Gjergj KastriotiSK
ENDERBEUGjergj (Albanian:George) Kastrioti was born in Kruja from Gjon Kastrioti, lord af Middle Albania,who was obliged by the Ottomans to pay tribute to the Empire. To assure the fidelity of local rulers the Sultan used to take their sons as hostage and bring them up in his court.
Gjergj Kastrioti attended military school in the Ottoman Empire and was named Iskander Bey which in Turkish means Lord Alexandre.
Skenderbeg was distinguished as one of the best officers in several Ottoman campaignes both in Asia Minor and in Europa, and the Sultan appointed him General.
He even fought against Greeks, Serbs and Hungarians, and some sources say that he used to maintain secret links with Raguse, Venice, Vladislas of Hungary et Alphonse V of Naples. Sultan Murat II gave him the title Vali which made him the General Governor of some provinces in central Albania.
He was respected everywhere but he missed his country.
In 1443, during the battle against the Hungarians of Hunyadi Nish (in present day Serbia), he abandoned the Ottoman Army and captured Kruja.
Above the castel he rose the Albanian flag, a red flag with the black double-headed eagle, the present-day Albanian flag, and pronounced to Skenderbegs countrymen the famous words: " I have not brought you liberty, I found it here, among you".
During the next 25 years he fought, whith forces rarely exceeding 20,000 against the most powerful army of that time and defeated it for 25 years.
In 1466 and 1467, the conqueror of Constantinople, led the Turkish army himself against Skenderbeg and failed.
The Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer Kruja 24 times and failed all 24 of them.
After Skenderbeg's death from natural causes in 1468 in Lezha, his soldies resisted the Turks for the next 12 years. In 1480 Albania was finally conquered by Ottoman Empire. When the Turkish found the grave of Skenderbeg in Saint Nicholas church of Lezha, they opened it and held his bones like talismans for luck.
Skenderbeg today is the National Hero of Albania and all albaniens people oll over the world.
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