Gjergj Kastrioti (c. 1405 – 17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian feudal lord[2][3][4] and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Skanderbeg's name in Slavic is recorded the first time in the 1426 act of sale of St. George's tower to his father Gjon Kastrioti in Hilandar as Геѡрг and appears as Гюрьгь Кастриѡть in his later correspondence in the 1450s.

[40] Although Skanderbeg was summoned home by his relatives when Gjergj Arianiti and Andrew Thopia along with other chiefs from the region between Vlorë and Shkodër organized the Albanian revolt of 1432–1436, he did nothing, remaining loyal to the sultan.

[42] Until May 1438, Skanderbeg controlled a relatively large timar (of the vilayet of Dhimitër Jonima) composed of nine villages which previously belonged to his father (registered as "Giovanni's land", Turkish: Yuvan-ili).

[34] Skanderbeg's Rebellion (1443–1468) Contemporaneous Campaigns (1447–1462) Resistance until the Fall of Shkodra (1468–1479) Beside Barleti, other sources on this period are the Byzantine historians Chalcocondylas, Sphrantzes and Critoboulos, and the Venetian documents, published by Ljubić in "Monumenta spectantia historiam Slavorum Meridionalium".

[53] After capturing some less important surrounding castles (Petrela, Prezë, Guri i Bardhë, Sfetigrad, Modrič, and others) he raised, according to Frashëri, a red standard with a black double-headed eagle on Krujë (Albania uses a similar flag as its national symbol to this day).

[63] Among those who joined the military alliance were the powerful Albanian noble families of Arianiti, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Zaharia, Thopia, Zenevisi, Dushmani and Spani, and also the Serbian nobleman Stefan Crnojević of Zeta.

During the first 8–10 years, Skanderbeg commanded an army of generally 10,000–15,000 soldiers,[citation needed] but only had absolute control over the men from his own dominions, and had to convince the other princes to follow his policies and tactics.

The later affirmation of Skanderbeg and his rise as a strong force on their borders, however, was seen as a menace to the interests of the Republic, leading to a worsening of relations and the dispute over the fortress of Dagnum which triggered the Albanian-Venetian War of 1447–48.

During this brief period of rest, Skanderbeg took up the rebuilding of Krujë and erected a new fortress in Modrica in the Drin Valley near Sfetigrad (which had been lost in a 1448 siege) where Ottoman forces had previously slipped through unhindered.

In 1453, Skanderbeg paid a secret visit to Naples and the Vatican, probably to discuss the new conditions after the fall of Constantinople and the planning of a new crusade which Alfonso would have presented to Pope Nicholas V in a meeting in 1453–54.

[85][better source needed] During this period, skirmishes between Skanderbeg and the Dukagjini family, which had been dragging on for years, were put to an end by a reconciliatory intervention of the Pope, and in 1454, a peace treaty between them was finally reached.

[130] At that point, Skanderbeg relaxed his grip, split his forces, and departed the siege, leaving behind one of his generals, Muzakë Topia, and half of his cavalry on the banks of the Osum River in order to finalize the surrender.

As the captain of the Curia, Skanderbeg appointed the duke of Leukas (Santa Maura), Leonardo III Tocco, formerly the prince of Arta and "despot of the Rhomaeans", a figure known in Southern Epirus, as a lieutenant in his native land.

[140] According to historian C. Marinesco, the death of King Alfonso marked the end of the Aragonese dream of a Mediterranean Empire and also the hope for a new crusade in which Skanderbeg was assigned a leading role.

[citation needed] After Serbian Despot Stefan Branković was dethroned in April 1459, he travelled to Albania and stayed with Skanderbeg and supported his anti-Ottoman activities, forging plans to recapture Serbia from Ottomans and return to Smederevo.

[148] When the situation became critical, Skanderbeg made a three-year armistice with the Ottomans on 17 April 1461, and in late August 1461, landed in Apulia with an expeditionary force of 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry.

[160] However, during an ambush in the same battle, Ballaban managed to capture some important Albanian noblemen, including cavalry commander Moisi Golemi, chief army quartermaster Vladan Gjurica, Skanderbeg's nephew Muzaka, and 18 other officers.

[161] In 1466, on his return trip to Istanbul, Mehmed II expatriated Dorotheos, the Archbishop of Ohrid and his clerks and boyars because of their anti-Ottoman activities and collaboration with rebels from Albania during Skanderbeg's rebellion.

[172] Krujë held out during its fourth siege, started in 1477 by Gedik Ahmed Pasha, until 16 June 1478, when the city was starved to death and finally surrendered to Sultan Mehmed II himself.

After a Tatar who was envious of a young 21 year old Skanderbeg's growing reputation at the Ottoman court challenged him to a duel to the death, the Albanian stripped to his waist and warned his boastful contender not to violate the rules of honor:[195] Scanderbeg, both by voice and countenance, betrayed a wonderful resolution and assurance.

[214] On 27 October 2005, the United States Congress issued a resolution "honoring the 600th anniversary of the birth of Gjergj Kastrioti (Scanderbeg), statesman, diplomat, and military genius, for his role in saving Western Europe from Ottoman occupation.

The first was written at the beginning of 1480 by Serbian writer Martin Segon who was the Catholic Bishop of Ulcinj and one of the most notable 15th-century humanists,[217][218] a short but very important biographical sketch on Skanderbeg (Italian: Narrazioni di Giorgio Castriotto, da i Turchi nella lingua loro chiamato Scander beg, cioe Alesandro Magno).

One of the earliest was the History of the life and deeds of Scanderbeg, Prince of the Epirotes (Latin: Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi, Epirotarum Principis; Rome, 1508), published a mere four decades after Skanderbeg's death, written by Albanian-Venetian historian Marinus Barletius, who, after experiencing the Ottoman capture of his native Scutari firsthand, settled in Padua where he became rector of the parish church of St. Stephan.

[225] Franciscus Blancus, a Catholic bishop born in Albania, also wrote Scanderbegs's biography, Georgius Castriotus, Epirensis vulgo Scanderbegh, Epirotarum Princeps Fortissimus published in Latin in 1636.

[235] Skanderbeg is also mentioned by the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, one of the greatest poets of Serbian literature, in his 1847 epic poem The Mountain Wreath,[236] and in False Tsar Stephen the Little (1851).

Monuments or statues of Skanderbeg have also been erected in the cities of Skopje and Debar, in North Macedonia; Pristina, in Kosovo; Geneva, in Switzerland; Brussels, in Belgium; London, in England; and other settlements in southern Italy where there is an Arbëreshë community.

bio i apostolski pronotar,171 sastavljao je Skenderbegove poveljeScanderbeg intended to go "peronalmente" with an army to assist Hunyadi, but was prevented from doing so by Branković, whose lands he ravaged as punishment for the Serbian desertion of the Christian cause.While the Venetians of Scutari sold food to the Turks, those of Durazzo aided the Albanians... и напуљског краља Алфонса, за кога ce, одбијен од Млечана, тесно везао ...When the Ottoman army arrived Skanderbeg took refuge in Albanian mountains.

However, they did not find Skanderbeg, who had managed to flee to the coast...  taking much booty and many prisoners ... Mehmed II after ravaging the rest of the land, went to Kruje and besieged it for several days.

When he realized that it would not be taken by assault, he decided to return ......  Romam deinde cum venisset, mox domum remeauit, vbi paruo post tempore veneno absumptus dicitur.