Fourth_Siege_of_Krujë_(1478)

Siege of Krujë (1478)

Siege of Krujë (1478)

1478 capture of the Albanian-ruled city of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire

For other sieges of Krujë, see First siege of Krujë, Second siege of Krujë, and Third siege of Krujë.

The fourth siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire of Krujë in Albania occurred in 1478, ten years after the death of the Skanderbeg, and resulted in the town's capture after the failure of three prior sieges and a prolonged siege that lasted a year.

Quick Facts Fourth siege of Kruje, Date ...

Demoralized and severely weakened by hunger and lack of supplies from the year-long siege, the defenders surrendered to Sultan Mehmed II, who had promised them they could leave unharmed in exchange. One of the important historical sources about this siege is the fourth volume of the Annali Veneti e del Mondo manuscript written by Stefano Magno.[4] However, the Ottomans massacred all of the males in the city and took the women as slaves.[5]

Defeat of the relief army

Evrenos-zâde Ahmed Bey and Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey were sent in front of the army to build roads and repair bridges. Despite this, the army's movements were made very difficult by the harsh Albanian terrain. Thus, the army, advancing in great difficulty, came to Kruje. Mehmed wanted the castle to be taken as the first objective of the Ottoman offensive of 1477-79 against the Venetian holdings in Albania. A small force was defending Kruje, which was in the hands of the Venetians. After a year-long siege, the city exhausted its supplies, which were mismanaged by the commanders of the defending troops. The Venetians sent auxiliary forces to relieve the city. However, Ahmed Bey defeated these forces, which were estimated to number more than 10,000, with a much smaller force and eliminated the possibility of helping the castle. After this, the garrison's hope was completely crushed. The defenders of Kruje, who ate cats and dogs because of hunger, were running low on weapons, and hearing that the Sultan himself had arrived, they surrendered, realizing that there was no other alternative for survival.[6][7]

Krujë fell in June of 1478, and the Ottomans massacred all of the males within the city and carried off the women as slaves.[8]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Frashëri, Kristo (2002), Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu: jeta dhe vepra, 1405–1468 (in Albanian), Botimet Toena, ISBN 99927-1-627-4
  2. [2]
    Babinger, Franz (1992). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Bollingen Series 96. Translated from the German by Ralph Manheim. Edited, with a preface, by William C. Hickman. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 362. ISBN 0-691-09900-6. OCLC 716361786.
  3. [3]
    Bešić, Zarij M. (1970). Istorija Črne Gore, Volume 2, Part 2 (in Serbian). Titograd: Redakcija za istoriju Črne Gore. p. 312. Опсада Кроје, предузета с прољећа 1477. год., трајала јевише од године дана. Млечани су, шаљући веће снаге, покуша-вали да продру до града и да браниоцима дотуре помоћ. Јер, у Кроји је било само 250 пјешака и 500 стадавника, а хране и муницијесамо за шест мјесеци.
  4. [4]
    Setton, Kenneth M. (1978). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume II: The Fifteenth Century. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. p. 329. ISBN 0-87169-127-2.
  5. [5]
    Fine, John V. A. (1994). The late medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the late twelfth century to the Ottoman conquest (2. print ed.). Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press. p. 600. ISBN 9780472082605.
  6. [6]
    Tansel, Selahattin. Osmanlı Kaynaklarına Göre Fatih Sultan Mehmed'in Askerî Faaliyetleri (PDF) (in Turkish). p. 143.
  7. [7]
    Fine, John V. A. (1994). The late medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the late twelfth century to the Ottoman conquest (2. print ed.). Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press. p. 600. ISBN 9780472082605.
  8. [8]
    Fine, John V. A. (1994). The late medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the late twelfth century to the Ottoman conquest (2. print ed.). Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press. p. 600. ISBN 9780472082605.
  • Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy . History of the Ottoman Turks

41°31′N 19°48′E


Stub icon

This Albania-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Fourth_Siege_of_Krujë_(1478), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.