Gjergj Kastrioti (also known as Skanderbeg; c. 1405 – 17 January 1468) was an Albanian nobleman and military leader who led the League of Lezhë in the Ottoman-Albanian Wars until his death. Skanderbeg is considered to be a major figure of medieval Albanian history and today is the national hero of Albania.
A member of the noble Kastrioti family, Skanderbeg was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman court. He graduated from the Enderun School and entered the service of the Ottoman sultan Murad II (r. 1421–1451) for the next twenty years. His rise through the ranks culminated in his appointment as sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Dibra in 1440. During the Battle of Nish in 1443, he deserted the Ottomans and became the ruler of Krujë and nearby areas extending from Petrelë to Modrič. In March 1444, he established the League of Lezhë, with support from local noblemen, and unified the Albanian principalities.
In 1451, through the Treaty of Gaeta, Skanderbeg recognized de jure the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Naples over Albania, ensuring a protective alliance, although he remained a de facto independent ruler. In 1460–61, he supported Ferdinand I of Naples (r. 1458–1494) in his wars and led an Italian expedition against John II of Anjou (r. 1453–1470). In 1463, he was earmarked to be the chief commander of the crusading forces of Pope Pius II, but the Pope died while the armies were still gathering and the greater European crusade never took place. Together with Venetians, he fought against the Ottomans during the First Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) until his death.
Skanderbeg ranks high in the military history of that time as the most persistent—and ever-victorious—opponent of the Ottoman Empire during its heyday. The central folk hero of the Albanians, Skanderbeg became a central figure in the Albanian National Awakening of the 19th century. He is honored in modern Albania and is commemorated with many monuments and cultural works. Skanderbeg's military skills presented a major obstacle to Ottoman expansion, and many in Western Europe considered him to be a model of Christian resistance against the Ottomans.
The Kastrioti, in comparison to other Albanian noble families, so far remain absent from historical or archival records until their first historical appearance at the end of the 14th century. The historical figure of Konstantin Kastrioti Mazreku is attested in Giovanni Andrea Angelo Flavio Comneno's Genealogia diversarum principum familiarum. Angelo mentions Kastrioti as Constantinus Castriotus, cognomento Meserechus, Aemathiae & Castoriae Princeps (Constantinus Castriotus, surnamed Meserechus, Prince of Aemathia and Castoria). The toponym Castoria has been interpreted as Kastriot, Kastrat in Has, Kastrat in Dibra or the microtoponym "Kostur" near the village of Mazrek in the Has region. In connection to the Kastrioti family name, it is very likely that the name of one of the different Kastriot or Kastrat which were fortified settlements as their etymology shows (castrum) was their family name. The Kastrioti may have originated from this village or probably had acquired it as pronoia. Angelo used the cognomen Meserechus in reference to Skanderbeg and this link to the same name is produced in other sources and reproduced in later ones like Du Cange's Historia Byzantina (1680). These links highlight that the Kastrioti used Mazreku as a name that highlighted their tribal affiliation (farefisni). The name Mazrek(u), which means horse breeder in Albanian, is found throughout all Albanian regions.
Skanderbeg's first name was Gjergj (George) in Albanian. Frang Bardhi in Dictionarium latino-epiroticum (1635) provides two first names in Albanian: Gjeç (Giec) and Gjergj (Gierg). In his personal correspondence in Italian and in most biographies produced after his death in Italy, his name was written as Giorgio. His name on his official seal and signature was Georgius Castriotus Scanderbego (Latin). His correspondence with Slavic states (Republic of Ragusa), was written by scribes like Ninac Vukosalić. 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.
The Ottoman Turks gave him the name اسکندر بگ (İskender bey or İskender beğ), meaning "Lord Alexander", or "Leader Alexander". Skënderbeu and Skënderbej are the Albanian versions, with Skander being the Albanian form of "Alexander". Latinized in Barleti's version as Scanderbegi and translated into English as Skanderbeg or Scanderbeg, the combined appellative is assumed to have been a comparison of Skanderbeg's military skill to that of Alexander the Great. This name was itself used by Skanderbeg even after his re-conversion to Christianity and was later held by his descendants in Italy who became known as the Castriota-Scanderbeg. Skanderbeg always signed himself in Latin: Dominus Albaniae ("Lord of Albania"), and claimed no other titles but that in surviving documents.
The exact birthplace of Skanderbeg remains a subject of historical debate. One of the main Skanderbeg biographers, Frashëri, has, among others, interpreted Gjon Muzaka's book of genealogies, sources of Raffaele Maffei ("il Volterrano"; 1451–1522), and the Ottoman defter (census) of 1467, and placed the birth of Skanderbeg in the small village of Sinë, one of the two villages owned by his grandfather Pal Kastrioti. Fan Noli's placement of the year of his birth in 1405 is now largely agreed upon, after earlier disagreements, and lack of birth documents for him and his siblings.
His father Gjon Kastrioti held territory between Lezhë and Prizren that included Mat, Mirditë and Dibër in north-central Albania. His mother was Voisava, whose origin is disputed. One view holds that she was a Slavic princess from the Polog region, which has been interpreted as her being a possible member of the Serbian Branković family or a local Bulgarian noble family, although there are no primary or archival sources linking Voisava to the Branković family. The other view is that she was a member of the Albanian Muzaka family, daughter of Domenico Moncino Musachi a relative of the Muzaka house. Voisava was mentioned in a work in 1551 by Andrea Angelo Comneno, where he stated: "From the house of Muzaka descends Voisava, the wife of Gjon Kastrioti, Lord of Krujë and Count of Emathia (Mat)."
Skanderbeg had three older brothers: Stanisha, Reposh and Constantine, and five sisters: Mara, Jelena, Angelina, Vlajka and Mamica.
According to the geopolitical contexts of the time, Gjon Kastrioti changed allegiances and religions when allied to Venice as a Catholic and Serbia as an Orthodox Christian. Gjon Kastrioti later became a vassal of the Sultan since the end of the 14th century, and, as a consequence, paid tribute and provided military services to the Ottomans (such as in the Battle of Ankara in 1402). In 1409, he sent his eldest son, Stanisha, to be the Sultan's hostage.
According to Marin Barleti, a primary source, Skanderbeg and his three older brothers, Reposh, Kostandin, and Stanisha, were taken by the Sultan to his court as hostages; however, according to documents, besides Skanderbeg, only one of the brothers of Skanderbeg, probably Stanisha, was taken hostage and had been conscripted into the Devşirme system, a military institute that enrolled Christian boys, converted them to Islam, and trained them to become military officers. 21st-century historians are of the opinion that while Stanisha might have been conscripted at a young age, and had to go through the Devşirme, this was not the case with Skanderbeg, who is assumed to have been sent hostage to the Sultan by his father only at the age of 18.
It was customary at the time that a local chieftain, who had been defeated by the Sultan, would send one of his children to the Sultan's court, where the child would be a hostage for an unspecified time; this way, the Sultan was able to exercise control in the area ruled by the hostage's father. Far from being held in a prison, the hostages were usually sent to the best military schools and trained to become future military leaders.