -one. The eon shared the
humiliation of hla father under the walla of Oroya, because

he hid to aooorapany hlra In all hla expeditions.** Therefore It
waa an axiomatic oertalnty that he would return to Albania

to wipe off the shame of 1450, There waa another reaaon for It.
12
He eonaldered himself aa the successor of the Roman emperora
and dreamed of enpturing the oapitala of the East and the west,
Constantinople and Rome. Oroya waa In the way and had to be
reduoed. Kehmed II cane very ne*r realizing hla Imperial

dream. Only death atopped him. He expired In 1481 Just when
hla »rmlea landed at Otranto on their way to Rome.
2. Alphonae V . It wis very probably Count Vrana
Altlaferl who ahowed Se«nderbeg the way to Naples. The famous

1 -*
defender of Oroya had served In the army of Alphonse aad
14
thua CRiue to be called "Count" , which was nothing but an Italian
translation of the courteay title of chief tain t which he
shared with every highlander of any distinction.
10 Thld ..p. 227; efr. Plplomatarlum Rqguaanua * p. 485:

• slando accord a ti col detio Turcho li dettl colllgati
•
de 3chandarbegh. . .
11 Laonlcos, Book VTI f p. 351; Plplomatarlum Ranueanum .

p. 437; B*rletius t Vita. 890k V t p. 142: Ibid .. Book VI. p. 162;
Blemmi, Book IV, p. 234} AskLK-'Ex.s&cl- %*.JJ7?cZ*f. W°\ jo- Pts ,
.
12 See Oratlo 3atyran3inl . In fcakushev, iionumenta

Slavorum f Vol. I, pp. 295-297 •
lj "Conte Urana, 11 quale avea fatto piu compagne nell 1

armate d' Alfonao Re di Napoll. • Blemmi, Book I, p. 47.
Cfr. Sagredo, p. 93»
14 Cfr. Cerone, Vol. XXVIII, year 1903, p. 174:

"Arlanlte Coraneno, Conte in Albania." Also Zurlta, Vol. in,p.322:
H
"Aranito Connonevill, que era conde en Albania. • .
141
The relations between Alphonae and 3c*nderbeg became more
Intimate In 1448 when both were fighting Venice on opposite

eld en of the Adriatic sea.*^ Their alllaoe was only natural
since Turkey and Venice wore their common enemies. Scanderbeg
16
had sought in vain the support of the Venetians in 1449 and
17
1450. Ho offered to place Croya and himself under their
protection. They refused in both cases. Consequently, there

wns nothing left to him but to turn to Alphonse, Ke AMttJM
consented to receive him under his protection on &arch 26, 1451, at
18
Gaeta on the following conditions: (1) Scanderbeg and his
relatives surrendered their principalities and the City of Croya

19
to a vice-roy of Alphonse; (2) They promised to pay to
Alphonse the tribute which they were expected to pay to the

Sultan as soon as theyâetf recoveresl their territories from the
Turks with the assistance of Alphonse; (3) all territories
15 M^rinesco, pp. 24, note 1, 26-27.
16 LJubic, Vol. IX, pp. 301-302, year 1449. April 21.
17 Kakushev Razyskanla. P. 90; Jorga, Notes . Vol. Ill,

pp. 259-260.
18 A copy of the treaty was obtained from Rubio y Lluch

by Thallcczy, who gave it for publication to Cerone, Vol. XXVIII,
year 1903, pp. 172-172. It was A by Bishop Stephan and the [sii»u2.
Dominican Nicola de Berguzzl for Scanderbeg and by Arnaldo
Fonolleda for King Alphonse. Bishop 3tephan signed in areek. He
was probably a Uniat Bishop, not an Orthodox, as Harlneeco,
pp. 63-64, thinks. Cfr. Jorga, Notes. Vol. I, pp. 474-475»
Aug. 14, 1423: "Haec sunt auae fuerunt translata £e greco in
latlnum per domlnum Admoratura et presbiterua DlmitAri, ambaxl^tores
nagniflci domlnl Yvanl Castriotl.* ^
19 Marine sco, np. 77-78; Zurita, Vol. IV, p. 29.
20 The tribute mentioned here is (continued on next p*ge)

142
won from the Turks would belong to Alphonse who would grant
to Seanderbeg and hie relatives whatever fiefs he might
choose; (4) 3oanderbeg promised to go personally and do
hommage to Alphonse as soon as he had recovered his lost

21
territories from the Turks; (5) Seanderbeg and his
relatives nromtsed to buy salt only from Naples; (6)Alphonae
oonflraed the privileges of the City of Oroya and the Albanian

22
ehieftalne. Later on Alphonse eoncluded similar treaties
with George ^raniti, $hin rJusachl, George Stresl B^lsha, Peter
x
3p*nl, Paul Ducaghini, 5usachi Thopla, Peter of Klmara,
Slaon Zanebisha and Carlo Toceo of Art*, 2 ' With this network
of treaties the League of Aleasio was reorganized under King
Alphonse of Naples with Seanderbeg as Captain General of the

24
Crown of Ar«*gon. With the financial and military assistance
of Xing Alphonse, however inadequate, Seanderbeg succeeded in
surviving the crises of this period. A token garrison of

about 100 Catalan soldiers under the vlce-roy Ramin d*0rtofa
took nominal possession of the fortress of Croya and remained
what Seanderbeg used to pay to the Turks as 3and£akbeg before
1443 and what some of his allies and relatives had agreed to
pay when they surrendered during the first siege of Croya,
See Diplomat ri u rn R*guspnum. p. 485 • .
» et siando
aneordati col detto Turcho li detti eolligatl de 3chanda^begh. ,,
Cfr. Critoboulos in French, Book Til, Par. 93# &nd App.,

Ko. XXVIII, p. lxi. The tribute, paid by Seanderbeg as
Sand£akbeg, w«s six thousand ducats a year, if 3c»nderbeg tells
the truth to the Venetians, .who did not eeea to believe him. S«.e,
21 aarinesco, p. 43
22 The confirmation of these privileges appears in a

document nublished bv Thalloczy and Jired'ek, Force hunr en.
Vol. I, pp. 134.135, 147-151.
23 Marlneseo, pp. 84,87,89,112; Zurita, Vol. IV, p. 29.

24 Nagy-Nyary, Aota Setera . No. 75» year 1461, pp.116 -117.
Cfr. Jorg^, Gsmanen . Vol. II, p. 137.
1*3
25
there until after 1468. After each victory Soanderbeg sent to
Alphonse, as a token tribute, trophies of war, flags* steeds and
prisoners t*ken from the Turks. No tr«ce of any tribute fcaid
In money by Soanderbeg is to be found in the Neapolitan archives,

On the contrary, he received from Alphonse an annual pension
2J5TA
of 1500 ducats along with the Venetian pension of 1400, as he
needed both of them very badly. So after all the treaty of
Gaeta proved to be very advantageous to Soanderbeg in the long

run and he always felt grateful to Alphonse for^ftMVfaA^ it so
magnanimously. The treaty w«*s supposed to prepare the ground
for a crusade, which Alphonse was planning and which he never
earrled out. Consequently, the letter of the treaty was never
insisted upon and its results were highly beneficial for

Soanderbeg in this period of crises.
IU Wedding . According to Antivarino and Barletius,

Soanderbeg long resisted all proposals of marriage. He had
his reasons. He was at least forty -six years old, had spent
most of hi 8 time with his soldiers and had no time for domestic
life. But in 1451 the situation was so critical that he had to
win back George Araniti, who had deserted him in his hour of
need and gone over to the Venetians in 1450. He could win him
28
only by marrying his daughter. He consented, after first
pa
striking a hard bargain. 9 The dowery was el> high that
25 Trine hen, Codice AraKonese. Vol. I, p. 90.
26 Barletius, Vita, Book VI, pp. 145-6; Bieraral,Book III,

pp. 203-204.
27 Kahn, Reige, Vol. XVI, p. 113.
28 Bietimi, Book III, p. 226.
29 Soanderbeg* s delegate for the marriage contract was his
(continued on next page)
144
a rani tl* a three aona were furious and refused to fit tend the
marriage ceremony,^ which took plane on Afrril 26, 1451.

We hare no detaila about the exact amount of dowry, which
m*de ao much bad blood, but It may have involved money aa
well aa territory. Arar&tl'a aona were not the only onea

absent from the wedding. The Ducaghinls -*ere not there either.
And Scanderbeg'a nephew and heir apparent, Hamza Castriotl,

who w«s there, did not look very ple°aed« It waa certainly
a marriage de ralaon ! The happy bride* a name was Andronlca,.

pccording to 3arletlua and :iusachi, l&rlna . according to
Antlvarino. Perhapa ahe had both names. ^

brother-in-law, Musachi Thopia. See Barletiua. Book VII,
p. 195; Biemmi, Book IV, p. 284. Ghln KlMtM'l father was
Araniti'a delegate. See Hopf, Chronlques . p. 275.
50 E anche 1 fratelli della aposa non vollero Inter-

rt
enir alle nozse, pare he era no alt«roentl sdegnati contra

l'eccesslv* dote ehe lor malgrado avaa voluto atlpular il
padre. Biemmi, Book IV, p. 285. H Doa ad arbîtrium soceri
relata, et eo statuente sceepta, digna quara et llle daret,
et hie «eeeperlt. H Barletiua, Book VII, p. 196.
31 "Non indlgna eo nntre puella Donica, forma

elegantisalma." Barletiua ? Vita . Book VII, p. 195. " Sella
predett- Slgnora Maria e Slgnor Arainiti Coanino nacquero
otto flglie femine; la prima fu noralmta Slgnora Andronlca. . .
. • • Queata Slgnora Andronlca prima figlla hebbe per mr,rlto
11 Signer Sesnderbego. . " Hopf, Chronl g uea . p. 284;
cfr. ibid. p. 275. "Marina, figliuola d 'Arrianite, * Biemmi,
Book IV, p. 285. "Belllssima et virtuoei eslma flgllola di
Aranit Coranlno, che al chlamava Doneca.* Franco, chap. XIII,
p. 17 i Cfr. GegaJ, p. 81, note 4.
32 Biemmi, Book III, p. 203, note 1.

145
A, The Ducaghlnls . Next to the Castriotis, the
neighboring Ducaghlnls were the moat powerful chleft-lns of

Northern Albania." The Venetians knew It and always tried
to drive a wedge between the two neighbors . The feud had
been going on since the wedding of Mamltza C^striotl, on

account of Irene Dushmani. The Ducaghlnls suspected that
Scanderbeg took the side of Lek Zacarla and succeeded In
winning Irene's heRrt for him.~ To the old suspicions
new ones were added - a plot to murder Scanderbeg was discover-

ed, and everybody felt that the Ducaghlnls had a hand In lt«^
The tension was so great th«t civil war was threatened. The
Bishop of Drlvasto was delegated by the Pope to bring about a

reconciliation.^ He was sucee-sful in his mission. The
Ducaghlnls proved to everybody's satisfaction that they had had
nothing to do with the plot. Then the suspicions fell on Moses

of Dlbra, Hamza C*striotl, George Streslj Balsha, the sons of
Aranitl, and even on Venice, enoh one of whom was quite capable
of such a crime. Finally It was whispered tha1^canderbe& had
found out who the guilty party was but could not disclose hie
name for various reasons.'**
33 Ble-irai, Book I, p. 30; Barletius, Vita, Book I, pp. 3* -35«
34 "Sumus enlm A quod sine Duchalnis ipse Soanderbegus nobis

longe impotentior est." LJuble, Vol. IX, p. 235.
35 . . Erano sdegnatl contra Scander-begh per aver

prestato uno special favors al natrlaonio tra.ttato da Zaccaria
con Jerlna." Ble~>rai, Book II, p. 110.
36 3iemml, Book IV, p. 290.
37 Ibid., p. 298.
38 Ibid ., p. 299.
146
5« The Ber^t Disaster . The capture of Constantinople
by the Turks In 1453 struok terror Into the hearts of both

Venetians and Neapolitans. They reached sons kind of a
temporary understanding. As a result of this, the proveditor
of Al6es*o was ordered by Venice to acoompany jcanderbeg to
Rome and Naples. ^ During this visit, Alphonss and dcanderbeg

reached an agreement on the campaign of Berat. A Neapolitan
contingent of about 2000, with siege artillery, was sent to

reinforce 3oanderbeg* s expeditionary force of about 12,000.^°
In July, 1455, Berat was blockaied, the walls were battered and
a breach wbs made. The garrison offered to surrender after
a truce of eleven days, if no assistance were forthcoming
in the meantime. It was decided by the War Council to grant

the truce and wait for the surrender. In the meantime, iicander-
beg left for an expedition against a neighboring fortress, while

the soldiers were allowed to entertain themselves as best they
4l
could. Losing all sense of discipline, they soon became
an unruly mob of picnic revelers. They were surprised by a
42
Turkish army of 40,000 cavalrymen, led by Issa Beg Evrenoa
3S> Ian nesco, p. 67, note 2: Hopf, Crrier hen land . Vol. 86.
p. 125; Makushev, Razyskanla. p. 94; C hale ondy las, Book VIII, p. 43 2.
Ljubic, Vol. X, No. XXV, Oct. 9, 1453, p. 18.
40 Uarine soo, p. 99» admits that the information given by
Barletius on the Berat disaster agrees with the archival sources.
Gfcff|. Makushev, Razyskqnla. pp. 95-96; Jiakushev, -lomrienta
Slavorum, Vol. II, pn. 127, 148-14>, 150-151; P5 sko, p ,. 133.139.
41 Bienni, Book V, pp. 316-318; Barletius, Vita . Book VII,

p. 223; lAonicos, Book VIII, p. 433*
42 BicTai, Book V, p. 318; Barletius, Vita. 3ook VIII,

p. 225; Laonicos, Book VIII, p. 432.
147
and were cut to pieces. About half of the besiegers, includ-
ing the coTimqnder Mus°chi Thopia, were literally massacred.
The rest fled In disorder. The Italian contingent was
completely annihilated. The approaching night aavec the
situation. Fortunately, Iasa Beg Sfrrenos did not exploit too
the full the victory he had won. He returned to Constantinople
satisfied with the results he had achieved around Berat. His
soldiers were allowed to take as souvenirs head 3 of the
massacred Albanians, which they sold to the Constant inople
urchins to play football with in the streets.*-* This disaster
was played up by the Venetians, who urged all the chieftains

46
to desert Sc^nderbeg. mioses of Dibra went over to the
Turks and was naturally acoused of having invited the enemy to

save 3erat for Turkey. Fortunately, the people remained
48
loyal to 3canderbeg and did not follow the disloyal ctiieftains.
43 Blemmi, Book V, p. 320; Barletius, \£ ita . Book VIII, p. 232.
44 Bismol , Book V, p. 322; Barletius, Vita. Book VIII,

p. 332; efr. chap. VII, note 4o t of this paper.
45 "Turn rellnua spoils, ac beliioa ornaraerta expos! ta,

neo non capita oceisorum, quae dlxiraus, ubl vendita auro
pales est, passim ad pedes vulgl projects et Jactata
Jocul«rtter a pueris sunt." Barletius, vita. Book VIII, p. 239.
46 Marlnesco, p. 101: "Bile (Vcnifie) lncitait egalement
Is a Albnnnls a as soulever co trs lui et a se scuraettre pfcutot
aux Turcs. Venlse lsur promettalt n;em6 son aids. Cfr.11
Kakushev, Monument* Slavon^m . Vol. II, p. 151.
47 Bie^cfil, Book V, p. 314.
48 Barletius, Book V, p. 235

Mi
6. Jo sea of Ujbra . Close upon the heels of DM Berat
disaster came the desertion of ^.osee Araniti Tkopia couneni,

49
nepnsw of George Araniti, bettor known as Bt iii of Dibra #
bsoause he w»3 entrusted with the co rasnd of the arnjy guarding
the Dibra frontier. The shock was more profound than that of
50
the 3erat catastrophe, because ilosee was considered the best
general of Scanderbag* I army. It was ha who captured Jfetigrad
in 1444 after a protracted siege. The reasons for his defection
were obvious* Nobody thought that Scinderbcg could survive the
Eerat defeat rnd everybody around was leaving the sinking ship.
The only thing sbcut which the deecrttrs hesitated w*s whether
they should go Enet to the Turks or '.Vest to the Venetians.

51
I'.oset of Dibrs, Ilarnza Castriotl, Nicholas and Paul Dueaghini
went over to the Turks; George Ar*nitl and Stefan Ceroojevich
went over to the Venetians. The latter did not worry auto about
the direction the Albanian deserters were taking so long as it
49 "ôsec r?ui a Dibris dictua est." Barletius, Vita.

Book VTI, p. 208.
50 "Fattoei dunque palese e certo il tradimento di Moise,

fu tale il rannarico e il turbaraento negli Albaneai, che quasi
eupero quello della disgr?2ia di Belgrado." Bieu.nl, 3ook V, p. 326.
51 nopf , Grteohenlg.nfl , Vol. 86 1 p. 133; iakushev, Kazytaksnla.

pp. 100 -101.
52 Hopf , Criechcnland. Vol. 86, p. 134; Wirinesco, p. 112.
53 Jlrecek, Serben, Vol. XX. p. 232; Ljubic, Vol. IX,

3ept. 28, 1452, pnTTfeO-fel.
U9
was away from Scanderbcg. Very probably they preferred to
see thera run over to the Turks and return with Turkish
armies against tbeir former commander-in-chief. They actually
encouraged t' em to do so. 54

They hoped to liquidate Scanderbcg
od to liquidate 3© and
ti I i
through Civil war and Turkish aggression. Undoubtedly Lady

Zanf ina t the wife of ?ioses, must have had a hand in this
desertion. She had a grudge against Seanderbeg, who took away
her first husband and married him to his sister, Maraitza

55
C»strioti. According to Ghln Mus^chi, all these desertions
were dhie to the fact thnt Scmderbeg was annexing the princi-
palities of all these $£mi -feudal, or rather patriarchal

chieftains, and they had nothing left but to tun over to the
56
Turks or the Venetians for protection. Ohin Mus^chi's
contention la confirmed by eert»in passages of Barletius,
which Pallêrayer interpreted in th*t sense without reading
7"".
54 E che nuovamente Veneaianl havevano confortato
a quelle terre del Re in Albania che ee levassero della sua
obedientla e se d»ssero al Turco perche loro 11 defender! ano. tt
Uakuahev, Monument 3 l*vorum. Vol. IT, p. 151 J cfr. Makushev,

Rngysk^nla . p. 97; ^rlnesco, p. 101: "Elle (Veniae) incltait
•g» lament les Albanais a se soulever contra lul et a se
•ouraettre plutot aux Turcs. Venlee leur promettait meme son
aide."
55 Hopf f Chronlques . p. 296.

56 "Tolse anoo al Signor Molse Comnlno 11 atato suo t
quale era in 1^ Dibra." Hopf, Chronlques. p. Joo.
150
Ghin Musnchi's Geneôgy . which was not available to him.^
Musachl and Fallmerayer seen to be right. It was only
natural for Se*nderbeg to get rid of those centrifugal

ohieftalns, annex their c»ntons, and unify the country
against both Turkey and Venice under the protection and with
the support of Alphonse of Naples. Anyhow, Moses came back
with a Turkish *rmy of about 15»000 cavalrymen and was

58
defeated by Scanderbeg In Lower Dlbra on May 19, 1456. He
returned to Croya, as a repentant sinner. Scanderbeg pardoned

59
Mm and reinstated Mm. Curiously enough, he served
Scanderbeg loyally for the rest of Ms life and died a
martyr's death some ten te->rs after*
7. Hamza Cast riot ft . In 1456 , George Stresl Balsha, son
of Scanderbeg* sister, Yella, sold the frontier fortress of

s
60
Kodrlchl to the Turks for 30,000 sliver duetts. He tried
57 "Skanderbeg mochte vtelleicht schon Jetzt fuhlen dass

ohne compactere Elnhelt des vielgethellten Albrnlens der KBJttpt
gegen die Turken mlt Srfolg nlcht fortzufuhren sel, und
erk»nnte In der Media ti sprung der souveranen Thell -furs ten das
elnzlge Rettungsmlttel fur das bedrohte Land." Falilraerayer,
Vol. IX, p. 68.
58 "La mattlna del seguente glorno (era 11 19 dl iaagglo)

amendue 1* annate si oosero In ordlne dl battaglia." Blemrai,
Book V t p. 334. This victory Is confirmed by archival sources:
Hahn, Reise . Vol. XVI, p. 95 , year 1456; Hopf, Grlechenland.
Vol. 86, p. 134; Makushev, Razyskanla . p. 96, note 4.
59 "Neque multos post dies, quae ablata Mosl aut flsco

ad Judicata, aut dlvlsa Inter prlvatos fuerant reddl omnia curavlt.
Prlstlnqmque dignitatem vlro, secundo vulgl favore, in Integrum
restitult." Barletius, Vita* Book VIII, p. 250. a Il ripose
ancora nel suo dorainlo e nel carichi ed impieghi, che tenea
av«ntl." Bieraml, Book V, p. 346. Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 66
sarcastically remarks: *Verrath wird bei den Schkyptaren
(Albanern) als sine der naturllchsten und am wenlgsten gravirenden
Sunclen lelcht und schnell verzlehen."
60 Biemml, Book V, p. 347
151
to cover it up by giving It the appearance of a capture by
surprise. The whole matter exploded and the traitor was

60 A
sent to Naples for life imprisonment. According to Ghin
Ifusqchi, the accusation of treason was unfounded, *nd
Sc*nderbeg used that pretext in order to annex the principality »l
of the Balshas and confiscate their property. ^ In 1457,

another nephew, Haaza Castrloti, went over to the Turks, In
a Ttaueydidlan letter to the Sultan, Haaza Castrloti gives, •
according to B^rletius, the following reasons for his desertion:
(a) Hsmza *ai cheated of hie paternal principality nnd of his

62
rightful succession bv the birth of a son to scanderbeg;
(b) he was granted a tiny estate at the frontier, from which
he could hardly eke out a miserable existence.**' According to

the Turkish annalists, Haraza hoped to win the support of all
the other chieftains who were re«.dy to rise against Scandcrbep:*
tyrannic 1 rule.^ On July 31, 1457, Marco Diedo, Captain
61 "Da 11 a poco tempo tends deslgno d 'lnsignorlrse de

tutto quello oaese, fe prigione 11 signor Giovanni e il Slgnor
Coloo Balsa (read Giorgio Balsa) fratelll e 11 raando al Re
Perr«nte vecchlo (read Alfonso) in Napoll, che 11 tenesse
prlgloni, e 11 tolse 11 %j% stato loro, oh* era tra Crola et
Alesslo, dieo 11 paese della Îsla." Hopf, Chronlques .
p. 299-300. Cfr. B«rletius, vita . Book IX, p. 253 \
Super Georgio streslo, sororia suae filio fecit, quea confictls
erlmlnationibus lnsiaul*tum omnl ferme lmperlo nudavit."
62 M 2xpectavlmu8 dlu, si non aviti et pateml Juris,
portlonem saltern ut me reed em allquam sudorls et periculorua
tantorua nobis dxret. Duota est non malto post uxor 1111,
quaesltus et susceptus novus haeres, imperil successor."
B«rletlus, Vita, Book IX, p. 253.
63 "Nobis prae pud ore quodam hominum, ne prlvatl omnl no

degereaus, asslgnatus vills quldaa Epirl angulus ubl (lllo
oaetera obtlnente) inf«raem traheremus vit^m." Ibid .
64 Ashik -Pasha -Zade, chap. 119, p. 123; saad-ed-Din,

Vol.1, p. 391.
152
of Dunzzo, triumphantly notified the Venetian Doge th*t all
the chieftains had gone over to the Turks, who had overrun
Albania with an army of 80,000. Scanderbeg gave the Turks
the impression of having fled for his life and taken refuge
65
in the mountains, Haraza C«strioti w*?s acclaimed as the
66
new ruler of Albania under the protection of the Sultan.
Seanderbeg was written off as down and out by both Turks and
Venetian!. After a wild celebration M/&0J/$4/&04 of
victory on Sept. 2, 1457, while the Turks - officers and men -
were taking a siesta in the sub-tripieal climate at Albulena,

near the seasoast, Scanderbeg Jumped on them from all directions
and scattered then to the four winds before they had any chance
to offer serious resistance. The number of the Turkish de«d

was reputed to run from 15,000 to 30,000, according to Anti-
68
varino. Hamza himself was among the prisoners. He was sent
65 "Si raagniflco 3ignor Scanderbego Wl per le montane

fuzendo la sua testa, el quale e st«to ab*ndonado da tutl 1*
prlneipall suol, 11 nuali son andatl cum el Tureho. . • In \muu
questo eserclto del Tureho e tuta la possanza del gran Tureho,
eecondo se dice, che sono tra da c*vailo et da pe persone 80,000."
Uakushev, Monument* Slavorua. Vol. II, p. 114. Cfr. Bieraul,
Book V, pn. 353-354.
66 "Bassa Deos precatus, ut se Eplroticae lnsolentlae
domltorem faeerent, atque Scnnderoegi tot annorum trlumphoa et
faeces vietorlamm sibl donarent, seeitum ad se Amesam agent em
curani suorum laudatumque publico raulto deoore verborum salutnri
aillt-ri voce in Eplrotieura rep-em fecit.*1
Barle tius. Vita.
Book IX, pi 263.
67 *lemmi § Book V, pp. 364-368; Barletius, Book IX,

pp. 266-270. Cfr. Zlnkelsen, Vol. II, p. 133, note 2.
68 Biemmi, Book V, p. 372.

153
to Naples for imprisonment. Ho was pardoned after 1460 and
fled to Turkey, where he died as a good loelem In the faith
he was brought up In a a a child. Hopf and Jorga admit thie

69
w
victory, but Marineaco suspends his Judgment until he can
70
find a serious confirmation. As a matter of faet # there
Is no victory of 3canderbeg which is confirmed as triumphantly

71
as this one. Pope Calixtus III was Jubilant over it. Pius II
announced it more than once.*^ Even some of the Turkish
annalists seem to confirm it indirectly, which is mors than
eould be expected of them. 73 According to Hopf, following
69 Hopf, Qrieehenland, Vol. 86, p. 135; Jorga,

Osmanen. Vol. II, p. 34.
70 Marlnesco, pp. 127-128. Biemml is unknown to

Marineaco, who thinks that Barletius is the only biographer
of Scanderbeg. Ibid,, pjf. 8.
71 "Et In Albania et ubique victoria r>deo continue

nobis datur. " Calixtus Til in Rinaldi, Vol. X, year 1457, no 31,
p. Ill and App., No. V, p. xxxvi. Cfr. Hopf, flrlechenl*nd , p. 13
72 "Hemic enlm fortipeimus Chriatl athlete et lndefesFus

rellglonis nostras propugnator Scanderbechlus earn stragem in
Turcaa edidisaet (eujtus te famam audisse credlmua, nam supra
trlginta mlllla Turearum ab eo jfe* seu caesa seu csptr feruntur)
nisi pecunlarlls Calixti subsldiis fuisset adjutue." I ius II,
Comentarii, ye«r 1457, p. 668, and App., No. XIV, p. xliv.
"In Albania ouoque Scanderbechiua Chriatl miles intrepldus,
noetris adjutus ooibus, oarva railltum ra^nu ingentes Turcorum
eopias vioit, prostrnvit, delevlt." Plus II in Cugnoni, Oct. 20,
1*57, p. 132, and App., No. XIII, p. xliii. "Nepoe, Sc-^nderbegl
ex fratre , cum Turearum parte favens, insidias patrua moliretur.
ab eo captus, et ad Alphonaum miasus, In c^rcerem conjectus eat.
Pius II in Asia and l\irope. p. 338. *nd App., r:o. XI, p. xliii.
Cfr« Volaterranus, 3ook VIII, p. 188, and App., No. XXV, p. lvi.
73 Both Ashik-Pasha-Zade, chap. 119, P* 1^3, and

3«ad -eo-Din, Vol. I, p. 391, assert that the Imperial Council
of Vizirs, Amirs and Pashas decided that not Hamza Caatrlotl,
but the Sultan himaelf (Mehmed II) should lead the crusade
against Soanderbeg and put an end to the rebellion of the
Albanian fienda.
154
this victory, Soanderbeg was appointed on Deo . 23, 1457,
74
Captain General of the Holy 3ee by Callxtus III,
8. Venice , During the period of 1448-1458, Scnnderbeg

threatened at le«??t three times to declare war on Venice, and
it was always the Venetians who yielded. They did so in 1450
during the siege of Croya, when the Albanians killed the

Venetian merchants trading with the Turks in 1452 when
76
Seanderbeg raided the Venetian region of Drtvasto and seutarl;
and in 1457 when Seanderbeg told the Venetian Senate that if
their proweditors in Albania wanted war with him, they could

77
have it, though he did not want any war with Venice. The
Venetians answered in a conciliatory tone: they wanted
peace with hira; they assured him for the sixth or seventh
time that he would always have the privilege of refuge in

Venetian territory, whenever he was driven out of his state
s
by the Turl^; they always fraid hira his annual pension of
1400 ducats - in more or less irregular installments, since

IV; 3;
74 The reference, given by Hopf, Qrl echenland Vol » 86,

p. 135, is certainly wrong. It has been copied by Jorga, Pastor,
Uarinesco, OegoJ and others unchecked. Hoof may have derived his
lnofrm»tion from another source, not from the one he gives us,
namely Theiner, Monuments Slavorum . Nos. DCII and DCXIII,
pp. 431-434.
75 Biem-ai, Book IV, op. 258-259.

76 Kakushev, Razyskanla . p. 93, note 4, quoting fuora
Senate Mar. Vol. IV, ff. 104.105, 1451 m. v. = 1452, 10 Januarii,
C«pitula Cornmuntt*tls Crivêti, Paragraph 2: "Deinde sorvene la
guerra, che metse Seanderbego e pafso in sto territorio e in quel
de Seutarl, e Irusa e ruina, quel che possa, el qual masse le sue
zente in el district© de Drivasto, e per nui in persona fo robati
eon vergogna e dano." Cfr. LJubic, Vol. I, Ho. XX, Aug. 7, 1453,
p. 16.
(footnote 77 on next page)

155
1448 • Their relations with 3c*nderbeg were governed by a
hostile, policy of drift , short of war - with occasional
Improvement s
Deaths * In 1458 Seanderbeg* s two best friends

9.
79
died • King Alphonse V and count Vrana Altisf«ri: Vrana
served him layally for sixteen years and saved Oroya for
hits In 1450; he defied the huge guns of Murad II for five
months and rejected contemptuously the bribes offered him;®**
he always helped Seanderbeg with his advice and his loîg experience.
King Alphonse helped Se«ndcrbeg to overcome a series of
dangero is crises. His support was so unexpectedly magnanl ious
that neither 3canderbeg nor his men could ever recall him
without tears in their eyes.®* The deaths of these two men
In themselves constituted a oriels and a turning point in
Seanderbeg 9 s eareer.
77 "Hon faza Dlo ehe mi comenzo algun fato, ma alguni

de 11 vostri rector! vol far guerra comesso mi ... or meglio
faria ml la guerra che loro, e ehe ml fazo guerra, nuanto lor
non me vuol f«r el mio dover. . LJublc, Vol. X, No. CXIV,
July 8, 1457, p. 112. Marinesoo, p. 130, who does not seem
to have grasped the defiant tone of Seanderbeg 's long letter
( Ibid ..op. 109-112) ana especially of / the passage quoted,
comments on / lt *s follows: ''Tout en etant naive, elle respire
utie grand e energle." Jiakuahev, âgygirmia . p. 99, gives the
right interpretation. Seanderbeg threatened Venice with wart
"
On groHl eio vo.lnoju. .*
78 Ibid.. PP. 109-112.

79 Blenmi, Book V, pp. 383 -384.
80 Barletlus, VI, p. 161: "Ad haec bis centena Asprorum
olllla addita." According to L^byer, p. 03, n. 5". the v«!ue of
1
200,000 aspra w»a about 4,000 dueats, which at that time was
a considerable amount of money.
81 "ûello sanoto et Immortals Re de Aragona, del quale
lo ne nullo de 11 mi el vassall nl potemo record are sensa berime."
Seanderbeg to the Prince of Taranto In Makushev, Monument
3l^vorum. Vol. II, p. 121.
CHAPTER VIII
THE ITALIAN EXPEDITION

(1460-1461.)
WAR OF SUCC E SSION , With Alphonse V went to the grave
hit dre<»m of 53edlterranian Empire, his CrusAde against the
Turks and his Albanian League under 3canderbe£.* His llle-I-

tlmate son, Ferdinand, (1458*149^), inherited the kingdom of
Naples, which was claimed by the French Anjou family because
they had owned It before Alphonse V fegti annexed It to his
Kingdom of Aragon. Ferdinand's position was weak for several

reasons: (a) His father was a usurper; (b) he was an
Illegitimate son of his father; (c) his feudal barons with
a|few exceptions sided with the Anjou oretender; (d) the

King of Fr^nc, Charles VII, also took the side of the Anjous,
A
who we~e his relatives; (e) even the Tope, Callxtus III,
was against Ferdinand. Fortunately, Callxtus III died shortly
after Alphonse V and Plus II, who succeeded him, switched

to Ferdinmd, who offered the hand of his Illegitimate
daughter to a nephew of the Pope. Both Pius II and Ferdinand
invited Scanderbeg to help them against the Neapolitan borons
and the French pretender, Rene d'AnJou. 3eanderbeg was
re^dy to do It but he could not leave Albania before patching
up his differences with his neighbors , with whom he was at war.
1 Marlnesco, pp. 133-134.
2 Farlatl, Vol. ill, pp.^^-423; App., Noi XVI,

pp. xliv-xlv.
X57
li Truce with Turkey * The Abbot of saint Mary of

Rotezo^ w*s sent by 3c*mderbeg to patch up his differences
with Venice. The Venetians were glad to put an end to the
long undeclared w*r of ten ycrs with 5c-nderbeg in 1458

and st*rt peaceful trade relations with him. They even
T>
5
rewarded Abbott aeorpe Bellini for his successful mediation.
After Venice c*rae the Ducaghinls. They were now siding with
the Turks and were against both Venice and 3canderbeg. Pope
Pius It threatened them with excommunication.*' Finally, the
Archbishop of Durazzo, Paul Angelc, succeeded in bringing

n
bout a reconciliation and preventing civil war in 1459.
m
There reaalned Turkey. A truce was arranged in 1460.
According to F«»llmerayer, with the conclusion of this
truce the second act of the great Albanian tragedy dame to

9
an end.
3 A Benedictine monastery near Antivarl. The abbot
was 9 as a rule, a patrician of that city. See Jlre£ek,

R-guaa» p. 64. It was not a Serbian monastery, as Makushev
e*lls it in Razyakan la. p. 75. 3ee Farlatl, Vol. VII t p. 13;
Sufflay, Forsc hunê n , Vol. I, p. 234; Hovakovic, pp. o04-605.
4 LJuble, Vol. X, No. CXXXVI, Aug. 18, 1457. PP. 133-135.

Cfr. aAakushev, Razyskanla. p. 100-101. The reconciliation
is so cordial that Sc^ndcrbeg gives the castle of Sati back
to the Venetians, though he had won it from the Turks. See
LJuble, X, No. CX XXVI, June 4, 1459, p. 144.
5 Uakushev, Razyskanla. p. 100.
6 Rinaldl, Vol. X, yenr 1460 (re*d 1459), \T os. 103-104,

pp. 258.259.
7 Biemmi, Book VI, pp. 394-395; Makushev, Razyskanla ,

pp. 100-101.
8 It w«a a truce of three ye^rs, according to 3canderbeg*s

letter to the Prince of Tar«nto, iin Makushcv, Monumenta
Slavorua, p. 124:
. *. . . Havemo f^cto (continued on next page)
158
2« Flrat Contingent . In 1460 Scandcrbeg aent his
first light cavalry contingent to Ferdinand under the command
of his nephew John Strcsi Balsha. 10 That these light cavalrymen

did a splendid Job is proved b » letter which the Frince of
Taranto, leader of the Neapolitan 3»rons, sent to Scanderbeg.^*
In that letter Giovanni Antonio Orsinl, Prince offraranto,

tries to dissuade Scanderbeg from sending any more troops to
Calabria with the following arguments: (a) Those small
•ontlngents cannot change the situation; (b) all the Barons are
in favor of the Anjous; (o) Ferdinand f s cause is lost; (d)
Scnderbeg would derive more benefits by Joining the Anjous;

(e) hi 8 troops could be used with more advantage against the
Turks. In his reply, 3canderbeg predicts the result of his
Italian ?xpedition:
T
Hlj is sure to achieve with his small
army against the French Anjous and the Neapolitan Barons as
much as he had done against the Turkish armies under the walls
12
of Croya; he expects to win victories in Italy as a true
•s letter of June 12,

1461, it w«s « truce of %ta*eifmontht, in Runzlantjr Vol. XXI, p. 517,
note 2: "Ha facto tregua cum el Turco per sei mee!." According
to Blemmi, Book V*I, pi 393 » Barletiue, Vita . Book X, p. 285» and
Pranco, chap. XXI, p. 22 v. t it was a truce of one yenr.
According to Fallraerayer, Vol. IX, p. 73 g it was a peace of ten
yeare.
9 "Kit der Unterzeichnung des zehnjahrigen Frledens im

Sommer des Jahree 1461 1st der tweltc Act des grossen
Albanisehen Trauerspiels abgelauf en." Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 73*
M
Jorga. Osmajaen, Vol. II, ch"p. 1, pp. 92-93* and* Breve
Hlstolro. pp. 47-48, claims thatBeanderbeg went to Italy in 1461
after a defeat he had suffered at the hands of Mehaed II. His
opinion is bated on information derived from crttaobouloe in
French, Book III, paragrapht 95-98, alto App., No. XXVIII,
pp. lxl-lxiil, where he tpeakt of an Albanian Expedition by
Mehaed II in 1460, which is certainly erroneous or anachronistic.
A document oublished by Cugnonl, No. LXI, pp. 133-134, speaks of a
Sc-nderbeg defeat in 1461 and (continued on next page)
159
dsscsnd<»nt of King Pyorhus of Eplrus; 1 * In fighting for
Ferdinand, he la just continuing hie crusads against the Turks.
From hlfl letter it is ele«r that Seanderbag was fully aware of

the eonditiona prevailing in Italy, but he waa not the man
to be discouraged bv any situation however deaperate and he
wis going to fulfill hla duty under any circumstances. Aa he
himself writes to Ferdinandi "I am the friend of virtue and

-15
not of fortune."
of the occupation of all Albania by the furks. But tnere must be
a mlstaks about the d»te. Scanderbeg could not have undertaken

a foreign expedition after auch a disaster.
1Q Unkushev, Razyskanla . p. 101.
11 Makushev, Monuraenta sl^voruta. Vol. II, Oct. 10, 1460,

pp. 118-120.
1 2 "'4a rloordatlLvl v che taalore era la possanza del gran

Tureo, She non e la vostra, ne ancho del Signore che substenlte
et essendond restata sola l«s cltta de Oroya, c. . . contra
tanto pod ere la defesl et oonserval, fin che Aon danno et
vergogna 11 Turchi se levarono, et io in breve tempo et eon
poo? gente rsoqulstai quellp, che moltl lnlmlei in lorigo havlano
guadagn*to. Slche quanto piu se deve dperare la restauratlone de
lo St- to de Re Ferr«ndo, che se non haves se ee non Napoli
h*fciate per eerto, ebe ba «d essere vincitore." Scanderbeg
to the Prince of Taranto, In Makushev, Monument^ 3l^vorum.
Vol. ft, np. 122J.23.
13 "Se le nostre ehronaehe non mentono, nol cl

Shlamlarao Spirotl et dovete havers notlola, che in dlversi
tempi deli noatri antecessor! passassero nel paeee che hoggi
vol tenête et hebbero con Roman! grands battaglle et
trovamo, ut plurlmum, che hebbero p«-"-tosto honors che
vergogna." Ibid . .p. 123. In Barletlus, Vita. Book X, p. 297.
Ssanderbeg says to Piccinino: "Mstoor praeterea lllius egregfl
et praeclari fnoinoris, quo Pyrrhus Ills meus Epirotarua
Rex in Romanes usjfas. ." .
14 . Ma 11 infedeli non extimano, ne ternono, se non le

.
gloriose bandsrs de la C^s* '-e Aragon." Makushev, M onument a

o lnorum , Vol. II, p 122. .
v
15 "Ma segua qua! c^so vogll?, che lo sero amico de la
virtu et non de 1* fortuna." Scanderbeg to Ferdinand of Naples,
ibid., p. 118. ^
lp;
16 (s*
160
3. VI alt to Hagusa, In 1461 Scsndepbeg with his
troops sailed for Ragusa, whose clergy was mostly Albanian

and wfelch contained a l*rge and Influential Albanian
17
community* On Aug, 24, 1461, he was solemnly received
18
by the Senate of Rngusa, which granted Ma subsidy for
19
the •Toeditlon^t the Instance of the Holy See,
At Bsrlctta, On Aug, 24, 1461, the first
contingent of se^nderbe^'s expeditionary forceA under the

command of his nephew, John Stresl Balsha, 20 landed on
21
Italian soil. On Aug, 25 , Seanderbeg himself arrived at
22
Barletta with the rest of his troops. The entire expeditionary
17 See p. 67, notes 2% 24, 25 of this paper,
18 Diploma tarl urn RaffUB->nunu p, 751# Luocnri, p, 106,

quoted by Ffllmer*yer, Vol. IX, p. 75: "Giorgio C^stricto,
conchlusa 1« gregua eon li Turehi, dom«ndqto da Pio Secondo,
Due a dl Anglo, e fece seals in Rausa c mentre vi diaoro fu

0fSf
spesnto dal publico secondo l'antloo costume dells cittA."
19 niplomatartum Ragusnnua , p, 751,
20 3cf?nderbeg had three R*lsha nephews fVora his sister

Yella. Of these only George Stresl Bslsha betrayed him, the
two others, John and Oloka served him loyally to the end,
21 Ferdinand to Queen Isabella, in a letter, Aug, 24, 1461,

quoted by Kunzlnnte, Vol, XXI, p t 517, note 2: "Aspectiamo de
hora A l* sua persona (Seanderbeg) . Lo nepote, lo quale anno
passato fo qua, e gl» venuto."
22 Letter of D«* Trezzo, envoy of »ll*n, Aug, 25, 1461, qu
quoted by Nunaiante, lb Id » 8 "L f arrive di cestui (3eanderbeg)
c dl cinque navi carlohe di isente e annunzlato in una letters
det-25 Agosto."
161
force consisted of about 3,000 picked cavalrymen and

23
archers. They arrived in the nick of tliae . Ferdinand
was besieged at Barletta by Glacorao Pieeinino, the ablest
eondottlere of that tiîe, and by Jean d'Anjou, duke of
Calabria and son of the French pretender, and hie situation

* 24
w»s desperate. He had lost almost all of his Neapolitan
kingdom with the exception of the city of Naples in the west
25
and two fortresses in the Bast, namely 3«vletta and Tranl*
His financial situation after the defeat mt Samo in 1450
was so bad that his wife. Queen Isabella, had to beg money from
>
passers-by at the entrance of the Church of Sin Pietro Martlre/
23 In June, 1461, an envoy of Se^nderbeg announced to

H
Ferdinand t . . • Ha facto tregua cum el Turco per sel mesl,
nel tempo della quale se offere venire personalmente ad 11 favorl
de essa Itaest* cum mills cav«lll e II mi 11 a fantl overo arceri
pagatl ad sue spese oltre quelle altre gentl che sono in Puglla;
• se Sua Maesta vole che con piu gente vegna, cum piu "gegnera. rt
Letter of Da Trezzo, June 12, 1461, quoted by Nunzlante, Ibid ,

p. 517 1 note 2. Cfr. Letter of Antonio Ouidobono of îlan from
Venice, Aug, 12, 1461, In Jakushev, Monument a 3lavorum . Vol. II,
p. 1561 "Qua se hano novelle . . . che Scanderbecho era in
enpolocho sopro la uarlna cua mllle oavalli e fanti 2,000 et
eu*i 11 navilll ap»rechlatl per montare et andnre In Fuglia et
haveva carlchato stare 8,000 de foment© a ml sura Venetiana per
dare mangiare a sul; non aepettava altro che una gallea et una
fust a, che li mandava el Re per montare suxo la persona sua, dela
cuale andat« oua se fa uno bono et grande eaxo per f.avore de la
Maesta del Re." 3ee also Pastor, Vol. Ill, p. 114: "0. Lolli
in a letter, dated Tlvoli,..Sept. 9, 1461, gives the number of
Albanians as 2000, 3tate Archives, Siena." that Pontano, p. 279#
3abelllco, p. 757, and simonetta, p. 728, mean when they speak
of a eontlngent of 700 f 600, and 300 cavalrymen, respectively,
is certainly 3canderbeg's Guard Battalion, not the entire expedit-
ionary foroe.
24 Pontano, Vol. II, p. 279» and App. No. XXIII, describes

Ferdinand's situation as desperate: "Quo factum est, uti
Plofttus Junctls slmul ooplls ilium intra urbem pene lnclusit.
Sunt qui regem crlminentur, desedlsse illie ob amores turn
veteres, turn novos, qulbus delinltus (continued on next page)
162
The *rrlv«l of Scanderbeg changed the situation overnight.
Hlc aray broke the siege of Barletta and oorapelled the enemy
to withdraw.** After the retreat of Picclnino, 3c*nderbcg was
entrusted with the defense of Barletta and the prosecution
of the w«r against the Prince of Taranto, while Ferdinand

left for 3an Bartolomeo to Join the troops of hie ally,
07
Alexander sforza of tfllan. From his b*se of Barletta
Scanderbeg with his light cavalry raided the enewy territory
and devasted it with fire and sword. With his hit-and-run
tnetlcs he harassed the obsolete heavy cavalrymen of Picoinlno
continually, out n«moeuv< rod thea, toppled the*n over, threw

29
confusion and terror among them. The swiftness of his
blits raids had amazed those who witnessed them.Ô Those who
magi 9 ipse euraverit, qua ratlone aaoribus indulgejret, quara

qulbus -rtlbus hostea falleret. t uod nl ex Macedonia Georgius
Castrlotus oognoaento Sounder. . cum olassc repentinc apparulssef,
futurua ernt ut Rex aut a^rl fugaa turplter inde arriperet, aut
tentata tnagna in postreaa sequc et res suas, perloula eonjlceret .**
Siaonet*, In Murntori, Vol. XXI, p. 728, describes thus
Ferdinand's precarious situation: "Praeter duo haeo opplda (Bar-
letta and Trani), et quae a Francisco Banolo Adrianorum Duoc
possldebantur, ad id temporis nihil fere in omni Apulia Regi
(Ferdinando) fuerat rellouua. * San Severlno and Da Trezzo In
letter from Barletta, Aug. 24, 1461, quoted by Nunziante,
Vol. XXI, p. 517, note 3, write about Ferdinand: "E sta come
ilcaoran"
25 Simoneta, in tfuratorl, Vol. XXI, p. 728.
26 "Allorehe Ferdinando I fu sconfltto, addl 7 Glugno

dl quest' anno (1460) alia foce del Sarno, dal Due a Giovanni
d'Angio e dal Principe de Taranto Giovanni Antonio Orsino, la
Retina Isabella feoe chlamare in San Pletro Martlre 1 cittadlnl
dl Napoll, e sunpUeolll ad ajutare 11 Re; pol vestlta in
ablto dlaesso, atette a ohledere 1'eleaoslna alia porta della
chiesa; e 11 denaro raoolto servl a Ferdinando per rlfare
l'esercito." Barone, Cedole di Tesorerla dell Archivio dl
Stato di Napoli, Vol. IX, year 1460, p. 15, note 2.
(Footnotes 27, 28, 29 and JO on next page)

163
•aw hla fight with the maee and the ourved eword could never
1
forget hla and would talk about him sll their lives.' To use
the words of Pontano: His name and his arrival not only
confounded the enemies and their plans, but filled all Italy
with his fame and reputation.^
27 Letter of Da Trozzo, 3ept. 7. 1461, quoted by

3i parti 11 Re da
ft
Hunziante, Vol. XXI, p. 521, note 1:
Barletta 11 5 aettetnbre verso S*n B.artoloiaeo in r,aldo. A
Barletta riaase lo 3candorbeg. . . per BltafAef* et defendere
quelle frontere et etiarrj moleetare le terre del Prlnelpe da
Taranto.*
28 "Die Krlegsfuhrung be stand nclst In der ?lu derung

das Feindllchen Landes, der Verwustung der Obstgarten und weinberge
und der Hleder rennung der Kauser." Jlrecek, serben. Vol. II, p. 35.
29 "Gil Albanesl montati su velocisslmi cpvalli, usi al

oombattimentl dl aontagna, alle rapid e lncurslonl, alia guerrlglia
pertlnace e sangulnosa inealzarono 1 nemlel asseragll«ti a Trani. • .
a Taranto. La cavslleria Italians del tempo, imacciata dalle

peeantl armature, non ooteva sehermlrsi da questl audaeisslml
scorrltori aehlpetarl (Albanesl), che aerclnanano ovunqua la straga
a la spavento. Nel mezzo del secolo XV, la eomparsa in Italia degli
Albanesl avezzl a guerre rudi, a guerrlglle feroci dove aver
sconcertato l'arte mllltara eoapassata del tempo, H Barbarieh,
p. 188.
30 "Bssl hanno i loro cavlll che aono tutti grand!

correttori et tali eha eon cuella faelllâ vanno ad correre
longe longs de easa XXX et XL aiglia one 11 soldati italiani
andassero X o XII.* Latter of Da Trezzo, Deo. 6, 1460, quoted
by Iftinziante, Vol. XX, p. 501, note 2.
31 "Solebat Johannes Coccius, pater mens, qui Calabro
bello sub Rubarto Ursino, viro fortissimo, aliquamdlu mllltavit,
adoleseenti mini enarrare, vldlsse se Epirotam hominem* qui oum
sexcentie eûltlbus F ordinandi nomine in Apuliam traneiverat #
exerto br*chlo, nuno clava, nunc faloato ensa pugnaatem, tot que
interim ae tanta belli faelnora edentem. ut êrito plus unus,
quam tota ecultum ala hostibus formidabills viderctur."
aabellloo, Book IX, p. 757; App., No. XXIV, p. liv.
32 "Hujus lgltur nomen atque adventus non ho stem nodo,

ejusque turbrrit eonsllla, verum Italiaa omnem oplnionis suae
fa ma lmplevlt.* Pontano, Vol. II, Book II, p. 279;
App., No. XXIII, p. Hi.
164
4. Tranl . Besides B«»rletta, TraidPwse the only other
fortress held by Ferdinand In the East when Sc-nderbeg arrived*
But now even Tr*ni was in danger of falling to the enemy on

recount of ths disloyalty of its coran*nder, Antonio Josciano
34
fnfue*do. 3c*nderbeg invited him to a conference, kidnapped
hiii <nd compelled hl-n to hsnd the fortress over to his nephew,
35
John Stfesl B&lsha, who raised 07 er it the flag of King
Fsruinnnd.^ The capture of Irani occurred on or before

57
Dec. 5» 1461.
5. He turn . In J«nu<»ry, 1462, Soanderbeo; received from
his wife, Donies, urgent appeals to return, as the Turks were
approaehlng the frontier.'® On February 6, he arrived at
Rpgusa, and on Feb. 11, he started his Journey home from
Budus to Rodoni. w Consequently, he could not hsve taken p*rt
in the battle of Troja, which weok plpee on <U*f*. 18, 1462,
33 "Hulc proximo est Tranensium urbs in Apulit clara

atnue opulent a et Regi Item fldelisslma." Slmoneta, in
Muratori, Vol. XXI, Book XXVIII, p. 728.
34 GegnJ, p. 128, note 3.

M
35 E fu per 3eanderbech lloentlato Infusatio e per lo
ditto Sesnderbeeh 11 fo rosto entro un euo nipote." Anonimo
Veronese, quoted b GegaJ, p. 128, note 3.
36 "Esso Sound erberg lj ha pigllato senza scandalo

alcuno/ ehe immediate la eltta e lo castello (di Trani) hanno
realzate le bsndiere del Re." Alexander Sforza to the Duke of
Milan, Dec. 5, 1461, Also Da Trezzo to the Duke on the same
date, cuoted by Nunslante, Vol. XXI, p. 527 » note 5.
37 See preceding note.
38 Biemmi, Book VI, p. 405, bitterly concludes: "Quinci

imbarcato^si di fretta colle sue truppe, colla stessa prospers
n*vig«zione v della sua venuta riando nell* Albania, avendo
arree^to plu ajuto al Re Ferdlnando colla sola comparsa ai lldi
dell* Italia, che In tutto il tempo nel quale vl rlstette alls
sua difesa.'1
39 Dlplompt^rlum Rngusanum , (continued on next page)
165
as E-rietius talis ue. The latter calls it the Battle of ]
Urs*ra, and that perhaps explains why he made sc*nderbeg take
pnrt in it because, aooording to Cunlberti, a battle did take

41
place there previously. Anyhow, seanderbeg did not achieve
hi a ends only by winning great pitched battles, as Barletlus
tells ua, or simply by rounding up flocks of sheep and goats,

42
as Plus II of the Comment»rii wants ua to believe, but by
fighting every day an endless a«rlea of c*valry hlitz raids
and surprise attacks, as the eyewitness Pontnno rightly
4^ hh
remnrfcs. J Simoneta confirms Pontine' s teetimony.
6. Result a . The li-iediate results of seand erbec • s
Italian Expedition were the following: (a) The siege of
Barletta was broken and King Ferdinand w^s liberated; (b) the
PP. 75*5-754. Cfr. aegaj op. 129, note 5, *nd 130, notes 1 and 2.
40 Barletlus, Vita, Book X, op. 298«*503» Mariana, Vol. II,

Book XXIII- chap, ii, p. 60, copies Barletlus. Gfr. GegaJ,
p. 129, note 4.
41 Cunibertl, p. 06, note 1.
42 "Sulla tarn prooul argents latuere, quae unius dlei

oursu non apnrehenderlt, aotiaalaia furtls ao raplnls aeies."
Pius II, Comment^rllk P» !K>2«
4*3 "Quo tempore cum Georglo C^strioto, qui B*rolua
tutabatur, eneplua cert* turn eat, diverso pugnae genere, cum
Itillcl equltes statarlas magls pugnae sint assuetl, propter
araorum grevitatem, contra Jaoedones ex Turearum dlsoipllna Tagl,
procursantesque raro eongredlantur stantes. Itique pie risque
in congress ionlbus Oeorgius hoatem ludlficatus eat."
Pontiino, Vol. II, Book II, pp. 231 v. - 232; Apo., No. XXIII, .
p. liii.
44 "Pugn«batur (*canderbeohus) paene quotidle inter bins

eâtra non multo milite pari fere certaalne. Simoneta,
in Muratorl, Vol. XXI, p. 729*
166
fortress of Tr^nl was captured by « ruse de guerre : (e) the
enemy forces were outran noeuve red and hnd to pass frora the
offensive to the defensive; (d) the enemy territory was

dev"st«ted so fearfully that many Barons, one after the other,
surrendered to Ferdinand and finally the Prince of Taranto
himself opened pe»ce negotiations with 3eanderbeg; /yin the

month of December, 1461, the situation of Ferdinand had so
radically improved that he could now afford to leave the
battlefield and go to Naples in order to attend the weeding
ceremony of his daughter to Antonio Pieeolomlni, the nephew

46 ^ •
of Fope Plus II* /yWith Scanderbeg's assistance, Ferdinand ,
took the offensive and kept It to the end of the war of

succession. True, the war dragged along for almost two years
after Sc*»nderbeg*s departure from It*ly, but his arrival at

Barletta certainly marks the turning point of the war. There-
fore we can safely accept the verdict of Pontano, an impartial
eyewitness, th«t it was Sc«nderbeg who saved Ferdinand from
disaster, and who turned the tide of the war in his favor*^
45 After the opture of Trani, the Count of Avelline

and Count 0»sinl surrendered, while the Prince of Taxfnto
bep-an negotiations through Scanderbeg. See Nunzlante, Vol.
XXI, p. 528.
46 "Tra el dl de la Eplfania e herl e celebrata la festa

delle spons»llcie de lo Illustrlssimo Duca de Amalfia
(Antonio Piccolomini) aepote de Mostro signore (Pio II) e della
figliola del Re (Ferdlnando) ... II 81gnor He, dicta la
esse de la Sposa, lo decoro della dlgnlta mllltare." D» Tfcezzo
to the Duke of Milan from Naples, Jan, 8, 1462, Ibid.,
p. 529, note 2.
47 "Cujus (Scanderbegi) adventu exposltls in contlnentem

olrclter septingentis equitibus, lectissima vlrorum manu, cum
allquo pedltum numero, Andria praeterita, hostes iter advert ere."
Pont ~no, Book II, chap, II, p. 279; App., No* XXIII, p # 111*
167
His testimony is oonf limed by Blemml, Giovio, Volaterrano,
1 2
Simoneta,^ and Zurita."*
48 "La conparaa della flotta Alb^nese connandata da un

guerriero d* un si terribile grido gitto un tale apavento
nail* armata degli asaedianti, ehe questi subito ritiraronai
dalla Piazza, e perdute in un colpo tante loro speranze
allontanaronsl aleune algHs." Blenmi, Book VI, p. 398.
Cfr. B^rletlus, Book X, p. 291: "VeruaA Dux Johannes, una cua*!"'"
oomite Jacobo, vidiasent 3canderbegum taa lngenti, inatructoque
exercitu in Regis Ferdinandi auxiliura veni«ae f obaidionea
deseruerunt, et cum oopiis suis ad 30 fere ml Ilia psssuua
procul inde secedentes cstraaentati sunt,"
49 "Caeterura Georglus allruando post, cum Mahomet

induoias pepigit, quum ille Graeciae excidlum mollretur, ipsa
vero Pardinandum Neapolltnnura regam Andegavensium arma aegre
austinentem Epirotlcla armls aa duce defandandura statuaret* $
It -que aaturam opea iraplorantl regi proapere tulit; nam Georgii
adventu, ûi ax Epiro in Apuliam trajecerat, Gallorua oopiaa its.
proflig^tae sunt ut rex praeeipue Georgii virtute se conservatua
fateretur." Jovius, miopia , p. 231#
50 "Post h«ac cum Pii II Pontificis nunoiia sollicltatua

auxillo Ferdinandi regie in Italian trajlceret, cum Enroll
a Joanne Antonio principe Tarentlno, Joanna quoque Renatl regie
filio '.nd a* a vie duce, ac Joanne Picinino obsessua evestlpio
liber«vit.* Volaterrano, Book VIII, p. 188; App., No. XXV,
p. lvl.
51 "Cui (Ferdinand o) repena et inopinatus paene adventua

Georgii Ostriotae vlri fortlsslmi, et rel ailit^ria uau
Turcarura more insignis. • . non aediocri adjumento fuit. • •
3«epe «b Alphonso Rege et millte et frumento adjutus, voluit,
accept beneficii nemor^ Ferdinando filio beneficiaa coraa taa
neeessario tempore reddere cumulatiua. Pugnabstur paene
quotldie inter bina oastra. . . " Siraoneta In Muratori,
Vol. XXI, pp. 728-729.
52 *Y eucedlo oc^sion qua al aervlcio deste Principe

(Sc^nderbech) fua da gran soeorao si IXique de Calabria
(Ferdinando) despuea da 1* mierte del Key." Zurlts, Vol. II #
year 1451, p. 322.
168
6. Comment aril of ^lua II . Those who dismiss the
Italian Expedition of ic^nderbeg as a Joke, base their

opinion on the author of the Comment arll of Pius II* This
work has been -*rtly written by Pope Pius II, partly dictated by
him to his secret *ry, and partly corrected and edited by
5*5
Caopano. Consequently, it should not be treated aa a work
which comes in all its p^rts from the pen of the famous pope.
Anyhow, the verdict of this author, whoever he may have been,
on Scanderbeg's aray is the following: "Lightly armed cavalry,

swift horsemen, good for looting and plundering, but useless
for warfare aeoordlng to the Italian style, and helpless

against our swords and our spears. n other words,
Seanderbeg's cavalry, which was more like modtm cavalry, was

not good against the Italian cavalry, which was as obsolete as
medieval he^vy c->v?lry could be! Or in other words, Seanderbcg f s
swift horsemen who were good enough against up-to-date Murad II
were absolutely helpless against out-of-date Plccinino! Now tHis
is really a Joke but it was taken as gospel truth by historians
like Spondano, Biemmlfc Gibbon, Voigt, Pa « tor and Creighton.

Fallmeroyer wis the only one who did not take the Joke
mm
seriously. But it was Barb*rich who laughed it out as a
?3 Pastor, Vol. TI, p. 323, note 2; Vol. Ill, pn. 42-44,

415-418.
54 "Squitatus ejus levis arraaturae fuit, equl veloces.

et assueti Oslo, In provlncia pl^n^ et la to patent! nihil tulum
dimlsero; nulla t^m procul ^rment" l«tuere, quae unlus dlei cursu
non apprehend erint; aptissima furtls ac raplnls acies, bello in*
utilts, ~uod more It^lico geritur, (continued on next page)
Ma*l**s 169
re«l Joke. 56 AB a matter of faot, A light cavnlry became
rery popular in Italy after Soanderbeg^ ^btm 9 according

57 58
to Gibbon, and according to Miller, all over Europe.
7. Looting and Plundering . Since the time of our
grct forefather Cain, war has been nothing but looting and
plundering, and in the old days people were fr«nk enough to
consider looting and plundering as a legitimate part of

warfare. Plus II was one of these frank men: He issued a
solemn brief to the Albanian Abbot of Rotezo, George Pelllni,

absolving him of all the looting and plundering he committed
during the Italian Expedition in which he had accompanied

Sc«nderbeg. 5 ^ So far so good. But how is it possible for
adversus enses ac tela nostra inerrals." Pius II, Commentari.1 .

p. 302. Note the words teln nostra : Pius II, the ally of
Ferdinand and Sonderbeg, identifies himself here with
PiecininoJ
55 "Sogs»r die Fahigkcit, einera sohwergerusteten „

itallsohen Heere gegeniiber Stand zu halten, wird dem fluchtigen,
lelchfeewaffneten, raehr fur Reub und uberf all als fur regel-
nasaigen Kampf geeigneten Reitern 3kandcrbegs Ira bllnden
Patrlotismus abgesproohen. " Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 75»
56 B^rb.irieh, p. 183: " La cavallerla italinna del

tempo, impaeclata dalle pesanti armature, non potcva
sehierrairsi da questl aUdaoissimi scorritori schipetarl
(Albanesi) che semlnavano ovunque la strage e lo spavento."
Cfr. Tajani, p. 97.
57 "The Albanian cavalry, under the name of Stradiots,

soon became famous in the w*rs of It<?ly." Gibbon --Bury,
Vol. VII, chap. 68, p. 153, note 48.
58 "The sixteenth century w^s the golden age of the

Stradiots. One of them was even in the service of our Henry VIII,
fighting in Scotland and governor of Boulogne, then an English
fortress." Miller, p. 368.
59 Theiner, lonumenta Sl^vorum. Vol. I, No. DCLIII,
p. 462; App., No. XVII, pp. xlvi-xlvli.
170
that same Plus II to blame Scnnderbe^s poor soldiers for
looting and plundering? There Is only one possible
explanation: Plus II of the Comment^rl! and Plus II of the

brief addressed to the Abbot of Rotezo, were not the same
man. As a matter of fact, some passages of the Conmentarllf
eonoerning Sonderbeg could have been written only by a man

who sympathized with the Anjous, not by Pius II, who
exconmunic»ted them,**
8. Plus II Versus Pont^no . The Italian expedition
of Sc^nderbeg has been treated by some historians as a case

between Pius II of the Comment aril and Barletlus, as if there
were no one el3e who had anything to say about it. Biemrai's
Aritlv*rlno is very laconic: His brother, an officer in the

Guard Battalion, did not accompany scanderbeg In the Italian
Expedi tion, and Antivarlno apologizes for not being able to
61
give reliable lnf rmation as In other campaigns. Therefore,
60 The Prince of Tar«nto, in a Thucydidian letter,

written b" Pius II of the C ommen t^rl!. says to scanderbeg:
"Cum proprlara tuerl domum necuires, «llenam lnvndere cogitastl."
When Scanderbeg leaves for Albania, which was threatened by
a Turkish invasion. Plus II of the Comment aril sends him off
with this curious comment: "Saque res Georîua ex Italia
quam prlmum revoeavit, ne dum aliena tueretur, perderet sua. rt
Pope Pius II could not have written this comment, which means
In a few words that Scanderbeg should mind his own business
and let It»ly alone, as the Prince of Tarnnto tells him,
because Plus II himself had invited Scnderbeg to Italy and he
himself had paid for the expedition with crusade money, raised
at Ragusa!
61 "Venla mlhl detur si in hao transmsrina Scanderbegi

expeditione allnuid aut verl omlserlra, aut falsi imraiscuerlm;
cm fr-ter meus qui in ipsis Domini statlonarils ordlnes duoebat,
oujus tradltlones ego potissimum sequebar, eo tempore raorbo
impllcitus doml manere ooactus fuerit." Antivarlno, quoted by
Biemrai in his Preface, p. 7, note 1.
171
after eliminating Antiv-rino^ who snys very little and
Barletius, who t-^lks too much, it was only n^tur^l to reach
the conclusion that Pius II of the Comments ril was the only
one left to heap. 3ut there are some other witnesses and
one of them, Pontano, is an eyewitness who accompanied
Ferdinand as his chancellor in all his campaigns and who
wrote the story of this Neapolitan war of succession. So
it is rather a ease of Pius II of the Co^ment^rl! versus
Pontano. And Pontano was an eyewitness while Pius II of the
Commentnrll w °s not. In other respects thers is not much to
ehoose between them. Their conception of history was the old
Thucydldian one of battles and speeches. ^

9. Ferdinand . Besides the historians, the annalists
and the archival sources there is another important witness
to be heard, namely Ferdinand himself. And he confirms not
only Pontano but to a oertaln extent even 8*rletius: King
Ferdinand was grateful to Scnnderbeg all his life for breaking
62 The pseud o -correspondence between the Prince of

Tar«nto *»nd Scanderbeg In the Comrnent-rlj, Is a typical example
of the Thycydidian art of writing history. The author had
before his eyes the authentic texts of that correspondence,
which w»s published bv Hakushev, in Monumenta 3l^vorum >
Vol. II, pp. 118-124, because the meaning is the same and only
the wording is different. And yet, he does not give the
orlgnial texts. No, he corrects them. Here is a sample of
the original and the improved text. In Makushev Scanderbeg
writes: "Nol cl chlamlareo Eplrotl et dovete havere noticia,
ohe In dlversl tempi deli nostri antecessor! pasaaasero nel
paese one hogi voj tenete et hebbero con Romanl grande b*»ttaglle,
et trovnmo, ut plurimum, che hehbero piutosto honore che vergogna."
In the Comment ril seanderbeg amplifies:
-
>
"Ma J ores nostri
Epirotae fuerunt, ex nuibus ille Pyrrhus prodllt, cujus vlx ferre
impetuo Romani potuerunt, et qui Tarentum et alia multr* It^liae
loea -rriis occupavit. Non est quod Eplrotl s vlris fortissimls
Tarentinos objiclas madidum genus hominum et ad legendos
piss'oiculos natua."
172
the siege of Barletta,^ called him "father", granted him
fiefs in Apulia,*^ paid hira a pension,^ helped him with
soldiers, ammunition, money and supplies,^ gave his widow
68
and son a refuge and protection. No better evidence is
needed to prove how much he appreciated Scanderbeg's
as al stance %^
63 On Aug. 24, 1461, Ferdinand wrote to his wife, Queen

Isabella, that the enemy forces had withdrawn to Bp.ri "epavcntatl
1
dell arrivo delle gentl dl sennderbeg." Nunzlsnte, In Muratori t
Vol. XXt, p. 517, note 3.
64 On Feb. 24 t 1468, Ferdinand wrote to Seanderbeg's

widow: "Non senza grandleBirao dispiaoere havemo inteso ch* el
Illustrisslmo Scandarbech vostro marl to carissimo, ad nul v corao
ad patre, necundo e stato placers ad nostro Slgnore Dlo, e
morto. M Trincherq[, Codlce Arattonesc* Vol. I, p. 439.
65 On Feb 24, 1468, Ferdinand instructed his envoy to

give 3c-nderbeg f s widow and her son the following assurances
about their reception and their Neapolitan fiefs: "Pertanto
da nostra parte 11 esponerite she loro venuta ad nul sera multo
placers, et da nul haveranno quelle oarisse et honor! che figlio
deve fare ad raatre, et patre al flgliolo, et non solamente 11
lassarerao quello che havemo donnto, ma quando blsogno fosse
11 donarerao de 11 nltrl nostrl boni." Ibld «»PP. 440-441.
Cfr. Tajani, Vol. II, p. 98; Makushev, Razyskpnla* p. 112 #
note 1; GegnJ, op. 160-161; Cuniberti, p. 12; Hopf, Grlechenland.
Vol, 86, p. 153. note 98.
66 Hopf, grlechenland. Vol. 86, p. 153: "iter Konlg. . .

wies ihm eine erblichc Rente von 1200 Dukaten."
67 Trinchera, Codlce Arar.oneee. Vol. I, p. 90.
68 Ibid., pp. 439-441.
69rt
H
Re Ferrmnte, rlconoscente all* atto generoso dl
lui e oonelderando che esso solo fu causa dell' ottenuta
vittoria In sep;no dl gratltudlne volendo premi-rc Ir. fede e la
rangnanl-nltc dello lllustre e mrrnnnl'mb (rlorglo C^strlota cletto
Scandcrbech Duca dl Albania cone pr-tre carlsslreo et suo etlpm
Luop;otenente Generale nelle pert! dl Purella (Qi&nternlonl III,
Folio 196} lo rimunero dl parecohi feudi, che furono la terra
di Monte San Angelo e quella dl San Giovanni Rotondo. Quest!
vennero confirmati nel 1485 al figliuolo di lui, e nel
privilegio dl oonferma sono espressi con eloquent! parole i
servigi re si alia corona dall invitto Giorgio. * 1
Padiglione, p. 12.
CHAPTSR IX
SCANDSR^ AND VENICE AGAINST IISHMED II
(1462-1468)1
1. Towards Venlo e.. After the death of Alphons* V,

Fapprocheaent with Venloe became a necessity.* It came
Yery slowly and painfully. Scanderbeg did his best to

so hi eve It through the Abbot of Rotezo, George Pellinl,
In 1458* In 1459 he returned the fortress of Sati to
the Venetians though he had conquered it from the Turlce.'
In 1460 the reconciliation seemed so complete that Pius II

advised Scanderbeg to entrust the protection of his state
to the Venetians during his It«li»n expedition.* Nothing

#pne out of it but the attitude of the Venetians w«s
eorreetly, if not benevolently, neutral until January, 1462 #
When it became clear that Ferdinand was securely on the sad*

die and Soanderbeg had won in hia a new protector and supporter.
Then t v.e Venetians bec^se hostile fcvemight. The crisis lasted
almost a ye»r. It w^s another period of undeclared war and
an interruption of all trade relations. " JJehraed II thought
that this w°s his best opportunity to crush geandorbeg and sent
1. Cfr. Marineseo, p. 134.
2. Lubii, Vol. X, Mo. CXXXVI. Aug. I8 f 1458, pp. 133-135;

efr. Mafrushev, Razysk°nlg . pr>. 100-101.
3 IMdd * CXXXXVI, June 4, 1459, p. 144.
4 Farlati, Vol. VII, pr>. 422-423; App., No, XVI,

pp. 148-149.
5 LJubie, Vol. X, Ho. CCV, April 6 f 1462, p. 206;

ibid .. Ho. CCXXIV, Sept. 2, 1462, p. 225.
174
three different armies against him In a year, one under 3inaa
Pasha and Buaeeln Beg, a second one under Yussîf Beg and
a third one under Caradza Beg. They were defeated one
after the other In Mokrena of Dlbra, Polog of Tetoro and

Livad of Ochrida, in August, 1462#^ Some ten years before,
in 1452, 3e«nderbeg had had a double victory against two

armies of Sultan aehmed II in a single year and had
•uoeeeded in capturing the commander of one of them, Harass
Beg.^ But in 1462, it w^s the first time he ever had a
triple victory in a year - with a oaptured commander, Hussein
Beg • and the Albanians felt that they could not stand any
ore victories In a war of two fronts. They felt that
peôe should be concluded with either Turkey or Venice.
2. Peace with Turkey. In the summer of 1463 Hehraed II

o
appeared In Seopla with the army of Surope and Asia. It was
directed against Bosnia but the Albanians did not want to
6 Barletius, Vita. Book XI, pp. 309 -3H» speaks of

three victories; Biemral, Book VX, pp. 408-410, mention* only
two. Barletius seems to be right. He is confirmed by
•rlbelll, in Buratori, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 64*65: "Mahomet, qui
ter una estate fueua, coplle cajgîs. . ,* Cfr. Oegaj^ p. 131.
7 Barletius, Vita. Book VII, pp. 202*204; Blerarai, Book IV,

lip.294-297; Franco, chap. XV, pp. 17 v. - 18. This double
victory is eonflrmed by the Archive de la Corona de Aragon
reg. 2798,^ ffv. 56-57. Cfr. Karlnesco, p. 6jt "Ramon d T 0rtafa,
qui apnarait a cette occasion pour la premiere fols avec la
quail te de vice-rot en Albania, avait avertl son maltre de cette
vietolre eontre deux commandants tures, l*un d'eux Hanza fait
prisonnier pree du chateau de Modrlzsa, que Georges Castrlota
avalt fait w)atlr depule v peu de temps en aout ou septembre, 1452.
Alphonse la communique a I'aabassadeur napolltaln a Venlse
Luis Dez Pulp, toujpours un Catalan,
8 PlusÎI ^go-nmentar^^. Book XII, p. 607. Blemrai,

Book VI
175
t-^ke any chances. In the Assembly of Chieftains, lanush
9
To pi a insisted on pe"ce negotiations. Sc^nderbeg did not
w^nt to her
of them Rt all but he was outvoted. Pe^ce
10
w«s concluded on April 27, 1463. The conditions are
unknown.
H Tanush Thopia was sent to explain it sway to
the Pope in Tivoli. He told Pius II that Sc^nderbeg had
had to sue for pe-ce, because he w^s utterly unable to
defend the country against the Sultan, but the conditions
of pe-^ce did not effect the sovereignty of the Pope over
Albania, 2 and Sc^nderbeg was re°dy to declare war against
Turkey **t any time the Pope should order. ^
9 Ble-nmT, Book VI, p. 416-419.
10 Ibid , pp. 412-419.
11 Barletius does not mention nt all the pe ce of

1463. He knows only the truce of 1460 before the Italian
Expedition. Biemmi mentions both but knows nothing about their
clauses because Antlvarino is silent on them, Book VI, p. 419:
"Allora Sc*?nder-begh vedendo v che 11 suo dire era stato vno
accomodogsl. . . alia volonta del suoi, e senz* altro contra sto
sottoscrls8e il tr^ttato di pace; di cui 1* Antivarino non
rapport? che srticoli vi fossero postl." Roth, p. 99, deriving
h
his information from Critoboulos, remarks: Dp> Skanderbeg
(i
den angrlffen des Sultans 1463 nlcht mehr langer widerstehen

konnte, schloss er einen zehnjahrlgen W^f f enstlllstand. wobei
er den Sultan <=ls Oberherrn anerk^nnte und einen J«hrllchen Tribut
von Schafen und Kn^ben zu senden slch verof lichtete. rt
But
Critoboulos places thr-t event in 1460 after an Albanian Expedition
by Jlehmer? II, which never took pl^ce and which is obvi ously an
anachronism. Jorg->, Osm^nen. Vol. II, pp. 92-93 and Breve
Hi stolre . pp. 47-48, claims that this expedition of Mehmed II,
as reported by Critoboulos, did take pl~ce In 1460, th^t
Sc^nderbeg w-s driven out of Albania and fled to It*ly, where
he helped Ferdinand to regain his throne, which is both an
anachronism ^n *n absurdity, because Sc-nderbeg could not
undertake a foreign expedition after such I disaster. Moreover,
Critoboulos, Book III, Bar. 93-97, speaks of the Albanians
as having agreed to pay tribute (continued on next page)
176
3. Treaty with Venice . The Venetians were alarmed
by the Pe-ce of Scopla °nd were ow very anxious to p«tch
up their differences with Sc^nderbeg. The letter was
re^dy for negotiations . The Abbot of Rotezo, George Pelllni,
and Andrew 3natlco were sent to Venice to reach an agreement.
They concluded an alliance against Turkey on Aug. 20, 1463.

Very probably that waa what Scanderbeg was driving Ml when
in 1450 and 14&), not of Scanderbeg, which la a different

proposition. On the contrary, Critdboulos, Book III, P r. 92,
H
writes on "c^nderbep: Areianos et Alexandre defend ent
leurs pays vaill&rnmant, ne voulantjSe soumettre au Sultan,
ni payer tribut, nl en rlen lui obeir." 3ee Critoboulos in
French, Book III, Par. 92; App., No. XXVIII, ps> lx. The only
mention of the conditions of the Pe°ce of Scopiaîn the archival
sources is th^t of a document published by LJublc, Vol. X,
No. CCLXXIII, Sept. 3, 1463, "p. 269-270, and Schafnrik,
pp. 521-523, in which Aranitl's widow complains that one of
her sons will be sent with an Albanian contingent to fight for
the Sultan, according to that treaty. 3ut the Venetians
reassure Aranitl's widow and Scanderbeg* s mother-in-law that
such thing will not happen, and the whole matter sounds
like a f-»fcliy intrigue of Aranitl's sons, who were
hostile to Scnderbeg and had refused to attend the wedding
of their sister to him.
12 Plus, Comment aril. Book XII, p. 607: "Pontifex

necessarlara p"cem non improbavit si, quod ajebat Georgius,
imperlum Apostolic-ê Sedis salvum esset."
13 Ibid ., p. 607:
rt
At cum voluerit Pontifex ruBsus in
bellura ibitur. H
177
he had concluded with the Turks a treaty of pe^ce which
14
he never Intended to respect. The clauses of this treaty
were the following: (a) Sc-'nderbeg w s to resume war
against the Turks provided that he received proper subsidies

and reinforcements of Venetian contingents; (b) the amount
of subsidies was to be determined directly by the Gr?.nd
Council of the Venetian Republic and the Abbot of Rotezo, or
his successor, and not by the Venetian proveditors in Albania;

(c) several Venetian worships and auxiliary ships were to be
sent to the Albanian w-trrs to protect the country and the
population; (d) in c«se Venice concluded r>e ce with Turkey,
Albania wâ to be included in the treaty; (e) Scnnderbeg's
son was to be admitted into the ranks of Venetian noblemen;
(f) la c^se he should be driven out of Albania, Scanderbeg
would be granted refuge and support in Venetian territory, which
would enable him to recover his state; (g) his pension arrears
were to be paid in Venice and not b the Venetian proveditors in
Albania. ^ On Sept, 25, 1463, So^nderce^' s son, John Cnstriotl,
was granted the privilege of hereditary Venetian citizenship

16
and membership in the Gr^nd Council of Venetian noblemen.
On Oct. 17, 1463, Gabrlele Trevls-tno wns sent to Albania with
14 Six months l"ter Sc^nd»rbeg declared war againet

Turkey. See later.
,
15 Nqgy-Wyary, Act? Est era . Nos. 143-145, pp. 229«2'7 3«
LJubic, Vol. X, No. CCLXIX, Aug. 20, 1463, pn. 264-266, and
Ibid •.No. CCLXXXV, Oct. 17, 1463, pp. 279-231.
16 LJubic, Vol. X, No. CCLXXXI, Sept. 25, 1463, p. 276.

178
a Venetian contingent of 1300 cavalrymen and infantrymen,
2000 ducats for the prosecution of war against Turkey,
and all of Sconderbep! 1 a pension arrears. He was empowered
to reconcile Lek Duc*ghlni with Scanderbeg and win him, aa
well as all other Albanian chief tains, for the crusade against
the Turks. In brief, the Venetians wanted to reorganize
the League of Alessio, including Stefan Cemojevioh, under
17
the supreme command of 3cpnderbeg.
4. Crusade of Pius II .
In Nove/mber, 146$, Pope Pius II
18
declared a Crusade against the Turks and invited all Christian
nations to Join him. The Venetians, immediately threatened
by the Turks, answered his appeal. The Albanian chieftains

S 19
hesitated. Treviâno tried to win them in vain. But the
Archbishop of Durazzo persuaded them to (Join the Crusade, 20

21
On Nov. 27, 1463, Scpnderbeg dec lo red war on Turkey. He
burned his bridges again by raiding the neighboring Turkish

regions and by rounding up about 60,000 cows, 80,000 sheep and
22
goats and 3,000 horaee. In 1464 Pius II went to Ancona to
put himself at the head of the Crusade and sail for Ragusa to
17 LJubic, Vol. X, No. CCLXXXV, Oct. 17, 1463, PP. 270-281.
18 "Mense Noverabri, 1463, Pius II in curia bellua

decrevit In Turcos," Spond^mus, Vol. II, year 1463, Lyon,
1678, ruoted by F«llmernyer, Vol. IX, p. 77, note 1.
19 Biernmi, Book VI, pp. 421-422. Barletius, yita«

Book XI, pp. 313-316.
20 Biemmi, Book VI, pn. 422-427. B-rletius, Vita.

Book XI, pp. 316-320.
21 "Cosi la P Rce f-tta ni 27 d»Aprile fu ai 27 di
Noverabre del medesimo anno risoluto (continued on next page)
179
meet the King of Hungary and Seanderbeg. * He died on
Aug, 14, 1464. His Crusade followed him into the grr>ve.
5. Scnderbeg Versus Balaban Pasha . ^6n Aug. 14, 1464,

ScAnderbeg defeated 3heremet Beg nep.r the Lake of Ochrida.
Victory was celebrated with a fish dinner with the fraoua
trouts of the lake, since it was Saint Mary's Lent, and

pc
Scnnderbeg observed very strictly all religious regulntions.
He h»d returned to Oroya and was preparing to go to Raguaa to
meet Pope Plus II when he received the nev/s of his drath At

26
Ancona. Now Seanderbeg w^s left alone to faoe the wrath of
the Sultan with a doubtful ally like Venice behind him. The
worst was yet to come. The General sent by the Sultan against
Seanderbeg was Balaban pASha, an AlbAnlan renegade brought up
in Turkey since "is e-rly youth, who knew the country well
and was a master in guerrilla warfare. 2^ It was a deadly duel
di remperlA." Biemrni, Book VI, p. 427.
22 "Nam 60 mi Ilia bovum, 80 mlllia Decorum, trla mi Ilia

eouorum cum pullis suis, quae de turmA, ut ajunt. etîpsiua
M»huaetis Principle grege er r>nt, inde Abegerunt. 3*rlGtiua,
H
Vita. Book XI, p. 321. Cfr. Franco, chap. XXIX, p. 31s Et
f ece nred* dl ottocenti %%t alia seeore, et sessanta aila cspi
tr=> v n che, bovi , et vitelli, et tre miln c?valle con li poledri,
eh 1 er«no della razza propria d'esso Gr->n Turco, et ancora
prese molte altre robbe, et bruacio gran parte dl quel paese."
23 Pastor, Vol. Ill, p. 348, ote 4; Gondola, In Chronica

R^ guslna . p.370.
24 Pastor, Vol. Ill, pp. 368-370. He was planning to parti

Turkey and give MAcedonia to Seanderbeg, Ibid . .p. 324.
The clAia of Makushev in Razyek^nla. pp. 106-107, based on a
letter of Gir^rdo de Collis, that Pope Pius II never meAnt
erioualy to he^d the Craaade seems unfounded. See Pastor,
Vol. Ill, chap. VIII, pp. 311-374.
25 Franco, chap. XXXI, p. 34 v.
(footnotes 26 and 27 on next page)

180
between tvro e-perts, which dragged along for four ye ra
with varying fortunes. The first rounds went In favor of Bal-
aban Pasha. He almost caught his rival in a cleverly
prepared ambuse-de. Soanderheg was saved by prodigious

28
bound of hi 8 fiery steed. The 3eoond round proved fptal
to some of Scanderbeg's beat generalB: lioses of Dibra, who
wns reputed to be second only to Scnderbeg, Vladan Yurltza,
his most trusted adviser, and Musachi of Angelina, the most
loyal of all his nephews, with four other officers were all
oaught prisoners and sent to Constantinople. Scanderbeg

offered thousands of ducats to ransom them. The Sultan ordered
29
them to be skinned alive. The unfortunate men were mourned
26 Bienmi, Book VI, p. 447; B«rletius, Vita ,

Book XI, p. 332
27 "Balaban war eben so unerschrocken, militarise!!

begabt, kaltberechnend und unerschdpf lich an strategiacher
Hlntcrliat w1 e Skanderbeg." Fallmernyer, Vol. IX, p. 80
H
28 Skanderbeg ging in die F°lle, verlor von seinen fung
begleitem vier und entran nur durch einen romanhaften
Alvar^closprung dem Geschicke." Ibid., p. 83; Franco, ehap.XXXIII,
p. 38; Pienmi, Book VI, p. 431.
29 "Omnes excoriarl suo more Jussit." B«rletius,

Vita. Book XI, p. 337. Cfr. Bie^ral, Book VI, p. 433*. Con
una crudelta delle piu detesta.bili co-imandb che tuttl si
•cortlf icassero vlvi ed a llste afflne de render piu durabile
11 tomento; e non sazlato della pena del vivi, fece gittar i
lor cadaverl divlsi in pe2zi ad esser dlvoratl dai cani.*
Franco, chap. XXXII, pp. 36*36 v. : "Per slngulnre dispetto
fece scortiear ûelll a poco a poco ner quindlcl giornl
oontinul. Siche con simile afflittlone et dolore passorno
« ru de'ltfa' 'ti^Mî^HU
//
de quests vits." Hopf, Chronlques .
p # 297: "Antl per piu orudelta 11 fece scortlcnre vlvi poco a
poco, talche per quindlcl di continui con simile afflittlone e
dolore passarno da questa vita."
181
by the entire nation. They vere avenged in bloody
battles, In whloh no prisoners were taken, and In the
bloodiest of them all, which took pl*ce In August, 1465,

In Kashari and Valkalia, on the very soot, Where the
1
martyred men had been taken prisoners a ye^r before.^
6. Second Siege of Croya . The greatest siege
ws yet to come. In 1466, Sultan Mehaed II with a hu£6
rrray of shout 150,000 marched agpinst Scanderbeg whom neither
his father nor his generals had been pble to subdue.' 2 In'
the middle of June he besieged Croya which was defended by a
garrison of 4,400 under T^nush Thopla.^ Neither his huge
30 Biemml, Book VI , p. 441: "Non si fece neppur

un solo prigione; tutto fu sagrificato alia vendetta dl quelli
otto 3lgnorl che Mnometto avea f^tto morire si Inulnanamente. ,,
31 n>ld ..p. 445; Barletiue, Vita. Book XI, pp. 344,349.

M
32 Laonicos, Book VIII, p. 432: Mi sit igitur partem
exercitus contra Scenderera Iuanis f ilium, quern pater, quamvis
s*#pius eum debellsre occepieset, vincere nequlvit."
Cfr. Crltoboulos In French, Book III, par. 93# Appy . , No. XXVIII,
pp. Ix-lxi: "Deja aup^ravant, le sultan Morat, pere du Sultan
actuel, leur RVît/^la guerre avec une grsnde armee et avec des
forces ircnospntee . . Cependant 1.1 n'avalt pu prendre le
.
pays et le soumettre eompleteraent.
33 "Pose dl guarniglone quattra mile e quattrocento

soldstl, e ne dlede 11 governo a Tanusio Topia eh* era il
piu nccrcdltnto Uffizi*ie delle flue truppe, ed In cul
aaggiormente confldava. " Biemral, Book VI, p. 448.
B«rletius, Vita. Book XII, p. 353: "Sesnderbegus omnir,
loc» sua pr«emunuit, prêeertim utrbem Crojae, in qua firmissimum
presidium turn Albenorura et Eplrot«rum, turn It-ilorum
posuerat, rulbuc Baldes^rem Perdueem, Tt«lui virum aeque
etrenuum stque fidum praefecerat Bnldasssr Perduccl seema
to v ^ve been the commander of the Venetian contingent rather
than the commander of the garrison. Cfr. Plsko, p. 101;
Oegsi, p. 142, note 5«
182
guns, nor his general assaults, nor his bribes could reduce
the f°raous fortress. And Seonderbeg was continually harassing
and decimating the besiegers. Finally, the Sultan entrusted
the siege of Oroya to an array of 80,000 under 3alaban Pasha,
for whom he built in a month the fortress of Elbassan, as

a bqse of operations. ^ On his way back, the Sultan managed
to laptop* the town of Chidna in the Drin valley and massacred
the inhabitants.^ scanderbeg had neither money, ammunitions,
•urmlies nor soldiers enough to continue the struggle and so
he decided to go qnd get some from Tope Paul II (1464-1471)

and Ferdinand of Naples. He arrived at Rome on December 12, 1466
34 Bablnger, in El bassan . pp. 94-103, published two

inscriptions, dealing with the founding of the fortress of
Elbassan as a zwlngburg by Sultan &ehraed II in 1466.
Cf*. BTletlus, Vita, Book XIII, p. 364; Biemmi, Book VI,
p. 455, places the construction of the fortress in the first
expedition of ilehraed II, which is correct, while Barletlua
postpones it to the second: H S1 puo aggiungere davantaggio
che il B^rlezio mette in ouesta seconda apedizione del
Turco 1r distruzione di Chiuril, e la costruzione della
Fortezza V^lrai, 11 che dall' Antlv~rlno e st^to riferto
nella nriia." See also Critoboulos in French, Book V,
paragraph! 78-81, *nd App., No. XXVIII, pp. Ixx-lxxli
Phr^ntzes, Book IV, ch^p. XXII, p. 425; Altosmsnische,
p. 150, and App., No. XXVII, p. lix; Ashik-Pasha-Z«de,
ch^p. 142, d. 162; S^d-ed-Din, Vol. I, p. 509.
35 Bie-mi, Book VI, po. 453-454; B^rletius, Vita,

Book XII, p. 354; Franco, chap. XXXVI, op. 40-41 v.
183
dressed aa a plain poor soldier and with only a few horsemen.
He w*8 received by a v uge crowd headed by cardinals and
bishops.^ Paul II bestowed on him a sword of honor and a

oonsecr*ted hat in a brilliant ceremony performed in
Saint Peter's Cathedral. He obtained a subsidy of about
36 "El Signor Scnderbeg gionse qui venerl (12 dicembre)

et incontra 11 forono mandate le famiglie de eardinali. E
homo nolto de tempo passa 11 60 anni; cum puochi cavalli e
venuto a da povoro homo." Arrivabene, quoted by Pastor, Vol. IV,
p. 88, note 3. Cfr. B^rletius, Vita, Book XII, p. 357
"Scanderbegus interim, dura haec geruntur, communicata re cum
panels sine mora, sagulo gregali et vilissimo admodum habitu
indutus, ad urbera Romanam pro ope, et auxllio a suimo Principe,
pstruraque colleglo implorando profectus est."
317 "Urbem ltaque Ingres sua, quara sui nominis suaeque

irtutla celebrit^te repleverat, = tatirn in Pontificis
praesentiara venlt; quod, ut a Romanls cognitura, lncredibills
hominum raotus concursusque ad eum conspiciendum sus-
piciendumoue facti undlque fuerunt; Paullus autem, cum
Georgiura vidisset, miratus est tanti viri adapectura et
maxirao honor e excepît." F^rlati, Vol. VII, ouoted by
Pisko, p. 103. Cfr. preceding note.
38 Caneneius, in Muratori, Vol. Ill, Part XVI,

pp. 148-149: "Alexandrum Epirotarura regem, quem Albanenslum
eermone Scanderbech appellamua, prlncipem ouidera raagnanimum,
armia belloque inaignem, qui complurlmaa Turcorum atrages
quam frequenter egit, venientem «d se venerandura honorifice
suacepit. . • Ad -uera ruidem honorific ntius omandum,
pileum ensemque railit^rem, ut dignls rincipibus per ea
tempora Juxta sacras cerlmonias a Pontiflcibus donari
eonsuetur, magno cum totius curiae aoparatu dori mandavlt. H
App. f No. XXII, pp. 1-11. Cfr. Sisraondi, Vol. X,
p. 248, note 1.
184
7,500 ducats, part of which was handed to him immediately

and the rest forwarder, subsecuently to Albania.^ From
. Rome, Scnderbeg went to Naples. Ferdinand handed him
one thousand ducsts and considerable amount of supplies

40
and ammunition. Scanderbeg returned to Albania in the
ummer of 1467. In April he defe°ted a Turkish Rrmy under

Yonuz f Balabnn Pasha's brother, and took him prisoner to-
gether with his son, Hayday, while they were trying to

41
reinforce the Turks besieging Oroya. Then, in a surprise
attack, he seized the strategic hill of Cruino dominating the
city nnd broke the ring of siege fortresses built a round
Croya. In the battle that followed, Balaban Pasha, caught
In a tr«p between Sc^nderbeg's army and Tnnush Thopla's garrle-

42
on, w r mortally wounded and died soon after.
p. The ^rray,
39 Pastor- Vol. IV, pp« 88-90; Canensius, pp. 148-149;

Bertolotti in Petrovitch, p. 117 cfr. GegnJ, pp. 144-145.
i
40 Trinchera, Codice AraKonese» Vol. I, p. 90.
41 Makushev, 'aonument^ Slavorum. letter of Zaccaria B»r-

baro to the Bishop of Verona, May 10, 1467, Vol. II, p. 29:
"Hoggl per letters del 27 del pnssato (Aprile) d-1 rector
nostro de Alexio se sente Se*>ndarbego. . • aver preso il
fra tello de Balabano cpitano del Turcho cum tuti i eareagi
erano contra Croja e menato in Alessio,* Cfr. Makushev, 1
Rnzysk^nla . pp. 109-110.

42 "Balabano vernmente dubitando che venlsse a socorer
Croja delibero d=rgli la b*>taglia, et cosl fece; quelli dentro
se port^rno viriliter et ferirno dicto Bqlabp.no c-pitano
del Turcho de primo schiopeto et de primo veretone et port«to
al lozamento mori subito; zonse 3c^nder ego et feze levare 1
Turchl da c^mpo, socorse Croia e fornila de vituarie e rupe
11 iniraici cum raulta t«>gliata ê Turchl, e tutavia seguitava
la aetorla." Zaccsria B<>rbaro (continued on next page)
185
left leaderless, wps routed and cut to pieces. Soon the
besiegers became the besieged ar,d offered to surrender their
arms snd qunrauiition on condition thst they be allowed to leave

43
for Turkey unharmed. Sc^nderbeg wâ re^dy to accept but
none of the other chieftains was willing to allow any Turk to
le^ve Albania alive. When Lek Ducaghlnl wps asked his
opinion, he carried the War Council with two Albanian words:

44
5rsb6 tq . Then every man rushed furiously *t the defeated
enemy qnd the massacre beg*n. But the Turks, with the
45
9
eournge of despair, out their way through the relatively
era*!! number of t^.eir foes and escaped to the Dlbra frontier.
tfc the Bishop of Verona frotj Venice, Ray 10, 1467* In dakuehev
Monument- Sl n vorura. Vol. II, pp. 29-30. Critoboulos In French,
Book V, par. 91, *nd App., No. XXVIII f p. lxxil, describes
S^nderbeg'e victory over Balaban P*»sha =>s follows: %uand
on en e'tnit lft, le sultan eut la nouvelle, que le Prince
des Illyrlens, Alexandre (Scanderbep), iwai^ demand e l'alli«nce
ehez les Peoniens, -u'elle avît ete ^ccordee m'II avait
dresse des embucheg, et "ue 8*ns que P^lapan (Balaban ?*>sha),
le satr^pe, que le Sultan svalt lal<?se pour bloquer et
assle'ger la yllle de,Kroues (Oroya), en sut rien du tout,
et l'ayant deconcerte par cette attaque gener^le, rais en
fuite^t, poursulvl, nvnlt f~lt un gr*md carnage de ses gens
et tue le s^tr^pe lul -neme, Qui avsit lutte en orpve. n Thus
the story of B^rletlus, Vita. Book XII, pp # 360-36I Is
confirmed by two different sources In all Its details.
43 Barletius, Vita. Book XII, pp. 361-363.

44 "Dipol parlo l'lnclito Lech Dueagino, et disse con
aud^tla: " Embetha . che In Mb*?nesco vol dir ^ciosso, perche
non gll pareva doversi us a re mlsericordia verso l'infedeli
nlmlci, ma ouelli in pezzi tagllare." Pranoo, chap. XXXVII,
H
p. 42. Cfr. Lavardln, Book XII, chap. II,, p. 357: Lech
Duc»gin psrla plus llbrement, selon au'll etalt brusc, et
prompt de la m«in et de la cervelle, et dit en un not,
ITmbeta . cul signlfie en Albp.nals: A doz."
45 Scanderbeg had warned his fellow chieftains not to

drive the enemy to despair, because (continued on next page)
186
7. Third Sleg;e of Croya . When -/.ehraed II learned
that Sc^nderbeg not only had broken the siege of Oroya but
46
wps also besieging the Zwlngburg of TClbassan, he could
47
hardly control his rage, and immediately beg«n preparations
for another expedition against Albania, In the month of

48
July, 1467, he wrs again under the w nils of Croya. After a
Vain attempt to storm the fortress, he let his v^ct array
to
loose and devastated with fire and saord every corner of
tlose who fe*r everything fear nothing: "fifyl Omnia tiraentes

nihil tiraent." Barletius, Vita, Book XII, p. 32. But not
even his panegyric biographer could agree with him and
H
eoraments bitterly: De s cerrlmo bellntore cunotator f actus ."
Barletius, Vita,. Book XII, pp. 363.
i 46 "On pJouJfca.lt ou'Alexandre (Scpnderbe^) . . . s'en

etît retourne, mo'ttre de tout le p^ys, assle'geant la nouvelle
ville (Blbasssn) et enfermant la g«mlson. Crltoboulos in
rt
French, BooV: V. par. 92; A rip., No. XXVIII, pp. lxxli-lxxiii.

Also S*ad-ed-Din, Vol. I, 509; Hadii Khalfa, Rune 11 a and
Bosnia , p. 134, <juoted by Hahn, Relse. p. 110, note 2.
47 Crltoboulos In French, Book V, par. 93: "Apres ^vo\r recu

cette no velle, le Sultan ne se po~sedalt plus de f reur. Also .
H
Barletius, VI ta . Book XIII , p. 364: Ad M^humetem Principem
me convertam, €jui recenti Balab*?ni praefecti sul inter! tu et
foeda suorura fuga et strage vehementer indolult, fflict^nsque
et raacer^ns supra modum, cjuod obsidio urbis Crojae dissoluta
esset # et suo modo ipse de tanta ignorainla adversus 3c^nderbegum
ee ulclscl posset, assidue cogltabat, anlraosque dies ao
noctes volvebat." B-rletius, Vita , Book XIII, p. 364.
48 Augustinus de Rubeis from Rome, July 16, 1467,

H
in Mnkushev, Monument- Slavorum. Vol. II, p. 201: Da Brlnzi
sono ~ua coDle de lettere. . .como el Gr^n Turcho ha fact"
gr«ndlssim« pred*? et strage in Albania et presa quasi la
mazore p»rte de q elll Albanesi . . • Postea dice che s*e
tr*nsferito dicto Tureho verso Durazo. . Also Ibid . .from
Rome, Aug. 3, 1467, p. 202: De le cose del Turcho se ha
rt
»dvi»o ch' el e molto pro* so in Albania et fa contra Croya et

anche Durazzo grandisaima et crudellssima guerra."
187
49
Albania he could reach. But he soon discovered that the
price in detachments, trapped and annihilated by Scanderbeg,

w^s too high, 50 and after fifteen daye^ 1 of devastation,
plunder and massacre, he returned to Constantinople in

humiliation "and defeat His only military achievement
during this expedition was the destruction of Chivril, an

unfinished fortress which 3canderbeg was building on the
Adriatic se^coast near Cape Rodoni.^3
n
*»9 Rien n'eehappa et,ne leur rests cfcche de tout ce ,
qu'il y a d f Inaccessible, d'eloigne, de liWfftfl 0f et de recele

d-ms la terre." Critoboulos in French, 3ook V, par, 96;
App., No. XXVIII, d. lxxlv.
50 "Quant au Sult*n, ayant pendant peu de Jours aasiege'

Kroues (Oroya) , oo-ame 11 reconnut qu'll lui serait impossible
de la prendre avec lês ^mes p«r un anaaut,, • • .11 resolut
d'y l^lsser une armee suf flssnteâvec un general qui continuerît
le blocus, et de retourner lui*oeme a Byzance, pour ne pas
s'emposer en vain, lui-neme et toute son armee, aux fatigues
et aux pertes." Ibid . .Book V, par. 106; Aop., No. XXVIII,
p. lxxv.
51 "Mais tout le reste fut parcouru et soumis, fait

;
esc lave, et ravge dans quinze Jours en tout." Ibid ., 3ook V,
par. 96; App., No. XXVIII, p. lxxiv.
52 "Tandem cum satis evaststa esset reglo, exercitum

abduxit, cum nihil sane me:mr«>bile designs sset." Laonlcos,
Book VIII, p. 433. The two Albanian expeditions of "£ehmed II
are confirmed by the Altosm^nl eche. p. i50, App., No. aXVII,
p. lix; Urudz, op. 123# 126; Saad-ed-Cin, Vol. I,
PP. 391, 509-510.
53 "Fortezza che nominavasi Chlurll. • • ma non era

rldotta a perfezione. ne abitata, e aplantolla da fond^menti."
3ieiiml, Book VI, p. 453; Barletlus, Vita. Book XIII, p. 365:
"Locum quendam ad lltus Adriaticl maris non longe a
Dyrachio positum petilt, qui nunc ab lncolis Caput Redonl
dicitur, ubi Princeps Scanderbegua nuperrime urbem, cuem
Chiurilum appellavlt, ponere coeperat. Quam cum Ottbmanua
nondum habitatam nec perfectara renerisset, funditus evertit."
Cfr. Franco, chap. XXXVIII, p. 43: "Chiuril che non era
encore compita, ne abitata." scanderbeg tried in vain to
persuade V e Venetians to help him build this fortress. See
LJubic, Vol. X, No. CCCCXVI, Oct. 26, 1467, p. 399.
188
8. Sc^nderbeg's L*et T?f»ya . The Venetians were alarmed
by the construction of the Zwlngsburg of Elbassan, or Valmi,^
«8 it is called by Scanderbeg* s biographers, because it w*s
situated on the navigable rivrr Shkurabl over which the Turks

55
could reach the Adriatic sea with their ships. Thus Turkey
had row acquired an inland port in addition to the open port
56
of Valona she already possessed on the seacoast since 1435,
These two ports could be turned into naval bases and bottle
up Venice in the upper Adriatic. The Venetians offered
3000 ducats and as many soldiers no would be necessary to

57
Se^nderbeg to capture the fortress of Elbassan. According
to Critoboulos «md Saad -ed J)in t So^nderbeg raided the city

58
of Elbaee«n but was powerless against the eitadol, because
54 The description of the city b^ Ba#letius t in Vita.

Book XIII, p. 364, the Venetian document in LJubic, X f
No. CCCLXXXII, Aug. 16, 1466. p. 373» and the two inscriptions
in B"binger, Elb^snn, Vol. XxIV t pp. 94-103* leave no doubt
th^t the ancient Vîsl or V^lôra 13 the nod era Sir ngg an .
Both Jorga and LJublc misspell it as Valona . vrhich is in
Southern Albania on the seacoast, while V°lmi or Elbassan is
In the interior of Central Albania. The Turkish name means,
according to Babinger, Land -Conquering , in German r,winp;bu rg«
55 "Omnes, qui scribunt ex Albania, exiatimant rem

periculospm et nocivam statul nostro Albanie instauratlonem
quam fecit Turcus lllius civltrtis nominate Vqlone (Valmi),
turn propter vicinitatem suam locis nostris, turn propter
eoplaa materia ad fabrlcandum fustas et alia navigia et
commodi totem per illud f lumen descendendi et illabendi ad
mare." LJubicf, Vol. X, No. CCCLXXXII, Aug, 16, 1466,
pp. 372.374.
56 Valona was conquered b the Turks in 1417 for the

first tl~ie. Sre Jorgn, Notes. Vol. II, Aug. 26, 1417. It was
regained by the Albanians and lost again after the rebellion of
Aranlti in 1433-1435. (continued on next page)
189
59
he looked siege artillery as well as manpower. Consequently
a convention of the League was called at Alessio to provide
60
ways and means to that end. In the meantime, Scanderbeg
fell sick «nd died of fever on Jan. 17, 1468. On his
See Plus II. gurope and Asia, chap. XV, p. 338, KSA -"pp.*
No. XI, p. xlli: "Valona in Albania non m gna clvlt^s est,
in portu marl a sit", qua brevisslmus est in Italia trajectus.
Rane Pazaites primus ex Turcls occupavit. Rebellantem
Amurates r ecu pe ra vl t,
tt
57 LJublo, Vol. X, no. CCCLXXXII, Au<r. 16, 1466,

H
p. 373: Bt ex nunc captum sit, quod Ilia trla mlllia
dueatopum, que mittenda sunt In Albania, illlco mittl debeant
ad nanus nrovi sorts nostri Albanie, ut si doralnue Scnnderbegus
oluerit suseipere hanc expeditlonem, illos dispensar6 debeat
inter copias nostras itslleas et aliter, sicutl melius slbl
vldebitur. E precipi debeat omnibus gentibus no3tris predictls,
ut sint ad obediential! prefatl domini Scanderbegl et provlsoris
noBtrl Albania, qui ire debeant in soclet^tem cum prefato
Seanderbago.
58 Bablnger, glbassan . Vol. XXXIV, pp. 94-103;

Saad-ed-Dln, Vol. I, pp. 509-510.
59 The Venetians did not send the reinforcements they

had promised. See LJubie, X, no. CCCCXVI, Oct. 26, 1467,
pn. 399-400.
60 Barletius, Vitas Book XIII, p. 366: * Inter ea vefcLo

Soanderbegun Jusslt undioue delectum fieri, ut maxirao coacfcu
exercltu, ad urbem Valnorum expugnandara, quam nuper Mahumetes
fundaverat prof isweretur. Morbo tamen gravl implicitum pro
dura fati potentia ab ea expeditione sum fortune subtraxit."
Franco, chap. XL, p. 43 v.: "Se^nderbeg venne in Aleasio
per certi bisogni del ststo suo et di quello della Signoria
Incllta di Venetia et raassinamente per ordine di expugnare e
rovinare certa cltta nuova, chia?aatn Valna, che gia era
Instaurata dal lurco."
61 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, p. 95 was the first one to

establish this date as correct according to Phrantzes, Book IV,
ch*p. XXII, p. 425: "Mense I^nuarlo ejusdem annl 6976 (1468)
Albanlt°rum Princeps Seant^res morbo obiit." The data is
confirmed by Trine her^, Codlce Aragonese . Vol. I t pp. 439-441;
LJublc, Vol. X, no. CCCCXXIII, Feb. 13, 1468, p. 404: Slcutrt
per litter^ s vicerectoris nostri (continued on next page)

190
deathbed he won hi a last victory In absentia . A Turkish
army rhleh h<?d Invaded the region of Scutfrt in midwinter
was routed by Scnnderbeg's army rlthout 3e-nderbes, *ho

could not mannpe to get on his feet and Jump on his horse.
But, the Turks thought he was there and the terror of his
name hastened their defeat.**-* The obituary announo eraent

was shouted by Lek Ducaghlni to the four winds in Btentorian
and he~rt-rending lamentations, so that all Albania might
64
he^r the terrible rows. It wns answered by the mournful
neighing of Sc^ndcrbeg's steed, who refused to eat nf ter hie

master's denth and followed him to the grave. Seanderbeg
Dyrsohli TnteTTigltur, mortuus est magnif leus ouondam

Scrmderbc-ais. H Also Monuments. Historiae Hungarica, Nagy-
Nyary, Vol. II , 1466*1490, Budapest, 1877. no. 59, p. 93»
Olrardo de Collis from Venice, Feb. 12, 1468; "Seanderbeg
e pasaato da aueata vita; haveva la febre, et essendo corsi certi
Turchi nel pêse, volsi montar eavallo, e morl in tre giornl."
The wrong ye^r of 1466, given by Barletius, Vita* Book XIII,
p. 572, haa been copied by Ghin Musachl, in Kopf , Chronlnues ,
p. 299- The equally wrong ye^r of 1467, given by Franco,
ehap. XL1, p. 45 and b Blemmi, Book 71, p # 479, has been copied
•
by Lavirdin, Rinaldi, Spondnno, 3agredo, Duponeet, Hodota,

Parlatl, 3iamoadi, Ha-naor, Zinkeisen, Paganel, Moore, T-Jani,
Piako, g slant 1, Cimiberti, Barbartch, Baldncci, Villarl,
Chekre?i, Stavron, Swire, Oulliani and others. Volaterrano,
Book VIII, p. 188, and App. no. XXV, p. lvi, tells ttl that
Scnderbof, died from poisoning, while Sagredo, p. 53, reports
th*t his death was due to the inexperience of the physician.
62 Nagy.Nyary, Acta Ext or . Vol. II, 1466.1490,

Budapest, 1877, no. 59, p. 93, in Monuinenta Historiae
Kunp;^rlca . IV, Glrsrdo de Collis frora Vsrice, Feb. 12, 1468:
"Havea 1? febre et essendo corsi certi Turchi nel p*ese, volsi
montar a cavsllo, e morl in tre giornl. * 1
63 Barletius, Vita . Book XIII, pp. 371-372; Franco,

cliap. XL, pp. 44-45.
64 Barletius, Vita . Book XIII, p. 372.
65 Franco, chap. XLI, p. 45 v.

191
wrs buried In the Cathedral of Saint Nicholna of AleoSio,
which he had rebuilt a. fe^ years before his death. Ten
ye-^rs -fter, when tne Turks took Alesalo, they opened hig
grave in order to get fragments of his bones for amulets,
whioh would Battg them invulnerable, as Scmderbeg hi M elf
67
w*s reputed to be. LiV:e AJax of Sophocles, Scanderbeg
withdrew from the scene before the end of t:;e great Albanian
tragedy.
9. The news of ScTdcrbeg'g

Fourth Siege of Croya ,
69
denth reached Venice on Feb. 12, 1468* Inrrediately the
Senate dispatched the Archbishop of Durazzo and the
provlsor Francesco Cspello to obtain from Sc-nderbe^' a
widow and son the ripht to defend Croya and the other
70
fortresses with Venetian garrlnons. The rig:it was granted
66 Theiner, Monument a ainvorunu Vol. I, no. DCI, p. 425.
67 BarleUus, Vita. Book XI II, p. 373.
63 Pallmerayer, IX, p. 94.
69 Nagy-flyary, Acta EjfJflb Vcl » 11 1 1466-1490,

Glrardo dg Colli s from Venice, Feb. 12, 1468, no. 59, p. 93*
in Jlonuraent^ Hiatoriao nun^rica IV; LJubic, Vol. X, no. CGCCXIII,
Feb. 13, 1463, p. 404; Roman in. Vol, IV, p. 333.
70 "Inter cetera vero co.araittatur eidea provlsori, ut

habit a collations cum suprasoripto domino archiepiscopo, si
lntellexerint, loca 6Sdero et subditos sub devotions filii
guprascrlptl domini (Scanderbegi ) conservari non posse, et pericul-
uia iînere, ut in manus Turchorura devenlant, et sub nostro
nomine et dominio poase tueri, et si qui Jam devlassent,
facilius reduoi sint cum uxors et filio ejusdem condom
domini, et illez certifleent, (continued on next page)
192
and the city continued to hold out against the Turks until
1477. "Choirs of Albanian maidens"^ Sabellleus Informs us,
"though surrounded with the din of battle and the clang of

barbarian ft mi assembled regularly every eighth day In the
public squares of the cities of the principality to sing

71
hymns of their departed hero,';* The spirit of Scanderbeg
still survived among his people although he himself hai
passed "way. The city was starved Into surrender on

72
June 16, 1478. In spite of the solemn pledge to spare
the lives of the brave defenders, Mehraed II ordered them

to be massacred In cold blood while their women and children
73
were dragged away into slavery. A year after Scutari
fell after a protracted siege by Mehmer* II In person. The
story of the heroic defense Is told by Bafrletius, who
quod pac^tls rebus domlnatlo nostra 1111s omnia eorum loca

restituet, sed pro presenti, ut eorum rebus melius consulatur,
eontentl esse vellnt, ut nomine nostrl domlnll loca Ipsa
teneantur et fcubernentur." LJubie', Vol. X, no. CCCCXIII, Feb.
13, 1468, pp. 404-405. Cfr. Romanln, Vol. IV, pp. 333-33*.
H
71 .Medio ardore belli et turn quum Barbarorum
. .
arrals omnia strepeb»nt puellarum coetus In his urblbus

qulbus llle imperavit, octavo quoque die medlls trlvlls
eolre solltos »c defunctl Frlnelpls, ut veneres raagnorum
hero'Jum In eonvlvlls solebant, laudes decant^re." Sabelllco, .
Book IX, 757; App., no. XXIV, p. llv.
72 Romanln, Vol. IV, p. 379; M^kushev, Razyskanla .

P. 115.
73 Romanln, Vol. IV, p. 379; Makushev, Razyskanla .

pp. 114-115; Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, pp. 106-108.
193
witnessed it and counted the huge atone shells crashing
Into the city every day In ever increasing numbers and
sizes.^* After the pence of 1479 Veaice lost all her

Albanian possessions with the exception of Durazzo,
75
Dulcigno «md Antivari. The Albanians themselves helped
76
them out,' As a class of free peasants, they hated equally
feudalism under the Turkish Sultan and capitalism under the

77
Venetian merchant princes.''
74 "E chi volesse contar con dillgenza tutti 1

eolpi trotti flno a questo dl, trovera che furono 2,539 di
bombard*, cento e nove di mort^ro, dieci de ppll^ dq fuoco."
B^rletius, De Obsldlone Scodrensl . in Sansovino's Italian
version, p. 336 v.
75 Durazzo w»s lost to the Turks in 1501, Antiv rl

and Dulcigno In 1571. See Jirecek, Alb^nlen in der
Verggngcnhelt . in For sc hung en. Vol. I, p. 83.
76 Sabellieo, Book X, year 1477, p. 792, tells the

story very eloquently: rt
3ed pene plures Eplrotarum perfidla
perdiilt, ouorum ad octo mlllia auasi pugnae spectatores
toto dTe imraota scie steter^nt. Inde ubi rem Venetam
lncllnare viderunt, non minus qunm hostes in sylvis et
circa flumlna in nostros grassati sunt; ml lie et arapliue
e* pugna desider^ti, et in his Franciscus Cont^renus
lep^tus bc centurionum plerlque." Cfr. Fallmerayer,
Vol. IX, pp. 105-106.
77 The free peasant had no place In the Venetian

possessions in Albania* Only the nobility and the bourgeoisie
enjoyed the right of owning land. See Itekushev,
Razyskanla » p. 133*
194
10. Epilogue . Under the treaty of 1479 between
Venice and Turkey, Albania was ceded to Turkey. As
78
Fallmerayer remarks, it wna a cession on paper. The Turks
took possession only of a few fortresses but the countryside
defied their rule down to the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, when
Turkey lost almost all her European provinces. Scanderbeg
died but the Albanian free peasants remained. They recognized
the Sultan as their nominal overlord, some of them even
adopted Islam nominally, but they refused to pay taxes.

Whenever the Turkish authorities insisted on collecting them
there was a rebellion under leaders, most of whom are
. 78a
anonymous. In such a rebellion in I832 the ancient fortress
of Oroya was razed to the ground. Nothing remains now of

Seonderbeg' s citadel except the hill on which It was built.
Thus one after the other all the towns were destroyed and
turned into miserable villages. The flourishing towns of the
79
se^coast disappeared and utter desolation took their place.
78 Fallmerayer, Vol. IX, pp. 109-110.
78a Jirec'ek, Forschungen . p. 83.
79 "Die Albaner selbst standen im Mlttelalter den

Grlechen und Dalmatini schen Romanen viel naher, als den
neubekehrten Slawen. Sie waren eln altchri stliches Volk von
mehr stadtischer Kultur. H Jirecek, Alb°nlen in der Vergangen -
helt . in Forschungen. Vol. I, pp. 70, 83. Cfr. Sufflay, ibid.,
P» 293,1 Albanien, dessen heutiges wesen durch die
Turkenherrschaft tief unter das Niveau elnes hoohentwickelten
mlttelalteri schen Lebens gesunken 1st. . Also Sufflay,
3tadte und Eurgen Albanlen s; "Seit dem 15 bis zum 16 Jahr-
hundert sehen wir # wie sich auf den Trumraern der elnstigen
Stadte, Dorf en^ f estsetzen wie im Balez, 3vac, Drivasto, Oder
offene Vororte vie Exobazari von Durazzo, Bazar von Alessio,
Tab°ki von Shkodra,*
195
But the ruins of the ancient castles and the beautiful
80
Romanesque churches are still there to tell their tragic
story - In Victor Hugo's language: **Les Turcs sont passes

la, tout est rulne et deull." With the destruction of towns
the country became purely agricultural. The farmers and the
shepherds, some of them half -nomadic, were the only social
class, which had any chance of surviving In the wild and
Inaccessible mountains, where the Turk could not reach them.

There they remained, ragged and free. In a mountainous belt
stretching from Montenegro to Peloponnesus along the Adriatic

81
and Ionian Se«s. Other Balkan nations rose in the nineteenth
century to regain their lost liberties. The Albanian
hlghlanders rose in the twentieth century in order to preserve
80 3ee Ipnen, Alte Kirch en una Klrchenrulnen in

p. 94; also Jiredek's articles
A lb a nl en. In Manek-Pekmezl
,
on Medieval Albania and medieval cities of Scutari .

Durazzo, V^lona; 3ufflay, Klrchenzu stand e lm Vorl fekl achen
Albanlen. ln Forachunpen . pp. 63-188. Over e^ch ruin one
might exclaim, like Barletlus, Book XIII, p. 364: "Quae
demum quails quantaoue fuerlt, Ipsa ruina docet."
81 "Appellantur enlm vulgo Albanenses, qui quondaa
Albanl nomin^tl a Jugis Caucsi *ontis Intra sinum Adriatlcum
descendentes ab Illyrlcis ad Peloponnensee subjugarunt,
homines fieri et belllcosi adeo ut soli ex omnibus
natlonlbus intra I strum et Hadrian at Italiae fines et
fortissimo Turcos semper sust inuerunt, et ultro adorti
maximls detrlmentis afficerint quotiesque af ficerint. *
Phllelphus in Rinaldl, Vol. X, ye*r 1463, no. 52, p. 365;
App., no. XX, p. xllx.
196
preserve the liberties they had enjoyed through the
centuries, liberties which were now in danger at the hands
of the Young Turks. The rebellion of 1910-1912 showed that
the Albanian guerrilleros rere the same as those led by
Scanderbeg in the old days, Singlehanded they defeated the
Turks, marched into Salonlea and oompelled the Turkish
Government to grant them autonomy. A few months l«ter, it
took all the Balkan nations combined to defeat those same
Turks. In 1920 there was a repetition of the same old story.
Albania was threatened with partition. Italy had occupied

Valona and its hinterland down to Argiroc* stro. The other
neighbors *sked for their share f according to the secret

treaty of 1917. There wns only one voice raised in protest,
that of President Wilson. But that was enough to arouse
the nation. The Albanian highl->nders of the Southern seaeoast
W6re the first to rise. They were followed by the others. In

a few months, the Italians were thrown into the sea and
compelled to evacuate Valona and its hinterland. Sone twenty
yeTs later, in 19*0, the Greeks, *bout seven time* uaore
numerous than the Albanians, could not repeat the trick, though
they were assisted by the British fleet an6 the British air force,
which prevented the Italians from bringing reinforcements.

These stories pre not out of the way - they tend to prove the
main point of this paper, namely that the Scanderbeg story is
not myth bec n uee the peasants whom he led are still there,
and in our own time they have achieved similar victories,
although without a twentieth century leader to compare
with Scanderbeg.
197
11. Scanderbeg's Place In History . This question
can be discussed under three different headings, since

Scanderbeg w^b great in three different respects - aa
peasant leader, strategist and crusader*
(a) The Peasant Leader,. The social class to which
Scanderbeg belonged waa that of the petty or rather patriarchal
aristocracy, which is nearer to the peasants tfian to any other
class. The characteristic of the petty aristocracy is that
they have no economic basis and therefore do not form a class
by themselves. Consequently they waver between the peasantry,
the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy and the proletariat. Aa
half -peasants, they tend towards the peasantry, to which they

h^ve usually given the best leaders. Scanderbeg was of the
latter type. He identified hi-nself with the Albanian free
peasant class and became their gre test and most typical
national leader. The deadly enemies of this class in the
fifteenth century were the Turkish feudal lords of the East
and the Venetian merchant princes of the West, who wanted to
enslave them and exploit thera, This explains the continual
war on two fronts against both Venice andTurkey, which

3canderbeg had to fight throughout hie career. Thia also
82 It was Scanderbeg 1 a flag that was raised at Valona when

Albania was declared independent on Nov. 28, 1912. Barletius,
Book II, p. 31, describes it as followa: "Rubea vexilla nigria
et bicipltlbus di8tincta aquilia gerebat Scanderbegus." Lavnrdin
Book II, chap. I, p # 32 v,. tranalates: "Dans see estendards,
qui eatoient tous rouges, 11 portoit une aigle noire a deux teste
Cfr. Franco, chap. II, p. 5 v.: *Venute (continued on next page)
198
explains hi a alliance with the Kings of Naples: The Venetians
and the Turks were their common enemies and the price paid
for the Neapolitan support was only nominal suzerainty, which
did not bother the Albanian peasants at all. The price re-
ouired for the papal support was continual war against the
Turks and adherence to the Church of Rome, which suited the
Albanian peasants perfectly. Th^t explains why Scanderbeg
and his Highlanders were primarily obeying the Popes during
this period and fighting their crusades so fanatically. Even
in dress Scanderbeg identified himself with his peasants. He
dressed like one of them and shared their meals as well as
their sleeping quarters. It was not affectation that made him
go to Rome like a poor man with a few horsemen and get a royal
reception by the princes of the church and the Roman crowds.
He Just wanted to remain a peasant even on his greatest
occasions. Th*t made him popular not only among his own people,
but also among the peasants of Serbia «nd Greece, who considered
him as the common leader of their class against their exploiters
Of the B<8t and of the West.
di pol Scanderbeg nella citta dl Croln, fece levar via la

bandiem del Turoo, et vi fece mettcre la sua con I'aqulla
nera con duoi oapl in compo rosso. Longfellow knew it and
mentioned it in his poem:
"Anon from the castle® walls

The crescent banner falls
And the crowd beholds instead,
Ldke a portent in the sky,
Xskander's banner fly,
The Black Eagle with double head. .
.
199
(b) The Strategist . Seanderbeg adopted tht
traditional weapon of his peasant class • guerrilla wnrfare,
but he perfected it to such a degree th*t with this primitive

weapon he defeated two of the gre-test Sultans of Turkey
leading the most modern armies of their time. Consequently he
deserved General Wolfe's eulogy, which coincides with the
verdict of his contemporaries: "He excels p11 the officers,
ancient and modern, in the conduct of a snail defensive army."®'
But defensive guerrilla warfare, or war of exhaustion *
Srraa t tung -3t q t egl * was not his exclusive weapon. Sometimes
he rosorted to audacious offensive strokes - Vernlchtungs -
Strategic - as in the battle of Albulena in 1457 and the
battle of Croya against Balaban Pasha in 1467 » in which he

annihilated huge armies with a small offensive army.
Consequently, along with General Wolfe's eulogy, he well deserved
that of Pallmercyer: "George C*strlotl, as everyone knows,
passes for one* of the. most nccompll 3hed, one of the most
successful and one of the greatest masters of all times in

84
the art of war,
83 tfillson, pp. 296-297.

84 "Georg C^strioto #ilt, wle Jedermanri welss fur
einen der vollendetsten, glucklichsten und groasten
Xriegaeistern slleh, Zelten." Fallaerayer, Vol, VIII, p. 732.
200
(e) The Crusader . The title of Champion of
85
Chrlgtendog. given to Scnnderbeg by Pope Nicholas V,
86 87
and confirmed by hie successors, Calixtus III, Plus II,
nnd Paul II, oan be left to him ungrudgingly, as he
deserved it with his struggles and Ms achievements* Prom 1443,
89
when he. was called by Eugene IV, until 1469» that is to say
for about 25 ye?.rs, he fought continually, except for two short

90
interruptions, mainly under the direct orders of the Popes and
only incidentally under the orders of other powers in so far as

91
he wns authorized by the Popes themselves. As the authentic
85 w Ortfiodoxae fid el fortissiraus athleta et intrepidus

pugil." Kayser, Goerres Jahrbueh, 1885, p. 215 f
note et App* t no. I, p. xxx.
86 "Hemo enim est tarn ign^ras rerun, qui non sunmis
laudibus ad coelum te extollat, et de tua nobilitate taraquaa
de vero athlet* et propugnatore noralnis chrlstianl non loquatur."
Theiner, Monument a Sacra* Vol. II, CCCCLXXII f p. 303;
App», no. Ill, p. xxxili.
87 "In Albania quoque Scanderbechius Christl miles

lntrepldus. . . * Cugnonl, no. IX, p. 132; App., no. XIII,
p. xllii.
88 "Scanderbegus fortis Christ! athleta, qui magna parti

Albanlse imperitans annos supra viginti pro fide nostrr. pugnavit.
Plsko, p, 104, note 232.
89 "Interea Eugenius IV audita fama nunc (Scpnderbeîm)

per nuncios .id litems ^d nostros et fidera prlstinam traducere
oonatur« Ille confestim obtemperat." Volaterranus, Book VIII,
p. 188; Anp., no. XXV, p, lvi.
90 Of about six months each, in 1461-1462 and 1463
91 He went to Italy to help Ferdinand at the invitation

of the Pope and with Crusade money raised b% Rsgusa: (ft)
"Propositus* nutera tranaeundi ad defanslonec antcdicti regis
(Ferdinand!), quern de te Gene -aerituta aemoras, plurlmunT
comnendaraus non dubitantes adventum tuum m^gna ill! utilitatl
ad omnia bene gerenda futurum, teque ex eo plurlmum vera* laudis
esse consecuturum. rt
(continued on next p^ge)
201
92
Pius II tolls us: Ho spent almost all his life fighting for the
93
Christian ittN< In this reppect, it is hard to find
94
another crusader who can compare with hinu
As to the resulte of his campaigns, Calixtus III
summarized them well: Like an unshakable dam, he stopped
the fury of the Turkish tide and prevented it from
overrunning Christian Furope.^5 ? Q pu t it more prosaically:
3canderbeg fought a long delaying action of a quarter of
a century and stopped tfurad II and ilehmed II long enough
M
tfVrlati, Vol. VII, p. 422-423; App., no, XVI. p, xlv. (b) De
consenciendo et dando reverend issirao archieplscopo no3tro id, quod
fult positum in camera in cont antls et in argenterlis per 3er
Franc iscua de Benessa, qui fult officialis super denariis Cruciate,
per ipsum dominu$ archiepi scopum dandos illustri domino Schender-
beghi, seu ejus nuncio, Juxta continenclam brevis apoltolicl
dlrecti dlcto domino arehlepiscopo; qui denarii debeint
servarl usque ^dventura Schenderbeghi Ragusiura, et tunc dari
ipso Sohanderbego per dominium nostrum et archiepi scopum
inslaul." Dlplom t^rium Raj<u3?nu^ Aug. 19, 1461, p. 751«
92 The authenticity of the Commentarll will alw: ys

remain in doubt until a. critics! edition throws light on
the mutilations, distortions, corrections and interpolations
in the original text by Caapano and Company.
93 "Georgius Sc^nderbechlus ejus hnoredit?tem

pecepit, noblli loco n*tus, -ul aetatem paene omnem in "rials
pro Christ! nomine consumpslt, multas ct magnas Turcarum
turaas bello vicit stque delevit. Solusque quodammodo
reglonea illara in Evangello Christ 1 continuit, quamvis
hodie totles hostlli ferro pet its. magna ex parte deserta
feratur." Pius II. Burops and Asia , chap. XV, p. 333;
,
App., no. XI, p. xllTT
94 "Naa cum te semper pro tus excellent! strenuitate,

proque memorabi llbus geetia tuis ultra oranes Catholicos
Principes de fide et rellgione Christiana optiae inerltua
sentirjBus. • Thelner, Monument a S. icra. Vol. II,
r
no. CCCGLXXII, p. 303; App. , no. Ill, p. xxxil.
95 "Videaus enia cu prope solum furorl seevissiraorum

Turcorum quasi murura quendaa flrmissiraum esse oppositum, qui
ipsorum adltum praecludit, ne In Chrlstianitate irrurapant. H
Pnrlati, Vol. VII, p. 422; Ar>p., no. IX, p. xl.
202
to m^ke thera miss the bont for Rome. As a matter of fact,
Mehraed II hid started his Italian campaign at Otranto in
1480, one ye^r before he died. He whb succeeded by Bayazlt II,

who did not bother much about conquests, and after him came
Sellra I, who turned his attention towards the East, thus
permanently changing the center of gravity, the orientation

and the spirit of the Ottoman Empire. So Scanderbeg's delaying
action, coming at a critical period, saved Rome and Europe

from the greatest catastrophe that could have befallen them -
Turkish conouest, which would have spelled ruin for the

economic life and the civilization of Europe. Sc^nderbeg's
•hare In this highly important service oan hardly be overestimated.

ABSTRACT OF ?H .D. DISSERTATION
on
GEOIPS C A.jTRIGTI 3C AND
(1405-1468)
by
F.S. HOLI
Critical historians generally contend that Soanderbeg**
victories h^c been exaggerated by his biographers and then they
Juep to the conclusion that the whole story of the Albanian hero
la an inflated balloon. They seem to forget that no reasonable
staubt c^n be ent crtained shout the central f n ot of the story,
which is the following: In 1443, Scssndcrbeg seized the fortress
of Croya and deferred it against aurad II and Hehmed II suc-

cessively for a quarter of a century, and tfeat Croya fell to the
Turks ten year I nfter 3eenderbeg*s death, in 1478. Consequently
the exaggerations of his biographers deal only with minor details,
which do not weaken the central f aet at all, namely that the
two gre^t Sultans failed to defeat Sc^nderbeg and capture his
stronghold. The problem then is only to explain the factors
which enabled seanderbeg to put up such a long and heroic

resistance.
Two Albanian historians, Antlvprlno, or the Anonymous of
Antlvarl, and Marinus Barletius of Scutari , wrote extensive
beographies of 3canderbeg. Both of them are panegyrists but

their story e*n be checked, corrected and supplemented by
archival sources now made available as well as by the writings of
contemporary Albanian, Italian, Ragusan, Byzantine and Turkish
204
historians. All thtM soirees are enumerated and critically
analysed*
The nork done by sixty-two otl:er laves tigs tors In the
field ia reviewed for the first tine in Scanderbeg' a histor-
iography. Other important features of this dissertation are

the following: Various neglected documents and literary
souree3, especially . ont?no, Crlbotoulos of Inferos and some)
Turkish annalists are used extensively; the legends of the

early erroer of Seanderbeg (1405-1443) are eliminated, and
this period is roc ons true ted on the b sis of hitherto ignored
literary and archival sources; the social and economic factors

are duly emohaBized.
The Albania crusade against the Turks wsr financed
in the first pl-ce by the I opes of Rome, because Albania was
predominantly Roraan catholic. The Kingdom of Naples* the
Venetian Republic, the City of Ragusa and the Kingdom of

Hungary -lid their share also in backing the Albanians for
reasons of self -preservation. Their support proved to be

Inadequate* Nevertheless, It was substantial enough to make
the Albanian resistance re*oh epic ro ortions. The principal
reason why the Albanians were still fighting when everybody

around them had fallen flat before the Turks is that they
were the only free peasants left in the Balkans. They were
defending their liberties while their Serbian, Bulgarian and

Greek neighbors were serfs, who had no Interest whatever in
defending their feudal lords. The Albanian crusade was a
205
people* 8 war. Moreover, the mountainous terrain was an Ideal
ground for guerrilla warfare, in which the Albanian* were past

«?stere.
Seanderbag spent his youth, not in the Sultan's nnlaee,
se the legend ha? it, hut in Hit Albanian mountains, which
explains why he bec*»me the ^re^test guerrilla leader of all

tinea. Thi s contention, which was first advanced by the
Cseeh scholar, Jlree'elc, Is confirmed by both literary and
errh!v«l scurees. On this iMli the early career of sc*ndcrbeg
can be sumro*rlzffd as follows : Born in 14Q5» he became

nominally a Moslem under the influence of his father in 1430,
•erred occasionally Tith Albanian contingents in the feudal
ansy of Murad II, »nd obtained a military fief in the region of
Dibra 5n 1465 as a reward for his services. In 1443, after the

death of his father, he was allowed to inherit the paternal
•tate as the Sultan's v«ss*l with the exception of the Irey fortresses
which were held by Turkish garrisons slnoe 1430* At the lnvltatten
of Pope 8u gene IV and immediately rfter Hunyadl's victory at
lUffh in 144"*, Se-nderbeg revolted, seised the fortress of Croya
with forged documents, abjured l9l*»m, and initiated his crusade

whleh oade him the most famous general of his time in "Europe,
In 1444, he was elected commander -In -chief by the League
of Albanian Chieftains at Alessio and defeated a Turkish array
In Torviolll. He soon came into conflict with the Venetians, who
were afraid of losing their doastal possessions in Albania, In

206
1448 he defeated "both the Venetians and the Turks In a war of
two fronts. The Venetians h^d to sue for pe?.ce and promised to
pay him an annual pension to carry on his crusade, Kur>*d XI,
a In rued by this alliance, led r»n expedition personally in

1440 but succeeded only In ensuring the frontier fortress of
3f eîgrad. He returned la 1450 and besieged Croya for five
aonths but wa3 compelled by 3eanderbeg to raise the siege and

withdraw fro Albania*
Tn 1451, >-n<?sr*ec pl^ 6 *" hlttiefltf tinker the protection of
Alphonse V of Naples and raorgnnized Vie League of Albanian

Chieftains, who h'd deserted him under Turkish pressure and
Venetian instigation during the siege of Croya. With Uer>pol5tan

aes^stanee Scmderbeg took the offensive. In 1455 he besieged
Berst in an effort to eliminate the Turkish ssllent of Vnlona
on the Mri^tie 8ea. His nmay tvna annihilated by Issa Beg

,
Brrsnoi, The Venetians incited •3c' »nderbeg
:
S allies to revolt
and crush him -tfter this disaster. The rebels, looses Aranitl
f
and Haraza Critriotl, seanderbeg a own nephew, invaded Albania
with Turkish srmies but were defeated one nfter the other in
14?6 and 1457. Iftar the loss of hie two best friends, Alphonse V
and Pope "*lixtus III, who <23ed in 1458, Scr-nderbeg p-to'ied up his
difference? with the Venetians, with whom he had been in a atate
of undecided r?»p ever since 1450
In 1460 Seanderbeg concluded »n rrmlatlce with Kerv.od II
and in 14€1 he wont to Italy to help King Ferdinand of Naples

207
f
against the French pretender Rene d AnJou. Jlis expedition
was financed* by Pope Plus XI with crusade rnoney r?ised In
R*gusa and in Palaatia., According tc Pontano, whose testimony
is confirmed by other literrry and archival sources, Scariderbeg
s^ved Ferdinand from dl sister. Hs broke the siege of Barleta,
where Ferdinand was encircled by Picclnino, Jean d'AnJou ana the

rebellious Neapolitan borons; he captured the fortress of Trani
by s m:ae de guerre; he eutmanocuvered the enersy with his
blitz cavalry raids; and enabled ârdinsnd to take the offensive

which led hia to final victory. Ferdinand rewarded Scandarbeg
with fiefs in Apulia, granted him a hereditary annual pension,
helped hia with soldiers, ammunition, money and suDpllesj gave
his widow and eon a refuse and protection after his death.
Albanian light cavalry been** famous in Italy find in Europe as
I result of this expedition*
In 1462 3earri*rbeg returned to Albania and defeated three

Turkish and <M one after the other, in the same year. Threaten-
ed by the Venetians in the roar, he had to oonclude peace ith
the Tur** but six months later, at the invltaV on of Pope Plus II,
he Joined the Venetians a no the WMWgSfl im and declared war against
Turkey in 1463. Aftsr the successive defeats of Bal.iban Pasha
In 1464-4465, aehreed II led in person t-so expeditions and
besieged Croya twine In 1465 and 1467. E*oh time the siege
was broken by Seanderbag with the assistance of Pope Paul II
and the Venetians. Seanderbeg died on Jan. 17, 1468, at Alesslo,

208
where he had gone to organize an expedition against the

fortresa of Elbassan. The contention of Saad-ed-Din, Gibbon
and Jorga that 3oanderbeg died there as a refugee is oont radio ted
by archival sources published toy LJubic. In 1479§ eleven years

after scanderbeg *s death, Albania w^s ceded by the Venetians
to the Turks. It waa a cession on paper. Turtlsh rule
remained nominal until Albmla regained her independence in 1912.
Scanderbeg was great in three different respects and
won a place in history as peasant leader, strategist and crusader:

The social cla^s to which he belonged w>s that of the petty, or
rather patriarchal aristocracy, but he identified himself with

the Albanian free peaaant clans, and became their greatest and
most typical national leader in their long war on two fronts
against the Turkish feudal lords and the Venetian merchant princes.
According to General Wolfe of Quebec, "he excels all the officers,

ancient and modem, in the conduct of a small defensive army", and
according to Fallmerayer, he is "one of the greatest masters of

all times in the art of war." The title of Champion of
Christendom, given to him by Pope Nicholas V and confirmed by
three succeeding Popes, can be left to him safely, as he deserv-

ed it, according to Callxtus III, "more than any other Christian
Prince with his memorable achievements." He stopped Murad II aild
Mehraed II long enough to make them miss the boat for Rome* His
long delaying action, coming at a crltlcnl period, did much to save
Italy and Europe from the greatest calamity that could have be-
fallen them, Turkish conquest. His share in this highly important
service tea hardly be overestimated.

209
A bibliography of 169 items and an appendix containing
28 arehlY4l and literary excerpt*, mostly neglected, has been
added at the end of the dissertation as supporting evidence.

BIQWAPyy
Fu Sty 11 an Roll w-s bora on January 6, 1832 In
Ibrlk-Tepe, an Albanian settlement near Adrlanople, European
Turkey. He graduated fron the Adrlanople 0yan«8lun In 1900,
and taught In Thraee and Igypt until 1906 when he emigrated
to the United States. Zn 1908 he was ordained priest by the

Russian Archbishop of lew York. Plat on, translated the ftreek
Prayer Book into Albanian, and founded the Albanian Orthodox
Ghureh in Boston, of whleh he served as pastor until 1920*

After his ordination he studied at Harvard where he obtained
hie A. 3. degree (euta laude) in 1912. In 1920 he returned
to Albania and served ae a neaber of parliament until 1924*
He represented Albania as a senior delegate to the League

of nations at Genera en eeveral occasion* during that period.
In 1923 he was consecrated and appointed Bishop Metropolitan

of Duraxzo, Albania. Zn 1924 ho was Freed er and Acting Regent
of Albania. Ho returned to America in 1930 where ho has boon
Bishop of the Albanian Orthodox Church of America over since.
During this period he studied music and received the degree of
Bachelor of Music in Composition at the Hew England Conservatory
of Music in 1938, and the degree of Master of Arts In Musical
Research at Boston University in 1939. In 1921 no published

the History of Sc^nderbcei in Albanian, which was also published
in Italian in Rone in 1924. The present dissertation || a
revised version of this history. Hs has translated into Albanian
and published several ecclesiastical and literary** ** 1 * *"onS
which are Shakespeare's Othello . Hanlol. Haobet^ and Julius
Caesar : Ibsen's Energy of the feoolo and Ifadv Innerd: the
ttabalvat » "^TTffl and Cervantes' qon aulohoto.

at fifcfil «0 ac mo4 %tm XXoR nplix&i. nxt
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FAN STYLIAN NOLI
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PH.D. DISSERTATION
on
3CANDER3E0
by
p. a. nou
i
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Books listed In this bibliography will be referred
to in the course of this dissertation in an abridged form,
indicated between brackets *t the end of each item. Books

m«rked with a star, were not available in any nnjor library
within reach, namely, Harvard Library, Public Library of

Boston, Public Library of New York City, and Library of
Congress. The bibliographies, from which the description
of such unavailable books h^s been borrowed, are given at
the end of each item between brackets.)
Acta et Dlplomata Res Albania© Mediae Aetatls Illustrantia,
edited by Ludwig von Thalloczy (1854-191-?), Const^ntin
Jireeek (1854-1918) and Milan von Sufflay (1&79.192-?)

in 2 volumes, Vienna, Adolf Holzhausen, 1913, 1918:
Vol. I, 344-1343, (xxxviii)-r 292 PP., Vol. II, 1344-1406,
fxxiii)f300 r>p. (Act*),
.ygnc-r.s Sylvius Jiccolpjglal, see Pius II.
Altosmanische Anonyme Chronlken "Tevarikh All Othman" in

11
Text und Ubersetzung, herausgegeben von Dr. Frlederich
Giese (1870- ), Teil I, Text und Variant enverzeichnis,
Breslau, Selbstverlag, 1922, 421 pp., Teil II, Deutsche
Ubersetzung in Abh*ndlungen fur die Kunde des liorgenlandes,
herausgegeben von der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gepellschaf t.
Vol. XVII, Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1925-1928, 170 pp. (Altos-
manische) •
11
Antlvrlno (XV c), Hlstorla Sc*nderbegi, edita per quendam

Albsnensem, Venice, 1480 • See Bieromi.
Armao . Eraanno, (1887- ), Una Antica Carta dell' Albania
Settentrionale, Roma, Instituto Europa Orient*le, 1933,
193 PP. (Arm*o)
Armstrong , îlliaî Jackson (1841- ), The Heroes of Defeat,
Cincinnati, Ohio, Robert Clarke, 1905, (xxi) ? 599 pp*
(Armstrong)
Aahlk-Ppaha-Zade (1400-1485?), Die Altosmanische Chronik

des Aahik-fasha-Zade von Friedy^Giese (1870- ), LelDZlg
Otto Harrassowitz, 1929, Preface and Introduction in Ger-
n^n, 31 np. t Text in Turkish, 252 pp. (Aahlk-Pasha-i^de)
Bablnger . Franz. (1891- ), Die Geschichts|schreiber der
Osmanen und Ihre fterke, Leipzig, Otto Harrassowitz, 1927,
(vii)-r-477 on, (Bablnger, Gcschlchtsâohreiber)
Bablnger . Franz, (1891- )ty 9 Die Grundung von Slbassan, in
Mitteilungen des 3emin*rs fur Orlentalische Sprachen an
der Friedrleh-Wilhelaa-Universitat zu Berlin, Jahrgang

XXXIV, Zweite Abteilung, pp. 94-103* Berlin, Walter de
Gruyter, 1931. (Bablnger, Elbassan.)
Ba. Id «cc . Ant onl o. L*Albania, Roma, Instituto Europa
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Ill
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A
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In the Italian tranalatlon of Sanaovino. See Sansovino.
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( 4)4-373 np. (Bsrletiua, Vita).
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iv
» Brntuttl . V., (XVII c), Chronica dell* Origin* e Pro.

gressi della Cas* Ottomana da Saldino (Saad-ed-Din) Turco,
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Servir a l'Histoire des Provinces de Naraur, de Hainaut et
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venture, 1829, 1839: I, 1431-1455, (lvlli)+978 pp., ed.
lted by Ulricus Huentemann, II, 1455-1471, po. ed-
ited by Joseph Pou y alartl . (Bullarium Franc 1 scanum) .
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Pontificura Taurinensis Edltio, auspicante Cardinale Fran-
cisco G*ude, Augustae Taurinorum, Sebnstiano Franco et
Henrico Sslmazzo editoribus, Vol. V, i860, (viit)+821 pp«,

in 25 volumes, 1357-1872. (Bullarium).
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delle Province Napolitane d<il 563 al 1500, In Archivio
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Crltobouloa of Inbros f^Llfe of *«ohanmed II, in Greek,
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apest, Hungarian Academy of Art- and sciences, 1875 ?
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Critoboulos of Imbros,^Vle de Mahomet IIj in French,
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(Critobouloa in French.)
vii
Croc*, Benedetto, (1866- ), Storia del Regno di Napoli,
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Cuflnoni , Josephus, Aeneac Silvii Piccolomini Senensis,
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« Dlmlt zag . Tiargaritis, Recherehes Critiques sur l'Origine

r
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1729, (20)+ 286 pp. (Du Cange)

viii
Due ^s . Michael, (XV c.), Historla Byzantlna in Corpus
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Du Flessls-Bourrot, see Lavardin.
Dunoncet . Jean Nicolas, (1660-1735) , Histolre de Scanderbeg,
Roy d'Albanle, Paris, Jean Marlette, 1709, (xxvl 90 ^ (8) pp.

(Duponcet)
Durham . Mary Edith, (I863-M, The Burden of the Balkans,
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E. Arnold, 1909, (xii)+ 352 pp. (Durham, High Albania).
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(Facius)
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Vol. VIII, Section III, pp. 657-736, Munich, c- • Franz, I860;
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ix
Fazi o, see Fr.oius.
Fermenozin . Eusebius, Acta Bcsnae, Vol. XXTII of aonuoienta
Spectantia Historian Slavorum Meridlonaliuia, Zagreb, Croatian
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Franco . Demetrio, (XV c), Commentnrio delle Cose dei Turchi
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i ..
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A
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Qalantl , Arturo, (1054- ), L 1 Albania, Rona, Dante \llghieri,
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v /
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Gelcich. Gluseone, La Zedda e la Dinastia del Balscldi,^
Spalatin^T 1899, 335 PP. (Gelcich, Balscidi).

X
Gelc i g . Jo seph , nnd Thalloczy . Lnjos, ace Dlplomstarium.
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Vol. VII, London, Hethuen, 1900, (xil)-f.508 pp., in 7 volumes,
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Sllano, Popolo d^tnlia, 1929, 102 pp. (Giuliani).
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xl
Vltmna, Hof una Stantsdruckerei, 1853, in three Parts: I,
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A
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Ha-nrner-Purgstall . Joseph von, (1774-1856), Geschichte dea Osman-
iachen Reichea, Vol. I, 1300-1520, Pest, C.K. Hartleben, 1840,

820 «r (4), in 4 volumes. (Hammer) •
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romanes, inedltes ou peu connuee, Berlin, Weidmann, 1873,
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xl 1
I llyrl soh- Albani ache Fqrschungen # edited by Ludwlg von
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(Forschungen)
Iorga . Nlcolae, see Jorga.
Jaetrebov, Ivan, see Yastrebov.
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Jlrecek . Constantin, (1854-1918), Die Bedeutung von Ragusa

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?
Pr*g, F. Teasky, 1&76, (xi)-r*586 np. (Jlrecek, Bulgaren.)
A
Jirecek . Conatantin, (1854-1918), Geachlchte der Serben,

in 2 volumes: I, Ootha, Perthes, 1911» (xx)-|-442 pp.,
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xiii
Jokl, Norbert, (1877 -® ) f Albaner, 3pr*che, In Real-
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234, Basel, 1561, 592 -K14) pp. (Jovius, Elogia).

xlv
Jovlus, Paulus, (1483-1552) , Informs zlone di Paolo Giovio,
Veseovo dl Nocera a Carlcjqulnto Iraperatore^ In 3ansovlno,

see Sanpovlno.
Jovlue. Paulus, (1483-1552), Turclcanua Rerum Commentarlus,
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Mlxtae, Vol. XIII, Budapest, I.tf. Walngand, 1790, 570 pp.,
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it
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XV
Langer . William Leonard, (1896- ) t Recent Books on the

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its Historical Background, reprinted from the American
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April, 1932, np. 468-505. (Langer-Bl^ke, Ottoman Turks.)
Laonlcoe Chalcocondylas, (XV c), Hlstoriarum Librl Decern,
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Lavardln . Jaeques de, Seigneur du Plessis-Bcurrot, (XVI c),

Histolre de Georges Csstriot, surnomme 3c?»nderbeg, Roy
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xvi
LJublc, Sime, (1822-1896), Listine o Odnosajlh Izmedju
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o
Document 8 on the Relations between the Jugoslavs and
the Venetian Republic, In 10 volumes, Zagreb, Croatian Academy
of Arts and sciences, 1875-1891, In Monuraenta Spectantla
Historiam Slavorum Meridionaliua, and especially: Vol.V,
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Zagreb, 1378, (xv) + 309 op., Vol. VII, 1412-1420, Zagreb, 1882,
(xlll) 4-325 VP** Vol. VIII, 1420-1424, Zagreb, 1886, (xl) + 299
pp., Vol. IX, 1423-1452, Zagreb, 1890, (xix)«r489 pp., Vol. X,
1453-1469, Zagreb, 1391, (xxvi) + 496 pp. These volumes have
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» Lucoarl . Pletro, (d. 1615), Coploso Rlstretto degll Annall
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Lybyer . Albert Howe, (1876- ), The Government of the
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Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1913» (x)+349 pp«
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Makushev . VikentiJ Vasilevlch, (1837-1883), Geneplogia di

v
Musachlo, in Nekoliko Novih Izvora za Istorlju Juznlh
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xvll
fltakushev . VikentiJ Vasilovich, (1337-1883) , Jlonuuonta His-
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(Makushev, Monumenta Slavorum),,
Makughev . Vl,:entiJ VsRilevieh, (1837-1833), Istorioheskia

v v
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xviii
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xxix
APPENDIX
(Moat of the following archival and literary sources
have been either neglected or not sufficiently emphasized
by the historians of 3canderbeg. This is especially the case
with Pontano and Critoboulos of Irabros. 0+v, er neglected
documents **re discussed in the course Of the di?«?ert*tlon.)
Nicholas V, (1447.1*55) , Antcnio de Ollveto, frrtri or-
dinls Ulnorua, nuntio Apostolieo. (Bullariura Franciscanura,
Vol. I, mo. 1071, p. 540.)
1447. • Cum te sd partes Albaniae et Selavoniae pro
cassis fidei Nostrum et 3edis Apostolicae nuntiuni ad prae-

aens mittimus, cupientes illas tibi facere conceesiones in
ira quarum Christ if idelibus earum partlum te possis gratior-

em re^dere ae utiliorem Cetp^m, Quia cupimus dilecto
filio nobili viro Georgio Castriothi, domino in Albania,
a f idelibus christian! s favores et prsesidia adversue
Teucros prêstari, eidem devotionl tuae eonvocandl et re-

cL
quirenei fideles illarum partiura, ut prsedicto Georgio
XXX
favoribus assistant, et omnes, qui id facere enitentur,

ab omnibus casibus, etian 3edi Apostollcae reservntis jemel
tantum absolvendi et eiedom, si forte tunc obierinti, in
mortis articul~> plenarlaa absolutlonera concedendi potestatera
auetoritate praedicta trlbuimus per prsocentes.
Datum Romae apud s. Petrum, anno ... 1447, XII kal.
iulii, ..•anno I* (1). - Nicholas V mentions Scnnder-
beg repeatedly in his bulla and calls him: "Orthodoxae

et
fidei fortigslmus athletaâarf lntrepidus pugll." See Kayser,
Goerres Jahrbuch, 1885, p. 215, n. 3. On April 13, 1*51,
Nicholas Issued another bull, according to Kays6r, ibidem,
p. 215, n. 4: "In einer Bulle von 13 April, l A 5l er^heilt er
(Nicholas V) fur Albanien elnen volko^menen Ablass alien, die
den Scanderbeg bel selnen Rustungen und Kampfen gegen die
Turken unterstut&en, und zwar sollen dlejenigen, welche nicht
raltziehen konnten, den dritten Thell der *uaaaber die 1m ;
Jubeljahre 1450 die Pilgerreise nach Ronj, der Aafenthalt
daselbst und das Ablassopfer gekostet haben wurden, tfem
Seanderbag zur Verfugun3 stellon."
II
Callxtus III » (1455-1458), Clarissimo in Christo filio
Friderico Romanorum Imperatori semper Augusto. (Rinaldl, Vol.X,
year 1457, No. 40-41, p« 113.)
1457. - Audiviaus ruaorera esse t.iraquam nos aur;n cx n&t-
. lone tua supra quaa deceat extorquesmus. Injuriantur profecto

xxxi
nobis et a voro longe recedunt qui talla dlcun^J Nift* 1 un.

quan nostro nomine ab hi a extortua est, quibus beneficla
eontulinua, ut illi garriunt, nihil exactua, nihil petitum
praeter annntan vetuato Jure deMtan* At si qu*e contra
Turoos pecuniaria nobia subaidla obtulerunt, non recuaav*
iaua, noc reousire quidea O.abeaua pro tanta Christianas
religion! s necessitate; Pecuniae autea huiuaaodi et aliaa

undecuaque venlentes non usurpaaue nobis, non recondinus in
area, non oxponiaua la Jocillbua, non conaualoois in delltlie,
sed in defensionea fidei oonvertiaus, et in oppressione per-
fidae Turcorua gentla ad noatrua exteralniua aeaper intentae,
Iraiunerabilee sunt et intollerabilea nobis quaa in dies
subiaus expenaae, nunc in Orient en legato classia nostrae,
nunc in Albaniaa Semderbechl fortiaeiao Chrlatl athletae in-
defessoquo bell^tori, nunc legatis et or^torlbua in diveraas
nundi partes emissla, nunc istis nunc illia per Graeclaa et
Asiaa l^borsntibus, ne destitutl perlclitarentur, pecuniae

aittimus. Hec fuerunt inanea hujuaceaodi sunptua* • . • . .Nec
Albania ingruentsg bar' arorua iapetua proxiaia diebus in-

clinare potuiaset, nlai noatrarua lntorvenl3aent pecun»
larua auxili», quae 3c*nderbechio aiasinua. In hia noa
rebus pecuniae consuaiauss In hl3 profundi.nus quldquid un-
decuaque corr^dere poaalaua auri vol argenti : Honorea Dei
non noatrua quaeriaua, pro aalute popull nobla commissi
laborRaua, non pro private utllitste noatra curaaua, ne
noatro tempore Christ! anorua noaen apurcisalal Turcorua

xxxii
pedes eonculc»re poasint.....
Datum Roame, apud 3, Fetrum, pridie Calendju Septem-
bris, anno MCDLV7I.
III
Callxtuo III Georglo C»atriotti Sconderbech Albania Domino.
(?heln*»r t aionumenta / Sacra, Vol, II,
No. CCCCLXXII, pp. 303-30A)
1457. - Maximum eerte et i nana rrabll era dolorea nobis
attullt diloctus filiua Georglue Petri Abbas, qui a tua
nobilitate ad nos missus de irrupt lone Turcorua In terns

tuaa, Is vsstit^te illius provincic et clada tuorua, et
denique de obsldione, qua nb exercltu barbarorum ei re uasept-
us esse dlceri3, nobis nunolavit, fult id profecto nobis
molestlesiaum audlsae. Nam cum te semper pro tua excellenti
strenuitate, procue nenoratilibua gestis tuis ultra cranes
eatfccllecs prlncipcs de fide et rellgione Christiana optima
meritua aentiamus, non pos&umue non gravlefclme dolere nobil-
lt*tom tuâ in tantua discrlcen aduotum ease intelllêro,

vellemuaoue, ut hec nobis esaent faoultatas, ut tibl quern-
adaodum optnaus de subito subtidio posseaus subvenire, quod

non minus necesa^rio quara libenter aagnoque aniao fraceronius.
Non taaan tibl deeese intendlaus, quin etiaa ultra vires
nostras salutl et dsfenalonl tue consulaaus. Nam quo facllius
Tim et terapestatea lstaa et suatinere et repeliere poaois, en
mandaviaus, ut demotion! tue ex nonnullis pecunils propter

sanctum crueiataa Ragusii et per Dalmatians eollectis, certa pars
tlbi eonsignetur, n c «t Carisaial in Chriato filii noatrl Rungarie et
Bosne Regea Illuatres ad eâ êouniaa animua adhibui3sont, et multl-
fariaa summiaque precious apud nos egerint, ut subrentionem llliuamodi
pecuniarun lpala f«eeremus, cun ipel pro fide eatholloa quasi continue
cum Turchla msnum eonaerere, et propter vtclnltatem eca, ne laxato ia-
petu In ehrlstianitatera ferantur, reprimere et quasi ab aditu propul8are
cogantur. Tu vero forti aniao et oonstanti. sis, tuorumque fellclua
geatorum et laudum rationem habeaa, que cum lam nlena et consuraata gloria
ublque lnslgnl preoonlo apud catholicoe predicent'jir, accedet eia cumulus
asximua, si senaerlnt fldeles nobllitatem tuam in tanto furore et iapetu
iaaanlaslaorua hostiua non labefactaa, sed su*m atrenuitatera et vlrll-
Itatea presenti aniao conservasae: nemo enln eat tan ignarus rerua, qui
non suramia laudibua ad celua te extollat, et de tua nobilitate tanquaia
de vero atbleta et propugnatore nonlnls chriatlanl non loûatur, De
noatra vero in te caritate non aulta hie dlcere decrevimus; nan quanta
ea alt, re et affectu cuplaus tibi oatandere. scripsimua enim legato
claaais nostra, qui in orients eat, ut esa claeae nostra vel illlua
parte tlbi, si neceaae fuerlt, oportuno ait subaldlo. ,£uotf ai impetus
(p« 304) lose emlnontis procelle pauliaper austlnebltur, nec atatlra
tempest* tl succubuerls, inaequens aerenitas mala omnia levabit.
Stenia hno hyeme tot flunt apparatus a Chriatif idclibus, quoa universo
orbe naaldue aunitionee, preces et l^crl ne nostre ercit^runt, tantuaque
concursua christianorum potent^tuua erlt ad exolndendam passlmsra nation-
•a Turenorua, ut divino oraoulo ot mimine quodaa pre sag! «u :<-, rati aumus
4
canea Ilium r*.Mdua et aerpentea hunc Turchum, qui nunc delitesceit, nunc
n,
per a*aa ehristianorua emerglt, et graaaatur in populua del domitua et
\
xxx !
fractum, dimissia, oue male occupavit, In perdltlonera et ruinam ralseuia
irl. Vere primo videbit tua devotio mirabilia, et apurclssimos latos

Turcboe cum gûdio et letitia represses et fugatos ceraes, qui nunc per
Bummura scelus c-piti tuo tuorumque aubditorum inaultant, nec te movent

iaetura aut atr^ges, qua tul forsan nffecti sunt: maiora enim auccedent,
que duplici fenore amiasa inataurabunt, et tibi tuisque perpetuam requiem
•t felicitates afferent. Hec enira non vane loquirour, sed facta fidem
facient verbis nostris, ut in aliis sepe visum est. Anno superiore cum
perfidus Turchut Hungarie iîneret, quia non tremebat, cum tantum furor-
em, t^ntamque audaciam potentiasimi hostia cerneret chri atlanitati im-
pendere? Sed immortalis deus noatris et aliorum Christif idelium pre-
eibus incllnntus auccurrit populo auo, et innumerabilia ilia multitude
tanquam nebula ad aolem dilapaa et diasipata est, raonatrumque illud
nefandi8siraum conailii egena, et diffidena rebus aula ad latebraa interior-
ea regnorura 8uorum fugam arripuit. Magna hec fuerunt, sed maiora reatant,
que deua faciet pro tutela populi aui: potentie undlque concitate aunt,
ut terra marique confluant ad earn pe8tem exterminandara. Supereat, ut
tua devotio aollta const *ntia et fortitudlne tamquam mile a et athleta
Chri8tl invictua viriliter 8ustineat impetum istura, qui, divino aub-
veniente brachio, cito ad nihilum redlgetur. Pro colllgendia autem et
conalgnandia tibi pecuniia prefatia mittiraua in Dnlmatiam dilectura
filium Iohannem N^varram acutiferum nostrum, ut etiam ad tuam nobilitatem
ae conferat, et quantum placuerit, ibidem 8tet. Datum Rome apud S. Petrum
aub anulo pisc^toria die XI. Septembrla MCCCCLVII.

Pontif ictua nostri Anno Tertlo.
KJXW
IV
Cali xtus III dilecto fllio nobill Georgio Castrlottl
3c«nderbeeh, Albqnie Domino. (Theiner, Monumenta Slavorum,
Vol. I, No. D C V I, pp. 427-428)
1457. - Scribimus tue nobill tati per litteras nostras
sub bulla plumbea resnondendo his, que tuo nomine nobis
exposult dilectus fillus Abâs etc. quern ad nos raislsti.
Postea vero intelleximus Venerabllem fratrea nostrum Arch-

lepiscopum Craiensen ab hac luce migrasse, qui, quoniam
nuncius et collector noster erat, et ut intelleximus, non-

nullas pecuniae ratione collectorie et cruciate collectas
h«bebat, mandavi-nus dilecto filio Iohanni Navarr exhibi-
tor! presentium, quem ad tuam nobill tat em mittimus, ut
omnes pecunlas, que per dictum collectorem nostrum de
prefatis etiara dimisse reperientur, et quascumque alias
rations cruciate in Albania per quosciaque nostros collec-

tores, succollectores seu nuntios collectas et in futurum
colligendas, et penes quoscumque existentes tue nobilitati
consignari nostro nomine faciet. Itaque, dilecte fill, ut
feels, persevera in tua sincera devotione tuende et defend-
ende fldei eathollce: nam deus, cuius res agltur, non
deseret eausara suam, sed tlbi et all is Christian! s de perd-
iti8simis Turchis et allls Intidelibus vlctoriara cum surama

gloria et triumph© pro certo dabit. Nosque etiam ultra vir-
es nostras in his promptos habebls, ut l*?tius intc lligere
poteris ab eodem Iohanne Commissario nostro, quem tibi

xxxvi
speci^llter connend amus. D^tum (Rom«) etc, XVII Septembris,
1457. (Pontlfieatus nostrl Anno Tertio.)
Callxtus III haec ad Pontlum Fenollet, pontiflclum In
Aragonia quaestorem scripsit XXIV Septembris die hujus nnnl:
(Rinaldi, Vol. X, year 1457, No. 31, P. 1X1*1
Glass! s nostra ori entails cum legato nostro sulcat

marla orlentalla triumphanda (Lucovicua Aqullejensls circa
Rhodura), et hie diebus proximia non solum terras, sed etiam
fustaa ultra viglnti quinque Turcorum armatas captivavit: Et
In Albania et ubique victoria adeo continue nobis datur contra
perfidos Mahumeticos; et ne verbis inslstamus temooribus
nostris secta Mahuraetlca redigetur ad nihilura....
VI
Cal istus III Mariano de Senis, ordlnis Minorum Nuntio
et Collectori Apostolico. (Theiner, Monumenta Slavorura, Vol.1,
Ho. DCXIII, p. 432).
Admirati fuimua et sumus de tarditate et negligentia 1st*
ie hablta circa e^, cue Jam pridea iteraM* H.tterls tam Rag-
uainis, quam tibi scripaimus super pecurtlls, istlo collectia
et deoositis pro a^ncta Cruciata, ut videlicet illas consig-
nares et consignari faceres Martino Clarini mercnorl Floren-

tine comraoranti Ragusii, recipientique nomine dilecti fllii
Petri et Iacobl de Pazis sociorum de Romana curia, qui in
magnis negotiorum Cruciate neeessitatlbus de magnis pecuniarum

XXXTii
su^-nis nobis Bubvenerunt. .;uare, ut ex predictls pecun-
lis satisfiat elsdera mercatoribus uaque ad sumraain decemmll-

ium duo^torum, et residuum dlstribuatur inter Csrissimos in
Christo filioa Hungqrie et Bosne Reges illustres, dilectum

filium nobilera virura Scmdarbech Albanie dominum, mittimus
ad partes illss dilectum filium Io. Navarr scutiferum nostrum
et presentium exhibitorera, ut plenius videbls in bullfl corn-
mi ssionis per nos sibi f*?cte. It*que dnvotionem tuam horta-

raur, eidem in virtute s*ncte obedien*i« et excommunlc^tlonis
sententie late m^nd^mus, ut omni studio, cura, indu3tria
et diligentia des operam, ut de pecuniis per te eollectls
dictis raercfltorlbue usque ad suâa XM. ducatorum consign
netur, et de reliquo collecto et colligendo voluntas nostra
oranino exequatur, quemadraodum prefato Io, commissi muss in
quo t^llter te habeas, ut a nobis, prout facimus, non iîmerito
commenderis, teque gr^tiis et beneficils proudqui valearoue, et
carets de contrario, ne te, si contrarium attemptaveri tis, alila
gravissimis penis n^fligere oogimur: et etlam contra Rngus-
inos et quosvis alios detentores ex Cruciata provenientium, si
quoquo-nodo tam iustis mandstis nostris non paruerint, vel quo-
quomodo distulerint, excommunication! s et interdicti ac alils
censuris et penis ita insurgemus contra eos, quod contrarie

msnd^tis huiusmodi apostolicis penitebit. Dat. Rome etc.
XVIII. Decembris SJ.CCCC.LVII. Pontificatus nostri Anno Ter«io.

xxxriil
VII
Cflllxtus III . Ceterurn Dalnatia© decumae postea inter
Bosnse et Hungariae Regea no Macedoniac princlpem (Scan-

derbeg) aequia portionibus dlvidi Jussae, addita haec de-
creti Pontlflcis causa: (Rinaldi, Vol. X, year 1457, No. 20,
p. 107.)
...Ut earum eubsldio alter ad expugnationem Turcoman!
vlrllius anlnetur, alter scilicet Sonnderbcgus, intra cujus

fines exercltua saeviasiml hosti8 grassatur, faciliua ia-
petum ejus 8U8tentare poaaet....
VIII
Cal l xtua III Georgio Castriotti Scsnderbech, Alban-
ia* Doralno. (Farlatl, Vol, VII, p. 421.)
1458, - Puerunt apud nos, dilecte fili, oritoree tul,
quoa ad noa mlalati, oulbus accurate ac prudenter, quae a
nobilit^te tua in mandatis habent, referentibua, intellexl-
aus clades, quae a saeTissiTiis Turcia, et tuia terria et par*
tlbus iatia illatae fuerunt, et admirandaa anirai tui magni-
tudinen, quam contra eoa, ut decet Drlncipem cnthollcum, ad
oonapeacendum eorum furorem adhlbes, et laborea continuos,
quoa propterea sustines. Agliiua Deo gratlaa, quod partibus
iatia, per quas quaai per portaa ad irrumpendua in Chris-
tianitatero hosti perfido et aaeviaaimo adltua patere poaaet,
te quaai obicera et murura f irmiaBimuTi ad reslstendum oppos-
uerlt, et ho stem eumdera, cura quo tibi conserta aanu saepe

xxxix
pugnare opnortet, per te crebris cladibus cum tua maxima
laude et gloria =>fflelat. Utlnam tul anlrai ex caeterie

prlncipibua Christian! s raultos haberemus! Non quidem pro
fldel tutela tam anxll et sollcltl esse?mis. Peraevera,
fill carissiê, In devotione, et in sancto et salubrl pro-
poaito tuo: Nam cum pro fide Chrlstl certes, sperare debes, ,
eum, cul nihil est luDoasibile, et fortla quaeque parvls
confundit, quod te non deseret, sed vlctorlaa gloriosam
de suls hostlbus tlbl dablt.
Nos vero, etsl tiro sustlnenda classe in partlbus or-
ientallbus et alibi, lllaque roboranda et augenda vix fac-
ulty tea nostrae sufficient, et ell Is lncredibilibus gra-
remur i-ipendiia, tanien, ut pro laborious et perl culls sus-
tlncndis, quae te cum tuis paene continue subire opportet,
plus facultatia habere possls, facimus tlbl subventions
opportunam, et quam possumus, quinque ml Ilium florenorum
de camera, f-eturi -najorem in dies, ut soeramus t ut ex
tuis oratoribus praefatls, qulbus super praeraissia fid em
habebls, plenius lntelliges. Convocationem, quam feci-
mus, oratorum Imperatoris, regum et prlnelpum Christianor-
urn super prosequenda imprisia contra Turcum, jam tuaa
noblllt^ti Der alias 11 tt eras algnlf ieaviûa. Venerunt
jam ^11 qui ex el stem. Speramus, Domino adjuvants, rev
tallter succesauram, quod parabitur opportunum auxillum

ad prosecutionem hujus f eliclaslraae lmprisine per cnnes
partes. Sia lgitur, ut ea, animo forti et magno, nec te
ulli metus terre^nt: Nam Dominus erlt protector tuus,

xl
qui vires tlbl submlnletrablt, et cum suâ tua laude et
gloria victorlam de hostibus coneequarls.
Datura die saxta Februarii, !! C C C C L V I I I .
IX
Callxtua III Alphoneo Repl Aragonum et utrlusque
iliUM (Farlatl, Vol. VII, p. 422.)
1458. • Intellexiraus, quanta affectione dllectum
f Ilium nobllera vlrura Seanderbech, Albania© doalnura nobis
comraend averts; quod nobis fult jucundissiraura; taraetsl nos-
tra propria voluntr»te ilium projsuls vlrtutibus et inpen-
tibus fôtls, qulbus non solura de nobis, sed de universa
Chrlstlanltate ootlrae raeretur, auctlorl, quam dlcl poselt,
charit^te complectamur: Vldemus enira eura prope solum fur-

orl saevissimorura Tureorura quasi murum quendara flrrclssimum
esse opposltura, qui lpsorum adltum praecludlt, ne In Chrls-
tlanltate irrumpant: Nec nos latet quot eladlbus Ipse cum
suls subdltls ^ffectus fuerlt. (Pauelsque lnterjectls
de ralssa 1111 aurl vl subsidlarla, addldlt:) Hortaraur
Serenit^tera tuam ût eidem Scanderbech, utl etlam consu-
evistl, opportunls subsldlis subvenire, euraque tot angp
ustlls clrcura sept rum adjuvare veils.

Datura VIII Febuarll, Anno JJC D L V I X*
X
Call xtus III Mathlae R e gl Hungarlae. (Rlnaldl, Vol. X,
xli
year 1458, March 24, No, 8, p. 142.)
. . . .Debellandi autea Turchi, et Constant inopolis non
solum sed terrae snnctae recuperandê, et sectae Mahuaet-
ie-ê exterroin^ndê nunquaa tanta occnsio aut opportunity

oblnta est, cum post inelytam illaa victoriaa ductu patris
tui Christian! s concesena, aliasque tam per classera, quaa in
Oriente cu«s le^nto continue tenulaus et tenennis, quaa per
dlleetua flllua nobilea virua Scanderbechua in Albania

contra eundea Turcua habitas aaxiae attenuatae sint eorun-
dea hostlum vires, in quos si Serenitas tua vires regni is-
tius concit-^bit, proculdubio victoria in aanlbus est,*..
XI
Plus II . 1458.1464, de Albania, in Asiae Eltropaeque
Descriptio, Chapter XV, pn. 337»338.
Quae nunc Albania dicitur, olia Macedoniae
portio fuit, ad ooeldentea versa inter Dur-
rachiua & Apolloniara fjisse prodidlaus
non inoelebres prisco seculo ciuitates. Serao gentis
ne Graeois, ne Illyricis notus. Credlra hoc ge-
nus hoalnua ex Albania quondna veniese, quae vi-
cing Colchidl in Aslatlea Scythia aeaoratur: ut
saepe barb^rorua inundatioli nationua Graeclae atque
Italiae prouincias occupûlt. In hac terra potens Ca-
ausa fuit, qui Christianis parentibus ortus, parua
tenax Catholicae fidet, ad Mahumetis insaniaa de-

xlil
clinauit. 3©d qua 71 leulter Chris taa deserult, tan
facile tfahumetis sacra contempsit. Redlit enla
ad paternaa legem, A quaauis utramque religlonem
conteapserit, neutrl fidus, Chri stianua taraen mo»
ri quaa Turca aalult, Paulo poat Constant! nopo-
(p.338) litanaa cladea morbo extinctus. Georglua Scan-

dorbeohius eiua haeredi totem accepit, nobili loco na-
tus t qui net^tera paene oranem In amis pro Christ!
nomine pugnando consumpslt, multas & raagnas
Turnarum turmas bello Ticit ataue deleult, Solusque
quodammodo reglonem lllaa in euangello Chrl-

sti contlnuit, quamuia hodle totlee hoatlll ferro pe«
tita, magna ex parte deaerta feratur. Rex Alphon-
sue saepe mill tee in Albanian raiait, 4 Croiaa ur-
bem in potostatem receptam a Turcla defend it* Ne»
pos Scandorbechil ex fratre, cu*n Turcarua parti
fattens, lnsidias patruo mcllretur, ab eo captus, &
ad Alphonaum missus, in oarcerea coniectus est, Ca»

llxtus quoque Roraanus Pontlfex auxilia pecunia-
ria 3canderb«chio non pauca misit. Valona in Al-
bania non magna cluitas est, in portu maris sita,
qua breuiasimus eat in Italia traiectus. Banc Pazal-
tea priraue ex Turcis ocoupauit. Rebellantea A-
auritos recuperauit. Kescio quod malum aina-
tur Italiae,
xliii
XII
5p. Piccoloalnl (later Pius II) Domino Joannl c*r-

vagial, Card. 3, Angeli. (Cugnoni, No. XXXIX, p. 100.)
1354. . . . .Nunquaa fuisse Pootificera dices, qui tam
de communi bono eogit^verit quantum Pontifex noster Nicolafca.
Magna eat nostri Preaulis in commune bonura cura. Scander-

beo nuinque milla aureorum dono dedit, et auxilia proraisit
qulbus ae contra Turco8 tueretur. . . .
Ex Nova Civitate Austria©, Kal. Jan. MCCCCLI III.
XIII
Card . Picoolorainl (later Piua II) Ladislao, Hegi Kungariae.
(Cugnoni, No. IX., p. 132.)
1457. - . . . .In Albania quoque Seanderbechius Christi
miles lntrepidus, nostri s adjutua opibus, parva rallitura rnanu
Ingentes Turcoru^ copias vioit, prostFavit, delevit. . • •
Rome, die XX Octobris, MCCCCLVII.

XIV
Card . Plccolomln i (later Pius II) prestablll viro Dom*
lno Martino Siayer, in answer to a letter dated ex Haecaf
fenburga, prid. c^lend. Septembrls, J1CCCCLYXX.

(Plus II, Comraentsrii, pp. 668.)
1457. . . . Praeterinus cs»ptaa hostlum naves, et caedeB
in eis saepe nunero factas, omlttiraus quae data sunt Albania

xliv
auxilia. Neque enia fortisairnus Christ! athlete, et Inde-
feaaus religion! a noatrae propugnator 3canderbechiua, earn
atragera in Turcaa edidiaset (cujua te faraam audisae credit
mu8, naa supra trlginta millia Turcarura ab eo aeu caeaa
seu ft&pta feruntur), nisi pecuniariis Calixti cubaldila
fuissct adjutu8
Rome, aeptenber or October, 1457.
XV
Eiua II in Mantua. (Piua II, Co.-unientarii , pp. 163-9.)
1459 Et quia non Ills copij s super^tum iri Tur-
caa arbitretur ? His acoedet Georgius 3o«nderbechius et Alban-
oru-n fortissiiaa nanus. ....

XVI
I
?lue II dilecto fiflio leorglo Caatriotti Scanderbech,
Albanian doalno. (Tarlati, Vol. VII, pp. 422-423.)
1460. - Veniena ad noa dilectua flllua iiartlnus ills-
siachlus, nileo et tuua orator, retulit nobia, queraadmodura in
hie noleatils, qu*e charlsairao in Christo filio Ferdinando
3icillae Regi lllustrl}. a aula hostibua inferuntur, sVtueraa
fldelia aubditi officiuta adimplere et in regnuB Neapolltanum
adveniens illi pro virili tuara opem afferre. Addidit quoque
quod, cum sine T-anifeato perlculo amisalonis locorum, quae in
Albania tenea, dlsceseus tuus esse ncn posait, perraittere
tibi vellemua, ut oum Turco posses pacisci, vel ai hoc non
probaremua, legatum nostrum isthuc mltteremua, qui possessionem

r.lr
defensioneraque dominii lul susciperet. At haec, dllecte fill,
respondents* Romano Pontifiei non convenire licentlara culque
dare, ut cum infidelibus paoiscatur, quorum nulla conventio
Del offensione est vacua: Mitt ere autem legatum, qui loco
tui partes illas tutetur, diximus, nec utile ad 1^, quod
queritur, esse, nec nobis propter imootentiera facile; verura
cum Venetl par*tam Jam c^ssem habeant, et potentea admodum
iint, intercessuros cum eis, ut dominii antedieti protect-
ionea capiant, nec diffidere no a id esse facturos. Hoc id-
em autem tuae nobllitati per litters I respondemus dolentee
ad modura Inventara non esse in principibus Christlanls e°ai
devotionem nd opus fidei, quaa sperabamus, nec tales esse
nostras et Scclesiae vires, ut tuae nobllitati auxilla prae.
stsre possimus, quae const «ntiae et operibus pro fide sus-
ceptis deberi cogncscimus. Propositum autera transeundi ad
defensionea antedieti regis, quern de te bene merltura memoras
plurlmum cormnen - (p.l49) - daraus non dubitantos adventure
tuum magna illi utilltati ad omnia bene gerenda futuru% te-
que ex eo plurimum vcrae laudis esse consecuturum, Confi-

dimus quoque regiaa serenltatea suam banc fidel praestantiam
attendentem praemia retributurum, quae in tali neeessitntl
sint debits; nosque ad eum efficaces litteras dedlraus et
veheraenter eumus hortati, ut menteia banc tuam grnte suseip-
iat, dignamque habeet ejus fidei et constantiae ratlonem,
qu».m in paucis invenlt. Non dubitamus suam serenitatem
nostras exhort ntlones et facta tua intuentem honorlfica

xlvi
gratitudine esse usurum.
Datura Rome XXIX Junii, C C L X.
XVII
* Plug II Magistro Georgio Pellinl, comraendatarlo raon-
asterii 3, Mariae de Rotetio Antibarensis dioecesls.
(Thelner, Monument" Slavorura, Vol. I, No. BCLIII, p. 462.)
1461. • Gr*ta devotionls obsequia, que nobis et apos-
tollce sedi b^ctenus impendisti, et adnuc solicltls studlls
fldellter impendere non desistls, merito nos inducunt, ut

tibl et et^tui tuo f in his preaertim, que tue salutem anime
resplciunt, quantm cum deo possumus, snlubrlter consulsmus.
Hlnc est, quod nos volentes te, qui l^bores et expensas non
modicaa in Apulia una cum dilecto fillo nobili viro Georgio
Costriot alias Scanderbeg, ad quern per nos (p.463) deputatus
fuisti, turn etlaa contra Turchos in Albania et alibi substul-
lstl et fecistt, borum intuitu fwore prose ui gratioso, tuis
in bac pTte supplication bus inelinati ablata per

4
! te, sou
tuo nomLne tam a Turcbis predlctls et Sclavls seisiatlcis, a
qulbus res et bona aliquot forte scis abstullsse et eos de-
fr*udaeae, seu id fieri procurasse, quam ab alils citboliels,
quos forte defraud" sti, et defrûdata atque male «blata eatb-
olicorum huiusiodi lncerta babes, et quorum fuerint ignores,
el insi foraan non e-tant, tibi «uctoritate apostollca ten-
ore oreaentium remittimus et donamua, teque ab illia nbsolvi-
raus et llberamus, et ad reatltutionem de eis alieui de cetero
faeiendara decemlmus non tenerl. Non obstantibus constitution-
ibua et ordination! bus apostolic! a, ceteriaque contrariis

xlrtl
quibuaeumque. Nulll ergo etc. no8trorum renisaionls, donation-
ia t abaolutlonis, libera ti onl a et decreti lnfrlngere etc. Si-

quia autera etc. Datura Rome apud Sanctum Pet rum Anno Incar-
nation! a dominlce Milleslmo quadringentealrao sexageaimoprlmo,
XIX. Ka. Pebruarll, Pontlfic^tus nostrl Anno Quarto*
XVIII
GeorKll Sca n derbechli ad Plum expurgatio quod foedua cum
Turci8 fecerit. (Piua II, Co êntaril, p. 607)
1463. - Audltua eat et Tybure legatua Georgli Albaniae
do-nlni, quem vocant Scndcrbeohlura. Verba ejua hunc habuere
aenaum. Venieae Mahuraethera Scoplam innuaerabilca ducentem
copias, improvl 8umque O-eorpiun opprimere voluisse; nullum
patulaae Georîo ad raunlend-»ra qrovinciam tempus; unlcura ei
a°lutla remedlum fulsae, pacem ab hoate pete re; Id factum
esse conservandae provlnclae cau8a; at cum voluerit Pontifex,
ruraus In bellum Ibltur; optare (1-eorgium In terrl8 Sccleslae

refugiurn, 8l regno pellatur a Turcie* Pontifex neceaBarlam
pacem non imorobavlt ai, quod ajebat Georgius, i-nperiua

Apostolie r e gedls a^lvuT esset; refugium pulso in agrls
Eeclealae non defuturum, si pro religion© pugnana ab hoate
fldei ejleiatur.
XIX
Raguaa to Scnderbeg. (Jorga, Notes, Vol. II, pp. 460-461.)
1452 - Raguse ecrit a un prince inconnu, probnb lenient
Scanderbeg, qu'elle no^nme "magnifice et ootena, tanquaa frater

xlviii
at mice noster c^rlnsime". La lettre mentlonne avec eloges
l' incredibilem animi vestrl magnltudlnesi clarisslmeque vir-
tutla problem quîa preatitlatia pro tutanda et conaervanda
a^croaancta fide oathollea contra aevlasimoa Teucroa,
chrleti^nl nomlnis inimicoa. . . Obstltlstls eniia cum parvia admo-
dura coplia multla et innumerla Teucrorum gentibus, clvit^tem
et oppld* vestra illeaa pre8erv>atl a co tra i^petuta et molea
t^ntl appar^tua, ex quo apud Deum prerala eterna consequeraini,
apud regea, princlpea totunque orbem iramortalem lnudeia et
glori^m." 3u*ll continue la lutte; "speculum et exemplura
eitla cunctla cbrlstl anorura prlnclplbua unlveraisque nation-

rt
lbua, et nonien vestrum eterna fama conaecrabitur. (p«461) Ra-
,M
guae uentlonne ausal l antiqua et lnveterata amlcicla et
benivolentla, qua noblllsaimos precesaorea veatros et voa

1
semper amplexati fulmua* *
XX
Franolscua Ph llelphua , (1393-1481), aa Lucovicum Puscum.
(Rin^ldl, Vol. X, ye-^r 1463, No. 52, pp, 365-366.)
1463 - Scrlpalt tunc Franc i8cus Phllelnhua or^tionera
hortatorlam ad Venetoa Cad Lud. Puac. eqult. aur.), ex qua
haec repetendP vIbp aunt: "Multo certe olurea no8trl milltes,
ouam Turcl omnes futurl aint, quot enim urbe8 vestro parent
imperlo in Eplro Ipsa et I Ilyrleo et Aetolla. Alexander
prêtere~ , qui Turcorum lingua Scander dlctua eat, et In

;
AlbanlA g -une tres eaa provincias et nomine suo et vlribus

xlix
est complex*, ^lurimum potest, cuid aliud magia cupit atque
exoptat, mam opportunity tern offerri eibl ulciacendi suae
In Turcos et m* Jorum auorum Injuries ? Est autem is Alex-
ander turn anlmo ingentl, tun a puero usque versatus In Turcis,
utpote qui a patre lis olim de<Htus obsea fuerat, et ob earn
rem unlverso Tureorum generl ob suscept^s contumelies infest-
ua unus omnium maxiue. Hunc ûtem sequetur flrraissimus ac
plurlraua Albanenalum eqult*tus peditatuaque. Appellantur

enia vulgo Albanense8, qui quondam Albani nominal a Jugl8
Cûcsi montis Intra alnum Adriaticum descendentea sb Illyri-
cl8 «d Peloponen8€8 omnia subjugarunt, homines fieri et bel-
licosi adeo ut soli ex omnibus natlonibus intra I strum et
Hadrlam at It^liae fines et fortissime Turcos semper sus-

tinuerunt, et ultro adorti maximis detrimentis afficerint,
quotiesque efficient. . . . (p,366) Praeterea equitatu ped-
it^tuûe mill turn Alb^nenslum oleraque Peloponensium montiun
Juga referta sunt, qui In Turcorum notestatem nec venerunt,

nec quidquam slbl ab lllis aut f id jm aut tutum arbitrantur.
Hos eos Turci cum soiant esse In aese irato anirao, et mal-
evolo propter e*m caedem, qua initio captae Peloponesl In
magnum Alb^nensium numerum uai aunt, qui se atque aua omnia
infidellam fldel crediêsent, non vehementer timere non debent. 1
XXI
Franslacua Phllelphua ad Christophorum Maurura Ducem
Venetorum. (Rlnaldi, Vol. X, year 1464, No. 13, p. 394.)
1464. . . . .Praeterea Sc^ndrum cum viribus suis facturum

1
eodem tempore ex Albania lmpetum adversus eosdem hostes. . •
Scander vero bellicosissimus est, et inter Turcos diu mul-
tumque versatus, utpote qui a patre iis puer deditus ob-
ses fuerit, habetque sub ditione sua populos continuls bellis
assuetos. ... Is autem Scander coramuni hfcic Christianorum
causae haud parum prodesse poterit ad distrahendas Turcorum

vires potius, quam reprimendas, non enim tantum habet exer-
citum, qui collatis signis ex composito sit cum Turco pugnatus;
sed per lnsidias, et tempestivas excursiones, irruptl ones que
non mediocre illi detriraentum vastationemque illaturus; erit
autem eo ad rem alacrior, quod sibi, vestra et conimuni Chris-

tianorum causa, mei hujus inclyti principis Francisci Sfortiae
vires brevi accessuras auxilio sperat; praesens enim coramque
aspexit anno superiore in Apulia quantum sit spei, quantum
roboris const! tutum in equitatu peditatuque Sfortiano. . . •
XXII
Michael Canensius . (d. 1482), De Vita et Pontificatu Paull
Secundi, in Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, Vol. Ill,
Part XVT, Citta dl Castello, S. L$pi, 1904, pp. 148-149:
1466. - Alexandrum Epirotarum regem, quem Albanensium
• ermone Scanderbech appellaraus, principem qui dam magnanimum,
armis belloque insignem, qui complurimas Turcorum strages
quam frequenter egit, venientem ad se venerandum honorifice
suscepit et in ipsius adventus primordio tricentos eidem
aureos dono dedit, turn diversa rerum esculentarum munera Jugera

11
ei sub-nlnistr^vlt (3). Ad quem quldem honorlficentiua or-
nandura , plleum eneeraque (p. 149) mllitarea dlgnle principle
bus per ea tempora luxta sacrps cerlmoniss a pontiflclbus
donari consuetur, magno cum totlus curiae apparatu darl
aandavlt*
Note 3 Altre piu consplcue so^rae ebbe lo
Scanderbeg dal papa Barbo prima e dopo del suo sagglorao
In Roma (vedl A. Bertolottl In Arcîvlo Storlco dl Roma, ITI,
p. 38). Dl una larglzlone dl 1000 ducatl fatta dal prede-
cessore dl Paolo II In f^vore dl questo Inslgne camplone

della fede attestano 1 reglstrl camerarl. . • ..
XXIII
Johannes Jovlanua Pontanus . (1434-1516), De Bello Nea-
politan, Vol. tt t Book H f P ?. 279-281 r:

1
1461. - Quo factum eat, utl Plclnua Junctls slmul cop-
lis Ilium Intra urbem pene lnlusit. Sunt qui regera crimln-
entur, desedlese 1111c ob amores turn veteres, turn novos,
qulbua dellnltus magla Ipse curaverlt, qua rati one amorlbus

lndulgeret, quam qulbua artlbua hoetem falleret. Quod, nl
ex Macedonia Oeorgiua C^strlotus cognomento Scander, vir
fortla, et multls rebus adversus Turcus strenue gestls clarus,
cum claase repentlne anparulsset , futurum erat ut Rex aut
marl fugam turplter lnde srrlperet, aut tentata pugna, In
postrema aeque et res suas perlcula conjlceret. Cujus
adventu exposltls In contlnentem circiter septlnêntis

lit
equitibus, lectissima virorura raanu, cum allquo peditum nuraero,
Andrla praeterlta, ho3tes Iter avertere. De hoc lgltur viro

pauea dlcam et propter eximlam ac raram ejus animl vlrtutera*
et propter lnsignem etiara gratltudlnem . Georgli raajores in

vox-
Macedonia late magnum imperium te/êre. Verum Anoratho Tur-
carum imperatore Graeclam vastante universara, Georgius ad-
modum adoleacens a patre, quo res suae in pace tueretur, mls-

c_
sua est ad IIIut obsea, in jiûjua expeditionibua en viri fuit
virtus, uti propter liberal! t»tem # ac fortitudinem agnominat-
us alt Scander, quo nomine a Turcie Alexander dicitur, undf
hodie, qua nostra lingua Alexandria ea Turcica est (p. 280)
3canderia. Post ubl paterno auccesait inperlo, atque ab
Mahometo Araorathi filio sumrais oppugnatur viri bus. Alphon-

s
sua Perdinandl pater, pecuniis, militaribusque praesidiis nraici-
A
a'sime eum Juvit, diutiusque ipse seque resque suas plurlbus
proelils fortiter administratis, Alphonsl opera, auxilioque
tutatus est. Igitur eo mortuo, ubi senslt Ferdinandura in
Apulia graviter ab hoste preml, conductis mercede aliquod nav-

ibus, decrevlt et animl gratitudinera, et fortitudinem simul
testatfi suam, imposltaque In navlbus railite ad regem in Apuliam
transiit. Hujus igitur noraen, atque adventus non hostero ™odo,
ejusque turbavit eonailla, verum Italiam omnem oplnlonis suae
fama implevit. Vir milltarl disciplina, corporiaque atque
animl vlrlbus aeque clarua, ac rebus gestis apud aralcum, atque
hostem raaîme inclytus In ore omnium veraafratur. • • . 4ui rebus
Apullae Georgio co-rnendatis, cura Alexander Sfortia ex pel-

11 ii
ignis marruciniaque, ubi 3ulaonea, allaque oppida peraulta

recuper»*verat. • • . (p*231 v.) Quo tempore cum Georgio
Gaatrloto, qui Barolua tutabatur, saepiua oertatum est, dlv-
erao pugnae genere, cum Italiel equitea atatarlae magia pug-
nae aint aasueti, propter armorum gravitatea, contra Mac ed one
ex Turc*rua diaclplina vagi, procureanteaque raro congrediantur
atantea. Itaque plerleque In (p. 282) congres8ionibus Qeorgiue
noatea ludificatu8 est, Caeterura Tranenaea obaidio dluturnior
fuit, quia urb8 erat egregia munita, nobilitasque Tarentini
ferre imperium nolebat, muris tandem, qua parte inflrmiorea
erant, aolo aequatia f cum a Rege nullum etiaa speraretur aub-
aidium, fnmeaque urgeret, Tarentino se civee long! ore post
obaidlone dedidere. Arx incolumla Regl mansit. Nam Georgius
cum intelligeret Forclanua arcia prnefeetum cum Tarentino con-

senaieae, aub specie colloquii extra srcea accitum, cepit 'Hum.
Captua igltur arcea Georgio tradi jueait pactione libertatla.
XXIV
Antonlua Sabelll cua. (1436-1506), Rerun Venetarum Libri
XXXIII, third Decade, Book IX, pp. 756-757:
In Epiro ab initio auacepti belli quasi st^tis diebua bla
quotannia circa Scodrara, Lyasum, Crojam, et alia oppida, quae
in ea ora Veneti teneb^nt, aub aeasium et vindemiarua dies bar-
barorum (p. 757) equitum alae erumpebant. Quamquaa ante bellum
a Veneti a cua tfahoaetho Ottomano ausceotum, longe priue Turcorua
araa Aaurathi, qui Mahomethi pater fuit, auapleiia in Epirua

liv
penetrarunt, vel turn maxime, quum Scanderbeehus ab illo
oppugn«tus est. Ferunt nunc f eroci ssimura In 'mis fuisse,
et qualem post Pyrrhura, qui cum Romania in terra Italia bel-
lavit, Eniroticum noraen non h«buit. solebat Joannes Coccius,
p^.t^r meus, qui Calabro bello sub Ruberto Ursino, viro
fortissimo, allnuandiu mllit^vlt, ndolescenti ilhi enarrare,
Tldisse se Epirotam hominera, qui cum sexcentls equitibus

Ferdinandi nomine in Apuliam transiverat, exerto brachio,
nunc elava, nunc faloato ense pugnantera, totque interim
sc tABfta belli f^cinora edente-% ut raerito plus unus, quam
tota eouitum hostibus f or^ldabllis videretur. Is prln-
cipatum sua industria in Eoirun recuperatum, quoad vlxit,

adversus Turcos cum paucissimis fort'ter defendit, Sexcentog
lectissimos eouites habuit semper, majors fere equltatu
non utebatur. Cum his saepisslme b^rbarorum copias suls
longe raajoree, conserto proelio, fudit, fugavitque* ûo
factum esee ajunt, ut post ejus mortem eximia virl admir-

ations populi imbutl, quasi in illo aliquid Tldissent quod
humanum excederet fsstigium, grati orincipis memoriam sol-

emnibus consecrabant carminlbus, Retulerunt mihi fide
dignl viri, vel medio ardore belli, et turn quum barbôrum
armls omnin streoebant, puellarum coetus in his urbibus,
quibus ille iraperavit, octavo cuoque die mediis trivlis
coire eolltos ^c defuncti prineinis, ut veteres magnorum

heroûm in coral ti is solebant, lpudes decantare.
XXV
Raphael Volaterranus . (1455-1522) , Comment aril, in
Geographic, Book VIII on Macedonia, p. 188:
Tres praecipue familiae haec omnia loca simul cum
Kpiro, de quo postea dicara possideb^nt, quae omnis Romae
vidimus 8 Turcis expulsas. Comneni ex nobili Constantino-
politanorum genere loca littoralia tenebant, Dirrachium,
Aulonam, aliaque eomplura. Arianitea ex ea familia re in-

colu-ni o.c in pice deoeasit; fllii pulsi, ex qulbus Con-
atantinua heroica vir specie ac fortitudine post longara in
urbem raoraa ad admlnistrandara Monti sferrati in Subalpina
Italia dltionem est aeeersitus. Altera familia Castrlotarura
est, ex quibus Ioannes Dibraa sive Doberiensls Trojam non-
nullaque alia loca interius obtinebat, Quuraque ab Amur-
athe Turca bello peteretur, tributi conditlone libera tur
obside fifllo n-eorrio puero novera annorum dato. Hie igitur
et indole, et virtute erevit heroica, et robore corporis
inooraparnblli : quapropter Araurathes eum in suara sectam
a solvit, voccvitque Schenderbeeh, quod lingua Turcarum
Alexandrum dominura sive magnum signifies t. Hie plures el
provincias acquisivit, inter quas et Moesiam adsecutus,
aeorgio \fneheruch Despoto ac && Nouoraonte ejus regionia
Metropoli expugneto, ubi auri srgentique fodinae dicuntur
esse. Extincto patre ac fratre Caragusio natu raajore, qui
erat obses apud Adrianopolim, Araurathes ei regnum paternum
tr-^didit. Interea Eugenius IV audita faraa hunc per nuncios

lvi
et Uteres ad noatros, et fld*f3 priatinara traducere conatur.
I lie confestim obte-aperat: ac rebellnna tot pro religione
pea geaait quot ante** contra, ae de i^provlao Crojam, Sfet-
Igradura, 3teluaium, Modrlal^m, et Ternaolua, oppida in ea
regione oceupat. Amurathea contra eum Aaambech, fratrla

ejua filittm primo # deindo Vranum ducea cum copils îttit,
Crolam quatuor Jam menaea obaidebant g cum morltur, ac

o
flliua Saumethes ulssia t^tidea ducibua, quoa Baaaaa Voeant,
fruetra v5rea inataurat, cum ille aemper parva manu in-
gentea hoatiura eatervaa fund ere t, ac fugarot. Sod et uno
tempore Venetoa quoque hello laceasebat, Cau8a fult # quod

1111 pactum necuniaa majoribua aula ob ablata Alba.nl e op-
pida pendere negabant. Itaque Dyrrachienaem, delnde Da.

v
nlen8era f 3codr©naen} f et Driâgtenaem agroa late populatus
eat, Venetorum exereltum ad Drinum fluvium accnrentera
fugarit: tandem Inter eoa conventual aeoueatra pace
per Antonlum Venerium Albania proviaorem, ut llli Scodra
et agro quern ceperat cedent! mi lie qulngentos aureoa quot-
annla tribuerent. Poet h*ec cum Pit II Pontificia nunciia
aollicltatua auxilio Ferdinandi regie in I tali am trajlceret,
eum 3aro\i a Ioanne Antonio principe Tarenttno, Ioanne quo-
que Renati regia filio Andegavie duoe, ac Ioanne Picinino
obseasun eveatigio liberavlt. Romam deinde cum venisaet,

mox doraum remcavit ubi parvo poat tempore veneno abaumptua
dioitur. Vlr P^rrhi quidem aucoeaaione aut Alexandri cog-

nomento 8ine controveraia dignua, in tot periculla aut
lvii
praeliis ml rum nullum in oorpore vulnus repertum, prêter-
quara humerum eff rectum. Uxorera f 111am Arianitis, quem
supra 00TiTieT3oravlmus t duxit, que adhuc Neapoli vivlt, ex
qua f Ilium suscepit, qui post mortem p^tris pulsus et ipse
ab Iteumethe peregrinatur.
, , •
. 4 .
XXVI
v
Homing .oblll urn teiffift :
osnê Rg pj Uyy? ( cr::sc.-^Lir«,
pp. 560.561.)
Ordine Alphabet! Desumpta ex Ms. Aglinich de Aglinich
oppido seu Bobovacz. , . . .Costnnlch de Frimordia in
Dervenich apud Zaostrog. Castrioioh (sic) de Castrioti in

provlneia Az in Epiro. Crischlch de Vigugni apud Posusie.
• . . . .Dugaginovich (sic) de superior! Zenta in Epyro . • .
(p. 56) Rubeih de loco Ruchich apud silvam czarnivaxh in

A
Erczegovina. . • • Rexlch de loco Rexlch apud Bobovacz. . . .
Seltokrllevich de Parasta in Buna Spiri. . • .Zharnoevich
(sic) de Xablak supra arnnem Moracsevo principes de Zenta
et Montenegrin! s. • • •
Sciendum est, quod omnes familiae regni Bosniae non
sint scrlptae, sed solum lllae, quarum stemmata reperta
sunt, et a Turclco Furore occult *ta t ac in conventu
Sanctl Spiritus Poinlcae conservata. Turca enim, quando
regnum Bosniae obtinuit, omnes memoriae eombussit et
stemmata delevit ac 10,000 nobiliura apud Jaicze trucidavlt.
Hue usque ad apicem H«8 f

Irili
Cod. rase. adverser, llbr. r

v III num. 21. Bibliothe-
one Fratrura Mlnorura Provincise Cnpistranae Budae. Idem

Index i-nnreesus est In Appendice ad Chronicon «llltaris
Ordinis Ecultum Templarlorum, serlptum a Gabrlele Kol-

inovlcs Senquicziensi, edito a Martino Georgio Kovachich
3enquincziensl Peptini, Trattnerlanls typis, sine notato
anno, psg. 132-1 38. - Stjapud Fratr. Gregor Cerapovlc In
Catalogo . . . .Provinclae Sanctl Joannls a Caplstrano
olira Bosnae Argentina. Budae. 1823, pag. 266-269.
XXVII
Die Altosmanl ache Anonyme Chroniken, (XV 0.), trans-
lated Into German by Frledrlch Glese, pp. 88, 94-95* 98, 150.
1428. - wlederura unternahm Sultan 'fur ad elnen Krlegs-
zug lndem er ausrufen lless: M

Bln grosser GlaubenskriegJ •*
und eroberte 3alonik, denn eroberte er das Land und die
Stadte Albaniens. Die Glaubenskampfer kehrten mit viil Gut
und Beute helm.
1448. - Ira Jahre 851 zog Sultan Murad gegen Albanien
und die Arnauten (Albsner), eroberte die Burg Kodschadshyk
(Sfetigrad), und nahm noch zwel Festungen, plunderte Alban-
len und Japte den Arnautenfureten Iskender In die Fluent,

w
nahm dieses Land eln, zerstorte die Klrchen und ra»?chte
M
ôseheen daraus.
1450. - Im Jahre 853 nachte Sultan Murad wleder einen

Zug gegen Albanien, uragob Aktsche Hlssar (Oroya) mit Kanonen
lix
und raschte ein Graberfeld dar»us. Er hoffte dass sle die
Stadt ubergeben mirden. Dns tit en sie aber nicht, und der
Winter nahte: Da sagten die Bege: *Wollen einen 4ngriff
machen. 1
*
Da sagte Suit on Murnd: rt
Wenn ioh elnen Angrlff
miche, gehen viele Minn d*bei zugrunde. Ich gebe auch nlcht
M
fur funfzlg derartlge Festungen elnen aelner hln. sr ver-
liess die Festung und zog ab.
1466-1467 • - In Jihre 870 unterhahm er (Mehmedll) wieder

einen Feldzug gegen die Arniuten (Albnner), nana d^s Land
des Johannes (Knstriot) eln. Es wir eln grosser Glnubens-
krieg, und sie machten unbeechreiblich viel Beute. Dann
erbaute er in Albinien neben Puzursohek eine Burg und nannte
sie Ilbassan. In Jahre 871 eroberte er Albanien vollstandlg.
XXVTII
Critoboulos of Imbros, (XV c), Vie de Mahomet II, trans-
lated into French by A. P. Dethler, pp. 236-240, 348-363,
367-368:
Llvre III, pp. 236-240 , Expedition du 3ultan contre
les Illyrlens qui habit ent sur le golfe Ionien. Voir la
forte position des terrains. (1460)
§ 91. _ JLe Sultan, aussitot le printeraps arrive,
fit une expedition oontre les Illyrlens qui habit ent
pres du golfe Ionien, a droite de 1' entree de ce
golfe, autour de 1* antique Epidanmos. Ceux-ci,
de rice barbsre, eurent dans l'antlquite

la
d'abord le nora de Taulantlens; lis etolent pour
la plupart nomades et sans rols. lis deraeurent

dans les grandes et tres hautes montagnes dlf f i
ciles a approcher; et au milieu d*eux lis poss$-
dent un grand nombre de chateaux tres forts et de
petltes villes fort If lees sur la plage du golfe Ionien.
St tout le terrain est difficile a passer; 11 eat tres
inegal avec de v^stes forets, des endrolts inac-
cesslbles et a pic.
§92. *> s'etarit eholsl comae chef, 11 y a quel-
que temps de eela, d'entre leurs compatrlotes,
deux princes: Areianoe et Alexandre, lis depen-
dent leur pays valllamraent, ne voulant se sou-
laettre *>u Sultan, nl pajêr tribut, ni en rlen lul
obeir. lis ne se eontentent pas meme de cela,
mais souvent lis sont sortls de leur pays, ont fait
des Incursions lmprevues, et cause' alnsi de grinds
doomages aux provinces llmltrophes du Sultan*
§ 93* - Deja auparavant, le Sultan Morat, pere
du Sultan actuel, leur avalt fait la guerre avec
une grande arme'e et avec des forces lmposantes;
11 etalt entre' en combat avec eux, les avalt valncus;
et, s'etsnt empare des o^rtes du pays, 11 l'avalt
parcouru et saccage; 11 avalt prls quelques-una
des chateaux-forts et enleve un tres grand butln.
Cependant 11 n'avilt pu prendre le pays et le sou-
raettre completement • Mais 11 avalt seulement

lxi
fait avec eux une convention, qu'lls lui
paierîent un certain tribut annuel. Apree avoir

done fait la un tres grand butin, il l'avait distribue'
aux soldats et s en etait retourne.
§ 94. - Peu de teups ila se eon forme rent aux
conventions; m*la bientot lis s'en desisterent, ne
donnerent pas le tribut, et, en fîsant des incur-
sions, lis o^rcoururent leg terres du Sultan et
les endomuagerent.
C'est done contre ceux-la que le Sultan con-
duisit son ornee. Partant d'Andrinople avec
toute son arrnee, c^valerle et infanterie, il a'avanca
p*r Bes propres terres, et il arrlva aux frontleres,

en tout en trente-trois Jours; 1=> 11 dressa un c^tcp.
Combat de Machoumout avec lea Illyrlens.
Vlctolre et prise dee defile's, et entree du
Sultan dans le pays des Illyriena et aaccage.
£95. - Sur le charap 11 ordonna a Machoumout
de eboi sir troia bataillona de hoplltes, d 'archers,
et de hypaspistes, et les plus braves d'entre sa
propre garde, puis de s'avancer, pendant la nuit,
Jusqu'aux portea du pays, et de les occuper, avant
que lea Illyriens n'euseent anpris son arrlvee.
Celui-ci, quand il arrlva, les trouva deja occupees
par x ilia— 1 j Car lie avaient deja eu d'avance

notice de 1' expedition du Sultan. Alora Machoumout
lxll
se jeta sur eux, remporta une brillante vie-

A
toire et se rendit de force maitre des defiles.
{ 96, • Alors le Sultan, s'etant avance avec toute
l'armee, se Jeta d*ns leur pays, quand le ble fleu-
rlssalt deja; et parcour^nt la plus grande pr»rtie,
11 detrulslt les •eaences^ et remporta un tres-
grand butln en hoimes et en troupeaux de tout
genre. Puis 11 s'eiupara des ehateauja»f orts,
des uns de force et d'assaut, d'autres par un siege
et 11 les rasa eompletement, Bref, toute la terre
if
plane, qu'll trouva en son cherain, fut devastee,
pillee, butlnee,
f
s^ccsgee de belle maniere.
\
Convention du Sultan nvec les Illyriens,
Stages donnes, et tribut fixe pour le Sultan,
$ 97. - Les Illyriens qui a' e talent deja sauve'a
Mens
/ (if
dans les iiontagnes, car lis n'avalent pas ose
deseendre dans les plainea, voyant eomme leurs
etnlent pi lies, emnortes et ravages horrl-

bleiaent, etnnt meme non sans crainte pour
eux-aeraes, se rendirent a la force des choses, et
recoururent n des propositions de palx. lis en-
voy e rent un heraut pour prier le Sultan de faire
avec eux une convention, qu*ils lul donneraient
des Stages et qu'ila la Jureraient; cette convention
sernit, que, conme tribut annuel au Sultan, 11 serait
donne un no-abteft fixe de garcons et de troupeaux

lxlli
d'aniaaux, car 11a n'araient p«*s d 'argent; et des
soldats dans ses expeditions de guerre, et qu'ils
servient ses amis et ses allies sinceres.
$98. • Le Sultan ^ceepta ces conventions, et

les Records. Ayant recu les otages, et etirsenant
avec lui un tres grand butin pour lut-merae et
celui, qu'il donna a l'armee, 11 retourna a Andri.
nople, quand l'ete finissait deja. Ayant sejourne la
tout I'automne, 11 se rendit au cowmen*
cement de l'hiver a 3yzance ôur l f y passer. Et
l'annee six ml lie neuf cent soixante-sixieme, en
tout, la neuvieme du regne du 3ultan finit ainxi.
Livre V. ?p. 543-363 . Raisons qui entrainerent le
Sultan a une campagne en Illyrle. (1466)
§61. - Pendant toute l'annee ecoulee, le Sultan

et son armee s'etaient blen reposes, 11 se prep*ra
pour une nouvelle campagne pendant l'hlver,
pour pouroir attaquer le pays des Illyriens au
commencement du printerape. Car les Illyriens,

oo^«ie nous l'avona defa dit auparavant, habi.
tant depuis l'antlquite', des cotes de la .Tier Ionl-
eoie, sur des raontagnes iamenseaent hautes,
et poese'dant des chataux Men forts et dlff idles
a prendre, dans l'interieur et sur la cote et des
endrolts presque lnf rancHssables pleins de ra-

lxiv
Vina, et rafferais de toutea parte, pleina de eon-
fiance d*na cette position, voulalent etre autono.
nea et ltbrea tout -a.f alt, et ne voulalent pas payer
de trlbut annuel, conrae lea autrea peuples liral-
trophea, nl livrer dea aoldata dana lea campagnea
du Sultan, nl au pere du Sultan, nl au Sultan lul-

/ 'J
meme, nl enfln lul obeir.
§ 62, - Ce n'est pa a tout; mala aouvent 11a aor-
talent avec leur prince effrontenent et a'abat-
tflient aur lea pay a llmltrophea du Sultan et lea
pi llalent.
£03. - Deja, 11 est vrai, le Sultan avalt fait
auparavant une campagne contre eux, et son pere
avant lul; et ila avalent parcouru tout leur
pays, en aaccageant et en plllant; 11a y avalent
fait beaucoup de devaatationa, conqula dea forte,
resaea, et enporte' un trea-grand butln en trou-
peaux et en eaclavea; mala alora, ayant vu ainal
par ces incuralona leura terree saccageea et do-
vasteeE, lis avalent cede' et fait une convention
paasagere; raala aprea quelque terapa, 11a furent
de nouveau aaaea, ehontea pour piller et devaster
lea terres du Sultan; et lla faiaaient cela parce
qu'ila avalent lea montagnea et le terrain coupe
comme receptacle, repaire et refuge,
§ 64, - Car, coram© 11 n'y avalt qu'un ou deux

lxv
defiles par les aontagnes qui conduisent dans leur
pays, lis lea oceupalent avec des bonnes gardes, et
leur terre en devenalt tout-a-falt Inaccessible
aux enneîe, et n'avalent a souffrlr aucun degat,
a raolns qu'une grande armee quelconque ne sur-
vlnt, et ne se rendlt raaltresse dee montagnea et
des defiles par la force, et n'ouvrlt completement
1* entree du pays; et c'est la, ce que le Sultan avalt
reaolu de fplre, et ce qu'll fit a perfection.
Depart du Sultan contre les Illyrlens*
§ 65. • 3'etant dono blen arae danajl^hlver,
conae nous l'avons dlt, 11 parti t eontre eux au
eo-rjuenceaent du printeraps, avec une grand a
et forte armee, cavalerle et Infanterle, portant
avec lul des canons, des arraos, des uaterlaux
pour constructions, des macona, des architcctes
et des ouvrlers, beaucoup de fer et d'alrnln, et
toute autre chose neeeenalre pour la bati^se et la
construction 3*une fortereaae,
Attaque du Sultan supres des defiles, combat,
vlctolre et occupation des defiles,
$66, - Partsnt done d'Adrlnople avec toute
son arê'e, e»valerle et Infanterle, 11 s'avanca
proaptement par see proprea terrea, et nrriva da*
vant les montagnea dea Illyrlena. La 11 dreaaa son

lxvi
camp (la veille). Le lendera?ln 11 fit atrancer lea
troupea legeres, lea archer8, le8 frondeura, lea
lanclers et lea holmes a boucllers legera, et 11 lea
fit marcher contre les clef ilea, qui etaient fortement
gardes par lea I llyriena; 11 y eut une melee achar-
nee, un choc, une lutte et dea efforta inouls, car
le8 Illyriens flrent tout leur possible en defendant
ehaque paa tree cher; mala 118 lac he rent pled, et
le Sultan forea lea defile's* et en pouraulvant lea
ennemis, 11 fit un grand carnage d'eux #
§ 67. • Apres quoi, le Sultan etablit dana lea de'-
filea une forte garde, afln que ceux qui entreraient
et aortiraient, le pusaent f^lre aana danger via-
a-via dea Illyriena pi Hard a. Snauite 11 ordonna
aux ooupeura de bola, et a une partle de aon in-
fanterie, d'y entrer, de couper lee bola et d'abat-
tre lea terrains bolse's, remplla dârbustes et dif-
flcilea a paaaer aur le ohemin/4, de nlveler et
d'egalleer lea endrolta plelna de rochera et de ra-

vine, et de le8 elargir pour la marche de la cava-
lerle, de 1* infanterie, dea betes de nome, dea vol-

turea et de tout le reate dea bagag.es et du train
de l'arraee*
Invasion de toute la terre des Illyriena
et complete destruction,
$ 68. - Lui-meme, a'avanca ainsl avec toute

Ixvii
l'armee, d'abord dans les terres lnferleures, dans
le8 plalnea, ou la cav*»lerle pouy^lt ae de-
ployer, et la 11 fit tout pareourlr et plller. Aprea

quol 11 dreasa dea e«mps par 8tatlons, et aaccagea
la tirre, en brulant, detrula^nt et aneantlssant
lea frulta et lea terrea eultlvees.
f 69. - Le8 Illyrlens, ay«nt sauve leura enfant s,
leura fe-nraes, leur betall et toutea leura autrea
^lchesses transport*bles aur lea hauteurs dea mon-
tagnea d'un aeces difficile, 6ux«raemes Men ar-
nies, ^v^lent occupe lea terrains coupe8 et for-

/ / / /
tlfles, et les defiles, pour s y defendre contre les
agresseurs,
L* annee attaque et chaaae lea Illyrlens,
et escalade lea -nont^gnea,
\ 70, - Le 3ultan, ayant done pi lie et deVaate
toutea les terrea basses dea Illyrlena, fit une dis~
poaltion partieullere de toutes les troupes de l'ar»

mee, et assallllt alnsl les montagnes, les terrains
diff Idles et les colllnes fortlflees, ou 11 y avalt dea
Illyrlens, leurs enf*nts, feraues et autres blens.
II placa a la tete les archers, les fusiliers et les
frondears, pour tlrer et lancer dea projectiles con-
tre lea Illyrlena, pour lea forcer a ae retlrer plua
en srrlere, et lea refouler en tlrant en haut sur
eux.
lxvlil
Voir le massacre des Illyrlens.
§ 71. - II les fit suivre imme'dlatement D^r l'in-
fanterie legere, par les landers et par les no^-nes
aux boucliers legers, et derrlere ceux«ci vlnrent
tous les hoplites, et monterent, a leur alse et en
aarehe nailitnire, jusqu'ajf une certalne hmiteur, ou
lis forcerent bientot les Illyrlens a lacher le pied.
Ensuite, en pouss-^nt leurs cris de guerre, l'ln*
fanterie legere, les hoplites et les laneiers se pre-
clpiterent au pas de charge sur les enneuis, les
ulrent bientot en fuite, et les poursuivirent en
ainqueurs; lis aassacrerent ceux qu'ils pouvaient

attelndre, ou les faisaient prisonniers. Quelques-
uns d'entre les Illyrlens, voyant les hoplites a leurs
trousses, et ne trouvant aucun refuge, se preci-
plterent des rochers dans les ravins, et perirent.
\ 72. - Toute l'lnfanterie legere et autre, se
dispersant sur les nontngnes, d*ns les endroits
esc^rpes et d*na les ravins, s'empara des en»
fants et des ferwnes des Illyrlens qui ^'y eYaient re.
fugies, et fit butin de tout ce qu'ils avnient
avec eux, de raeme des troupe*mx de betail, cu'on
fit noreher derant soi. En r>arcour«nt et scru-
t«nt toutes les -aontagnes, on y HMMM un rl-

che butin en esclaves, bestiaux et autres, et
l'on fit descendre dqna le caap.

lxlx
5 73. - II perit la un erand nombre d'lllyrlene,

aoit d*na le co^b^t, solt faits prisonniers; le Sul-
tan l'ayant ordonne ainai. Le norabre d'enfana,

de feramea et d'homraes, faita esclaves, montait a
pres de vingt mllle.
§ 74. - Le reste dea Illyrlen8 ae trouvait en parti*
d«ma lea chateaux -fort a, en partie refugie'a dana
d'autres *nontagnes avec leur prince Alexandre,
S 75. - Tl y avalt auasl la une forteresse dea Illy-
rlen8, pour alnal dire, entiereraent imprenable et
dea mleux fortifieea, nominee Krouea (Croja) qui
etît co-iie une eapece d'acropole et de g»rde de
tout le pays, Deja aupsrsvant le pire du
Sultan avpit e«a*ye de differentea manlerecs, par
asssut, p»r de8 canons lanânt dea plerrea, et par

1
un long siege de a en rendre âitre, maia en vain;
t-mt elle est difficile n prendre.
Arrivee du Sultan auprea de Krouea.
$76. - Le Sult e n, a'en etant acDroche, et ayant
vu combien cctte position et*it forte et difficile a

prendre, reaolut de ne paa I'aasXaillir de force,
pour n'y point perdre see peines, ne pas s'y faire

t t
fatiguer et ne point detruire son ar^jee en y sta-

/ v ^ t
tionnant et l'aaaiegeant d^na un siege traine en
longueur, et pour ne pas y perdre lea nonces et
de8 fr^.is inutilem6nt ; mais 11 troura une ''.utre

lxx
mnniere de se rendre maitre de la ville et du pays
eans ces peines et sons ces perils.
£77. - II voulut pour eela fonder une forte

re?se et conatrulre oour oelle*cl des Tars Men
forts, le tout au milieu du pays; et y laleaer
dee troupes sufflsantes, qui feral ent contlnuelle-
ment -es incursions et des pillages, et qui ne per-
mettraient nulle oart aux Illyrlens de sortir dc la
ville, ou de descendre des Tiontagnes pour labou-
rer leurs terree d*ns 1 hiver, ou oour faire paltre

leurs troupeaux ou pour qutre chose queleonque,
mals qui les tlendraient enfermes et souffrant
tous les maux, Jusqu'a ee que les Illyrlens se
sentlralent forces de se souraettre au Sultan.
Construction de la nouvelle forteresse en
Illyrle par le Sultan.
£ 7S. - Ay ant done osreouru le pays en chercharvt
une position eonvenable pour y b^tir une telle
forteresse, 11 trouva les rulnes d'une antique ville
et ses restes, a une place eonven«ble, d^ns un
terrain qui paralssalt autrefois un des plus^
beaux. II ohoislt cette clsce pour sa forteresse. Et,
ayant cogence aux premiers jours de l'ete avec
beaucoup de :nonde, avec zele et a grand es de-
penses, stimulant les travallleurs par son Inspection
personnelle, (oar lul-meme ^t"lt partout present

Ixxi
a 1' execution, dirigeant tout et enoourageant tous
les ouvriers, lea una psr see dl scours, les autrea
par dea presents, et les rendant plus zele's dans
1' execution, ) 11 flnit toute la fortere3se # avant que
l'ete ne fut passe. C'etait une oeuvre digne d'ad-
mimtlon. rule 11 la peupla blen; 11 y assemble
un grand ncnbre dea hnbitans dea villes, vlllagea

et endroits, situea alentour.
£ 79. - II y fit nussi reunir en abondance les
ehoses necess^lres, en provisions de bouche et au.
tree, et toutes les autres choses utiles, qu'il y fit
arriver. Auasi n' oublla-t.il pas les armies, lea ca-
none, lancant dea pierrea, lea borobardes, et toua le8
autres objects qui aervent pour la guerre.

s
s 80. • Tout cela fut fait par lui ai bien, que I'on
nourrît dire qu'il retsblit la ville, conrae elle
pouv^lt avoir ete dans les teîpa anterieura, de la
-âniere la plus anlendide et la plus riche* II y
etabllt aussi une g«rnlson aufflBante, dont le noyau
etait forme par quatre cents ho-oraea, choiais de

aa nropre g*rr5e, lea plua forts et lea plua rompua
a la guerre.
£ 81. • En outre 11 Ipisss d^ns le psys un gene-
ral pour a^trape avee une nrmee suffia^nte. Ce
geneV^l etait un ho^rae dea olua br^vea de s«^ aulte,
exerce n lq ruerre, qui eut ordre de parcourir

lxxil
avec les aoldat8 tout le nays des Illy*
riena, continuellement et s*ne relache, et de bloquer

1*5 vllle de Krouea.
§82. - Le Sultan aymt fnit cela, et ayant ra-
raasse un tres grand butln en esc laves et en bes-

tlaux, nour lui-aeme et oour etre dl atrlbue aux
soldsts, il retourna dsns l'autonme a Byxance, et
l'annee eix ?llle neuf cent solxante quatorzlene
en tout flnlt, qui etalt la seizlerae du re^ne du
Sultan.
$ 91. - (
uand on en etalt la t le Sultan eut la
nouvelle, que le prince "ee Illyrlens, Alexandre,
avslt dcmsnde 1' alliance c ez lea Peonlens, qu'elle
av*lt ete accord ee, qu'll avalt rassenble sea coti-
p?trlotea, ru'll av*lt drease dea erabuchea,
et que s^ns que Palap^n, le s-traoe, que le Sultan
av*»lt lalsae r>our bloquer et «salegcr la vllle de
Krouee, en sut rlen du tout, et l'ayarit deconcerte
pnr cette attnque penernle, -sis en fulte et pour-
euivl, avalt fait un gr»nd carnage de aes gens, et

/ A i
tue le satrape lul-meme, qui avalt lutte en brave,
£92. - On ajoutnlt, qu'Alexandre avalt ensuite
pourvu 1* vlll^ d •aianles provisions de vivres,
dârmes et de toutee les autres choaea neceasalres,
qu'll avalt mis une garni eon mellleure encore,
co-rue 11 en fallal t pour un long siege, qu'll s'en

/ t £ f
etalt retourne, aaltre de tout le pays, assiegeant
lxxlli
la nouvelle vllle et enfermant la garni son.
Seconde expedition du gultan
contre les Illyriens.
£ 93. - Apres avoir recu cette nouvelle, le Sul-
tan ne se possedait plus de fureur, et, sans atten-
dre, il asserabla une tres grand© armee en cavalerle
et infnnterie, la munit Men de tout, et • deja l'hi-
ver etslt passe • avec l*approche du prlnteups il
parti t pour lui faire la guerre. Arrive dans le

pays des Illyriens, 11 le devasta entlerenient, s f erapara
des turtles qui s '

etalent revolts' contre lui, et
fit un pr^nd carnage de ceux-ci. Tout ce qui lui
tomba sous les mains fut v

)ris et renverse. II
pllla, lncendia # saccagea, rulna et aneantit tout.
^ 94. - II poursulvlt aussl leur prince Alexandre,
qui ee refugla de nouveau dans les parties fortl-
fiees et inaccesslbles des raontagnes, et
dans 9<=s habituels repalres et ravins des colllnes,
ne pouvant meme re sister a la vue de 1* armee,
qui faisalt sur lui I'effet d'une tete de fieduse.
^95. - Le Sultan ordonnant et permettant aux

sold at s de pi Her et de butiner tous les prison-
nlers, fit monter dans les montagnes la plus
grande parti e des guerrlers les plus robustes,
sous le eommandeoent de iiacboumout . Lul-meme,
avec le rest© de l'a^raee, continua a psrcourir

iJDClY
tout autour d^ns le rests du pays, saccagennt tout
dans s* roarche et dresB«3nt par stations son caap.
Indiquc, comment les soldats aonder-
ent tous les recoins des raontagnos
et en enmenerent un immense butin#
§96. - Or los soldats, Je veux dire les hoplites,
les archers, les frondeurs et les landers, apres
avoir recu l'ordre du Sultan, partlrent et escala-
derent les plus haute I montagnes, les roc hers et
les parties presque inaeceseibles, comma des
oiseaux de proie, avec leurs arraes; lis parcou-

rurent tout, cosine la cavalerie le feralt dans une
plaine. Ne rencontrant nulle resistance, lis scruter-
ent tout scrupuleusement, et plus que Dntis,
comma I'on dlt, ne l'a fait dans le pays des Ere-
trlens, les montagnes, les ravins, les crevasses,
les repaires, les cavernes, les fentes, les pults
punnts, enfin tous les recoins de la terre, furent
foules. Rlen n'echanpa et ne leur reste eache de
tout ce qu'il y a d 'inaccessible, d'eltdgne, de sau-
vage et de recele dans la terre. Non-aeulement
lis prirent les chateaux-forts et tout ce qui y avait
cherche refuge; male tout le rests fut parcouru
et sourais, fait esclsve, et ravage' dans quinza
Jours en tout.
£ 97. - Et l'on fit le plus grand butin en es-

Ixxv
clsves, hom ties, femes et enfans, en bestiaux
de tous genres, enfin en toute sorte de mobiller,
et tout eela fut deacendu dans le camp.
§ 98. - Le prince des Illyriens Alexandre, quand

11 vit que l'armee domlnalt auasl dana lea mon-
tagnea, prlt en hate la fulte, Je n'al pas su ou.
Le Sultan, apres avoir saccage et ravage' tout le
pays, marcha de nouveau contre Kroues; et, ar-
rive devant la forteresae, 11 y dressa son camp/
y creuaa un fosse et l'enferma tout autour par son
arraee. Puis 11 dreasn lcs raortlers et l'assiegea.
Llvre V. pip. 367-368 . Indique la nature de la maladle.
§ 106. - Volla la nature de la maladle, telle qua

1
ft t \
pour la plupart elle s'est presentee a aol. Quant
au Sultan, ayant pendant peu de Jours assiege
Kroues, cowe 11 reconnut, qu'il lul serait lilipos-
alble de la prendre avec les armes par un assaut
- car la vllle est trea-forte et tout -a -f" it impre-

nable - nl non plus de 8e la falre rend re par per-
auaalon, 11 resolut d'y lalsser una arme'e suffl sprite
avec un general qui contlnueralt le blocus, et de
retourner lul-meme a Byzance; pour ne pas s'ex-
poser en vain, lui-merae et toute son arraee, aux
fatigues et aux pertes; puisqu'll y avalt la poesl-

/ A
bllite de s en rend re maltre par la famine et p^r
un blocus continue'.
I
lxxvi
f 107. - Ay ant dona, oonforrteraent • cette re-
solution, lalsse la un general et une «rmee de
sold "t 3 ehoiais de sa garde, suffls«nte pour pou-
volr aussl Men assleger la ville, que doiiiner tout
le opys; lui-meme, qpres avoir dietribue le butin
et lcs esclaveg dans toute I'arwee, la congedia et
partlt ^vee s^ propre garde pour Byzanoe.
$109* - Arrive dans les environs de Nicopolis
et de Wldin, qui etalent des contrees sal nee et qui
avnlent un air pur, il y pasaa tout l'automne. Puis,
apprenant, apres quelque temps, que la nialadie dl-
minueit, et qu'elle dispar«i gflait dans la eapitale
• oar 11 avait souvent, presque tous les Jours, des
couriers, qui voyageaient en se relayant, et qui
lul annoncnient ce qui y arrivait .11 s*y rendit,
qu^nd l'hiver avalt deja cogence, Ainsi finlt
la six mi lie neuf cent solxsnte-quinzierae annee
en tout, qui fut la dlx-sept lease du repne du
Sultan.
Date Due
Demco 293-5
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
II 111
1 1719

Scanderbeg NOLI

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BOSTON UNIVERSITY CHENERY LIBRARY

Regulations for the Use of Manuscript Theses

This thcs.s by has been

A library which borrows this thesis for use by ts patrons s expected to

NAME and ADDRESS of USER BORROWING LIBRARY DATE

G30RGE CASTRIOTI SCANDERBB&

Fan Stylian Noll

A.M., Boston University, 1939)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

• • • There is f*n abundance of military

knowledge to be plotted out of the lives of

Sweden, *nd of 21 ska the Bohemian; and if a

tolerable account could be got of the exploits

of Sc^nderbeg, it would be inestimable; for

he excells all the officers, ancient and

modern, in the conduct of n small defensive

array. X met with him in the Turkish History

Oeneml James s?olfe

Devizes, Sunday, July 18, 1756

(Wlllson, pp. 296-297)

Ghin Huaaehl »**•«

Restl and Gondola . . . . . 22

3aad -Ed -Din 26

III. WORKS AND COLLECTIONS OF SOURCES . • 28

Hagy and Nyary

Hopf Genealogy ...... 82

Angelo Gene-lo^y ...... 85

Etymology r.nd Descent .... 86

Religion and Polities .... 90

Relatione with Turkey .... 91

Longfellow* a Scsnderbes .... 95

Discrepancies of the Legend . . • 102

Historical Probabilities . . . 104

Date of Birth 104

Early Years ... • 105

Revolt . • ... 109

VI • SCANDKRBliO AGAINST TURKEY AND VENICE . . 110

League of Alesslo . . $ 110

Turkish Surname . . 113

Convention • • ... 114

Vrnetian Observers • ... 117

The First Round . . • . . 117

The Army ... . . 117

The Commander . . 119

Battle of Torvlolll 121

Venetian War . .... 123

War on Two Front* . • . . 125

Treaty of Pe ce . ... 127

Sultan Versus 3e«=>nderbeg . . . 128

Runyadi's Coasovo . . ... 129

Wan di rig . 143

The Dueaghlnia 145

The Berat Di saster • 146

Moses of Dlbra 148

Haraza Castrioti 150

VIII. THE ITALIAN EXPEDITION .... 156

War of Succession 156

Truce With Turkey 157

PI ret Contingent »••»-#« 158

(1421-1451) n« Mehaed II 1 tt51-l48o) successively, for a