Who is gjergj kastrioti skenderbeu

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Pendants Necklaces Letter Opener. March 13, — Alban Selamaj. Twitter Facebook Youtube Instagram Pinterest. Sign up. To overcome the disadvantage in numbers, he organized a mobile defense army, which used a hit-and-run tactic that forced the Ottomans to disperse their troops.

This victory echoed across Europe because this was one of the rare occasions when the Ottoman Army was defeated by a European one. However, his rise as a strong force on their borders was seen as a threat to the interests of the Republic and triggered the Albanian-Venetian War of This time the roles were reversed and he was the besieger.

Eventually, the Ottoman officer in charge of the castle promised to surrender. Yet again, the Ottomans were defeated.

He commanded 25 main battles against them of which he was victorious in More generally, his military skills presented a major obstacle to the Ottoman expansion into Western Europe — he is heralded as a Christian hero against the Muslim hordes. According to legend, his sword was so heavy that only his hand could wield it and so sharp that it could slice a man vertically from head to waist.

In , at the same time the year-old Kastrioti-Skanderbeg broke his political allegiance to the Ottomans, he renouncing the Turkish faith of Islam and reconverted to the Roman Catholic faith of his father.

With his military successes against the Turks now well known, Catholic leaders at the Vatican quickly saw an opportunity to gain a valuable ally. Hoping that the Albanian general could provide some protection for the Catholic faith in Western Europe, Pope Eugenius IV also dreamed of beginning a new crusade against Islam, this time to be led by Kastrioti-Skanderbeg. His major supporter, King Alfonso of Naples , made the Albanian general his vassal in Alfonso supplied the Albanian army with needed funds, military equipment, and additional troops, and also acted as a protector by extending sanctuary to Kastrioti-Skanderbeg and his family.

The crusades were also fueled by news of the fall of Constantinople to militant Sultan Mehmed II in A battle against the Turks in left Kastrioti-Skanderbeg victorious but concerned; because of his advancing years he was finding warfare increasingly difficult.

At his death Kastrioti-Skanderbeg left behind him a son, Giovanni Kastrioti, born of the general's wife, Donica Arianiti. Still a young boy at the time of his father's death, Giovanni Kastrioti fled with his mother to Naples, where they were given the sanctuary once promised by King Alfonso. In Giovanni attempted to return to Albania to continue his father's work but was unsuccessful. Only a year before, little more than a decade after Kastrioti-Skanderbeg's death, Albania had succumbed once more to Turkish domination, and its new Muslim rulers now exacted a brutal revenge against the late general's military successes.

The ruling families who were able to escaped; many of those of good family left behind were executed. While much of Western Europe soon came to flower as a result of the Renaissance, Albania and the east endured a withering "dark age," remaining cut off from advances in technology, science, and the arts while the Turks renewed their efforts to destroy the region's economy and culture. Despite these dark years of Turkish rule, the memory of Kastrioti-Skanderbeg served to buoy the Albanian spirit and fuel that country's desire for independence.

A statue of the Albanian hero was eventually erected in the capital city of Tirana, joining others erected elsewhere in the country. Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi's opera Scanderbeg also was written to honor the Albanian hero.

While Kastrioti-Skanderbeg's accomplishments inspired many of the artists and writers who came after him, perhaps the most ironic show of respect was that reportedly given him by his Turkish adversary.

All rights reserved. The Spread of the Muslim Empire The Albanian people, descendants of the Illyrians, occupied the mountainous region of the western Balkans, a remote area extending from what is now Slovenia southward into Greece.