League of Lezhë

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox war faction Template:Campaignbox Ottoman-Albanian Wars

The League of Lezhë (Template:Langx), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League (Template:Langx), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The League of Lezhë is considered the first unified independent Albanian country in the Middle ages, with Skanderbeg as leader of the regional Albanian chieftains and nobles united against the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="Babinger19922">Template:Cite book</ref> Skanderbeg was proclaimed "Chief of the League of the Albanian People," while Skanderbeg always signed himself as "Dominus Albaniae" (Albanian: Zot i Arbërisë, English: Lord of Albania).<ref name="Frazee2006">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="AslanEbrahim2016">Template:Cite book</ref>

At the assembly of Lezhë, members from the families Kastrioti, Arianiti, Zaharia, Muzaka, Spani, Thopia, Balsha and Crnojević, which were linked matrilineally or via marriage to the Kastrioti, were present. The members contributed to the league with men and money while maintaining control of the internal affairs of their domains. Soon after its creation, the pro-Venetian Balsha and Crnojevići left the league in the events that led to the Albanian–Venetian War (1447–48). The peace treaty of the Albanian-Venetian war signed on October 4, 1448, is the first diplomatic document on which the league appears as an independent entity.Template:Sfn Barleti referred to the meeting as the generalis concilium or universum concilium ("general council" or "whole council"); the term "League of Lezhë" was coined by subsequent historians.<ref name="Biçoku20093">Template:Cite book</ref>

Background

File:Skanderbeg by Antonio Maria Crespi.jpg
Gjergj Kastrioti known as Skanderbeg, the ruler of Albania from 1444-1468.

After the death of Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan in 1355, the magnates in Albania established their own dominions. When Ottoman forces entered Albania, they were faced with small principalities that were engaged in vicious fights among themselves. The first battle against the Ottoman forces in Albania was the battle of Savra, on September 18, 1385. Karl Thopia invited the Ottomans, who defeated and killed Balsha II, the Lord of Zeta.<ref name="Somel20102">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Gibbons20132">Template:Cite book</ref>

In the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire established itself in the Balkans with no significant resistance offered by local Christian nobles. Many of them were still fighting among themselves and did not see the Ottoman advance as a threat to their power. Although a civil war broke out between Bayezid I's sons in 1402–13, none of the Christian noblemen in the Balkans at the time seized the opportunity to repel the Ottomans; on the contrary, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Hungarians even helped the future Sultan Mehmed I seize power by participating as his allies in the final battle against his brother.Template:Sfn After the Ottoman civil war was over in favor of Mehmed I, his forces captured Kruja from the Thopia in 1415, Berat in 1417 from the Muzaka, Vlorë and Kaninë in 1417 from Rugjina Balsha, and Gjirokastër in 1418 from the Zenevisi. Under pressure from the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, the Albanian Principalities began to vacillate.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Some Albanian nobility revolted in 1432–36.

In November 1443, Skanderbeg captured Kruja with his troops and declared its independence from the Sultan.<ref>Template:Harvnb Template:Page needed</ref>

Formation

File:Liga von Lezha.jpg
League of Lezhë painting in the Skanderbeg Museum in Krujë.

The League of Lezhë was founded on 2 March 1444 by:<ref name=Nolip19>Template:Harvnb</ref>

  • Lekë Zaharia (lord of Sati and Dagnum), and his vassals Pal and Nicholas Dukagjini
  • Pjetër Spani (lord of the mountains behind Drivasto)<ref name=Schmitt-297>Template:Harvnb<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

    Nikola und Paul Dukagjin, Leka Zaharia von Dagno, Peter Span, Herr der Berge hinter Drivasto, Georg Strez Balsha sowie Johann und Gojko Balsha, die sich zwischen Kruja und Alessio festgesetzt hatten, die Dushman von Klein-Polatum sowie Stefan (Stefanica) Crnojevic, der Herr der Oberzeta{{#if:|

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Delegates from Venice were present at the meeting.<ref name="Frazee20062">Template:Cite book</ref> The military alliance<ref>Template:Harvnb <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Even this was loose association of the territorial lords who felt free to go their own way if they so choose. The League functioned only in military domain, never as government, although it did provide the first rudiments of Albanian unity.{{#if:|

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Scanderbeg too kept his domain. As president of the League he was merely primus inter pares. He had no right to interfere with the affairs of the domains of other nobles.{{#if:|

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Initiated and organized under Venetian patronage,<ref name="GibbLewis19732">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Better source needed through treaties, the league was put under King Alfonso V, with Skanderbeg as captain general.<ref name="Skendi19802">Template:Cite book</ref>

History

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File:Flag of Albania 15th century.JPG
15th-century Flag of Albania

The League's forces had victories against the Ottomans at Torvioll (1444),Template:Sfn Mokra (1445),Template:Sfn Otonetë (1446),Template:Sfn Oranik (1448),Template:Sfn a loss at Svetigrad (1448) victory in Polog (1453),Template:Sfn victory at Krujë (1450), Albulena (1457), Ohrid (1464), Mokra (1462) and many others.

Skanderbeg's first substantial victory against the Ottomans was at the Battle of Torvioll, and the news of the victory of the Albanians over the Turks spread very quickly in Europe. In the two years that followed, the Albanian-Tetan coalition won over the Ottomans. On May 14, 1450, the first siege of Kruja began, which the Ottomans had to end the following year without success. In 1451, Skanderbeg formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Naples for the time being; however, the Albanians received no help from Naples. In 1452, the Ottomans were defeated at Mokrra and Meçadi. After the fall of Constantinople, Albanians received financial aid from Naples and Venice as well as from the Pope. Until 1462, Skanderbeg's troops were able to defeat the Ottomans every year without significantly weakening their superiority. Every year, the sultan was able to send a new army without difficulty. Only in 1460 and 1463 did ceasefires interrupt the fighting. In 1462, Skanderbeg succeeded in taking the important city of Ohrid.Template:Citation needed

In 1466, the Second Siege of Krujë was defeated. However, the Ottomans constructed the fortress Elbasan south in the valley of the Shkumbin to support their campaigns. In 1467 a third siege of Kruje failed.Template:Citation needed

File:Assault on Turkish encampment.jpg
Albanian assault on an Ottoman encampment in the Battle of Albulena

By 1468, the 10,000-strong Skanderbeg army could withstand the Ottomans. The Albanians received financial support from Venice and from the kings of Hungary and Naples. After Skanderbeg died in 1468, the League of Lezha began to disintegrate. Following the Venetians, the Northern Albanians in particular continued the fight against the Ottomans. When the Shkodra, which until then had been dominated by the Venetians, was taken by the Ottomans in 1479, the resistance collapsed, and the entire Albanian settlement area was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.Template:Citation needed

<ref name="Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë 2002 412">Template:Harvnb</ref>

There was also a short war between Albania and Venice in 1447–1448, but on October 4, 1448, the Albanian–Venetian War ended when Skanderbeg and Nicholas Dukagjini signed a peace treaty with Venice, which would keep its possessions in Albania, including Dagnum, under the conditions that Venice pay a yearly sum of 1,400 ducats and that some league members would benefit from certain trade privileges, etc.<ref name="Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë 2002 412"/>

Dissolution and aftermath

File:Paolo Veronese - Siege of Scutari - WGA24944.jpg
Veronese's Siege of Shkodër in 1478

The alliance was precarious.<ref name="Castellan19922">Template:Cite book</ref> Although an official date of dissolution is unknown, the League of Lezhë fragmented soon after its founding, with many of its members breaking away. By 1450, it had certainly ceased to function as originally intended, and only the core of the alliance under Skanderbeg and Arianiti continued to fight against the Ottomans. Some members preferred to act in line with their own interests. During the attack on the sultan in 1450, they continued to change their positions between supporting the Ottomans and joining Skanderbeg.<ref name="ElsieSchmitt2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After Pjetër Spani and Gjergj Dushmani left the alliance,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and after the Arianiti and Dukagjini left it in 1450, members of the Dukagjini family concluded peace with the Ottoman Empire and even began to plot against Skanderbeg.Template:Sfn

Skanderbeg commanders

For 25 years, from 1443–68, Skanderbeg's 10,000-strong army marched through Ottoman territory, winning against increasingly larger and better-supplied Ottoman forces.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Threatened by Ottoman advances in their homeland, Hungary, and later Naples and Venice – their former enemies – provided the financial backbone and support for Skanderbeg's army.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> After Skanderbeg's death in 1468, the Sultan "easily subdued Albania", but Skanderbeg's death did not end the struggle for independence.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Legacy

Template:History of Albania The League of Lezhë was the basis for an Albanian state.<ref name="Sugar20122">Template:Cite book</ref> The formation of the League meant that for the first time, Albania was united under an Albanian leader.<ref name="FineFine19942">Template:Cite book</ref> Some historians regard the League as an independent Albanian state.<ref name="PickardÇeliku20082">Template:Cite book</ref> Others do not accept this view, saying that it was only a military league.<ref name="Biçoku20093" /> However, the League provided the basic elements of Albanian unity.<ref name=Sedlar>Jean W Sedlar, "East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500", University of Washington Press, 1994, p. 26: "Even this was loose association of the territorial lords who felt free to go their own way if they so choose. The League functioned only in military domain, never as government, although it did provide the first rudiments of Albanian unity."</ref>

Skanderbeg and the League of Lezhë have become part of Albanian historiography. That period of history, categorized as a pre-communist time, is seen by many as mythical and unchallengeable. In these cases, struggles against the Ottoman Empire and other foreign powers and processes of national self-definition support the ideological framework linked to that period.<ref name="Todorova2004">Template:Cite book</ref>

Monarchs

Picture Title and name Reign Notes
File:Ritratto di Giorgio Scanderbeg.jpg Dominus Albaniae
Gjergj Kastrioti		 1444–1468 Skanderbeg initiated the League of Lezhë in 1444 by bringing together prominent Albanian noble families in the city of Lezhë. Proclaiming himself "Chief of the League of the Albanian People", Skanderbeg secured the support of the Albanian nobility to form a united front against the Ottoman Empire.
File:Lekë Dukagjini (portret).jpg Prince of Dukagjini
Lekë Dukagjini		 1468–1479 As the last ruler of the League of Lezhë, Lekë played a pivotal role in sustaining Albanian resistance to the Ottoman Empire after Skanderbeg's death in 1468. Despite internal challenges and the eventual capture of Shkodër by the Ottomans in 1479, Dukagjini's leadership was instrumental in the League's efforts to maintain its independence and resist Ottoman conquest.

References

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Sources

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