The Albanian–Venetian War of 1447–48 () was waged between Venetian and Ottoman forces against the Albanians under
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg
Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, 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 Ser ...
. The war was the result of a dispute between the Republic and the
Dukagjini family
The House of Dukagjini is an Albanian noble family which ruled over an area of Northern Albania and Western Kosovo known as the Principality of Dukagjini in the 14th and 15th centuries. They may have been descendants of the earlier Progoni f ...
over the possession of the
Dagnum fortress. Skanderbeg, then ally of the Dukagjini family, moved against several Venetian held towns along the Albanian coastline, in order to pressure the Venetians into restoring Dagnum. In response, the Republic sent a local force to relieve the besieged fortress of Dagnum, and urged the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
to send an expeditionary force into Albania. At that time the Ottomans were already
besieging the fortress of Svetigrad, stretching Skanderbeg's efforts thin.
However, the
League of Lezhë
The League of Lezhë (), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League (), 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 unif ...
defeated both the Venetian forces and the Ottoman expedition. The League won over the Venetian forces on 23 July 1448 at the gates of
Scutari, and over the Ottomans three weeks later, on 14 August 1448, at the
Battle of Oronichea. The Republic was, thereafter, left with few soldiers to defend
Venetian Albania
Venetian Albania (, , , , ) was the official term for several possessions of the Republic of Venice in the southeastern Adriatic, encompassing coastal territories primarily in present-day southern Montenegro and partially in northern Albania.
Se ...
. As a result, the League soon signed peace with the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
, while continuing the war against the Ottoman Empire. After the Albanian–Venetian War of 1447–1448, Venice did not seriously challenge Skanderbeg or the League, allowing Skanderbeg to focus his campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.
Background
In 1444,
Skanderbeg
Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
had managed to unite the major Albanian princes under his leadership at the
League of Lezhë
The League of Lezhë (), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League (), 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 unif ...
, where a confederation of all the
Albanian Principalities
The term Albanian Principalities refers to a number of Principality, principalities (although they functioned more like a series of kingdoms) created in the Middle Ages in Albania and the surrounding regions in the western Balkans that were ruled ...
was created. Stresses within the alliance were felt, when
Nicholas Dukagjini, a member of the
Dukagjini family
The House of Dukagjini is an Albanian noble family which ruled over an area of Northern Albania and Western Kosovo known as the Principality of Dukagjini in the 14th and 15th centuries. They may have been descendants of the earlier Progoni f ...
, a powerful family in northern Albania, ambushed and killed
Lekë Zaharia Altisferi, prince of
Dagnum and also League member.
Since Zaharia had no children, he organized the killing to more easily gain Dagnum. The year in which Zaharia was killed is not recorded. A Venetian document dated to 4 January 1445, mentions Zaharia as the once lord of Dagnum which was given to Boxia, Zaharia's mother. The Venetian chronicler Stefano Magno says that Zaharia was killed close to the advent of the year 1445.
The two princes had been in dispute over who should marry Irene Dushmani, the only daughter of Lekë Dushmani, prince of Zadrima. In 1445, the Albanian princes had been invited to the wedding of Skanderbeg's younger sister, Mamica, who was being married to Muzaka Thopia. Irene entered the wedding and hostilities began. Dukagjini asked Irene to marry him, but Zaharia, who was drunk, saw this, and assaulted Dukagjini. Some princes attempted to stop the fight, but only more people became involved. Several people died or got injured before peace was established. Neither of the two antagonists had suffered any physical damage, but after the event Dukagjini was morally humiliated.
The death of Zaharia left his princedom with no successor. As a result, his mother handed the fortress over to Venetian Albania
Venetian Albania (, , , , ) was the official term for several possessions of the Republic of Venice in the southeastern Adriatic, encompassing coastal territories primarily in present-day southern Montenegro and partially in northern Albania.
Se ...
, a stretch of possessions of the Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
. Skanderbeg urged the Venetian legates that Dagnum (along with Sati, Gladri and Dushmani which had been taken by Venice) should be restored to the League since it guarded an important trade route, but Venice refused and, consequently, Skanderbeg prepared for war against the Republic itself.
The League soon sent envoys to its neighbors, Stefan I Crnojević and Đurađ Branković
Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia.
In 1429, Branković was form ...
. Branković, a lord of Serbian Despotate
The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...
, who was also in dispute with Venice over the Principality of Zeta
This is a list of princes of Zeta.
Background
After Constantin Bodin's death, fighting among his potential successors weakened the state of Duklja and the region succumbed to Rascia's reign between 1183 and 1186.
In 1190, Grand Župan of Ra ...
, expressed his willingness to help Skanderbeg against the Republic but not against the Ottoman Empire. The Venetians sent an ambassador to Skanderbeg offering him 1,000 ducats to lay aside all claims to Dagnum in return that the Albanians would protect the country and keep the roads free from violence. Skanderbeg, however, refused to accept the offer and hostilities continued. Alongside the Spani family, the Dushmani family was against the war with Venice and did not participate in it.
Initial campaigns
In December 1447, after leaving a protective force of three to four thousand men under Vrana Konti to guard the frontier in the event of an Ottoman incursion, Skanderbeg turned towards Dagnum with a force of 14,000 men. Initially offering the garrison at Dagnum the opportunity to surrender, he promptly besieged the fortress upon rejection. In order to pressure the Venetians, Skanderbeg also turned towards Durazzo, then another possession of Venetian Albania, and cut the city off from their local resources and trade. This move forced Venice to redirect to Durazzo two galleys, which initially were bound for Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
, in order to watch over the events there.
By then Venice treated Skanderbeg as a rebellious Ottoman vassal, so on 4 March 1448 a life pension of 100 gold ducats per month was offered to anyone who would assassinate Skanderbeg. In May, Ottoman forces besieged Svetigrad, putting great strain on Skanderbeg's campaigns. On 27 June 1448 Venice sent Andrea Venier, then provveditore
The Italian title ''prov ditore'' (plural ''provveditori''; also known in ; ), "he who sees to things" ( overseer), was the style of various (but not all) local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice. ...
at Scutari's Rozafa Castle
Rozafa Castle () or Shkodër Castle () is a castle near the city of Shkodër, in northwestern Albania. It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, above sea level, surrounded by the Buna and Drin rivers. Shkodër is the seat of Shkodër County, and i ...
, to attempt to persuade the Ottomans to invade Albania. After, Venice also sent Venier to meet with Skanderbeg in order to convince him to break off hostilities, and also attempted to push the Dukagjini clan away from their alliance with Skanderbeg. Despite measures taken by the Venetians, Skanderbeg marched towards Scutari unabated. He also dared the Venetians to send out a force to defeat him. The siege of Dagnum continued, however, with a force of 4,000 that Skanderbeg had left behind.
Battle of the River Drin
On 23 July 1448 Skanderbeg crossed the Drin River
The Drin (; or ; ) is a river in Southeastern Europe with two major tributaries – the White Drin and the Black Drin and two distributary, distributaries – one discharging into the Adriatic Sea, in the Gulf of Drin and the other into the ...
with 10,000 men, meeting a Venetian force of 15,000 men under the command of Daniele Iurichi, governor of Scutari. Venetian forces were composed largely of local mercenaries, forming the center of Iurichi's line. They included forces under Koja and Andreas Humoj, Simeon Vulkata, Vasilije Ugrin, Zapa family (Jovan and his brother), Pedantari family (seven Pedantari brothers and many other), Moneta family (three sons of Rajko Moneta), Malonši family (Petar with his two sons), and Buša Sornja who were pronoia
The ''pronoia'' (plural ''pronoiai''; Greek: πρόνοια, meaning "care", "forethought" or "providence," from πρό, "before," and νόος, "mind") was a system of granting dedicated streams of state income to individuals and institutions i ...
rs. Iurichi positioned himself on the left wing with his Dalmatian forces, while the right was composed of Italian natives. Skanderbeg positioned himself and his personal bodyguard on the right wing, opposite Iurichi. The center of Skanderbeg's army was commanded by Tanush Thopia, and the right by Moses of Dibra.
Skanderbeg instructed his troops on what to expect and opened battle by ordering a force of archers to open fire on the Venetian line. Soon, the Albanian right wing advanced to engage first and managed to push the Venetian left wing back, while the center and the right engaged the Venetian center and left. The breakthrough was soon accomplished by attacking the gaps in the Venetian lines, causing disorder among their ranks. 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 Venetian presence in Albania was weakened and the garrisons in the cities were stretched thin.
Skanderbeg retreated from the area to fight off an Ottoman invasion. Before leaving, he garrisoned the fort of Baleci (Balsha) near Dagnum, under the command of Marin Spani. Andrea Venier ordered the capture of Baleci after Skanderbeg had left, forcing Marin Spani to evacuate it. Venier then burned it to the ground. In retaliation, Hamza Kastrioti
Hamza Kastrioti () was a 15th-century Albanian nobleman and the nephew of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Probably born in Ottoman territory, after the death of his father Stanisha he was raised by Skanderbeg, who took him in his military expediti ...
, one of Spani's colleagues, attacked a nearby Venetian fortress with what little men he had, but was defeated.
Battle of Oranik
Despite the setbacks while he was away, Skanderbeg continued to focus on campaigning against the Venetian-requested Ottoman incursion at the Battle of Oranik in August 1448. The Ottoman expeditionary force was crushed on 14 August, with Ottoman commander Mustafa Pasha captured. The loss of Balsha to the Venetians, however, forced Skanderbeg to continue raiding Venetian territory.
Aftermath
With Durazzo, Scutari, and Dagnum on the point of surrender and seeing a victorious Albanian army after the Battle of Oronichea, the Venetians sent Andrea Venier to open peace negotiations with the Albanians. The conference was held in Alessio
Alessio is an Italian male name, Italian form of Alexius.
Individuals with the given name Alessio
*Alessio Ascalesi (1872–1952), Italian cardinal
* Alessio Bandieri (born 1974), Italian footballer
* Alessio Boni (born 1966), Italian actor
* A ...
and peace was signed by Skanderbeg and George Arianiti who represented the other princes on 4 October 1448. The signatories agreed that Venice would keep Dagnum. In return, the Venetians agreed that Skanderbeg would receive an annual pension of 1,400 ducats and an annual tax exemption for 200 horse loads of salt from Durazzo. An agreement was also made to establish trading privileges between Arianiti, Skanderbeg's ally, and Venice. Furthermore, a refuge in Venice would be offered in case Skanderbeg was driven out of Albania and two scarlet garments would be given to Skanderbeg in exchange for two altered falcons from the Albanian. However, threats were still exchanged between both sides and unofficial skirmishing continued.
Wary of Skanderbeg, Venice no longer openly challenged him. Another treaty was signed in 1463, when Venice went to war with the Turks. However, no peace was made between the Ottomans and Skanderbeg until 1463, before the Ottoman-Venetian war was of the same year, who retreated to Macedonia and prepared for another invasion of Albania after their defeat at Oronichea. During the Albanian-Venetian war, they had taken Svetigrad after several months of siege. Thence, they could cross into Albania uninhibited.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Albanian-Venetian War (1447-48)
Warfare by Skanderbeg
Wars involving the Republic of Venice
Wars involving the Ottoman Empire
Wars involving Albania
1447 in Europe
1448 in Europe
Conflicts in 1447
Conflicts in 1448
1440s in the Ottoman Empire
Venetian period in the history of Albania
Military history of the Mediterranean