The Battle of Albulena: 560 years since Skanderbeg's unusual victory

Kastriot Marku

In commemoration of the battle of Gjergj Kastriot (Skenderbeu), against the forces of the regular Ottoman army commanded by Isak bey Evrenozi, known as the Battle of Ujjabardha or Albulena, held 560 years ago on September 2, 1457 in (Zheja), somewhere between Zheja and Gjorm of Kurbin.

Skenderbeu's victory came after the defeat he suffered in Berat two years ago on July 26, 1455. According to various historical sources, it is said that in the battle of Ujjabarda, the Turkish army had 80 thousand soldiers, of which about 30 thousand were killed in that battle .

The region of Kurbin, especially its rear mountain Skenderbeu, as well as the entire area around it, were an important part of the military actions of our National Hero Gjergj Kastriot (Skenderbeu) during the years 1443-1468 against the Ottoman armies, where a place the historical battle of White Water, otherwise known as Albulena (Lat. Albulae Ascqua), is especially important.

There is no doubt that the grudge and fury of any failure to take the Kruja fortress was vented by the Ottoman armies by looting the living thing, destroying crops, cutting down trees and vineyards and burning villages in the surrounding areas, where of course Kurbin occupied the main place.

This province underwent constant demographic changes during the period of the Turkish occupation, because part of the villages were abandoned and another part of them emigrated.

The Battle of White Water (or Ujit te Qelbët), fought on September 2, 1457, near the ruins of the Church of the Four Hundred in the village of Zheja, southwest of Kurbin, is one of the most important battles fought by the Arberians. by Gjergj Kastriot (Skenderbeu) against the Ottoman forces, this time commanded by Isak bey Evrenozi. After the defeat of the battle of Berat on July 26, 1455, the internal political situation of Arberia worsened.

As Fan Noli says: "After the defeat of Berat, no one thought that Skenderbeu could stay alive and that everyone wanted to get away from the sinking ship."

A Turkish army of 15 horsemen led by the traitor Moisi Golem, who had abandoned Skenderbeu after the defeat of the battle of Berat, was placed by Sultan Mehmet II at the head of an army to deliver the final blow to Skenderbeu and Arberia. the battle of Berat, which had naturally weakened the military power of the Arbes.

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At the end of the spring (May) of 1456, the Ottoman army led by Moses reached the field of Rahonik near Dibra and in the battle that took place there, it was badly defeated by the forces of Skanderbeg, who had informed the Pope and the cardinal of Fermos Domenico Capranico through a letter sent by Paul Angel, about the danger of the attack of the Ottomans.

Pope Calixtus III tried his best by knocking on the doors of European states through his legates to organize, but without success, a papal crusade to expel the Turks from the Balkans. Even through a special bull issued on the day of St. Peter and St. Paul on June 29, 1456, he would appeal to Christians (Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Arberia, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany , Poland), to unite against the infidels, where Saint Giovanni da Capestrano (1386-1456) played a special role.

In July 1456, the Hungarian armies defeated the Turkish army consisting of 100 thousand troops commanded by Mehmet II himself, in the famous battle of Belgrade, while Gjergj Kastrioti as well as in the battle of Varna (1444) and in the battle of Kosovo (1448 ), did not participate, because he was busy and under pressure and fear of Turkish attacks in Arberi. After one month, on August 11, 1456, János Hunyadi (1407-1456) died, with which the resistance of the Hungarians against the Ottoman invaders was extinguished, one of the most powerful ambushes of the anti-Ottoman war in the Balkans, as well as on October 23 of the same year Giovanni Capestrano also died after contracting an epidemic on the battlefield.

Before long, regretting his cooperation with the Ottomans, Moisiu returned to Arbëri to fight loyally to the death alongside Skënderbeu, who forgave him and immediately restored the properties and assets confiscated after the desertion. Moses, regretting the choice made earlier, surrendered to Skanderbeg and served him faithfully until the end.

That same year, in the month of October, Gjergj Stres Balsha, the son of Jella, Skanderbeg's sister, had surrendered the castle of Modrica to the Turks, apparently in exchange for a sum of money, while the following year the nephew and closest collaborator of Skanderbeg, Hamza Kastrioti, who lost hope of taking the place of his uncle, when the latter's son, heir Gjoni, was born to him, so the greed for power took him after him, causing him to go to the side of the sultan.

Likewise, Lekë Dukagjini, with the help of the Turks, occupied the Danja castle at the beginning of November 1456, seriously risking a conflict between Skënderbey and Venice. With the death of Jancu de Hunedoara (János Hunyadi/Janku of Hunedoara or as Noli has called Janko Huniadin), the only equally equal opponent who could prevent his march to the West was the prince of Arberia Gjergj Kastrioti, called Skënderbe .

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Despite this difficult situation, the year 1457 from May to September would be a year of unusual battles with the Turks, which led Skanderbeg to turn to the Pope and King Alfonso for help. Sultan Mehmet Fatihu I in July of 1457, sent an army that, according to the sources of the time, numbered 80 thousand soldiers, under the command of Isak bey Evrenozi, which was joined by Skenderbeu's nephew Hamza Kastrioti.

The latter being well acquainted with the country, the Albanian army and Skenderbeu's combat tactics, after entering Arbëri from the side of Dibra, before heading to Kruja, he advised the Turkish commander to attack the main mass of the Arbëri army and which, together with its commander, usually stayed outside the castles.

Skanderbeg gathered his army, and seeing the unfavorable military numerical ratio, decided not to wait for the enemy in the open field. He followed a new tactic called movement initiative and what historian Aurel Plasari calls offensive defense. If before he had drawn the Turkish army to where he was interested and then attacked it by surprise where it did not expect it, this time the Arberian army with about 8-10 thousand people, led by him, after performing a series of actions and of almost sporadic and insignificant matches with him, ie. without bringing him into battle, not giving him the possibility of a frontal match, after making several withdrawals, he made a maneuver by temporarily dispersing the main mass of the army and retreating through the mountains and forests with a machete as if defeated by the Lower Dibra, that his soldiers had deserted, that his chiefs had betrayed him, and that he himself was seeking salvation, so much so that this was noticed and reported as desertion and renunciation, surrender from the war.

This maneuver was also taken as a fact by the Venetian captain of Durres, Marko Diedo, who announced on July 31, 1457 to the doge - the duke of the Republic - that: "The great Skenderbe has taken the mountains to save his head and everyone has abandoned him" .

Skanderbeg's troops preceded the Ottoman army and settled on the mountain of Tumenisht, (today in the province of Kurbin), while the Turkish troops led by Isak Bey Evrenozi and Hamza Kastrioti, after passing through and calmly carried out the looting and burnings in the province of Mati , not encountering the Albanian army in any place, they were finally convinced that Skenderbeu, based on the traces of the "escape", now left no doubt that he had been defeated and therefore they quietly crossed the entire valley and the river of Mati and settled carelessly in the field of Ujëbardhë "et aquas quas Albulas açolae appelant", which Stefan Prifti translates as Bardhëze, while Hasan Ceka locates him in the village of Zhejë, between the villages of Gjomën and Zhejë near Mamurras, where he also quietly committed the usual raids up to Shufadà, set up camp in anticipation of attacking the early target, Kruja.

To be sure, Isak bey Evrenozi placed a guard at the mouth of the river Mat as far as Lezhë and Shkodër. The diplomatic announcements that circulated almost all confirmed that Skanderbeg had been crushed and retreated, thus leaving the Turkish army free to destroy and pillage. Skanderbeg stayed on Tumenishti mountain and the surroundings of the Kurbin province, in great secrecy during the months of July-August, thanks also to

"...to the loyalty shown by the soldiers and villagers of the villages where Skanderbeg and his forces stayed hidden for weeks...", and then after gathering and quickly organizing his dispersed army, using the terrain as well, after annihilating without noticed by the guards, he attacked the careless and debauched Turkish army by surprise, from the mountain hills in the heat of the day on September 2, 1457, when the Ottoman army was almost in its midday nap, without weapons and with unsaddled horses, caused her one of the biggest disasters she had suffered up to that time. It is said that in the battle of Ujjabarda, the Turkish army lost around 15-30 soldiers, while thousands of people were taken prisoner, including the grandson of Skënderbey Hamzai, who, according to the order given, he spared by first imprisoning him in Naples. to then release him to go to Turkey. The booty secured from the battlefield, starting with the horses, was very large, so much so that as an announcement of the victory, precious gifts were sent to the King of Spain, the Holy See in Rome and King Alfaon of Naples. The military forces of the Arbers lost 000 people in this battle, who were buried with honors near the Abbey Church of Saint Mary in the village of Shëmri. After the heavy defeat of 240 in the battle of Ujëbardha, which forced the Ottoman Empire to ask for a truce, Sultan Mehmet II temporarily stopped the attacks against Arberia and only in the 1457s would he send such a powerful army against it numerical forces. Skanderbeg's victory came after the defeat he suffered in Berat two years earlier on July 60, 26. The extraordinary victory in the battle of Ujëbardha has been described by many historians, starting with Marin Barleti in the tenth book of "The History of Skanderbeg" (Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi...).

It made the loss in Berat forget, so it was celebrated not only in Arberi but also in the courts of Rome, Naples, Venice, etc. After this victory, Gjergj Kastrioti will be described by Pope Calixtus III as "fortissimo Christi athletae" (very strong athlete of Christ), and will be appointed by him as "Commander-in-Chief of the Curia of Rome in the anti-Turkish war." /Albania/