he was an albanian,he was burn and died in albania,he is our national hero
he is wellknown couse with a little army kept the last castle of christianism in balcan alive from the ottomans
he also gathered the albanian together and called his self like the descendors of alexander the great...thats why the turks named him iskender couse in turkish language the name "alexander" can not be spelled so except iskender
he was an albanian,he was burn and died in albania,he is our national hero
he is wellknown couse with a little army kept the last castle of christianism in balcan alive from the ottomans
he also gathered the albanian together and called his self like the descendors of alexander the great...thats why the turks named him iskender couse in turkish language the name "alexander" can not be spelled so except iskender
A new book about Georgija Kastriot written by Petar Popovski is published these days in FYROMacedonia. It is 1200 pages long (or short) and irrefutabely proofs his Slav-Macedonian (Mijak) ethnicity.
The name of the book is ....Georgija Kastriot -Iskender and his Mijak Ethnicity
Original documents...and the texts about him from Italian...and other european historians from his time (15-th century) irrefutably proove his Slav-Macedonian origin.
Popovski added 20 epic Slav-Macedonian songs collected during 19-th century. Parts of two of them are presented in "Vreme.
One is the song about the dream of his mother Voislava and the second is the song about Georgija and his wife Marija Andronika.
he was an albanian,he was burn and died in albania,he is our national hero
he is wellknown couse with a little army kept the last castle of christianism in balcan alive from the ottomans
he also gathered the albanian together and called his self like the descendors of alexander the great...thats why the turks named him iskender couse in turkish language the name "alexander" can not be spelled so except iskender
A new book about Georgija Kastriot written by Petar Popovski is published these days in FYROMacedonia. It is 1200 pages long (or short) and irrefutabely proofs his Slav-Macedonian (Mijak) ethnicity.
The name of the book is ....Georgija Kastriot -Iskender and his Mijak Ethnicity
Original documents...and the texts about him from Italian...and other european historians from his time (15-th century) irrefutably proove his Slav-Macedonian origin.
Popovski added 20 epic Slav-Macedonian songs collected during 19-th century. Parts of two of them are presented in "Vreme.
One is the song about the dream of his mother Voislava and the second is the song about Georgija and his wife Marija Andronika.
So what do you exactly believe Akritas?How come you are refering to some sources that yourself disregarded in other cases? Or lets say it, the enemy of my enemy could be my allie, sometimes???
It would be interesting if you could share with us some of the quotes from that book written by Popovski. I wonder if the rest of us would deem your recensation as 'fair', because the term 'irrefutable proof' is a rather strong claim. If such was really the case, I am confident that the book would have made more sensation than it de facto has, nor would Scanderbeg's origins be debated anylonger among the historical circles. I mean, the Macedonian historians have totally discredited themselves by claiming Alexander the Great, equating ancient Macedonians with modern Slav Macedonians.
For those of you who do not know, George Kastrioti, known in traditional litterature as Scanderbeg, was a medieval lord in Albania, who lived in the years 1405-1468. In 1443, he led his men in a rebellion against the Ottomans, and the year thereafter he summoned the Albanian nobility to the town of Alessio (modern day Lezha) and forged an alliance comprised by a loose federation of local principalities. There was also one foreign member of this alliance; Ivan Crnojevic of Zeta (Montenegro). From that day on, he led the confederation's armies into numerous victories against the Ottomans which liberated the country, fencing off Ottoman attacks and invasions for the upcoming 25 years while at it. This success earned him the title "Athleta Christi", a title given by the Pope only to two other contemporaries of Scanderbeg; Jans Hunyadi, a Hungarian noble of Transsylvania, and Stefan cel Mare, prince of Moldavia and cousin of the notorious Vlad III "the Impaler".
Naturally, this charismatic nature of Scanderbeg made him a hero not only to the Albanians, but also to other peoples of the Balkans and to all of contemporary Europe. This, however, has also lead to some claiming Scanderbeg as their own. Greeks like to corrupt his name into Georgios Kastriotis and claim he was of the Greek ethnicity. Slavs, or more explicitly, modern Macedonians and Serbs, corrupt his name into Djuradj Kastriotovic or Kastriotovski and claim him to be a Slav medieval noble.
Personally, I think these tendencies of claiming an already well defined historical figure, is a sign of pseudo-historiography motivated by nationalistic ambitions rather than objective efforts to unravel the ethnic origins of a much praised medieval hero and excellent strategist. Greek claims on Scanderbeg circulate much around the fact that he was oftenly called "Prince of Epirus" -- the latter term being a geographic designation attributed to what is northwestern Greece. What these 'historians' neglect or 'forget' to mention, is that in medieval sources, old geographic/ethnic terms were oftenly used to referr to medieval political or ethnic units. Thus, the Slavs of Western Balkans, namely the Croats & Serbs, were called 'Illyrians' even though it is well known that the Slavs did not arrive in the Balkans until the 6th century AD, as opposed to the Illyrians who were an indigenous ethnic component. The Bulgarians were likewise called 'Triballi', which was the name of a Thracian tribe who dwelved in what is now modern Bulgaria long before the arrival of either Slavs of Bulgars. Albanians likewise were called Macedonians and Epirotians. In no way was Scanderbeg, however, an ethnic Greek noble. There are no proof, aside the above mentioned fallacy, of him being an ethnic Greek.
The Slav claims circulate much around the anthroponyms (personal names) of his family, which indeed are of Slav origins in many cases, as in that of his mother Vojsava, his brother Stanisha and his sister, Jela. However, what these sources forget, is that in many cases, the personal name of an individual is not necessarely indicative of one's ethnic affiliation. Medieval Albania had under the Middle Age sporadically been under the occupation of Slav kingdoms and principalities. Consequently, the influence of the Orthodox Slav culture ran high. In the 1300s, the Serbian tsar Stefan Dusan occupied essentially all of Albania, with the exception of the harbour town of Durrs, medieval and ancient Dyrrachium. He also implemented his own set of rules, called Dusanova Zakonik, as the imperial law of the territories he ruled. In his law, it was said that all 'heretics' (Catholics and Orthodox believers of the Byzantine rite included) would be severely punished (including execution) upon refusing conversion to the Serbian Orthodox Church. His policies were pursued even by his followers, and they continued ruling parts of Albanian territories. As a result of this, Slav influence increased and Orthodox Slav names were accordingly adopted by the indigenous peasantry and nobility, even though we weren't and aren't ethnic Slavs. Even today, though at a much lower level, the result of this influence is evident in loan-words and even occasional surnames or even names, such as Vuksan, Prelvukaj, Bogdani, Vladi etc.
Regarding Scanderbeg, there is a probability his mother was a Slav princess from Polog, modern day Macedonia/FYROM. There is, however, no definite proof to confirm this. Scanderbeg's father, John Kastrioti (known as Gjon in Albanian and Ivan/Jovan in Serbian and Macedonian) was a lord of Dibra, which is an ethnic Albanian territory in modern day Albania and FYROM. Here is where the hot debate really stands, because the sons of nobles usually followed the father's foot-steps, which means that, for example, a Byzantine Greek prince/emperor was Byzantine/Greek because his father was so, regardless of his mother's origins. The last emperor of Constantinople, Constantine Dragatses, was for instance 1/2 Serbian because of his mother; he was however, still a Byzantine emperor. Likewise, Stefan Dusan of Serbia was and is not considered Bulgarian because his mother, Theodora, was a Bulgarian princess. He honoured the allegiance of his father, Stefan Decanski.
Likewise, Scanderbeg was what his father was. That is why Slavs like to claim him as well, and not settle with Vojsava. The mystery of John Kastrioti, however, isn't as mysterious as some would like to conclude. He was by the time of his son's birth, the lord of two Albanian villages, Sinja and Gardhi i Poshtm (Lower Gardhi). He was most probably a Orthodox landlord, and being that his tiny domain was in direct touch with Slav lands and peoples, intermarriages occured at a noble level (infact, as all here probably know, inter-ethnic marriages in noble circles was the norm during this period). However, how he and his sons were perceived ethnically by their Slav neighbours, is rather evident through Scanderbeg's monk brother, Reposh Kastrioti. The monastery in which he worked was 'coincidentally' called (by Slav chronicles) as 'Arbanaska pirga', the former term being a medieval Slav word for Albanian. Why would it be called such if the family of John Kastrioti was trully Slav?
Above all, where the loyalty and fate of Scanderbeg belonged is evident through his work and legacy. Even in his own correspondence with the Prince of Taranto, he clearly identifies with the Albanian nation.
The existence of 20 (or more) epic songs about Scanderbeg in modern Macedonia (FYROM) its explainable, because we know that in that state albanians and others (serbians, bulgarians, greeks, turks etc) lived for centuries. But it is in Albania that Scanderbeg is considered a national hero, and in all the albanian territories thousand of songs and tales are sang in his memory. A whole epic cycle is named by him, and so does one of the albanian Kanuns (juridical code). In the arbresh territories in the modern provinces of Puglia, Abruzzo, Molise, Calabria, Campania, Sicily in Italy the descendants of the albanians who fleed the turkish invasion after Scanderbeg's death still remember this hero. www.arbitalia.it
Now, Scanderbeg was a Catholic, from a catholic family. You all know who are the ethnicities of the catholic communities in the western balcans (Croats and Albanians). Fortunately there are plenty of documents on Scanderbeg, including several genealogies, one its even from his allie, the albanian prince Gjon Muzak Komneni (John Mussacha Comneno).
I dont want to discuss the Comneni prince, as I know that the Comnenes were a byzanthine family, but you all know that nobles married between eachother (and they still do) so the albanian branch of the Comnenes could be descendant, or connected by marriage to the Byzanthines. Scanderbegs wife was a Comnene. Her name was Donika Komnena (Andronice Comnena - in an italian inscription found even in the albanian version Donice Castriota Scanderbeg). She was the daughter of the southern albanian prince Gjergj Arianit Komneni - George Arianites Comnene, who is still remembered in epic tales and songs, as the most powerful prince after Scanderbeg (and perhaps Lek Dukagjini- Alexander Duke of Ghin).
Scanderbeg's mother, Voisava, judging from the name, could be slavic. Anyway, I remember we discussed this issue in another thread before, so who is interested could do a little search up there.
If you want to discuss Scanderbegs ethnicity, lets do that, I am open. But it is a bit strange when somebody posts as resources the same links he himself disregarded and accussed as being abusive- to say the less.
Indeed epic songs proove little. In Albanian folklore, there are songs about Milos Kopilic and Marko Kraljevic, though I am confident no Serb historian sees this as proof of these medieval personalities' alleged Albanian ethnicity. Neither do Serbian songs about Jans Hunyadi, the Hungarian known as Sibinjanin Janko in Serbian folklore, proove the alleged Serbian ethnicity of this Transylvanian noble.
I do disagree with you, however, about the religion of George Kastrioti. Most evidence point towards the fact that he was Orthodox, not Catholic, hence also the presence of Orthodox names in his family of both the Greek and Serbian rites. His father, John Kastrioti, made donations to the Orthodox monasteries of Mt.Athos. Later in life he became more of a Uniat; this might be related to the fact that all local Orthodox powers, including Byzantium, had more or less fallen to Ottoman hands. In the West, however, the Catholics stood strong and Scanderbeg needed the Pope's support. Perhaps there was a stage when he converted to Catholicism, I do not know -- he was buried in the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Nicholas (Shn Kolli) in Lezha. But he was probably an Orthodox in the first stage of his life. No doubt, his politics towards the Papacy was strategical. But in the end, it was fruitless; the Pope's promises of a crusade were never realized.
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Posted: 02-Apr-2007 at 17:43
But in the end, it was fruitless; the Pope's promises of a crusade were never realized.
Actually they were, if momentarily. Pope Pius II was an avid supporter of Scanderbeg(and a great critic of the Venetians) and organized an army of crusaders which were to be shipped from Ancona to Albania. He was to attend the trip but died along the way; thereafter, the crusaders melted away.*
Scanderbeg and Hunyadi, however, were late on the message and both prepared an invasion into Ottoman Macedonia. Scanderbeg attacked the Ohrid with momentary success, but was forced to withdraw upon realizing that support was not forthcoming, similarly with Hunyadi. Both men broke the treaty they had signed with Mehmed in order to take part in the crusade.
*Later on, the late Italian Renaissance writer, Margherrita Sarrochi: the first female epic poem writer, idealized the pope in her poem Scanderbeg.
Yeah. That period is a great "what if" in Albanian history. Had that Pope not died, Scanderbeg might have had some real aid coming from the Apennines. Not disregarding the help he did actually receive, but it was more symbolical than decisive, as the case of 500 fighters from Naples ... who ironically needed Scanderbeg's help to fence off the forces of the Prince of Taranto in the 1460s. The most spectacular thing, however, was the case where volunteers came from England to fight for Scanderbeg. Absolutely amazing; their voyage alone must've been an epic tale on its own.
Skanderbeg was one of the greatest medieval military commanders. It is conceivable that he saved Europe by holding back the genius of Mehmet II who conquered Constantinople and could have conquered Italy except for a pestilential Albanian army in his rear. He had been a janissary, taken from his father's household to serve in the Ottoman army, but he defected in the middle of a battle to Janos Hunyadi, another great commander from Hungary. He said to the Albanians whom he returned to, "I did not give you liberty, I found it here among you." He unified for a time the Albanian princes in defense against Ottoman incursions and won several battles, all at a position of numerical inferiority. After his death his son sold the kingdom to the Venetians who could not defend it and it quickly fell to Mehmet's successor.
His reputation is sadly sullied today because his ancestry is claimed by the Greeks, the Serbs, the Macedonians, the Bulgarians, the Turks, the Croats, the Bosnians, and probably the Canadians too. No serious historian outside of the Balkans disputes that Skanderbeg considered himself anything other than Epirote.
Opium is the religion of the masses.
From each according to his need, to each according to his ability.
His reputation is sadly sullied today because his ancestry is claimed by the ..., the Bulgarians, .....
Where did you find this? Can you point me to some examples? That might be a sign of ignorance, but I heard about him for the first time in this forum As faras I know, nobody in Bulgaria attempts to trace Bulgarian roots of Skanderbeg. In contrast to Krali Marko
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