Every Albanian knows the name. His statue stands in the main square of Tirana, his eagle is on the flag, and his story is the one grandparents tell. Here is who Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg (Skënderbeu), really was.
From hostage to Ottoman commander
Gjergj Kastrioti was born around 1405 in northern Albania, the son of the nobleman Gjon Kastrioti. He was given as a hostage to the Ottoman sultan, converted to Islam and was educated at Edirne. Sultan Murad II named him Iskender, after Alexander the Great, with the rank of bey. That is where the name Skanderbeg comes from.
1443: the return to Krujë
During the Battle of Niš in 1443, Skanderbeg left the Ottoman army with a few hundred Albanians. By tradition, on 28 November 1443 he took the fortress of Krujë and raised a red flag with a black double-headed eagle, the flag that inspired Albania’s flag today. Read more about the flag.
The League of Lezhë
On 2 March 1444, Albanian noble families met in the church of St Nicholas in Lezhë and formed an alliance, the League of Lezhë, with Skanderbeg as its commander. A few months later, on 29 June 1444, he won his first major victory at Torvioll.
Nearly 25 years of resistance
- 1450: Sultan Murad II besieged Krujë in person and failed to take it.
- 1451: with the Treaty of Gaeta, Skanderbeg accepted Alfonso V of Naples as overlord in exchange for support.
- 1460–61: he campaigned in Italy for Alfonso’s son, Ferdinand I.
- 1466–67: Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, besieged Krujë and failed as well.
Several popes called him Athleta Christi, champion of Christ, and planned a crusade with him that never happened.
Death and legacy
Skanderbeg died of fever in Lezhë on 17 January 1468 and was buried in the same church of St Nicholas. Krujë held out for another ten years before it fell in 1478.
Today he is the national hero of the Albanians. His bronze equestrian statue in Skanderbeg Square, Tirana, was unveiled in 1968 for the 500th anniversary of his death. The National History Museum in Krujë Castle is named after him, and a helmet with a goat’s head crest, attributed to him, is kept in the Imperial Armoury of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Carry the eagle he raised: see the first pieces in our shop.
Sources: Britannica: Skanderbeg · Wikipedia: Skanderbeg’s rebellion · Albanian Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs: League of Lezhë · Wikipedia: Treaty of Gaeta · Kunsthistorisches Museum: Skanderbeg helmet · Wikipedia: Skanderbeg Monument · Wikipedia: Skanderbeg Museum