He married Voisava Tripalda who bore 5 daughters, Mara, Jela, Angjelina, Vlajka, and Mamica, and 4 sons, Reposh, Stanisha, Kostandin and Gjergj Kastrioti (who would come to be known as Skanderbeg).

After his conversion to Islam,[2] the young Skanderbeg attended military school in Edirne and led many victorious battles for the Ottoman Empire.

He fought against Greeks, Serbs and Hungarians, and some sources say that he used to maintain secret links with Ragusa, Venice, Ladislaus V of Hungary, and Alfonso I of Naples.

In the assembly of the states of Epirus, Skanderbeg was elected general of the Turkish war and each of the allies engaged to furnish his respective proportion of men and money.

[9] Threatened by Ottoman advances in their homeland, Hungary, and later Naples and Venice – their former enemies – provided the financial backbone and support for Skanderbeg's army.

[13] On 14 May 1450, an Ottoman army, larger than any previous force encountered by Skanderbeg or his men, stormed and overwhelmed the castle of the city of Kruja, capital of the Principality of Kastrioti.

Skanderbeg's death in 1468 did not end the struggle for independence, and fighting continued until 1481, under Lekë Dukagjini, when the Albanian lands were forced to succumb to the Ottoman armies.