The siege of Shkodra () took place from May 1478 to April 1479 as a confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and the Venetians together with the League of Lezhë and other AlbaniansL. Nadin, Migrazioni e integrazione. Il caso degli Albanesi a Venezia (1479-1552), Bulzoni, Contesti AdriaticiArchives of Venetian Senate, Sen. Mar, Rº 11, c. 22, 08 May 1479. Documented in Zamputi, Injac. Dokumenta të shekullit XV për historinë e Shqipërisë, vol. 4, pt. 1. Tirana: Akademia e Shkencave të Shqipërisë, 1967.Kemal Pashazade (ca. 1520) cited from Ibn Kemal, Tevarih-i al-i 'osman, def. VII (Ankara 1957), cited in Pulaha, Selami. Lufta shqiptaro turke në shekullin XV: burime osmane. Tirana: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, 1968. p. 207 at Shkodra (Scutari in Italian) and its Rozafa Castle during the First Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–1479). Ottoman historian Franz Babinger called the siege "one of the most remarkable episodes in the struggle between the West and the Crescent".Babinger, Franz. Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978.
A small force of approximately 1,600 Albanian and Italian men and a much smaller number of womenBuda, Aleks. "Hyrja" published in Barleti, Marin. Rrethimi i Shkodrës. Tiranë: Instituti i Historisë, 1967. faced a massive Ottoman force containing artillery cast on site and an army reported (though widely disputed) to have been as many as 350,000 in number. The campaign was so important to Mehmed the Conqueror that he came personally to ensure triumph. After nineteen days of bombarding the castle walls, the Ottomans launched five successive general attacks which all ended in victory for the besieged. With dwindling resources, Mehmed attacked and defeated the smaller surrounding fortresses of Žabljak Crnojevića, Drisht, and Lezha, left a siege force to starve Shkodra into surrender, and returned to Constantinople. On January 25, 1479, Venice and Constantinople signed a peace agreement that among other concessions ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire. The defenders of the citadel emigrated to Venice, whereas many Albanians from the region retreated into the mountains.Shpuza, Gazmend. “La Lutte pour la défense de Shkodër dans années 1474 et 1478–1479,” in Studia Albanica, VI, 1968, pp. 181–90. Shkodra then became a seat of the newly established Ottoman sanjak, the Sanjak of Scutari. The Ottomans held the city until Montenegro captured it in April 1913, after a six-month siege.
Background
Shkodra, also known as Shkodër or as Scutari, was both a strategic town and an important region of Albania Veneta. After being held by the Balšić noble family since 1355, Shkodra was briefly taken by the Ottomans in 1393, retaken by Đurađ II Balšić in 1395, then ceded (along with the nearby fortresses of Drivast, Dagnum, and Šas) to the Republic of Venice in 1405.Prifti, Kristaq, et al. Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime, vol. 1. Tirana: Toena, 2002.
Sultan Mehmed II had already conquered Constantinople in 1453, but now desired to dominate the Albanian coastline and be better poised to cross the Adriatic and march upon Rome.Kinross, John Patrick Douglas Balfour. The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002. Scanderbeg had thwarted Ottoman success in Albania for a quarter of a century; his League of Lezha, a united front of Albanian forces which was formed in 1444 to resist the Ottomans,Vickers, Miranda. The Albanians: A Modern History. pp. 8-9. had collapsed in 1468. Scanderbeg died in 1468; nevertheless, Kruja and some northern Albanian garrisons were still holding with Venetian support.
The Venetians and the Ottoman Empire had been at war since 1463, the Ottoman Empire seeking expansion and the Venetians seeking to secure their trading colonies. Venice held and was arming a number of Albanian towns, including Shkodra, which it had taken in 1396 and renamed Scutari. By 1466 Venice considered Shkodra the heart and capital of Albania Veneta.Schmitt, Oliver (translated by Ardian Klosi). Arbëria Venedike (1392-1479), Tirana: K&B, 2002.
Shkodra was so important to the Empire's aims that, shortly after the siege, Ottoman chronicler Ashik Pashazade called it "the hope of passage to the lands of Italy".Ashik Pashazade (ca. 1480) cited in Pulaha, Selami. Lufta shqiptaro turke në shekullin XV: burime osmane. Tirana: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, 1968. p. 72 The Ottomans attempted to take Shkodra in the siege of 1474. Sultan Mehmed II's commander Suleiman Pasha failed; therefore the Ottomans retreated and the sultan planned a more powerful offensive.
Meanwhile, Mehmed II had demanded that Venice surrender Kruja, Shkodra, and other Albanian towns in exchange for peace, and added leverage to this demand by instructing Iskender Bey, the sanjak bey of Bosnia to invade Friuli. Count Carlo da Braccio repulsed the invaders, but before returning to Bosnia, "the Turkish bands nevertheless did enormous damage and carried away large numbers of men and cattle." Despite these losses, Venice refused to yield to Mehmed II's demands to surrender Shkodra, being its "last bastion in the East". In 1477 the Ottomans captured most of the nearby territory of Zeta together with Žabljak and defeated the main army of Ivan Crnojević late in 1477 or early 1478. Crnojević soon recovered Žabljak but held it only briefly while the Ottomans concentrated on their attack on Shkodra. Among the population of Shkodra there were people who were suspected to be connected to the Ottomans and who supported the surrender of the city.
Forces involved The Republic of Venice was intent on defending Shkodra.Nadin, Lucia. Shqiptarët në Venedik: Mërgim e integrim 1479–1552. Tirana: Shtëpia Botuese "55", 2008. Expecting the new Ottoman attack, the Venetians prepared vigorously, sending their expert engineers to reinforce the fortifications according to the most modern techniques and maintaining a garrison of about 800 mercenaries in the city. In late 1477, as the new Ottoman threat grew imminent, many Venetian mercenaries deserted Shkodra. Therefore, the Venetian Senate finally approved the locals' requests for arms and gave permission for the recruitment of warriors from the surrounding villages. The city of Shkodra would be defended by its strong walls and a mixed garrison of locals and the remaining Venetian mercenaries.
In the spring of 1478, Mehmed II dispatched both the beylerbey of Rumelia, Koca Davud Pasha, and the new beylerbey of Anatolia, Mustafa Bey, to Shkodra with the armies under their control. In his eyewitness testimony (book), The Siege of Shkodra, Shkodran historian Marin Barleti recorded that there may have been up to 350,000 Ottoman soldiers involved in the attack. Ottoman chronicler Kivami wrote of 100,000 Ottoman soldiers in one attack alone.Pulaha, Selami (ed.). Lufta shqiptaro-turke në shekullin XV. Burime osmane. Tiranë: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë, 1968 Venice wanted to aid the besieged and sent their galleys up the Bojana River from the Adriatic Sea, but they were prevented by an Ottoman blockade at Shirgj.
When the Ottomans approached Shkodra in May 1478, Venetian commander Antonio da Lézze sent the women and children to the seaside villages,Barleti, Marin. Rrethimi i Shkodrës. Tiranë: Instituti i Historisë, 1967, but some women stayed behind to help the men. Approximately 2,000 people defended the castle from within, whereas hundreds of Albanian men and youths from the region helped from without, making guerilla attacks on the Ottoman tent camps. Forces of Ivan Crnojević, with Ragusan support, sailed over the lake and attacked Ottoman tents at night. Other notable figures in the defense of Shkodra were Friar Bartholomew of Epirus, who had fought alongside Scanderbeg before taking holy orders and gave rousing speeches to rally the defenders, and Nicholas Moneta.
Rozafa Fortress and the siege The Rozafa Fortress was the focal point of the siege, the natural position and architectural reinforcements of which allowed the vastly outnumbered garrison to withstand bombardment and successive ground attacks by the besiegers. The castle (as it is sometimes called) was considered the central leg of a trivet (or tripod) including Zabljak, Drisht, and Lezhë.Kivami (Ottoman Chronicler, ca. 1426–1491), cited in Pulaha, Selami (ed.). Lufta shqiptaro-turke në shekullin XV. Burime osmane. Tiranë: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë, 1968 The city of Shkodra had been burned and rampaged by the Turks in 1467, so from that time the citizens had moved into the fortress for greater security.Kamsi, Vili. "Shtrirja e qytetit të Shkodrës në kohën e lashtë dhe të mesme" in Monumentet: materialet e sesionit III të institutit të monumenteve të kulturës, 11. Tirana: Instituti i Monumenteve të Kulturës, 1967. p. 122.
The fortress was a natural bastion above Lake Shkodra, three rivers (Bojana, Drin, and Kir), and the Adriatic Sea; it was esteemed to have been "a kind of Thermopylae where the high mountains narrowed the passage between the lake and the sea".Ceka, Neritan. The Illyrians to the Albanians in the Dawn of Albanian History. Tiranë: Migjeni, 2006 All faces of the fortress mount were recorded as being steep, but the northern face was least steep and more easily climbed. Ottoman chroniclers reported the difficulties of ascending the fortress mount.Tursun (ca. 1426-1491), text cited in Pulaha, Selami. Lufta shqiptaro-turke në shekullin XV. Burime Osmane. Tirana: Universiteti Shtetëror, 1962, p. 105.
Foreseeing siege warfare, in 1458, Venetian architects Andrea and Francesco Venier and Malchiore da Imola drew plans for the citadel's reinforcements and a cistern system designed to collect rain water.Kamsi, Vili. “Kështjella e Shkodrës dhe Restaurimi i Saj” in Monumentet, 1 (ed. Gani Strazimiri). Tiranë: Ministria e Arsimit dhe e Kulturës, 1971 Additionally, the Venetians added a barbican and extra gate to reinforce what they (correctly) forecast to be the main point of conflict. In the failed Ottoman siege of 1474, the outer walls were damaged significantly. According to Barleti's firsthand account, the citizens rebuilt the walls, but when they sensed that the Ottomans were approaching again with an even stronger attack, they constructed secondary fortifications and redoubts made of wood and earth.Barleti, Marin (trans. Henrik Lacaj). Rrethimi i Shkodrës. Tirana: Instituti i Historisë, 1967.
Siege
In the Spring of 1478, Mehmed II sent out advance scouts and then his commanders to march on Shkodra, inducing panic across the countryside. On May 14, the first soldiers arrived in Shkodra: 8,000 Ottoman akinci led by Ali Bey, 4,000 horsemen led by Iskender Bey, and 3,000 horsemen led by Malkoch (Malkoçoğlu). The citizens intensified their work to fortify the citadel, adding secondary defenses in anticipation of seeing the outer walls demolished by the Ottoman cannonade. The Ottomans set fire to surrounding villages and many citizens of the Shkodra region fled to safer haven.
Five days later, the pasha of Rumelia, Davud Pasha, arrived and set up camp on the hill due north of the castle, known as "Pasha's Hill," where much of the Ottoman cannonade would be positioned (at approximately the same altitude as the fortress). The defenders were stationed on all sides but concentrated their resources on the main gate area where the Ottomans focused their attack.