|
The League of Lezhë (2 March 1444 – ca. 1450) was a military alliance of feudal lords in Albania forged in Lezhë on 2 March 1444, initiated and organised under Venetian patronage with Skanderbeg as leader of the regional Albanian and Serbian chieftains united against the Ottoman Empire. The main members of the league were the Arianiti, Balšić, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Spani, Thopia and Crnojevići. All earlier and many modern historians accepted Marin Barleti's news about this meeting in Lezhë (without giving it equal weight), although no contemporary Venetian document mentions it. Barleti referred to the meeting as the ''generalis concilium'' or ''universum concilium'' (or whole council ); the term "League of Lezhë" was coined by subsequent historians. ==Background== After the death of Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan in 1355, the magnates in Albania established their own dominions. When Ottoman forces entered Albania, they were faced with small principalities that were engaged in vicious fights among themselves. The first battle against the Ottoman forces in Albania was that of Balša II, the Lord of Zeta, whose forces were defeated in the battle of Savra (18 September 1385) and Balša II himself was killed. In the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire established itself in the Balkans with no significant resistance offered by local Christian nobles during this period. Many of them were still fighting amongst themselves and didn't see the advance of the Ottoman Empire as a threat to their power. Although a civil war broke out between Bayezid I sons', during 1402–1413, none of the Christian noblemen in the Balkans at the time seized the opportunity to repel the Ottomans; in the contrary, Bulgarians, Serbs and Hungarians even helped the future Sultan Mohammed I seize power, by participating as his allies in the final battle against his brother. After the Ottoman civil war was over in favor of Mehmed I, his forces captured Kruja from the Thopia family in 1415, Berat in 1417 from Muzaka, Vlora and Kanina in 1417 from the widow of Balsha and Gjirokastër in 1418 from the Zenevisi family. Under pressure from the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, the Albanian principalities began to vacillate. Together with occupation, new rulers were appointed and the registration process of the population and properties was done by Ottoman tax officers. Local populations and old nobility were not happy with that and various local rebellions took place, the most famous ones being those of Gjon Kastrioti in 1429–1430 and Gjergj Araniti in 1432–1435. In November 1443, Skanderbeg captured Kruja with his troops and declared its independence from the Sultan.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「League of Lezhë」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|