Gjergj Kastrioti (Skenderbey)

 

 

 

Piazza Albania in Rome, Italy

Well i also searched him a little

 

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; Jan�s 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 Durr�s, 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 Posht�m (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.

 

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 Jan�s 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 (Sh�n 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.

 

 

 

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