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League of Lezhë

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The League of Lezhë (2 March 1444-25 April 1479) was a confederation of all Albanian Principalities,[1] created in the Assembly of Lezha in 2 March 1444.[2][3] The league was led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg and after his death by Lekë Dukagjini. Skanderbeg organized a meeting of Albanian nobles, the Arianits, Dukagjins, Spani, Thopias, Muzakas, and the leaders of the free Albanian principalities from the high mountains, in the town of Lezhë, where the nobles agreed to fight together for mutual gain against the common Turkish enemy and they voted Skanderbeg as their suzerain chief. The League of Lezhë was a confederation and each principality kept its sovereignty.

League of Lezhë
Lidhja Shqiptare e Lezhës
1444–1479
Flag of League of Lezhë
Flag of Skanderbeg and League of Lezhë
League of Lezhë
League of Lezhë
StatusUnion of all Albanian Principalities
CapitalLezhë
Common languagesAlbanian
Religion
Catholic and Orthodox
GovernmentConfederation
Head of the State 
• 1444-1468
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg
• 1468-1479
Lekë Dukagjini
LegislatureAssembly of Noblemen
Historical eraMedeval
• Established
2 March 1444 1444
• Disestablished
25 April 1479 1479
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
File:Flag of Muzakaj.jpg Muzakaj Principality of Berat
Principality of Kastrioti
Principality of Dukagjini
Princedom of Albania
State of Arianiti
Ottoman Albania

Background

After the collapse of Stefan Dushan empire of 1355 in Albania, different local Albanian noblemen created their own dominions. Just like in other parts of Europe when Ottoman forces entered in Albania they found only small principalities in vicious fight against each other. The first organised resistance against the Ottoman forces was that of Balsha II in the battle of Saver (18 September 1385) when Albanian forces were defeated and Balsha II himself was killed. Other Albanian noblemes like Gjergj II Balsha, Theodor II Muzaka, Dhimiter Jonima, Zaharia Gropa and others with their forces participated in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.

In the 15th century the Ottoman Empire began establishing its dominion in the Balkans. No major resistance was offered by local Christian nobles at that period. Many of them were still fighting each other and didn't see the advance of Ottoman forces as a threat to their power. The Ottoman Empire's advance was also facilitated by their policy. Usually when the Turkish forces conquered a territory they either eliminated or coopted the native nobility, thus depriving the population of its natural leaders. Although a civil war broke out between Bayezid I sons', during 1402-1413, none of the Christian forces of the Balkans in that time seized the opportunity to do so, in the contrary Serbs and Hungarians even helped the future sultan Mohammed I seize power, by participating as his allies in the final battle against his brother.[4] After the Ottoman civil war was over in favor of Mehmed I, his forces captured Kruja from Thopia family in 1415, Berat in 1417 from Muzaka, Vlora and Kanina in 1417 from the widow of Balsha and Gjirokastër in 1418 from Zenebishti family.

At the same time the Republic of Venice capture the coastal cities of Albania. Under the pressure from Ottoman Empire and Venetic Republic, the Albanian principalities began to vacillate.[5]

Together with occupation new rulers were appointed and the registration process of the population and properties was done from the Ottoman tax officers. Local population and old nobility was not happy with that and various local rebellions happened that period the most famous ones being those of Gjon Kastrioti in 1429-1430 and Gjergj Araniti in 1432-1435.

In November 1443, Skanderbeg Skanderbeg with his troops capture Kruja which was the capital of principality of the Kastrioti and declared its independence from the Sultan. However a more organised resistance than that of a single principality was needed.[6]

Formation

Skanderbeg's example gave impetus to the liberation movements in Central and Northern Albania. Nearly all princes rejected Ottoman rule, and the large Albanian clans reestablished their principalities. George Kastrioti made efforts to unite all moral and material resources of the individual families in a successful struggle against the Ottomans. To this effect, on 2 March 1444 he called in Lezhë an assembly of the Albanian princes, where almost all of them gathered: the Arianits, Dukagjin, Thopias, Muzakas, as well as the leaders of the free Albanian tribes from the high mountains. In spite of the discord among the princes, they founded a union, which went down in history by the name of the Albanian League of Lezhë. George Kastrioti - Skanderbeg was elected its leader, and commander in chief of its armed forces numbering 8,000 warriors.

In the light of the modern geopolitical science, the League of Lezhë represented an attempt to form a state union. In fact, this was a federation of independent rulers who undertook the duty to follow a common foreign policy, to jointly defend their independence and contribute their armed forces to the alliance. Naturally, it all required a collective budget for covering the military expenditures and each family contributed their mite to the common funds of the League.

At the same time, each clan kept its possessions, its autonomy in solving the internal problems of its own estate. The formation and functioning of the League, of which George Kastrioti was the supreme feudal lord or suzerain, was the most significant attempt to build up an all-Albanian resistance against the Ottoman occupation and, simultaneously, an effort to create, for the span of its short-lived functioning, some sort of a unified Albanian state. It is no accident at all that to this day Skanderbeg is a national hero of the Albanians, and the period of the Albanian League has been perceived by the Albanians as a peak in their history, especially if compared with the subsequent failed attempts, until the beginning of the 20th century, to constitute an independent statehood.

Success

Under Skanderbeg's command the Albanian forces marched east capturing the cities of Dibra and Ohrid. For 25 years, from 1443–1468, Skanderbeg's 10,000 man army marched through Ottoman territory winning against the consistently larger and better supplied Ottoman forces. 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.

Defeat

On May 14, 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.

This city was particularly symbolic to Skanderbeg because he had been appointed suba of Kruja in 1438 by the Ottomans. According to the Chronicles of Ragusa (also known as the Chronicles of Dubrovnik), the fighting lasted four months and thousands of Albanian soldiers lost their lives. Even so, the Ottoman forces were unable to capture the city and had no choice but to retreat before winter set in. In June 1466, Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", led an army of 150,000 soldiers back to Kruja but he still couldn't capture the city. Skanderbeg's death in 1468 did not end the struggle for independence, and fighting continued until 1479 when the Albanian lands were forced to succumb to the superior Ottoman armies.

Battles of the League of Lezha

The League of Lezha fought the following 26 battles against the Ottoman Empire in 35 years (1443–1478):

  1. Siege of Petrela (1443/1444)
  2. Siege of Stelluzi (1443/1444)
  3. First Siege of Sfetigrad (1443/1444)
  4. Battle of Torvioll (1444)
  5. Battle of Mokra (1445)
  6. Battle of Otonetë (1446)
  7. Albanian–Venetian War (1447–1448)
  8. Battle of the Drin (1448)
  9. Battle of Oranik (1448)
  10. Second Siege of Sfetigrad (1449)
  11. First Siege of Krujë (1450)
  12. Siege of Modrica (1452)
  13. Battle of Mokra (1453)
  14. Siege of Berat (1455)
  15. Battle of Oranik (1456)
  16. Battle of Albulena (1457)
  17. Skanderbeg's Italian expedition (1461–1462)
  18. Macedonian campaign (1462)
  19. Macedonian campaign (1463)
  20. Battle of Ochrida (1464)
  21. Battle of Vajkal (1464)
  22. Battle of Vajkal (1465)
  23. Battle of Kashari (1465)
  24. Second Siege of Krujë (1466)
  25. Third Siege of Krujë (1467)
  26. Fourth Siege of Krujë (1478)
  27. Siege of Shkodër (1478)

References

  1. ^ Bibliotheca historica Romaniae: Studies, Issues 61-63 Bibliotheca Historica Romaniae: Studies, Academia Republicii Populare Romîne Authors Academia Republicii Populare Romîne, Academia Republicii Socialiste România Publisher Publishing House of the Academy of the Socialist Republic of Romania, 1964 p.170 ..Skanderbeg united the small Albanian principalities that had been founded in the 12th - 14th centuries...
  2. ^ Southeastern Europe under Ottoman rule, 1354-1804 By Peter F. Sugar page 67 ISBN 0295960337 ([1])
  3. ^ The inner sea: the Mediterranean and its people By Robert Fox page 195 ([2])
  4. ^ East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500 Volume 3 of History of East Central Europe Author Jean W. Sedlar Edition illustrated Publisher University of Washington Press, 1994 ISBN 0295972904, 9780295972909 Length 556 pages page 264
  5. ^ The history of Albania: a brief survey Author Kristo Frashëri Publisher s.n., 1964 p.57
  6. ^ Noli, Fan Stylian, George Castroiti Scanderbeg (1405–1468), International Universities Press, 1947
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