title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: The quantification of cultural dimensions enables people to make cross-regional comparisons and form an image of the differences between not just countries but entire regions. For example, the cultural model of the Mediterranean countries is dominated by high levels of acceptance of inequalities, with uncertainty aversion influencing their choices. With regard to individualism, Mediterranean countries tend to be characterized by moderate levels of individualistic behavior. The same applies to masculinity. Future orientation places Mediterranean countries in a middle ranking, and they show a preference for indulgence values.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Instead of the convergence phenomena experts expected with information technology proliferation (the "global village culture"), cultural differences are still significant today and diversity has tended to increase. So, in order to be able to have respectful cross-cultural relations, we have to be aware of these cultural differences.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: With this model, Geert Hofstede shed light on these differences. The tool can be used to give a general overview and an approximate understanding of other cultures, what to expect from them and how to behave towards groups from other countries.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Geert Hofstede is perhaps the best known sociologist of culture and anthropologist in the context of applications for understanding international business. Many articles and research papers refer to his publications, with over 26,000 citations to his 2001 book "Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations" (which is an updated version of his first publication). The five dimensions model is widely used in many domains of human social life, and particularly in the field of business. Practical applications were developed almost immediately.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: In business it is commonly agreed that communication is one of the primary concerns. So, for professionals who work internationally; people who interact daily with other people from different countries within their company or with other companies abroad; Hofstede's model gives insights into other cultures. In fact, cross-cultural communication requires being aware of cultural differences because what may be considered perfectly acceptable and natural in one country, can be confusing or even offensive in another. All the levels in communication are affected by cultural dimensions: verbals (words and language itself), non-verbals (body language, gestures) and etiquette do's and don'ts (clothing, gift-giving, dining, customs and protocol). This is also valid for written communication, as explained in William Wardrobe's essay "Beyond Hofstede: Cultural applications for communication with Latin American Businesses".


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: In international negotiations, communication style, expectation, issue ranking and goals will change according to the negotiators' countries of origin. If applied properly, an understanding of cultural dimensions should increase success in negotiations and reduce frustration and conflicts. For example, in a negotiation between Chinese and Canadians, the Canadian negotiators may want to reach an agreement and sign a contract, whereas the Chinese negotiators may want to spend more time for non-business activities, small-talk and hospitality with preferences for protocol and form in order to first establish the relationship.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: "When negotiating in Western countries, the objective is to work toward a target of mutual understanding and agreement and 'shake-hands' when that agreement is reached – a cultural signal of the end of negotiations and the start of 'working together'.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: In Middle Eastern countries much negotiation takes place leading into the 'agreement', signified by shaking hands. However, the deal is not complete in the Middle Eastern culture. In fact, it is a cultural sign that 'serious' negotiations are just beginning."


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: These considerations are also true in international management and cross-cultural leadership. Decisions taken have to be based on the country's customs and values.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: When working in international companies, managers may provide training to their employees to make them sensitive to cultural differences, develop nuanced business practices, with protocols across countries. Hofstede's dimensions offer guidelines for defining culturally acceptable approaches to corporate organizations.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: The six-dimension model is very useful in international marketing because it defines national values not only in business context but in general. Marieke de Mooij has studied the application of Hofstede's findings in the field of global branding, advertising strategy and consumer behavior. As companies try to adapt their products and services to local habits and preferences they have to understand the specificity of their market.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: For example, if you want to market cars in a country where the uncertainty avoidance is high, you should emphasize their safety, whereas in other countries you may base your advertisement on the social image they give you.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Cell phone marketing is another interesting example of the application of Hofstede's model for cultural differences: if you want to advertise cell phones in China, you may show a collective experience whereas in the United States you may show how an individual uses it to save time and money.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: The variety of application of Hofstede's abstract theory is so wide that it has even been translated in the field of web designing in which you have to adapt to national preferences according to cultures' values.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Even though Hofstede's model is generally accepted as the most comprehensive framework of national cultures' values by those studying business culture, its validity and its limitations have been extensively criticized.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: The most cited critique is McSweeney. Hofstede replied to that critique and McSweeney responded. Also Ailon deconstructed Hofstede's book "Culture's Consequences" by mirroring it against its own assumptions and logic. Ailon finds inconsistencies at the level of both theory and methodology and cautions against an uncritical reading of Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Hofstede replied to that critique and Ailon responded.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Aside from Hofstede's six cultural dimensions, there are other factors on which culture can be analyzed. There are other levels for assessing culture besides the level of the nation-state. These levels are overlooked often because of the nature of the construction of these levels. There is sampling discrepancy that disqualifies the survey from being authoritative on organizations, or societies, or nations as the interviews involved sales and engineering personnel with few, if any, women and undoubtedly fewer social minorities participating (Moussetes, 2007). Even if country indices were used to control for wealth, latitude, population size, density and growth; privileged males working as engineers or sales personnel in one of the elite organizations of the world, pioneering one of the first multinational projects in history, cannot be claimed to represent their nations.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Hofstede acknowledges that the cultural dimensions he identified, as culture and values, are theoretical constructions. They are tools meant to be used in practical applications. Generalizations about one country's culture are helpful but they have to be regarded as such, i.e. as guidelines for a better understanding. They are group-level dimensions which describe national averages which apply to the population in its entirety. Hofstede's cultural dimensions enable users to distinguish countries but are not about differences between members of societies. They don't necessarily define individuals' personalities. National scores should never be interpreted as deterministic for individuals. For example, a Japanese person can be very comfortable in changing situations whereas on average, Japanese people have high uncertainty avoidance. There are still exceptions to the rule.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Hofstede's theory can be contrasted with its equivalence at individual level: the trait theory about human personality.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Variations on the typologies of collectivism and individualism have been proposed (Triandis, 1995; Gouveia and Ros, 2000). Self-expression and individualism usually increase with economic growth (Inglehart, 1997) independent of any culture, and can help small populations faced with outside competition for resources. (Some examples do exist of collectivist cultures that experienced rapid economic growth yet held on to their collectivist culture, such as the citizens of United Arab Emirates and other GCC nations). Entitled individuals in positions of power embrace autonomy even if they live in a "collective" culture. Like the power index, the individualism and collectivism surveys scatter countries according to predictable economic and demographic patterns (Triandis, 2004), so they might not really inform us at all about any particular organizational dynamic, nor do they inform about the organizational and individual variations within similar socio-economic circumstances. Individual aggregate need careful separation from nation aggregate (Smith et al., 2008). Whereas individuals are the basic subject of psychological analysis (Smith, 2004), the socialization of individuals and their interaction with society is a matter to be studied at the level of families, peers, neighborhoods, schools, cities, and nations each with its own statistical imprint of culture (Smith, 2004). S. Schwartz controlled his value data with GNP and a social index, leading to his proposal of differentiated individual and nation indices of itemized values (Schwartz, 1992; 1994) for cross-cultural comparison. The assumed "isomorphism of constructs" has been central to deciding how to use and understand culture in the managerial sciences (Van de Vijver et al. 2008; Fischer, 2009). As no individual can create his/her discourse and sense-making process in isolation to the rest of society, individuals are poor candidates for cultural sense-making. Postmodern criticism rejects the possibility of any self-determining individual because the unitary, personal self is an illusion of contemporary society evidenced by the necessary reproductions and simulations in language and behavior that individuals engage in to sustain membership in any society (Baudrillard, 1983; Alvesson & Deetz, 2006).


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Within and across countries, individuals are also parts of organizations such as companies. Hofstede acknowledges that "the […] dimensions of national cultures are not relevant for comparing organizations within the same country". In contrast with national cultures embedded in values, organizational cultures are embedded in practices.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: From 1985 to 1987, Hofstede's institute IRIC (Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation) has conducted a separate research project in order to study organizational culture. Including 20 organizational units in two countries (Denmark and the Netherlands), six different dimensions of practices, or communities of practice have been identified:


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Managing international organizations involves understanding both national and organizational cultures. Communities of practice across borders are significant for multinationals in order to hold the company together.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Within the occupational level, there is a certain degree of values and convictions that people hold with respect to the national and organizational cultures they are part of. The culture of management as an occupation has components from national and organizational cultures. This is an important distinction from the organizational level.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: When describing culture, gender differences are largely not taken into consideration. However, there are certain factors that are useful to analyze in the discussion of cross-cultural communication. According to Hofstede's model, men's culture differs greatly from women's culture within each society. Although men and women can often perform the same duties from a technical standpoint, there are often situations to which each gender has a different response. In situations where one gender responds in an alternative manner to their prescribed roles, the other sex may not even accept their deviant gender role. The level of reactions experienced by people exposed to foreign cultures can be compared similarly to the reactions of gender behaviors of the opposite sex. The degree of gender differentiation in a country depends primarily on the culture within that nation and its history.


title: Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

text: Hofstede's masculine-feminine dichotomy divides organizations into those exhibiting either compassion, solidarity, collectivism and universalism, or competition, autonomy, merit, results and responsibility. The bipolar model follows typical distinctions made between liberal or socialist political philosophy for Hofstede. Although liberal economies value assertiveness, autonomy, materialism, aggression, money, competition and rationalism, welfare socialism seeks protection and provision for the weak, greater involvement with the environment, an emphasis on nature and well-being, and a strong respect for quality of life and collective responsibilities. According to Gilligan, this dimension is eurocentric and sexist. During the period of Hofstede's study, 'masculine' societies (USA, Japan, Germany) happened to be the most successful economically, while the successful 'feminine' societies (Scandinavia, Costa Rica, France, Thailand) had smaller populations, less economic scale, and/or strong collective or welfare philosophies.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancient civilizations and are still used in various musical styles to this day.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: There are two types of pentatonic scales: those with semitones (hemitonic) and those without (anhemitonic).


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Musicology commonly classifies pentatonic scales as either "hemitonic" or "anhemitonic". Hemitonic scales contain one or more semitones and anhemitonic scales do not contain semitones. (For example, in Japanese music the anhemitonic "yo" scale is contrasted with the hemitonic "in" scale.) Hemitonic pentatonic scales are also called "ditonic scales", because the largest interval in them is the ditone (e.g., in the scale C–E–F–G–B–C, the interval found between C–E and G–B). (This should not be confused with the identical term also used by musicologists to describe a scale including only two notes.)


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Anhemitonic pentatonic scales can be constructed in many ways. The major pentatonic scale may be thought of as a gapped or incomplete major scale, using scale tones 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the major scale. One construction takes five consecutive pitches from the circle of fifths; starting on C, these are C, G, D, A, and E. Transposing the pitches to fit into one octave rearranges the pitches into the major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G, A.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Another construction works backward: It omits two pitches from a diatonic scale. If one were to begin with a C major scale, for example, one might omit the fourth and the seventh scale degrees, F and B. The remaining notes then make up the major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G, and A.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Omitting the third and seventh degrees of the C major scale obtains the notes for another transpositionally equivalent anhemitonic pentatonic scale: F, G, A, C, D. Omitting the first and fourth degrees of the C major scale gives a third anhemitonic pentatonic scale: G, A, B, D, E.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: The black keys on a piano keyboard comprise a G-flat (or equivalently, F-sharp) major pentatonic scale: G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, D-flat, and E-flat, which is exploited in Chopin's black key étude.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Although various hemitonic pentatonic scales might be called "minor", the term is most commonly applied to the relative minor pentatonic derived from the major pentatonic, using scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the natural minor scale. (It may also be considered a gapped blues scale.) The C minor pentatonic scale, the relative minor of the E-flat pentatonic scale, is C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat. The A minor pentatonic, the relative minor of C pentatonic, comprises the same tones as the C major pentatonic, starting on A, giving A, C, D, E, G. This minor pentatonic contains all three tones of an A minor triad.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: The standard tuning of a guitar uses the notes of an E minor pentatonic scale: E–A–D–G–B–E, contributing to its frequency in popular music.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Japanese mode is based on Phrygian mode, but use scale tones 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 instead of scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Each pentatonic scale found by running up the keys C, D, E, G and A can be thought of as the five scale degrees shared by three different diatonic modes with the two remaining scale degrees removed:


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Each pentatonic scale found by running up the keys C, D, E, G and A features different intervals of notes from the tonic according to the table below. Note the omission of the semitones above (m2) and below (M7) the tonic as well as the tritone (TT).


title: Pentatonic scale

text: While the usual diatonic major and minor chords are commonly played over the pentatonic scale, they do not naturally arise from the pentatonic scale in that they require playing the two additional notes that are omitted from the pentatonic. Instead, pentatonic chords can be constructed by taking the root, third note and fifth note in the pentatonic scale similar to the usual construction of chords in the diatonic scale, which could then be playable over all notes without including extra notes.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: For example, the three chords that naturally arise from the diatonic scale are the major, minor and diminished chords. The three chords that naturally arise from the pentatonic scale however, are inversions of the diatonic minor, major and suspended chords as shown in the table below. In contrast to diatonic chords which stack minor thirds and major thirds, pentatonic chords stack major thirds and perfect fourths.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Chords containing chromatic notes can also be constructed analogously to the diatonic scale. The augmented chord fulfills the remaining M3–M3 stacking sequence, while diminishing or augmenting the third note from the root produces inversions of the diminished chord similar to the construction of sus2 and sus4 chords in the diatonic scale by diminishing or augmenting the third.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Naturals in that table are not the alphabetic series A to G without sharps and flats: Naturals are reciprocals of terms in the Harmonic series (mathematics), which are in practice multiples of a fundamental frequency. This may be derived by proceeding with the principle that historically gives the Pythagorean diatonic and chromatic scales, stacking perfect fifths with 3:2 frequency proportions (C–G–D–A–E). Considering the anhemitonic scale as a subset of a just diatonic scale, it is tuned thus: 20:24:27:30:36 (A–C–D–E–G = ––––). Assigning precise frequency proportions to the pentatonic scales of most cultures is problematic as tuning may be variable.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: For example, the slendro anhemitonic scale and its modes of Java and Bali are said to approach, very roughly, an equally-tempered five-note scale, but their tunings vary dramatically from gamelan to gamelan.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Composer Lou Harrison has been one of the most recent proponents and developers of new pentatonic scales based on historical models. Harrison and William Colvig tuned the slendro scale of the gamelan Si Betty to overtones 16:19:21:24:28 (––––). They tuned the Mills gamelan so that the intervals between scale steps are 8:7–7:6–9:8–8:7–7:6 (––––– = 42:48:56:63:72)


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Examples of its use include Chopin's Etude in G-flat major, op. 10, no. 5, the "Black Key" etude, in the major pentatonic.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Giacomo Puccini used pentatonic scales in his operas "Madama Butterfly" and "Turandot" to imitate east Asian musical styles. Puccini also used whole-tone scales in the former to invoke similar ideas.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Indian classical music has hundreds of ragas, of which many are pentatonic. Examples include Raag Abhogi Kanada (C, D, E-flat, F, A), Raag Bhupali (C, D, E, G, A), Raag Bairagi (C, D-flat, F, G, B-flat), Raag Chandrakauns (C, E-flat, F, A-flat, B), Raag Dhani (C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat), Raag Durga (C, D, F, G, A), Raag Gunakari (C, D-flat, F, G, A-flat), Raag Hamsadhwani (C, D, E, G, B), Raag Hindol (C, E, F#, A, B), Raag Kalavati (C, E, G, A, B-flat), Raag Katyayani (C, D, E-flat, G, A-flat), Raag Malkauns (C, E-flat, F, A-flat, B-flat), Raag Megh (C, D, F, G, B-flat), Raag Shivaranjani (C, D, E-flat, G, A), Raag Shuddha Sarang (C, D, F#, G, B), Raag Tilang (C, E, F, G, B), Raag Vibhas (C, D-flat, E, G, A-flat), Raag Vrindavani Sarang (C, D, F, G, B), and others.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: The major pentatonic scale is the basic scale of the music of China and the music of Mongolia as well as many Southeast Asian musical traditions such as that of the Karen people as well as the indigenous Assamese ethnic groups. The pentatonic scale predominates most Eastern countries as opposed to Western countries where the heptatonic scale is more commonly used. The fundamental tones (without "meri" or "kari" techniques) rendered by the five holes of the Japanese shakuhachi flute play a minor pentatonic scale. The yo scale used in Japanese shomyo Buddhist chants and gagaku imperial court music is an anhemitonic pentatonic scale shown below, which is the fourth mode of the major pentatonic scale.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: In Javanese gamelan music, the slendro scale has five tones, of which four are emphasized in classical music. Another scale, pelog, has seven tones, and is generally played using one of three five-tone subsets known as pathet, in which certain notes are avoided while others are emphasized.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Somali music uses a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes. As with many other aspects of Somali culture and tradition, tastes in music and lyrics are strongly linked with those in nearby Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: In Scottish music, the pentatonic scale is very common. Seumas MacNeill suggests that the Great Highland bagpipe scale with its augmented fourth and diminished seventh is "a device to produce as many pentatonic scales as possible from its nine notes" (although these two features are not in the same scale). Roderick Cannon explains these pentatonic scales and their use in more detail, both in Piobaireachd and light music. It also features in Irish traditional music, either purely or almost so. The minor pentatonic is used in Appalachian folk music. Blackfoot music most often uses anhemitonic tetratonic or pentatonic scales.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: In Andean music, the pentatonic scale is used substantially minor, sometimes major, and seldom "in" scale. In the most ancient genres of Andean music being performed without string instruments (only with winds and percussion), pentatonic melody is often led with parallel fifths and fourths, so formally this music is hexatonic.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Jazz music commonly uses both the major and the minor pentatonic scales. Pentatonic scales are useful for improvisers in modern jazz, pop, and rock contexts because they work well over several chords diatonic to the same key, often better than the parent scale. For example, the blues scale is predominantly derived from the minor pentatonic scale, a very popular scale for improvisation in the realms of blues and rock alike. For instance, over a C major triad (C, E, G) in the key of C major, the note F can be perceived as dissonant as it is a half step above the major third (E) of the chord. It is for this reason commonly avoided. Using the major pentatonic scale is an easy way out of this problem. The scale tones 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 (from the major pentatonic) are either major triad tones (1, 3, 5) or common consonant extensions (2, 6) of major triads. For the corresponding relative minor pentatonic, scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 work the same way, either as minor triad tones (1, 3, 5) or as common extensions (4, 7), as they all avoid being a half step from a chord tone.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: U.S. military cadences, or "jodies", which keep soldiers in step while marching or running, also typically use pentatonic scales.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Hymns and other religious music sometimes use the pentatonic scale; for example, the melody of the hymn "Amazing Grace", one of the most famous pieces in religious music.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: The common pentatonic major and minor scales (C-D-E-G-A and C-E-F-G-B, respectively) are useful in modal composing, as both scales allow a melody to be modally ambiguous between their respective major (Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian) and minor (Aeolian, Phrygian, Dorian) modes (Locrian excluded). With either modal or non-modal writing, however, the "harmonization" of a pentatonic melody does not necessarily have to be derived from only the pentatonic pitches.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: The pentatonic scale plays a significant role in music education, particularly in Orff-based, Kodály-based, and Waldorf methodologies at the primary or elementary level.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: The Orff system places a heavy emphasis on developing creativity through improvisation in children, largely through use of the pentatonic scale. Orff instruments, such as xylophones, bells and other metallophones, use wooden bars, metal bars or bells, which can be removed by the teacher, leaving only those corresponding to the pentatonic scale, which Carl Orff himself believed to be children's native tonality.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: Children begin improvising using only these bars, and over time, more bars are added at the teacher's discretion until the complete diatonic scale is being used. Orff believed that the use of the pentatonic scale at such a young age was appropriate to the development of each child, since the nature of the scale meant that it was impossible for the child to make any real harmonic mistakes.


title: Pentatonic scale

text: In Waldorf education, pentatonic music is considered to be appropriate for young children due to its simplicity and unselfconscious openness of expression. Pentatonic music centered on intervals of the fifth is often sung and played in early childhood; progressively smaller intervals are emphasized within primarily pentatonic as children progress through the early school years. At around nine years of age the music begins to center on first folk music using a six-tone scale, and then the modern diatonic scales, with the goal of reflecting the children's developmental progress in their musical experience. Pentatonic instruments used include lyres, pentatonic flutes, and tone bars; special instruments have been designed and built for the Waldorf curriculum.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Gjergj Kastrioti (; ; 1405 – 17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg ( or "Skënderbej", from ; ), was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.


title: Skanderbeg

text: A member of the noble Kastrioti family, he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman court. He was educated there and entered the service of the Ottoman sultan for the next twenty years. His rise through the ranks culminated in his appointment as "sanjakbey" (governor) of the Sanjak of Dibra in 1440. In 1443, during the Battle of Niš, he deserted the Ottomans and became the ruler of Krujë and the nearby areas extending from central Albania to Sfetigrad, and Modrič. In 1444, with support from local nobles and the Catholic Church in Albania, a general council ("generalis concilium") of Albanian aristocracy was held in the city of Lezhë (under Venetian control). The council proclaimed a union (known in historiography as League of Lezhë) of the small Albanian principalities and fiefdoms under Skanderbeg as its sole leader. This was the first time much of Albania was united under a single leader.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Despite his military valor he was only able to hold his own possessions within the very small area in today's northern Albania where almost all of his victories against the Ottomans took place. 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 Muslims. For 25 years, from 1443 to 1468, Skanderbeg's 10,000-man army marched through Ottoman territory, winning against consistently larger and better-supplied Ottoman forces. He was greatly admired for this.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg always signed himself in ("Lord of Albania"), and claimed no other titles but that in surviving documents. In 1451, through the Treaty of Gaeta, he 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 in his wars and led an expedition against John of Anjou and the barons who supported John's claim to the throne of Naples.


title: Skanderbeg

text: 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 eventuated. Together with Venetians, he fought against the Ottomans during the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) until his death in January 1468. He ranks high in the military history of that time as the most persistent—and ever-victorious—opponent of the Ottoman Empire in its heyday. He became a central figure in the Albanian National Awakening in the 19th century. He is honored in modern Albania, and is commemorated with many monuments and cultural works.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The Kastrioti so far remain absent from historical or archival records in comparison to other Albanian noble families 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 the different Kastriot or Kastrat which were fortified settlements as their etymology shows (castrum) was as 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.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg's first name is "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 is 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.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The Ottoman Turks gave him the name اسکندر بگ "İskender bey" or "İskender beğ", meaning "Lord Alexander", or "Leader Alexander". "Skënderbeu", "Skënderbej" and "Skanderbeg" 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".


title: Skanderbeg

text: There have been many theories on the place where Skanderbeg was born. One of the main Skanderbeg biographers, Frashëri, has, among other, 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 a 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. The other view is that she was a member of Muzaka family, daughter of Dominicus alias Moncinus a relative of Muzaka house. Skanderbeg had three older brothers, Stanisha, Reposh and Constantine, and five sisters, Mara, Jelena, Angelina, Vlajka and Mamica.


title: Skanderbeg

text: 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 (like in the Battle of Ankara 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. Recent 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. The treatment of the hostages was not bad. Far from being held in a prison, the hostages were usually sent to the best military schools and trained to become future military leaders.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman court in Adrianople (Edirne) in 1415, and again in 1423. It is assumed that he remained at Murad II's court as "iç oğlan" for a maximum of three years, where he received military training at Enderun.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The earliest existing record of George's name is the "First Act of Hilandar" from 1426, when Gjon Kastrioti and his four sons donated the right to the proceeds from taxes collected from two villages in Macedonia (in modern Mavrovo and Rostuša, North Macedonia) to the Serbian monastery of Hilandar. Afterwards, between 1426 and 1431, Gjon Kastrioti and his sons, with the exception of Stanisha, purchased four adelphates (rights to reside on monastic territory and receive subsidies from monastic resources) to the Saint George tower and to some property within the monastery as stated in the "Second Act of Hilandar". The area which the Katrioti family had donated to was referred to by the monks in Hilandar as the "Arbanashki pirg" or "Albanian tower". Reposh Kastrioti is listed as "dux illyricus" or "Duke of Illyria" in Hilandar.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After graduating from Enderun, the sultan granted Skanderbeg control over one "timar" (land grant) which was near the territories controlled by his father. His father was concerned that the sultan might order Skanderbeg to occupy his territory and informed Venice about this in April 1428. In the same year John had to seek forgiveness from the Venetian Senate because Skanderbeg participated in Ottoman military campaigns against Christians. In 1430, John was defeated in battle by the Ottoman governor of Skopje, Ishak Bey, and as a result, his territorial possessions were extremely reduced. Later that year, Skanderbeg continued fighting for Murad II in his expeditions, and gained the title of "sipahi". Several scholars have assumed that Skanderbeg was given a fiefdom in Nikopol in northern Bulgaria, because a certain "Iskander bey" is mentioned in a 1430 document holding fiefs there. Although Skanderbeg was summoned home by his relatives when Gjergj Arianiti and Andrew Thopia along with other chiefs from the region between Vlorë and Shkodër organized the Albanian revolt of 1432–1436, he did nothing, remaining loyal to the sultan.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1437–38, he became a "subaşı" (governor) of the Krujë "subaşılık" before Hizir Bey was again appointed to that position in November 1438. Until May 1438, Skanderbeg controlled a relatively large timar (of the vilayet of Dhimitër Jonima) composed of nine villages which previously belonged to his father (registered as "Giovanni's land", ). According to İnalcık, at that time Skanderbeg was referred to in Ottoman documents as "Juvan oglu Iskender bey". It was because of Skanderbeg's display of military merit in several Ottoman campaigns, that Murad II (r. 1421–51) had given him the title of "vali". At that time, Skanderbeg was leading a cavalry unit of 5,000 men.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After his brother Reposh's death on 25 July 1431 and the later deaths of Kostandin and Skanderbeg's father (who died in 1437), Skanderbeg and his surviving brother Stanisha maintained the relations that their father had with the Republic of Ragusa and the Republic of Venice; in 1438 and 1439, they sustained their father's privileges with those states.


title: Skanderbeg

text: During the 1438–43 period, he is thought to have been fighting alongside the Ottomans in their European campaigns, mostly against the Christian forces led by Janos Hunyadi. In 1440 Skanderbeg was appointed sanjakbey of Dibra.


title: Skanderbeg

text: During his stay in Albania as Ottoman governor, he maintained close relations with the population in his father's former properties and also with other Albanian noble families.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Beside Barleti, other sources on this period are the Byzantine historians Chalcocondylas, Sphrantzes and Critoboulos, and the Venetian documents, published by Ljubić in “Monumenta spectantia historiam Slavorum Meridionalium”. The Turkish sources – the chroniclers of the early period (Aşıkpaşazade and the "Tarih-i Al-ı Osman"), and the latter historians (Müneccim Başı) are not at all explicit, and regarding the dates, do not agree with the Western sources. The Turkish chronicles of Neshri, Idris Bitlisi, Ibn Kemal and Sadeddin only mention the first revolt of the “treacherous Iskander” in 846 H. (1442-3), the campaign of Sultan Murad in 851 H. (1447-8) and the last campaign of Mehmed II in 871 H. (1466-7).


title: Skanderbeg

text: In early November 1443, Skanderbeg deserted the forces of Sultan Murad II during the Battle of Niš, while fighting against the crusaders of John Hunyadi. According to some earlier sources, Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army during the Battle of Kunovica on 2 January 1444. Skanderbeg quit the field along with 300 other Albanians serving in the Ottoman army. He immediately led his men to Krujë, where he arrived on 28 November, and by the use of a forged letter from Sultan Murad to the Governor of Krujë he became lord of the city that very day. To reinforce his intention of gaining control of the former domains of Zeta, Skanderbeg proclaimed himself the heir of the Balšić family. After capturing some less important surrounding castles (Petrela, Prezë, Guri i Bardhë, Sfetigrad, Modrič, and others) he raised, according to Frashëri, a red standard with a black double-headed eagle on Krujë (Albania uses a similar flag as its national symbol to this day). Skanderbeg abandoned Islam, reverted to Christianity, and ordered others who had embraced Islam or were Muslim colonists to convert to Christianity or face death. From that time on, the Ottomans referred to Skanderbeg as ""hain" (treacherous) "İskender"". The small court of Skanderbeg consisted of persons of various ethnicities. Ninac Vukosalić, a Serb, was the "dijak" ("scribe", secretary) and chancellor at the court. He was supposedly also the manager of Skanderbeg's bank account in Ragusa. Members of the Gazulli family had important roles in diplomacy, finance, and purchase of arms. John Gazulli, a doctor, was sent to the court of king Matthias Corvinus to coordinate the offensive against Mehmed II. The knight Pal Gazulli was travelling frequently to Italy, and another Gazulli, Andrea, was ambassador of the despot of Morea in Ragusa before becoming a member of Skanderbeg's court in 1462. Some adventurers also followed Skanderbeg, such as a man named John Newport, or Stefan Maramonte who acted as Skanderbeg's ambassador to Milan in 1456, Stjepan Radojevic, who in 1466 provided ships for a trip to Split, Ruscus from Cattaro, and others. The Ragusan Gondola/Gundulić merchant family had a role similar to Gazulli. Correspondence was written in Slavic, Greek, Latin, and Italian. Documents in Latin were written by notaries from Italy or Venetian territories in Albania.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In Albania, the rebellion against the Ottomans had already been smouldering for years before Skanderbeg deserted the Ottoman army. In August 1443, George Arianiti again revolted against the Ottomans in the region of central Albania. Under Venetian patronage, on 2 March 1444, Skanderbeg summoned Albanian noblemen in the Venetian-controlled town of Lezhë and they established a military alliance known in historiography as the League of Lezhë. Among those who joined the military alliance were the powerful Albanian noble families of Arianiti, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Zaharia, Thopia, Zenevisi, Dushmani and Spani, and also the Serbian nobleman Stefan Crnojević of Zeta.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg organized a mobile defense army that forced the Ottomans to disperse their troops, leaving them vulnerable to the hit-and-run tactics of the Albanians. Skanderbeg fought a guerrilla war against the opposing armies by using the mountainous terrain to his advantage. During the first 8–10 years, Skanderbeg commanded an army of generally 10,000–15,000 soldiers, but only had absolute control over the men from his own dominions, and had to convince the other princes to follow his policies and tactics. Skanderbeg occasionally had to pay tribute to the Ottomans, but only in exceptional circumstances, such as during the war with the Venetians or his travel to Italy and perhaps when he was under pressure of Ottoman forces that were too strong.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In the summer of 1444, in the Plain of Torvioll, the united Albanian armies under Skanderbeg faced the Ottomans who were under direct command of the Ottoman general Ali Pasha, with an army of 25,000 men. Skanderbeg had under his command 7,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. 3,000 cavalry were hidden behind enemy lines in a nearby forest under the command of Hamza Kastrioti. At a given signal, they descended, encircled the Ottomans, and gave Skanderbeg a much needed victory. About 8,000 Ottomans were killed and 2,000 were captured. Skanderbeg's first victory echoed across Europe because this was one of the few times that an Ottoman army was defeated in a pitched battle on European soil.


title: Skanderbeg

text: On 10 October 1445, an Ottoman force of 9,000–15,000 men under Firuz Pasha was sent to prevent Skanderbeg from moving into Macedonia. Firuz had heard that the Albanian army had disbanded for the time being, so he planned to move quickly around the Black Drin valley and through Prizren. These movements were picked up by Skanderbeg's scouts, who moved to meet Firuz. The Ottomans were lured into the Mokra valley, and Skanderbeg with a force of 3,500 attacked and defeated the Ottomans. Firuz was killed along with 1,500 of his men. Skanderbeg defeated the Ottomans two more times the following year, once when Ottoman forces from Ohrid suffered severe losses, and again in the Battle of Otonetë on 27 September 1446.


title: Skanderbeg

text: At the beginning of the Albanian insurrection, the Republic of Venice was supportive of Skanderbeg, considering his forces to be a buffer between them and the Ottoman Empire. Lezhë, where the eponymous league was established, was Venetian territory, and the assembly met with the approval of Venice. The later affirmation of Skanderbeg and his rise as a strong force on their borders, however, was seen as a menace to the interests of the Republic, leading to a worsening of relations and the dispute over the fortress of Dagnum which triggered the Albanian-Venetian War of 1447–48. After various attacks against Bar and Ulcinj, along with Đurađ Branković and Stefan Crnojević, and Albanians of the area, the Venetians offered rewards for his assassination. The Venetians sought by every means to overthrow Skanderbeg or bring about his death, even offering a life pension of 100 golden ducats annually for the person who would kill him. During the conflict, Venice invited the Ottomans to attack Skanderbeg simultaneously from the east, facing the Albanians with a two-front conflict.


title: Skanderbeg

text: On 14 May 1448, an Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad II and his son Mehmed laid siege to the castle of Sfetigrad. The Albanian garrison in the castle resisted the frontal assaults of the Ottoman army, while Skanderbeg harassed the besieging forces with the remaining Albanian army under his personal command. On 23 July 1448, Skanderbeg won a battle near Shkodër against a Venetian army led by Andrea Venier. In late summer 1448, due to a lack of potable water, the Albanian garrison eventually surrendered the castle with the condition of safe passage through the Ottoman besieging forces, a condition which was accepted and respected by Sultan Murad II. Primary sources disagree about the reason why the besieged had problems with the water in the castle: While Barleti and Biemmi maintained that a dead dog was found in the castle well, and the garrison refused to drink the water since it might corrupt their soul, another primary source, an Ottoman chronicler, conjectured that the Ottoman forces found and cut the water sources of the castle. Recent historians mostly concur with the Ottoman chronicler's version. Although his loss of men was minimal, Skanderbeg lost the castle of Sfetigrad, which was an important stronghold that controlled the fields of Macedonia to the east. At the same time, he besieged the towns of Durazzo (modern Durrës) and Lezhë which were then under Venetian rule. In August 1448, Skanderbeg defeated Mustafa Pasha in Dibër at the battle of Oranik. Mustafa Pasha lost 3,000 men and was captured, along with twelve high officers. Skanderbeg learned from these officers that it was the Venetians who pushed the Ottomans to invade Albania. The Venetians, upon hearing of the defeat, urged to establish peace. Mustafa Pasha was soon ransomed for 25,000 ducats to the Ottomans.


title: Skanderbeg

text: On 23 July 1448, Skanderbeg crossed the Drin River with 10,000 men, meeting a Venetian force of 15,000 men under the command of Daniele Iurichi, governor of Scutari. Skanderbeg instructed his troops on what to expect and opened battle by ordering a force of archers to open fire on the Venetian line. The battle continued for hours until large groups of Venetian troops began to flee. Skanderbeg, seeing his fleeing adversaries, ordered a full-scale offensive, routing the entire Venetian army. The Republic's soldiers were chased right to the gates of Scutari, and Venetian prisoners were thereafter paraded outside the fortress. The Albanians managed to inflict 2,500 casualties on the Venetian force, capturing 1,000. Skanderbeg's army suffered 400 casualties, most on the right-wing. The peace treaty, negotiated by Georgius Pelino and signed between Skanderbeg and Venice on 4 October 1448, envisioned that Venice would keep Dagnum and its environs, but would cede to Skanderbeg the territory of Buzëgjarpri at the mouth of the river Drin, and also that Skanderbeg would enjoy the privilege of buying, tax-free, 200 horse-loads of salt annually from Durazzo. In addition, Venice would pay Skanderbeg 1,400 ducats. During the period of clashes with Venice, Skanderbeg intensified relations with Alfonso V of Aragon (r. 1416–1458), who was the main rival of Venice in the Adriatic, where his dreams for an empire were always opposed by the Venetians.


title: Skanderbeg

text: One of the reasons Skanderbeg agreed to sign the peace treaty with Venice was the advance of John Hunyadi's army in Kosovo and his invitation for Skanderbeg to join the expedition against the sultan. However, the Albanian army under Skanderbeg did not participate in this battle as he was prevented from joining with Hunyadi's army. It is believed that he was delayed by Đurađ Branković, then allied with Sultan Murad II, although Brankovic's exact role is disputed. Skanderbeg was outraged at the fact that he had been prevented in participating in a battle which could have changed the fate of his homeland if not the entirety of the Balkan Peninsula. As a result of this he let his armies raid into Kosovo, he then set fire to Serbian villages and slaughtered their inhabitants to punish Brankovic. He then returned to Krujë towards the end of November. He appears to have marched to join Hunyadi immediately after making peace with the Venetians, and to have been only 20 miles from Kosovo Polje when the Hungarian army finally broke.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In June 1450, two years after the Ottomans had captured Sfetigrad, they laid siege to Krujë with an army numbering approximately 100,000 men and led again by Sultan Murad II himself and his son, Mehmed II. Following a scorched earth strategy (thus denying the Ottomans the use of necessary local resources), Skanderbeg left a protective garrison of 1,500 men under one of his most trusted lieutenants, Vrana Konti, while, with the remainder of the army, which included many Slavs, Germans, Frenchmen and Italians, he harassed the Ottoman camps around Krujë by continuously attacking Sultan Murad II's supply caravans. The garrison repelled three major direct assaults on the city walls by the Ottomans, causing great losses to the besieging forces. Ottoman attempts at finding and cutting the water sources failed, as did a sapped tunnel, which collapsed suddenly. An offer of 300,000 "aspra" (Ottoman silver coins) and a promise of a high rank as an officer in the Ottoman army made to Vrana Konti, were both rejected by him.


title: Skanderbeg

text: During the First Siege of Krujë, the Venetian merchants from Scutari sold food to the Ottoman army and those of Durazzo supplied Skanderbeg's army. An angry attack by Skanderbeg on the Venetian caravans raised tension between him and the Republic, but the case was resolved with the help of the "bailo" of Durazzo who stopped the Venetian merchants from any longer furnishing the Ottomans. Venetians' help to the Ottomans notwithstanding, by September 1450, the Ottoman camp was in disarray, as the castle was still not taken, the morale had sunk, and disease was running rampant. Murad II acknowledged that he could not capture the castle of Krujë by force of arms before the winter, and in October 1450, he lifted the siege and made his way to Edirne. The Ottomans suffered 20,000 casualties during the siege, and many more died as Murad escaped Albania. A few months later, on 3 February 1451, Murad died in Edirne and was succeeded by his son Mehmed II (r. 1451–1481).


title: Skanderbeg

text: After the siege, Skanderbeg was at the end of his resources. He lost all of his possessions except Krujë. The other nobles from the region of Albania allied with Murad II as he came to save them from the oppression. Even after the sultan's withdrawal, they rejected Skanderbeg's efforts to enforce his authority over their domains. Skanderbeg then traveled to Ragusa, urging for assistance, and the Ragusans informed Pope Nicholas V. Through financial assistance, Skanderbeg managed to hold Krujë and regain much of his territory. Skanderbeg's success brought praise from all over Europe and ambassadors were sent to him from Rome, Naples, Hungary, and Burgundy.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Although Skanderbeg had achieved success in resisting Murad II himself, harvests were unproductive and famine was widespread. After being rejected by the Venetians, Skanderbeg established closer connections with King Alfonso V who, in January 1451, appointed him as ""captain general of the king of Aragon"". Following Skanderbeg's requests, King Alfonso V helped him in this situation and the two parties signed the Treaty of Gaeta on 26 March 1451, according to which Skanderbeg was formally a vassal in exchange for military aid. Authors have disagreed on whether Krujë belonged to Skanderbeg or to Alfonso V; while C. Marinesco claimed that Krujë no longer belonged to Skanderbeg, but to Alfonso, who exercised his power through his viceroy, this thesis was rejected by A. Gegaj, who claimed that the disproportion in numbers between the Spanish forces (100) and Skanderbeg's (around 10–15 thousand) clearly showed that the city belonged to Skanderbeg. It is presumed that Skanderbeg "de facto" had full control over his territories: while Naples' archives registered payments and supplies sent to Skanderbeg, they do not mention any kind of payment or tribute by Skanderbeg to Alfonso, except for various Ottoman war prisoners and banners sent by him as a gift to the King. More explicitly, Skanderbeg recognized Alfonso's sovereignty over his lands in exchange for help against the Ottomans. King Alfonso pledged to respect the old privileges of Krujë and Albanian territories and to pay Skanderbeg an annual 1,500 ducats, while Skanderbeg pledged to make his fealty to King Alfonso only after the expulsion of Ottomans from his lands, a condition never reached in Skanderbeg's lifetime.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg married Donika, the daughter of George Arianit Komneni, one of the most influential Albanian noblemen, strengthening the ties between them, a month after the treaty on 21 April 1451 in the Orthodox Ardenica Monastery, Their only child was Gjon Kastrioti II, however an elder daughter named Voisava is mentioned in some sources as well.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1451, Mehmed was focused on defeating the Karamanids and Menteşe in the East, but it was in his intentions to return to Albania. During this brief period of rest, Skanderbeg took up the rebuilding of Krujë and erected a new fortress in Modrica in the Drin Valley near Sfetigrad (which had been lost in a 1448 siege) where Ottoman forces had previously slipped through unhindered. The fortress was constructed in the heat of summer within a few months when few Ottoman posts were present. This came as a huge blow to Ottoman efforts whose Albanian operations were thus inhibited.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Right after the Treaty of Gaeta, Alfonso V signed other treaties with the rest of the most important Albanian noblemen, including George Arianit Komneni, and with the Despot of the Morea, Demetrios Palaiologos. These efforts show that Alfonso thought about a crusade starting from Albania and Morea, which however never took place. Following the treaty, in the end of May 1451, a small detachment of 100 Catalan soldiers, headed by Bernard Vaquer, was established at the castle of Krujë. One year later, in May 1452, another Catalan nobleman, Ramon d'Ortafà, came to Krujë with the title of viceroy. In 1453, Skanderbeg paid a secret visit to Naples and the Vatican, probably to discuss the new conditions after the fall of Constantinople and the planning of a new crusade which Alfonso would have presented to Pope Nicholas V in a meeting in 1453–54. During the five years which followed the first siege of Krujë, Albania was allowed some respite as the new sultan set out to conquer the last vestiges of the Byzantine Empire, but in 1452 the newly acceded Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II ordered his first campaign against Skanderbeg. An expedition was sent under the dual-command of Tahip Pasha, the main commander, and Hamza Pasha, his subordinate, with an army of c. 25,000 men split between the two.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg gathered 14,000 men and marched against the Ottoman army. Skanderbeg planned to first defeat Hamza and then to move around Tahip and encircle him. Skanderbeg did not give Hamza much time to prepare and, on 21 July, he assaulted immediately. The fierce attack made short work of the Ottoman force, resulting in them fleeing. The same day Skanderbeg attacked Tahip's army and defeated them, with Tahip killed and the Ottomans were thus left without their commander as they fled. Skanderbeg's victory over a ruler even more powerful than Murad came as a great surprise to the Albanians. During this period, skirmishes between Skanderbeg and the Dukagjini family, which had been dragging on for years, were put to an end by a reconciliatory intervention of the Pope, and in 1454, a peace treaty between them was finally reached.


title: Skanderbeg

text: On 22 April 1453, Mehmed sent another expedition to Albania under Ibrahim Pasha. The same day, despite the storms, Skanderbeg launched a swift cavalry attack which broke into the enemy camp causing disorder and chaos. Ibrahim was killed in action along with 3,000 of his men. Skanderbeg's army continued looting before returning to Debar. He returned triumphantly with his army with whom he had split his booty. Five weeks later Mehmed II captured Constantinople, which deeply troubled the Christian states of Europe. Mehmed, by then called "the Conqueror", turned his attention to finally defeating the Kingdom of Hungary and crossing into Italy.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg informed King Alfonso that he had conquered some territories and a castle, and Alfonso replied some days later that soon Ramon d'Ortafà would return to continue the war against the Ottomans and promised more troops and supplies. In the beginning of 1454, Skanderbeg and the Venetians informed King Alfonso and the Pope about a possible Ottoman invasion and asked for help. The Pope sent 3,000 ducats while Alfonso sent 500 infantry and a certain amount of money to Skanderbeg. Meanwhile, the Venetian Senate was resenting Skanderbeg's alliance with Naples, an old enemy of Venice. Frequently they delayed their tributes to Skanderbeg and this was long a matter of dispute between the parties, with Skanderbeg threatening war on Venice at least three times between 1448 and 1458, and Venice conceding in a conciliatory tone.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In June 1454, Ramon d'Ortafà returned to Krujë, this time with the title of viceroy of Albania, Greece, and Slavonia, with a personal letter to Skanderbeg as the Captain-General of the Neapolitan-aligned armed forces in parts of Albania ("Magnifico et strenuo viro Georgio Castrioti, dicto Scandarbech, gentium armorum nostrarum in partibus Albanie generali capitaneo, consiliario fideli nobis dilecto"). Along with d'Ortafà, King Alfonso V also sent the clerics Fra Lorenzo da Palerino and Fra Giovanni dell'Aquila to Albania with a flag embroidered with a white cross as a symbol of the Crusade which was about to begin. Even though this crusade never materialized, the Neapolitan troops were used in the Siege of Berat, where they were almost entirely annihilated and were never replaced.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The Siege of Berat, the first real test between the armies of the new sultan and Skanderbeg, ended up in an Ottoman victory. Skanderbeg besieged the town's castle for months, causing the demoralized Ottoman officer in charge of the castle to promise his surrender. At that point, Skanderbeg relaxed his grip, split his forces, and departed the siege, leaving behind one of his generals, Muzakë Topia, and half of his cavalry on the banks of the Osum River in order to finalize the surrender. It was a costly error—the Ottomans saw this moment as an opportunity for attack and sent a large cavalry force, led by Isak-Beg, to reinforce the garrison. The Albanian forces lulled into a false sense of security. The Ottomans caught the Albanian cavalry by surprise while they were resting on the banks of the Osum River, and almost all the 5,000 Albanian cavalry laying siege to Berat was killed. Most of the forces belonged to George Arianiti, whose role as Skanderbeg's greatest support diminished after the defeat. The attitude of other Albanian nobility was also somewhat affected.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Moisi Golemi defected to the Ottomans and returned to Albania in 1456 as the commander of an Ottoman army of 15,000 men, but he was defeated by Skanderbeg in the Battle of Oranik and lost his territory of Debar to Skanderbeg toward the end of March 1456. On 5 April 1456, Skanderbeg entered Kruja and Moisi fled to him professing his willingness to take up arms against the Ottomans, and Skanderbeg pardoned him, remaining loyal until his death in 1464. From time to time, Venice succeeded in stirring up Skanderbeg's relatives and weaker neighbors, who set up in opposition to him the elderly George Arianiti as "captain of all Albania" from Scutari to Durrazo in 1456, but in clan warfare Skanderbeg usually had the upper hand. Skanderbeg took over possessions of the Zenevisi and the Balšić as well. Skanderbeg's followers that ruled over northern Albania and all of the chieftains on both sides of the Tomor mountains remained loyal to him.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1456, one of Skanderbeg's nephews, George Strez Balšić, sold the Modrič fortress (now in North Macedonia) to the Ottomans for 30,000 silver ducats. He tried to cover up the act; however, his treason was discovered and he was sent to prison in Naples. In 1456, Skanderbeg's son, John Castriot II, was born. Hamza Kastrioti, Skanderbeg's own nephew and his closest collaborator, lost his hope of succession after the birth of Skanderbeg's son and defected to the Ottomans in the same year. In the summer of 1457, an Ottoman army numbering approximately 70,000 men invaded Albania with the hope of destroying Albanian resistance once and for all. This army was led by Isak-Beg and Hamza Kastrioti, the commander who knew all about Albanian tactics and strategy. After wreaking much damage to the countryside, the Ottoman army set up camp at Ujebardha field, halfway between Lezhë and Krujë. After having avoided the enemy for months, calmly giving to the Ottomans and his European neighbours the impression that he was defeated, on 2 September Skanderbeg attacked the Ottoman forces in their encampments and defeated them killing 15,000 Ottomans, capturing 15,000 and 24 standards, and all the riches in the camp. This was one of the most famous victories of Skanderbeg over the Ottomans, which led to a five-year peace treaty with Sultan Mehmed II. Hamza was captured and sent to detention in Naples.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After the victorious Battle of Ujëbardha, Skanderbeg's relations with the Papacy under Pope Calixtus III were intensified. The reason was that during this time, Skanderbeg's military undertakings involved considerable expense in which the contribution of Alfonso V of Aragon was not sufficient to defray. In 1457, Skanderbeg requested help from Calixtus III. Being himself in financial difficulties, the pope could do no more than send Skanderbeg a single galley and a modest sum of money, promising more ships and larger amounts of money in the future. On 23 December 1457, Calixtus III declared Skanderbeg a Captain-General of the Curia (Holy See) in the war against the Ottomans. The Pope gave him the title "Athleta Christi", or "Champion of Christ".


title: Skanderbeg

text: Meanwhile, Ragusa bluntly refused to release the funds which had been collected in Dalmatia for the crusade and which, according to the Pope, were to have been distributed in equal parts to Hungary, Bosnia, and Albania. The Ragusans even entered into negotiations with Mehmed. At the end of December 1457, Calixtus threatened Venice with an interdict and repeated the threat in February 1458. As the captain of the Curia, Skanderbeg appointed the duke of Leukas (Santa Maura), Leonardo III Tocco, formerly the prince of Arta and "despot of the Rhomaeans", a figure known in Southern Epirus, as a lieutenant in his native land.


title: Skanderbeg

text: On 27 June 1458, King Alfonso V died at Naples and Skanderbeg sent emissaries to his son and successor, King Ferdinand. According to historian C. Marinesco, the death of King Alfonso marked the end of the Aragonese dream of a Mediterranean Empire and also the hope for a new crusade in which Skanderbeg was assigned a leading role. The relationship of Skanderbeg with the Kingdom of Naples continued after Alfonso V's death, but the situation had changed. Ferdinand I was not as able as his father and now it was Skanderbeg's turn to help King Ferdinand to regain and maintain his kingdom. In 1459 Skanderbeg captured the fortress of Sati from the Ottoman Empire and ceded it to Venice in order to secure cordial relationship with Signoria. The reconciliation reached the point where Pope Pius II suggested entrusting Skanderbeg's dominions to Venice during his Italian expedition.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After Serbian Despot Stefan Branković was dethroned in April 1459, he travelled to Albania and stayed with Skanderbeg and supported his anti-Ottoman activities, forging plans to recapture Serbia from Ottomans and return to Smederevo. In November 1460 Despot Stefan married Angelina Arianiti, the sister of Skanderbeg's wife Donika. Skanderbeg gave the dethroned Despot Stefan an unknown estate as appanage. With Skanderbeg's recommendations, Despot Stefan moved to Italy in 1461 or 1466.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1460, King Ferdinand had serious problems with another uprising of the Angevins and asked for help from Skanderbeg. This invitation worried King Ferdinand's opponents, and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta declared that if Ferdinand of Naples received Skanderbeg, Malatesta would go to the Ottomans. In the month of September 1460, Skanderbeg dispatched a company of 500 cavalry under his nephew, Ivan Strez Balšić.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Ferdinand's main rival Prince of Taranto Giovanni Antonio Orsini tried to dissuade Skanderbeg from this enterprise and even offered him an alliance. This did not affect Skanderbeg, who answered on 31 October 1460, that he owed fealty to the Aragon family, especially in times of hardship. In his response to Orsini, Skanderbeg mentioned that the Albanians never betray their friends and that they are the descendants of Pyrrhus of Epirus, and reminded Orsini of Pyrrhus' victories in southern Italy. When the situation became critical, Skanderbeg made a three-year armistice with the Ottomans on 17 April 1461, and in late August 1461, landed in Apulia with an expeditionary force of 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. At Barletta and Trani, he managed to defeat the Italian and Angevin forces of Orsini of Taranto, secured King Ferdinand's throne, and returned to Albania. King Ferdinand was grateful to Skanderbeg for this intervention for the rest of his life: at Skanderbeg's death, he rewarded his descendants with the castle of Trani, and the properties of Monte Sant'Angelo and San Giovanni Rotondo.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After securing Naples, Skanderbeg returned home after being informed of Ottoman movements. There were three Ottoman armies approaching Albania. The first, under the command of Sinan Pasha, was defeated at Mokra (in Makedonski Brod). Upon hearing of the defeat, Mehmed II dispatched a second army under Hasan Bey. Skanderbeg and Hasan confronted each other in Mokra where the latter was defeated and lost the majority of his forces as well as being wounded himself, he surrendered to Skanderbeg and was imprisoned. The second army, under the command of Hasan bey, was defeated in Ohrid, where the Ottoman commander was captured. The third Ottoman army, a force of 30,000 under Karaza bey was defeated in the region of Skopje. This forced Sultan Mehmed II to agree to a 10-year armistice which was signed in April 1463 in Skopje. Skanderbeg did not want peace, but Tanush Thopia's willingness for peace prevailed. Tanush himself went to Tivoli to explain to the Pope why Skanderbeg had opted for peace with Mehmed II. He pointed out that Skanderbeg would be ready to go back to war should the Pope ask for it.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Meanwhile, the position of Venice towards Skanderbeg had changed perceptibly because it entered a war with the Ottomans (1463–79). During this period Venice saw Skanderbeg as an invaluable ally, and on 20 August 1463, the 1448 peace treaty was renewed with other conditions added: the right of asylum in Venice, an article stipulating that any Venetian–Ottoman treaty would include a guarantee of Albanian independence, and allowing the presence of several Venetian ships in the Adriatic around Lezhë. In November 1463, Pope Pius II tried to organize a new crusade against the Ottomans, similar to what Pope Nicholas V and Pope Calixtus III tried before. Pius II invited all Christian nobility to join, and the Venetians immediately answered the appeal. So did Skanderbeg, who on 27 November 1463 declared war on the Ottomans when a force of 14,000 was sent under the command of Şeremet bey to reinforce fortresses in the area of Ohrid. Due to the upcoming crusade the Republic of Venice decided to aid Skanderbeg by sending 500 cavalry and 500 infantry under the "condottiero" Antonio da Cosenza, also known as Cimarosto. On 14 or 15 September after luring the Ottomans out of the gates of Ohrid and feigning a retreat, Skanderbeg's forces assaulted and defeated the Ottoman garrison. Şeremet lost 10,000 men and his son was captured. The remainder of the Ottoman forces were pursued by the Albanian-Venetian ones. Pius II's planned crusade envisioned assembling 20,000 soldiers in Taranto, while another 20,000 would be gathered by Skanderbeg. They would have been marshalled in Durazzo under Skanderbeg's leadership and would have formed the central front against the Ottomans. However, Pius II died in August 1464, at the crucial moment when the crusading armies were gathering and preparing to march in Ancona, and Skanderbeg was again left alone facing the Ottomans.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In April 1465, at the Battle of Vaikal, Skanderbeg fought and defeated Ballaban Badera, an Ottoman Albanian sanjakbey of Ohrid. However, during an ambush in the same battle, Ballaban managed to capture some important Albanian noblemen, including cavalry commander Moisi Golemi, chief army quartermaster Vladan Gjurica, Skanderbeg's nephew Muzaka, and 18 other officers. These were immediately sent to Constantinople where they were skinned alive for fifteen days and later cut to pieces and thrown to the dogs. Skanderbeg's pleas to have them back, by either ransom or prisoner exchange, failed. Later that same year, two other Ottoman armies appeared on the borders. The commander of one of the Ottoman armies was Ballaban Pasha, who, together with Jakup Bey, the commander of the second army, planned a double-flank envelopment. Skanderbeg, however, attacked Ballaban's forces at the Second Battle of Vajkal, where the Ottomans were defeated. This time, all Ottoman prisoners were slain in an act of revenge for the previous execution of Albanian captains. The other Ottoman army, under the command of Jakup Bey, was also defeated some days later in Kashari field near Tirana.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1466, Sultan Mehmed II personally led an army of 30,000 into Albania and laid the Second Siege of Krujë, as his father had attempted 16 years earlier. The town was defended by a garrison of 4,400 men, led by Prince Tanush Thopia. After several months of siege, destruction and killings all over the country, Mehmed II, like his father, saw that seizing Krujë was impossible for him to accomplish by force of arms. Subsequently, he left the siege to return to Istanbul. However, he left the force of 30,000 men under Ballaban Pasha to maintain the siege by building a castle in central Albania, which he named "Il-basan" (modern Elbasan), in order to support the siege. Durazzo would be the next target of the sultan in order to be used as a strong base opposite the Italian coast.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1466, on his return trip to Istanbul, Mehmed II expatriated Dorotheos, the Archbishop of Ohrid and his clerks and boyars because of their anti-Ottoman activities and collaboration with rebels from Albania during Skanderbeg's rebellion.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg spent the following winter of 1466–67 in Italy, of which several weeks were spent in Rome trying to persuade Pope Paul II to give him money. At one point, he was unable to pay for his hotel bill, and he commented bitterly that he should be fighting against the Church rather than the Ottomans. Only when Skanderbeg left for Naples did Pope Paul II give him 2,300 ducats. The court of Naples, whose policy in the Balkans hinged on Skanderbeg's resistance, was more generous with money, armaments, and supplies. However, it is probably better to say that Skanderbeg financed and equipped his troops largely from local resources, richly supplemented by Ottoman booty. It is safe to say that the papacy was generous with praise and encouragement, but its financial subsidies were limited. It is possible that the Curia only provided to Skanderbeg 20,000 ducats in all, which could have paid the wages of 20 men over the whole period of conflict.


title: Skanderbeg

text: However, on his return he allied with Lekë Dukagjini, and together on 19 April 1467, they first attacked and defeated, in the Krrabë region, the Ottoman reinforcements commanded by Yonuz, Ballaban's brother. Yonuz himself and his son, Haydar were taken prisoner. Four days later, on 23 April 1467, they attacked the Ottoman forces laying siege to Krujë. The Second Siege of Krujë was eventually broken, resulting in the death of Ballaban Pasha by an Albanian arquebusier named George Aleksi.


title: Skanderbeg

text: With the death of Ballaban, Ottoman forces were left surrounded and according to Bernandino de Geraldinis, a Neapolitan functionary, 10,000 men remained in the besieging camp. Those inside the encirclement asked to leave freely to Ottoman territory, offering to surrender all that was within the camp to the Albanians. Skanderbeg was prepared to accept, but many nobles refused. The Albanians thus began to annihilate the surrounded Ottoman army before they cut a narrow path through their opponents and fled through Dibra. On 23 April 1467, Skanderbeg entered Krujë. The victory was well-received among the Albanians, and Skanderbeg's recruits increased as documented by Geraldini: "Skanderbeg was in his camp with 16,000 men and every day his camp grows with young warriors." The victory was also well received in Italy with contemporaries hoping for more such news. Meanwhile, the Venetians had taken advantage of Mehmed's absence in Albania and sent a fleet under Vettore Capello into the Aegean. Capello attacked and occupied the islands of Imbros and Lemnos after which he sailed back and laid siege to Patras. Ömer Bey, the Ottoman commander in Greece, led a relief force to Patras where he was initially repelled before turning on his pursuers, forcing them to flee, ending their campaign.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After these events, Skanderbeg's forces besieged Elbasan but failed to capture it because of the lack of artillery and sufficient number of soldiers.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The destruction of Ballaban Pasha's army and the siege of Elbasan forced Mehmed II to march against Skanderbeg again in the summer of 1467. Skanderbeg retreated to the mountains while Ottoman grand vizier Mahmud Pasha Angelović pursued him but failed to find him because Skanderbeg succeeded in fleeing to the coast. Mehmed II energetically pursued the attacks against the Albanian strongholds while sending detachments to raid the Venetian possessions (especially Durazzo) and to keep them isolated. The Ottomans failed again, in their third Siege of Krujë, to take the city and subjugate the country, but the degree of destruction was immense.


title: Skanderbeg

text: During the Ottoman incursions, the Albanians suffered a great number of casualties, especially to the civilian population, while the economy of the country was in ruins. The above problems, the loss of many Albanian noblemen, and the new alliance with Lekë Dukagjini, caused Skanderbeg to call together in January 1468 all the remaining Albanian noblemen to a conference in the Venetian stronghold of Lezhë to discuss the new war strategy and to restructure what remained from the League of Lezhë. During that period, Skanderbeg fell ill with malaria and died on 17 January 1468, aged 62.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In Western Europe, the death of Skanderbeg was mourned by princes and other rulers such as Ferdinand I. In a condolence letter written to Skanderbeg's widow dated 24 February 1468, Ferdinand expressed pain of having lost his friend and promised assistance to Skanderbeg's family. During Skanderbeg's lifetime, his assistance to King Alphonse I by sending troops to quell an uprising and later his expedition to suppress a revolt on behalf of King Ferdinand led to Albanian mercenaries and other soldiers being allowed by the Neapolitan monarchs to settle villages in Southern Italy. With the death of Skanderbeg and the conquest of his domains by the Ottomans, Albanian leaders and other Albanians found refuge in the Kingdom of Naples. These events and migrations contributed to the formation of the Arbëresh community and many of their settlements in southern Italy that still exist in the modern era.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Ivan Strez Balšić was perceived by Venice as Skanderbeg's successor. After Skanderbeg's death Ivan and his brother Gojko Balšić, together with Leke, Progon and Nicholas Dukagjini, continued to fight for Venice. In 1469 Ivan requested from the Venetian Senate to return him his confiscated property consisting of Castle Petrela, woivodate of "Terra nuova" of Kruje (unknown position), territory between Kruje and Durrës and villages in the region of Bushnesh (today part of the Kodër-Thumanë municipality). Venice largely conceded to the wishes of Ivan Balšić and installed him as Skanderbeg's successor.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After Skanderbeg's death, Venice asked and obtained from his widow the permission to defend Krujë and the other fortresses with Venetian garrisons. Krujë held out during its fourth siege, started in 1477 by Gedik Ahmed Pasha, until 16 June 1478, when the city was starved to death and finally surrendered to Sultan Mehmed II himself. Demoralized and severely weakened by hunger and lack of supplies from the year-long siege, the defenders surrendered to Mehmed, who had promised to allow them to leave unharmed in exchange. As the Albanians were walking away with their families, however, the Ottomans killed the men and enslaved the women and children. In 1479, an Ottoman army, headed again by Mehmed II, besieged and captured Shkodër, reducing Venice's Albanian possessions to only Durazzo, Antivari, and Dulcigno. Skanderbeg's son John Castriot II continued the resistance against the Ottomans, and tried to capture territories from Ottoman rule in 1481–84. In addition, a major revolt in 1492 occurred in southern Albania, mainly in the Labëria region, and Bayazid II was personally involved with crushing the resistance. In 1501, George Castriot II, grandson of Skanderbeg and son of John Castriot II, along with Progon Dukagjini and around 150–200 "stratioti", went to Lezhë and organized a local uprising, but that too was unsuccessful. The Venetians evacuated Durazzo in 1501.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1594, there was a new attempt to liberate Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Albanian leaders gathered in Lezhë to plan a new revolt with the help of Pope Clement VII. But the Pope never sent his help, and the 40 thousand Albanian soldiers stopped their attempt.


title: Skanderbeg

text: After the fall of Albania to the Ottomans the Kingdom of Naples gave land and noble title to Skanderbeg's family, the Castriota. His family were given control over the Duchy of San Pietro in Galatina and the County of Soleto in the Province of Lecce, Italy. His son, John Castriot II, married Jerina Branković, daughter of Serbian despot Lazar Branković and one of the last descendants of the Palaiologos. There are two patrilineal branches of the Kastrioti family that exist today: the branch of Lecce with two sub-branches and the branch of Naples with one sub-branch. Both branches are patrilineally descended from the sons of Ferrante (-1561), Duke of Galatina and Count of Spoleto.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The Ottoman Empire's expansion ground to a halt during the time that Skanderbeg's forces resisted. He has been credited with being one of the main reasons for the delay of Ottoman expansion into Western Europe, giving the Italian principalities more time to better prepare for the Ottoman arrival. While the Albanian resistance certainly played a vital role, it was one of numerous relevant events that played out in the mid-15th century. Much credit must also go to the successful resistance mounted by Vlad III Dracula in Wallachia and Stephen III the Great of Moldavia, who dealt the Ottomans their worst defeat at Vaslui, among many others, as well as the defeats inflicted upon the Ottomans by Hunyadi and his Hungarian forces. Skanderbeg is considered today a commanding figure not only in the national consciousness of Albanians but also of 15th-century European history. According to archival documents, there is no doubt that Skanderbeg had already achieved a reputation as a hero in his own time. The failure of most European nations, with the exception of Naples, to give him support, along with the failure of Pope Pius II's plans to organize a promised crusade against the Ottomans meant that none of Skanderbeg's victories permanently hindered the Ottomans from invading the Western Balkans.


title: Skanderbeg

text: In 1481, Sultan Mehmet II captured Otranto and massacred the male population, thus proving what Skanderbeg had been warning about. Skanderbeg's main legacy was the inspiration he gave to all of those who saw in him a symbol of the struggle of Christendom against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg's struggle against the Ottomans became highly significant to the Albanian people. Among the Arberesh (Italo-Albanians) the memory of Skanderbeg and his exploits was maintained and survived through songs, in the form of a Skanderbeg cycle. During the Albanian National Awakening Skanderbeg also became a central symbol to the emerging Albanian nationalism of late 19th century, and a symbol of cultural affinity with Europe. It strengthened Albanian solidarity, made them more conscious of their identity, and was a source of inspiration in their struggle for national unity, freedom, and independence. Contemporary Muslim Albanians deemphasize the (Christian) religious heritage of Skanderbeg by viewing him as a defender of the nation and he is promoted as an Albanian symbol of Europe and the West.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The trouble Skanderbeg gave the Ottoman Empire's military forces was such that when the Ottomans found the grave of Skanderbeg in the church of St. Nicholas in Lezhë, they opened it and made amulets of his bones, believing that these would confer bravery on the wearer. Indeed, the damage inflicted to the Ottoman Army was such that Skanderbeg is said to have slain three thousand Ottomans with his own hand during his campaigns. Among stories told about him was that he never slept more than five hours at night and could cut two men asunder with a single stroke of his scimitar, cut through iron helmets, kill a wild boar with a single stroke, and cleave the head of a buffalo with another. In the 18th century, James Wolfe, commander of the British forces at Quebec, spoke of Skanderbeg as a commander who "excels all the officers, ancient and modern, in the conduct of a small defensive army". On 27 October 2005, the United States Congress issued a resolution "honoring the 600th anniversary of the birth of Gjergj Kastrioti (Scanderbeg), statesman, diplomat, and military genius, for his role in saving Western Europe from Ottoman occupation." Fully understanding the importance of the hero to the Albanians, Nazi Germany formed the 21st "Waffen" Mountain Division of the SS "Skanderbeg" (1st Albanian) in 1944, composed of 6,491 Kosovo Albanian recruits.


title: Skanderbeg

text: There are two known works of literature written about Skanderbeg which were produced in the 15th century. The first was written at the beginning of 1480 by Serbian writer Martin Segon who was the Catholic Bishop of Ulcinj and one of the most notable 15th-century humanists, a short but very important biographical sketch on Skanderbeg (). Another 15th-century literary work with Skanderbeg as one of the main characters was "Memoirs of a Janissary" () written in the period of 1490–97 by Konstantin Mihailović, a Serb who was a janissary in the Ottoman Army.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg gathered quite a posthumous reputation in Western Europe. In the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the Balkans were under the suzerainty of the Ottomans who were at the gates of Vienna in 1683 and narratives of the heroic Christian's resistance to the "Moslem hordes" captivated readers' attention in the West. Books on the Albanian prince began to appear in Western Europe in the early 16th century. One of the earliest was the "History of the life and deeds of Scanderbeg, Prince of the Epirotes" (; Rome, 1508), published a mere four decades after Skanderbeg's death, written by Albanian-Venetian historian Marinus Barletius, who, after experiencing the Ottoman capture of his native Scutari firsthand, settled in Padua where he became rector of the parish church of St. Stephan. Barleti dedicated his work to Don Ferrante Kastrioti, Skanderbeg's grandchild, and to posterity. The book was first published in Latin. Barleti is sometimes inaccurate in favour of his hero, for example, according to Gibbon, Barleti claims that the Sultan was killed by disease under the walls of Krujë. He made up spurious correspondence between Vladislav II of Wallachia and Skanderbeg wrongly assigning it to the year 1443 instead of to the year of 1444, and also invented correspondence between Skanderbeg and Sultan Mehmed II to match his interpretations of events.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Franciscus Blancus, a Catholic bishop born in Albania, also wrote Scanderbegs's biography, "Georgius Castriotus, Epirensis vulgo Scanderbegh, Epirotarum Princeps Fortissimus" published in Latin in 1636. French philosopher Voltaire held the Albanian hero in very high consideration in his works. Sir William Temple considered Skanderbeg to be one of the seven greatest chiefs without a crown, along with Belisarius, Flavius Aetius, John Hunyadi, Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Alexander Farnese, and William the Silent. Ludvig Holberg, a Danish writer and philosopher, claimed that Skanderbeg was one of the greatest generals in history.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi composed an opera entitled "Scanderbeg" (first performed 1718), libretto written by Antonio Salvi. Another opera, entitled "Scanderberg", was composed by 18th-century French composer François Francœur (first performed 1735). In the 20th century, Albanian composer Prenkë Jakova composed a third opera, entitled "Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu", which premiered in 1968 for the 500th anniversary of the hero's death.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg is the protagonist of three 18th-century British tragedies: William Havard's "Scanderbeg, A Tragedy" (1733), George Lillo's "The Christian Hero" (1735), and Thomas Whincop's "Scanderbeg, Or, Love and Liberty" (1747). A number of poets and composers have also drawn inspiration from his military career. The French 16th-century poet Ronsard wrote a poem about him, as did the 19th-century American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Gibbon, the 18th-century historian, held Skanderbeg in high regard with panegyric expressions.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Giammaria Biemmi, an Italian priest, published a work on Skanderbeg titled "Istoria di Giorgio Castrioto Scanderbeg-Begh" in Brescia, Italy in 1742. He claimed that he had found a work published in Venice in 1480 and written by an Albanian humanist from Bar (now in Montenegro), whose brother was a warrior in Skanderbeg's personal guard. According to Biemmi, the work had lost pages dealing with Skanderbeg's youth, the events from 1443 to 1449, the Siege of Krujë (1467), and Skanderbeg's death. Biemmi referred to the author of the work as "Antivarino" ("the man from Bar"), however, this was Biemmi's invention (a forgery) that some historians (Fan S. Noli and Athanase Gegaj) had not discovered and used as source in their works.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg is also mentioned by the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, one of the greatest poets of Serbian literature, in his 1847 epic poem "The Mountain Wreath", and in False Tsar Stephen the Little (1851). In 1855, Camille Paganel wrote "Histoire de Scanderbeg", inspired by the Crimean War, whereas in the lengthy poetic tale Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1819), Byron wrote with admiration about Skanderbeg and his warrior nation. Serbian playwright Jovan Sterija Popović wrote and published a play based on Skenderbeg's life in 1828. Poet and president of Matica Srpska Jovan Subotić wrote an epic poem inspired by battles led by Skenderbeg.


title: Skanderbeg

text: The first poetic work on Skanderbeg in the Albanian language was composed by N. Frasheri and published in 1898.


title: Skanderbeg

text: "The Great Warrior Skanderbeg" (, ), a 1953 Albanian-Soviet biographical film, earned an International Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. The film was re-recorded and updated for high-definition for the 100th anniversary of Albanian independence.


title: Skanderbeg

text: Skanderbeg's memory has been engraved in many museums, such as the Skanderbeg Museum next to Krujë Castle. Many monuments are dedicated to his memory in the Albanian cities of Tirana (in Skanderbeg Square by Odhise Paskali),(in and outside Skanderbeg Museum by Janaq Paço) Krujë, and Peshkopi. A palace in Rome in which Skanderbeg resided during his 1466–67 visits to the Vatican is still called Palazzo Skanderbeg and currently houses the Italian museum of pasta: the palace is located in Piazza Scanderbeg, between the Fontana di Trevi and the Quirinal Palace. Also in Rome, a statue by florentine sculptor Romano Romanelli is dedicated to the Albanian hero in Piazza Albania. Monuments or statues of Skanderbeg have also been erected in the cities of Skopje and Debar, in North Macedonia; Pristina, in Kosovo; Geneva, in Switzerland; Brussels, in Belgium; London, in England; and other settlements in southern Italy where there is an Arbëreshë community. In 2006, a statue of Skanderbeg was unveiled on the grounds of St. Paul's Albanian Catholic Church in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It is the first statue of Skanderbeg to be erected in the United States.


title: Skanderbeg

text: His name is also commemorated in Skanderbeg Military University in Tirana; Skënderbeu Stadium, home of KF Skënderbeu Korçë; and the Order of Skanderbeg.


title: Marsha Thomason

text: Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is a British television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's "The Haunted Mansion", Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series "Las Vegas", Naomi Dorrit on the ABC series "Lost", FBI agent Diana Berrigan on the USA Network series "White Collar" and DS Jenn Townsend in ITV crime series "The Bay".


title: Marsha Thomason

text: Thomason was born in Moston, Manchester, the daughter of English father Peter Thomason, who worked in politics, and Phyllis ("née" McCrae), a Jamaican electronics company employee. She attended Holy Trinity Primary School in Harpurhey and North Manchester High School for Girls in Moston, before attending Oldham Sixth Form College to study for A levels in media studies, theatre studies, and performing arts. Thomason attended the Manchester Metropolitan University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. From the age of 13, Thomason attended Oldham Theatre Workshop, where she participated in youth theatre productions.


title: Marsha Thomason

text: Thomason first came to prominence on British television in the fifth series of "Pie in the Sky" (1997) playing the waitress, Sally, in eight episodes. She went on to appear in "Playing the Field" and "Where the Heart Is" (both 1998), as well as in the first series of the BBC Three drama "Burn It" (2003). In the United States, she appeared in Disney's "The Haunted Mansion", opposite Eddie Murphy. She played Brandy in the film "My Baby's Daddy" and Victoria in "Black Knight". She also played Vicki in "Pure". She starred in the U.S. television series "Las Vegas" as Nessa Holt in seasons and , a total of 47 episodes.


title: Marsha Thomason

text: On 21 October 2004, she was a guest on the radio show "Loveline". In January 2008, she appeared in "". In August 2008, Thomason was cast as a series regular in the CW show "Easy Money". In late 2009, she appeared on "General Hospital". After appearing in the pilot episode for "White Collar" as agent Diana Berrigan, she returned for the first-season finale. It was announced that she would appear on the series full-time in the second season. She is also the new voice of Diana in "".


title: Marsha Thomason

text: Thomason had the recurring role of Naomi Dorrit on the television show "Lost". Being a friend of Dominic Monaghan (who played Charlie Pace on the series), she was a huge fan of the show and excited to be cast. She first appeared in the third-season episode "Catch-22", which aired on 18 April 2007, and continued to appear until the season finale "Through the Looking Glass". She next appeared in "The Beginning of the End" and in the season-five episode "Some Like It Hoth".


title: Marsha Thomason

text: In an interview on her role in "Lost" and whether the actors were provided with information not known to the audience she said, "That's kind of difficult as an actor, but also freeing in a way, because you just have to play the scenes as they're written. And then if you find out if you're a big villain or whatever, then you play that".


title: Marsha Thomason

text: On 5 April 2009, Thomason married lighting technician Craig Sykes in Malibu, California. Their daughter was born in June 2013.


title: Minnesota Twins

text: The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area which includes the two adjoining cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.


title: Minnesota Twins

text: The franchise was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1901 as the Washington Senators. The team moved to Minnesota and was renamed the Minnesota Twins for the start of the 1961 season. The Twins played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from 1982 to 2009. The team played its inaugural game at Target Field on April 12, 2010. The franchise won the World Series in 1924 as the Senators, and in 1987 and 1991 as the Twins.