Siege of Krujë (1466–1467)

Second siege of Krujë
Part of the Ottoman Wars in Europe
Date Began in June, 1466 Location Krujë, Albania Result Albanian victory; Ottoman army retreats from Albania. Devastating for the more numerous Ottomans.
Belligerents
League of Lezhë	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Skanderbeg Tanush Thopia	Mehmed II Ballaban Badera †
Strength
4,400 garrisoned under Tanush Thopia, 8,000 outside the fortress under Skanderbeg	150,000 until August; 80,000 left under Ballaban

The Second Siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire took place in 1466 at Krujë in Albania and lasted until 1467. Ottoman forces were initially led by sultan Mehmed II and later by Ballaban. Although their crushing superiority in numbers and in armaments they couldn't capture the city and were defeated by Skanderbeg forces.

Background

Skanderbeg had been a renegade Ottoman captain who united several Albanian princes under the League of Lezhë. From there, he led a war against the Ottoman Empire, defeating them in battle multiple times, and had grown close with the Western Christian states, especially with Alfonso of Aragon and the Papal States. On 14 August 1464, Pope Pius II, one of Skanderbeg's major benefactors, died and took his plans for crusade against the Ottoman Empire with him to the grave. The alliances and promises for help from the major Christian powers disappeared. The Kingdom of Hungary under Matthias Corvinus, the Republic of Venice, and the League of Lezhë were notable exceptions, however. Sultan Mehmed II realized the power vacuum created after Pius died, so he tried to take advantage of the situation. He thus attempted to agree to peace with Hungary and Venice so that his attentions could be focused on Albania to gain a base for his planned campaigns in the Italian peninsula. His efforts came in vain, however, since neither Venice were Hungary were ready to open up peace. Mehmed thus kept his armies stationed in the Balkans, one force in Jajce in Bosnia, one in Ohrid, and another in the Morea.

Skanderbeg led an incursion into Ottoman territory near Ohrid with the aid of Venetian forces under Antonio di Cosenza on 6 September 1464. Together, they defeated the Ottoman forces under Şeremet bey stationed there on 14 or 15 September. The Venetian Senate informed the Hungarians the joint Albanian-Venetian success on 29 September. Mehmed, sensing the weakness in his frontier, assigned Ballaban Badera as commander, replacing Şeremet. Ballaban was an Albanian by birth who had been incorporated into the Ottoman army through the devşirme system. In the meantime, Pope Paul II began planning his own crusade, but with means different from his predecessor. He planned on getting the major European states to help fund the crusade while Venice, Hungary, and Albania would do the fighting. He also wanted to help the Albanians as much as possible and urged the Kingdom of Naples to supply Skanderbeg with proper forces. Venice began to consider peace with the Turks since great strain had been placed on their resources and Hungary had adopted a defensive strategy. Pressure from the pope and Skanderbeg forced them to abort their efforts.

The Ottoman-Albanian war continued through 1465 with Ballaban Badera meeting Skanderbeg at Vaikal, Meçad Vaikal again, and Kashari. Mehmed meanwhile continued to negotiate peace with Hungary and Venice. Skanderbeg found himself isolated during these negotiations, even if they did not succeed, as the conflicting powers temporarily ceased conflict.

First phase of Siege

After sending several expeditions into Albania without success, Mehmed II led an army of 150,000 to attempt squash the Albanian resistance by taking Krujë. Part of the army set itself to the siege of Krujë while the rest was sent on expeditions to defeat the Albanians who had taken their positions in the mountains and to destroy everything of economic value including the massacring of civilians. Skanderbeg followed a scorched earth tactic. After burning everything that could be captured by Turks, he left a garrison of 4,400 in Krujë under the command of Tanush Thopia while he led a force of 8,000 men outside the city to lead guerrilla attacks against the Ottoman army. Mehmed attempted to negotiate with the garrison but the Albanians responded by firing on the Turks. The sultan was set to the task of melting the metal needed to make cannonballs to fire on the Albanian positions. Mehmed personally commanded the siege for two months until August. In the same time his troops rebuilt the castle of Elbasan. After the rebuilding was complete, Mehmed put there a garrison composed of janissary and with part of the army retreated from Albania, while leaving behind Ballaban with 80.000 troops to continue the siege.

Second phase of Siege

Skanderbeg visit to Rome and Naples

Long lasting Ottoman campaign and scorched earth tactic caused a great difficulty for Albanian forces. On December 1466, Skanderbeg accompanied only by some soldiers, went first to the pope in Rome asking for help but didn't get any substantial aid by Pope Paul II besides promises and a magnificent audience. Then he went to king Ferrante of Naples but even there he couldn't get what he expected. Then he returned once again to Rome, but all he could receive were some 2500 ducats from pope with the promising of more help and two shipments of food and some money from his Neapolitan ally. According to contemporary sources, he seemed desperate by this lack of support of the Italian states in this particularly difficult moment.

Attack on Ottoman convoys

Ballaban raised his camp to the hills on the southwestern side of Krujë, whereas, in the surrounding mountains, he placed a detachment to guard against any outside movements. The rest of his army was placed around the fortress, surrounding it. Skanderbeg assaulted the positions of the guard force that Ballaban had left on the mountain of Krujë, and quickly capturing them, thus gaining a good view over Krujë. After this successful capture Skanderbeg routed a force which had been sent against him. At that point the Ottoman army had been left in a desperate situation as its lines of supplies were cut off, in addition it was being continuously attacked by Skanderbeg and counterattacked by the garrison of Krujë. In a battle that developed under the walls of Krujë, Barleti says in his account that Ballaban was shot through the neck by an arquebus and soon died. The Ottoman army, left without a commander, retreated towards the fields of Tirana and fought desperately to reach the road to Dibra with heavy losses.

References

• Franco, Demetrio (1539), Comentario de le cose de' Turchi, et del S. Georgio Scanderbeg, principe d' Epyr, Venice: Altobello Salkato, ISBN 9994310429
• Frashëri, Kristo (2002), Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu: jeta dhe vepra, 1405–1468 (in Albanian), Tiranë: Botimet Toena, ISBN 9992716274
• Freely, John (2009), The grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II, conqueror of Constantinople and master of an empire, New York: The Overlook Press, ISBN 1590202481
• Hodgkinson, Harry (1999), Scanderbeg: From Ottoman Captive to Albanian Hero, London: Centre for Albanian Studies, ISBN 9781873928134
• Karaiskaj, Gjerak (1981), Pesë mijë vjet fortifikime në Shqipëri, Tirana: Shtëpia Botuese "8 Nëntori"
• Noli, Fan Stilian (1947), George Castroiti Scanderbeg (1405–1468), New York: International Universities Press, OCLC 732882