Skanderbeg and Ottoman Albania: The League of Lezhë, Wars and Pashaliks

Ottoman forces reached the Albanian lands at the end of the 14th century and had subdued almost all of them by 1479 (Venetian Durrës held out until 1501). In between came a quarter of a century of war under Skanderbeg, the central hero of Albanian history. More than four centuries of Ottoman rule followed, with uprisings, Islamisation and the semi-independent pashaliks of Shkodër and Ioannina.

This is the third chapter of our guide to the history of Albania. It covers the period from the Battle of Savra to the death of Ali Pasha of Tepelena in 1822.

How the Ottomans reached the Balkans

The Ottomans swept through the Balkans quickly because the local rulers were divided and the Ottoman army was stronger. They took control of the Albanian lands in three stages: first vassalage, then conquest and finally direct Ottoman administration.

The Ottomans' first steps in Europe

The Ottoman state took its name from Osman. In 1299 he founded a dynasty that would rule for more than 600 years.

Under Sultan Orhan (1323–1362) the Ottomans took the fortress of Tzympe in 1352 and Gallipoli in 1354. These were their first footholds on the European shore, and from here their advance deep into the Balkans began.

The next sultan, Murad I, ruled from 1362 to 1389. Around 1365–1367 he captured Adrianople (Edirne) and made it his new capital.

Murad I was succeeded by Bayezid I (1389–1402), nicknamed "Yıldırım", the Thunderbolt. He pressed on with the conquests, and in 1392 the Ottomans took Skopje, turning the city into an important strategic base close to the Albanian lands.

Savra and the field of Kosovo

The Balkan rulers tried to join forces, but one coalition after another was defeated. The first was crushed on the Maritsa River in 1371. On 18 September 1385 the Albanian prince Balsha II was killed at the Battle of Savra, near Lushnjë. The third coalition was put together by the Serbian prince Lazar, and Albanian feudal lords fought in it. On 15 June 1389 the Ottomans won on the field of Kosovo, although Sultan Murad I was killed in the battle.

The Battle of Savra shows how quarrels between local princes played into Ottoman hands. In 1385 Karl Topia himself called in Ottoman troops against his rival Balsha II. The result was the battle near Lushnjë, in which Balsha II was killed and the Ottomans gained a foothold in the Albanian lands.

According to the textbook, the Albanian feudal lords Teodor II Muzaka, Dimitër Jonima and Andrea Gropa fought in the coalition of 1389. Gjergj II Balsha is sometimes added to the list, but his participation is disputed. After the defeat on the field of Kosovo many Albanian towns came under Ottoman rule for a time, and the Albanian nobility's dependence on the sultan grew.

Vassals of the sultan

Vassalage was the first stage of the conquest. Vassal princes sent their sons to the sultan's court as hostages, paid an annual tribute and contributed their own troops to Ottoman campaigns.

A respite came after Bayezid I was routed at Ankara in 1402. The Ottoman state fell into turmoil that lasted until 1413, when Mehmed I took the throne. During these years the Albanian princes temporarily regained their lands.

The Sanjak of Albania

Around 1415 the Ottomans created the Sanjak of Albania, with Gjirokastër as its first centre. In 1431–1432 they compiled its land register, the defter. Under the timar system, land was granted to sipahis in exchange for military service.

A timar did not become the sipahi's property: the land remained in state hands, and the sipahi could use it only as long as he performed military service.

This system sparked the great uprising of 1432–1435. One of its leading figures was Gjergj Arianiti, who won a string of victories over the Ottomans. The uprising was put down, but a few years later the Albanians found a new leader.

Gjergj Kastrioti's early years

Gjergj Kastrioti was born in 1405 to Gjon Kastrioti, lord of the lands between Lezhë and Prizren, and his wife Vojsava. His father accepted the sultan's authority and sent his sons to the Ottoman court as hostages, where young Gjergj was given the name Iskander, after Alexander the Great.

Gjon Kastrioti was a reluctant vassal. In 1429–1430 he led an uprising against the Ottomans himself, but it was crushed by the troops of Ishak Bey.

That is the origin of his famous name. The Ottomans called him Iskander Bey, and history remembers him as Skanderbeg (in Albanian, Skënderbeu). He built a military career at the sultan's court, and in 1440 he was appointed sanjakbey of Dibër.

As an Ottoman official, Skanderbeg served among other posts as subaşı of the vilayet of Krujë.

1443: the return and the League of Lezhë

On 3 November 1443, near Niš, the Ottoman army suffered a setback against the Hungarian commander János Hunyadi. Skanderbeg deserted with hundreds of Albanians and, using a forged letter from the sultan, took Krujë on 28 November. Over the fortress he raised a red banner with a black double-headed eagle.

Other fortresses were soon freed as well: Petrela, Guri i Bardhë, Stelush and Svetigrad. The next step was to bring the princes together.

After Krujë, almost all of Central Albania was liberated, from Dibër in the east to the Adriatic. Krujë became the capital of Skanderbeg's state and remained his main stronghold until the end of the war.

On 2 March 1444 the Albanian princes met in the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Lezhë. The undisputed participants include the Arianiti, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Topia and Balsha families; sources differ on who else attended. The assembly agreed to create a common army and a common treasury, and chose Skanderbeg to command the alliance's forces. The members kept their independence, and Skanderbeg was "first among equals".

Why Lezhë, and why Skanderbeg

Lezhë belonged to Venice. The textbook explains the choice like this: the town was close to the lands of every participant, and meeting on neutral Venetian territory took the edge off the rivalry between the princes. The choice was also a friendly gesture towards Venice.

Skanderbeg was picked to lead the league because of his role in the uprising of 1443, the location of the Kastrioti lands, his family and marriage ties, and his personal qualities.

The significance of the League of Lezhë

The assembly of Lezhë was the first known Albanian gathering with such broad representation. For the first time Albanians united in a common organisation, and the League of Lezhë became a model of unity for the centuries that followed.

The league did not abolish the princes' authority: each remained master of his own lands. But a common army, a common treasury and a single commander allowed the Albanians to wage a long war against a far stronger enemy.

Twenty-five years of war

Between 1444 and 1468, with an army of about 15,000 men, Skanderbeg fought more than 23 battles against the Ottomans and Venice. The Ottomans besieged Krujë three times, and each time the fortress held. The main events of the war were these:

The textbook also counts the battles of Kashar and Mokra among the major engagements, along with the war with Venice over the fortress of Deja. During the 1466 campaign the Ottomans built the fortress of Elbasan to keep Skanderbeg's lands under constant threat.

The Albanian struggle lasted about a quarter of a century, and throughout that time it held back the Ottoman advance into Western Europe.

The sieges of Krujë

Krujë was the heart of the resistance. The first siege, in 1450, was led by Sultan Murad II in person and lasted several months, but the town was never taken. Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, came to the walls of Krujë twice, in 1466 and 1467, and also had to withdraw.

So as not to leave the Albanian lands altogether, in 1466 the Ottomans built the nearby fortress of Elbasan. From there they could threaten Skanderbeg's lands even between the major campaigns.

Peace with Venice

The war with Venice of 1447–1448 ended in peace: on 4 October 1448 Venice signed a treaty with the League of Lezhë, represented by Skanderbeg. The sources name different princes as the second signatory.

Not all his companions stayed loyal. In 1456 Skanderbeg's nephew Hamza Kastrioti went over to the Ottomans. The commander Moisi Golemi defected too, but he was defeated and pardoned that same year, and remained loyal to Skanderbeg until his death. Venice was no more reliable as a neighbour: a Venetian document dated 4 May 1448 shows that a plot to assassinate Skanderbeg was being discussed there.

Skanderbeg's state and allies

Over time the league grew into a state: a feudal monarchy with hereditary rule, in which Skanderbeg held the title "Lord of Albania". His lands stretched from the Dukagjin mountains in the north to the Devoll and Seman rivers in the south, and from the Adriatic to the valley of the Black Drin.

The state was run by the Assembly of Albanian Princes, a High Council and a War Council. It had its own symbols (a flag, a coat of arms and a seal), as well as a treasury and officials. To turn an alliance of princes into a single state, Skanderbeg relied on marriage alliances, voluntary accession and force.

Skanderbeg's helmet

One of the most recognisable symbols is Skanderbeg's helmet. It is made of white metal, with a gilded band and a goat's head on top. This emblem is traditionally associated with Pyrrhus of Epirus.

The flag with a black double-headed eagle on a red field, which Skanderbeg raised over Krujë in 1443, also became a symbol of his state.

Allies in the West

He looked to the West for allies:

• Naples. On 26 March 1451 Skanderbeg signed the Treaty of Gaeta with King Alfonso V, accepting his protection in return for support. In 1455 Neapolitan soldiers fought alongside him at the siege of Berat. In 1460–1461 Skanderbeg returned the favour in Italy, fighting in Apulia for King Ferdinand I against the Angevins.

• The Holy See. On 23 December 1457 Pope Callixtus III made him Captain General of the Holy See and gave him the title "Champion of Christ" (Athleta Christi).

• Venice. After years of rivalry, Venice concluded an alliance with Skanderbeg against the Ottomans in 1463.

• Hungary. An important ally was János Hunyadi, who led Hungary's war against the Ottomans. It was his victory near Niš in 1443 that gave Skanderbeg the chance to return home.

A coronation of Skanderbeg was also planned, but it never took place: Pope Pius II died in Ancona in 1464 while preparing a crusade.

In the same year, on 27 April 1463, Skanderbeg signed the Peace of Skopje with the Ottomans, but it did not last. Earlier, on 21 April 1451, he had married Donika, daughter of Gjergj Arianiti, at the Ardenica monastery.

The marriage strengthened his alliance with the Arianiti, one of the most influential families in the League of Lezhë. Skanderbeg's father-in-law, Gjergj Arianiti, had earlier led the uprising of 1432–1435 himself.

Skanderbeg's death and the end of the resistance

Skanderbeg died of malaria in Lezhë on 17 January 1468 and was buried there, in the Church of St Nicholas. Lekë Dukagjini took over the resistance, but without Skanderbeg it could not hold out for long: Krujë fell in 1478 and Shkodër in 1479, despite help from Venice.

With the capture of Durrës in 1501 (the Albas textbook gives 1506), almost all of Albania came under Ottoman rule.

Remembering Skanderbeg

His memory was kept alive almost from the start. Around 1510 a biography of him by the Shkodër humanist Marin Barleti was published in Rome. In 1636 Frang Bardhi published a work in Venice defending him. Today Krujë is home to the National Skanderbeg Museum. He is the subject of a film, "Skanderbeg", and of a novel by Sabri Godo. The book "Skanderbeg" by the German historian Oliver Jens Schmitt sparked a debate in Albania about what the hero was really like.

Frang Bardhi's work was an apology, that is, a defence of Skanderbeg.

Albania under Ottoman rule

After 1479 the Albanian lands remained part of the Ottoman Empire for more than four centuries. They belonged to the Eyalet of Rumelia, which was divided into sanjaks under sanjakbeys, and these were split further into kazas and nahiyes. The land belonged to the state.

Sanjaks, timars and çifliks

According to the textbook, in the first half of the 16th century the Albanian lands were divided into 11 sanjaks. Each sanjak was headed by a sanjakbey.

State land was divided into hass, zeamet and timar holdings, which sipahis used in return for military service. Peasants paid the sipahi a tithe and other dues, and paid the state a poll tax and a livestock tax. The mountain areas kept their self-government: they paid an annual tribute and supplied fighters for military campaigns. In the towns, craftsmen and merchants were organised into esnafs (guilds), which had their own statutes and supported religious institutions and schools.

In economic terms, Albanian villages fell into two zones. One consisted of villages under the timar system, the other of the self-governing mountain areas with their own special status.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the timar system broke down. It was replaced by the çiflik, land held as private property. This change paved the way for the rise of powerful local pashas.

Islamisation and emigration

Islam, service and emigration. After the conquest many Albanians emigrated to Italy, and their descendants, the Arbëreshë, still live in the south of the country. A large share of those who stayed converted to Islam, mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries. Conversion came about through both force and incentives: new converts received gifts, and careers in trade and the army were open mainly to Muslims. Many Muslim Albanians rose to high positions in the Ottoman administration and army.

According to the textbook, by the middle of the 18th century about 70% of the Albanian population had converted to Islam. This is how most Albanians became Muslims.

Sephardic Jews in Vlorë

The Albanian lands also took in newcomers. After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497, many Sephardim settled in Vlorë. The town became the main Sephardic centre in the Albanian lands.

Anti-Ottoman assemblies

Uprisings of the 16th–17th centuries. The textbook describes two paths open to Albanian society at this time: advancement in Ottoman service, or armed resistance. Anti-Ottoman assemblies met in Mat on 7 November 1594, in Blinisht in 1599, and again in 1601 and 1602. In 1607 an uprising broke out under Andrea Manesi. In 1614 two Balkan assemblies were held in Kuči. During the Austro-Ottoman war of 1689, Archbishop Pjetër Bogdani helped rally the Albanians of Kosovo in support of the Austrian army.

The assemblies of 1601 and 1602 were held in Dukagjin and Mat. After the assemblies in Kuči, according to the textbook, two more were held in Serbia in 1616–1620. At such meetings Albanian leaders sought allies among their neighbours and hoped for help from the European powers.

The pashaliks of Shkodër and Ioannina

As the sultan's power weakened in the 18th century, two strong semi-independent domains emerged on Albanian lands: the Pashalik of Shkodër under the Bushati dynasty (1757–1831) and the Pashalik of Ioannina under Ali Pasha of Tepelena (1787–1822). In the end the Porte crushed them both.

The pashaliks did not arise by chance. The timar system had weakened, and in the 18th century the Ottoman Empire was going through a political and economic crisis. In these conditions local pashas concentrated power in their own hands and obeyed Istanbul less and less.

Shkodër: the Bushati family

The pashalik was founded in 1757 by Mehmed Pasha Bushati (the Elder). He restored order, showed tolerance towards Catholics, supported craftsmen and merchants, fought pirates and opened a library of works on Ottoman law in Shkodër. In 1771 the Porte granted the Bushati family the rank of vizier and authority over the sanjaks of Shkodër, Dukagjin, Ohrid and Elbasan.

The Porte was wary of a pasha who had grown too strong. In 1775 Mehmed Pasha Bushati was poisoned, and Mehmed Pasha of Kyustendil was appointed in his place. The Shkodër nobility refused to accept the new ruler, and power returned to the Bushati family.

The most powerful of the Bushati rulers was Kara Mahmud Pasha (1775–1796). In 1780–1785 he took Podgorica and Spuž from Bosnia and brought the Elbasan and Tirana area under his control. In the spring of 1786 he gathered Albanian, Montenegrin, Bosnian and Herzegovinian leaders in Podgorica and founded the "Illyrian Confederation". On 25 November 1787 Mahmud defeated the troops sent against him from Bosnia and Rumelia. He declared an independent state and turned to Austria and Russia for help. In 1791 he led a second uprising and won again. Mahmud was killed on 22 September 1796 at the Battle of Krusi, during a campaign against the Montenegrins.

The textbook describes the years 1780–1785 as the revival of the Pashalik of Shkodër as a state. In 1785 Kara Mahmud defeated Montenegro and forced it to pay a large sum. At the same time he won a victory over the Ottomans, and the European powers, above all Austria and Russia, began to seek ties with him.

His successor, Ibrahim Pasha, remained a vassal of the sultan and was made vali of Rumelia. The last pasha, Mustafa Pasha Bushati, took part in suppressing the Pashalik of Ioannina. In 1831 Reşid Mehmed Pasha besieged him in Rozafa Castle and forced him to surrender, bringing the pashalik to an end.

Ibrahim Pasha also tried to come to terms with his neighbour: he proposed to Ali Pasha of Tepelena that they set aside their personal feud and act together against Napoleon's French forces.

Ioannina: Ali Pasha of Tepelena

Ali Pasha was born around 1743 in Beçisht (some sources say Tepelenë). His pashalik, centred on Ioannina, stretched from Ohrid and the Shkumbin in the north to Thessaly and the Pindus in the south. He created a European-style army, a police force and an intelligence service, built roads, bridges, aqueducts and fortresses, and had his own council (the divan) and treasury.

In the west Ali Pasha's domains reached the Adriatic and Ionian seas, and in the east they extended to the Vardar gorge and the gulfs of Corinth and Thessaloniki. His agents operated not only within the empire but also beyond its borders. Crafts and trade flourished under his rule.

He ran his own foreign policy, dealing directly with Napoleon and Britain. In 1809 Lord Byron visited him and described the meeting in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". In 1820 Ali Pasha proclaimed an autonomous state covering Albanian and Greek lands, and the sultan declared him an outlaw. He fought to the end and was killed in January 1822 on an island in Lake Ioannina.

In 1820 the Porte declared Ali Pasha a rebel and sent troops against him. He refused to surrender. He was killed on 24 January 1822 (Old Style), that is, 5 February (New Style), and his head was sent to Istanbul.

The end of the pashaliks

By suppressing the Pashalik of Ioannina in 1822 and the Pashalik of Shkodër in 1831, the Porte destroyed the two main strongholds of Albanian separatism. Local pashas could no longer rival Istanbul.

At the same time Sultan Mahmud II was reshaping the empire. In June 1826 he abolished the Janissaries in order to build a Western-style army. According to the textbook, in 1832 the timar system, for centuries the foundation of the Ottoman economy, was abolished as well. The next chapter covers this age of reform.

The first books and schools

Most of the first Albanian books were written and published by Catholic priests. After the Baptismal Formula of 1462 and Gjon Buzuku's Meshari ("Missal") of 1555, the works that mark the beginning of Albanian literature followed one after another.

The Baptismal Formula is the oldest known written record of the Albanian language. It was written down by Pal Engjëlli, Archbishop of Durrës. Gjon Buzuku's Meshari ("Missal") is the first printed book in Albanian.

• 1592: the Arbëresh writer Lekë Matrënga publishes the catechism E mbësuame e krishterë ("Christian Teaching").

• 1618: Pjetër Budi publishes "Christian Doctrine"; he is regarded as the first author of original prose and poetry in Albanian.

• 1635: Frang Bardhi publishes the first Latin–Albanian dictionary in Rome, with about 5,640 words.

• 1685: Pjetër Bogdani publishes the theological and philosophical treatise Cuneus Prophetarum ("The Band of the Prophets").

Bardhi's dictionary was titled Dictionarium latino-epiroticum. A year later the same author published his apology for Skanderbeg in Venice, while Pjetër Bogdani was not only a writer but also an archbishop who helped rally the Albanians of Kosovo in 1689.

In the 18th century Voskopojë became an important cultural centre, home to a higher school known as the "New Academy". In the next chapter we explain how a single Albanian alphabet eventually emerged from several different writing systems.

Next: the Albanian National Awakening and independence. Previous: medieval Albania.