Gjon Kastrioti of Krujë, one of the …
Years: 1443 - 1443
Gjon Kastrioti of Krujë, one of the Albanian clan leaders who have submitted to Turkish suzerainty, had been compelled to send his four sons to the Ottoman capital to be trained for military service.
The youngest, Gjergj, who had been renamed Iskander when he converted to Islam, had participated in military expeditions to Asia Minor and Europe and captured the sultan's attention.
When appointed to administer a Balkan district, Iskander had become known as Skanderbeg.
After Ottoman forces under his command suffer defeat in a battle near Nish, in 1443, Skanderbeg rushes to Krujë and tricks a Turkish pasha into surrendering him the reputedly impregnable Kastrioti family fortress.
Skanderbeg then re-embraces Roman Catholicism and declares a holy war against the Turks.
Locations
People
Groups
- Islam
- Albanians
- Christians, Eastern Orthodox
- Christians, Roman Catholic
- Albania, Sanjak of
- Macedonia, Ottoman Vardar
- Ottoman Empire
