The unknown history of Skanderbeg's descendants

From: Juffy Pigeon

The name and fame of Gjergj Kastriot Skënderbeu turned the hero into a historical reference and an element of national and cultural identification for Albanians of all times, of all ages and of all faiths.

This is proved by Arvanite John Herakli, from Mani i Peloponnese, who in 1557 boasted before the Pope that he was the cousin of Gjergj Castrioto (il nostro parente Giorgio Castrioto detto Schindorvechi); it is witnessed by those leaders of the South Arbri who in 1577 presented themselves to Pope Gregor XIII as compatriots "of our king Skënderbe" (Scanderbech, noster Rex); the participants of the Dukagjin Assembly of 1602 also testify to it, who swore "to regain the former freedom they enjoyed at the time of their Prince Skënderbe"; the indomitable organizer of the anti-Ottoman uprisings, Mark Gjini, testifies that he never missed an opportunity without remembering that his grandfather had fought under the orders of Skënderbeu; and, in the end, Mahmud Pasha Bushatlliu of Shkodra also testifies, who on the eve of the National Renaissance declared himself a descendant of Skenderbeu and an imitator of his works: all of them knew Skenderbeu as their demiurge, as a model and, in after all, also as a factor that facilitated contacts with the chancelleries of the West.

It was much more difficult for the descendants of the Kastriots who, in addition to the privilege as heirs to the Hero's name and glory, also had the heavy burden of measuring up to his feats. In fact, none of them had the genius of Skanderbeg and could not rise to the height of the leader.

The son, Gjon Kastrioti, in 1481 was sent to Albania by King Ferrante of Naples to light the fire of the anti-Ottoman uprising there. But the evidence of time is silent about him, while they raise to the sky the bravery and military victories of the Albanian captains who accompanied him in that adventure, of Kostandin Muzaka, cousin of Gjon, and of Krokodil Klada from Mani of the Peloponnese.

Gjon's son, Gjergj Kastrioti, tried to excel where his legendary grandfather had excelled, and where his own had failed in 1481. But this George was far from the first George. Contemporaries confess that he was fond of worldly life, he liked to spend and dress beautifully (bel vestito).

The chronicler Girolamo Priuli even describes George as a frivolous young man (haveva pocho zervello). Perhaps because he lacked the financial means to meet his whims (so whispers the other chronicler, Marin Sanudo), Gjergji proposed to the Senate of Venice to support him financially to carry out a military expedition in Albania: the Albanians were looking forward to Skenderbeu's grandson to be thrown into the next uprising. At that time, the years 1499-1503, the Republic of Venice was involved in a new war with the Ottoman Empire. In this context, the expedition of Skanderbeg the Younger would have a diversionary effect, blocking the Turks in the Albanian strait and leaving free the maritime traffic in the Adriatic, which was the main concern of the Venetians. Thus, after long and heated debates, finally, in March 1501, the Senate made the decision to launch the expedition. "He took it, but it turned out to be a waste of money", comments the contemporary Marin Sanudo sarcastically on the Senate's decision (E fu presa, et fuit nihil).

In fact, Gjergji's expedition began and ended with the conquest of Ishull-Lezha without a fight, which, instead of a military coup for the liberation of the country, he turned into a worldly "residence" where he received and escorted local representatives and even dignitaries. Ottomans from Kruja and Shkodra.

Sanudo makes fun of this strange anabasis of Skanderbeg the Younger in Albania, when he specifies that he had also taken his wife with him, and adds: a sign of the woman was enough, and Gjergji left half of every "state" conversation to devote to her all his attention.

Among Skanderbeg's descendants in the Italian diaspora, the most worthy of the glorious name he bore, even though he did not belong to the direct family line, was Alfonsi, Marquis of Tripalda. In the area of ​​Labëria and Himara, they knew him quite well, and even in 1566, about twenty years after his death, the leaders of those villages remembered "the blessed Marquis of Tripalda, who generously happened to us while he was alive, and now that we don't have it anymore, it has left us hopeless".

In fact, the King of Naples had appointed Alfonso as governor of Calabria and Puglia, and he used this position to strengthen ties with his fellow patriots across the sea, and further to organize there reconnaissance operations and even armed uprisings against the Ottomans.

But his son, Antoni, who thanks to his happy marriage also received the title of duke of Ferrandina, also shot that prodigal son of the family. After squandering his fortune on worldly parties and wandering the world, he died in Venice during the Carnival of 1549. The poor man shone with his beauty and agility during the horse race in Piazza San Stefano, but at the end of it he dared to pays a slightly bold compliment to a Venetian damsel, whose husband, in a quarrel, stabbed her to death with a sword. This tragic death at the Venetian Carnival would bring to a melancholy close the history of the Castriots of Italy, one worthy of perpetuation.

Meanwhile, there has been a lack of data on eventual descendants of the Kastriots in Albania. In fact, after the disaster that Skanderbeg had caused on the Ottoman Turks, there was no place for the Kastriots. There is talk of some of their descendants who converted to Islam and were lost among the nameless.

However, documents from the years 1601-1605 of the Venice Archives, recently found, introduce us in Venetian Dalmatia to an unknown pinjoll of the Kastriots. It is about Frančesk Kastrioti, whose name the documents give as Francesco Castriotto, and sometimes in the even more Albanian form: Francesco Castriotti. He is mentioned as a distinguished captain in the service of Venice on the occasion of the war that the Republic declared against the Uskoks. The Uskoks were Croatian warriors recruited by the Venetians to guard the Dalmatian coastal possessions from Ottoman attacks. But, by the middle of the XNUMXth century, Uskoks turned into a nightmare for their employers. Rather than fighting the Ottomans, the Uskoks turned to the more lucrative trade of piracy, attacking and plundering precisely Venetian merchant ships.

Fierce and cruel warriors, the Uskoks returned to the horror of the navigators, which forced the Republic to create a special force of local (Croatian) recruits to stop their attacks. The results were few, and the Venetians saw fit to engage Albanian fighters against the Uskoks.

In 1598, the troop of "fighters against the Uskoks" numbered, in addition to 150 Croats, the same number of Albanians. These, who were as fierce and merciless warriors as the Uskoks, turned the battle situation in favor of Venice. This prompted the Venetian governor of Zara to propose to the Senate that the Croats should all be replaced by Albanian fighters (in loco di Crovati fossero tutti Albanesi).

We don't know if this really happened. However, we know that in 1601 the position of "Captain of the war against the Uskoks" was held by the Albanian Pal Gjini, with the rank of general (Gr. Paulo Gini). Exactly under his orders was captain Franco Kastrioti, as well as other captains, also Albanians: Jak Kruta (Giacomo Crutta), Gjon Gjini (Zuanne Gini), Dabo Luzi (Dabbo Lussi), Gjon Misja (Giovanni Messia), Andrea Leka ( Andrea Lecha).

Among their actions, the one of May 1613 caused a stir against a band of Uskoks who had earlier seized a Venetian merchant ship. It is said that after having cut off the head of the ship's captain, the Uskoks also took out his heart, which they divided among themselves and ate at the victory banquet (fatto decapitare il sopracomito con grande inhumanitai, cavandoli il cuore e mangiandolo in un loro banchetto). . But the Uskoks were taken by surprise by the Albanians of Pal Gjini, who killed 70 of them and took their severed heads to the Venetian governor of Zara as a reward. That same year, the entire anti-Uskok formation of Albanians, which meanwhile had reached the number of 800 fighters, attacked the Uskoks in their nursery, in Senjë, "cutting 1500 Uskoks to pieces and looting their country".

From these few data, we can say with certainty that at the turn of the century. XVI-XVII, the son of the Kastriots, captain Francesco Kastrioti, had a primary role in this page of Albanian-Adriatic history that lasted for almost two centuries. But, for now, our knowledge of it stops there. Certainly, the numerous funds of the Venice Archive, in addition to those that we have been able to consult, preserve other, even more important, notices about the Pinjoll of the Kastriots, about other characters and about other events of the history of Albanians in the Middle Ages. .

But, finally, one must remember that young researchers must be prepared, and the conditions must be created for them to access the archives, especially those of Venice.

Only in the universities of Italy today there are thousands of Albanian students who attend the "Lettere e Filosofia" faculties. Until now, not even a single case has been heard that any of the Albanian students have chosen the "Lettere Classiche" course, which is a compulsory course for the preparation of future Albanologists.

In Rome, Padua or Naples, Albanian students choose to graduate in English Language, Spanish Literature, or even Albanian Language and Literature! "Nonsense," Marin Sanudo would say. /Newspaper "Dita"/