Chandra Prakash Bhongir, Civil Engr, May04 - Repositories

THE MEMORY OF GEORGE CASTRIOTA SCANDERBEG 

AMONG THE ARBERESH OF ITALY: A STUDY ON 

THE ROLE OF DIASPORA IN THE CREATION OF 

ALBANIAN 

NATIONAL IDENTITY 

by 

ARTEMIDA KABASHI, B.A. 

A THESIS 

IN 

HISTORY 

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty 

of Texas Tech University in 

Partial Fulfillment of 

the Requirements for 

the Degree of 

MASTER OF ARTS 

Approved 

Stefano D’Amico 

Chairperson of the Committee 

Aliza Siu Wong 

Accepted 

John Borrelli 

Dean of the Graduate School 

August, 2005

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

I would like to first thank my advisor and chair of my committee, Dr. Stefano 

D’Amico. I first discovered my passion for Arberesh history in his class. His enthusiasm 

and both broad and deep knowledge of Italian history, sparked my imagination, held my 

interest, and inspired me to pursue my own research on Scanderbeg and the Albanian 

community of Southern Italy. 

I would also like to thank Dr. Aliza Wong, who enriched my thesis with her 

comments and help. She patiently guided me these past two years through many papers 

and a thesis. Her kindness and understanding enabled me to start and (remain) on the path 

of the researcher. I am grateful to both committee members for expanding my historical 

knowledge, and allowing me to proceed in new directions with my research. 

I also thank Texas Tech University’s History department for giving me the 

opportunity to come to Lubbock, Texas and pursue this degree. The department’s 

knowledgeable, helpful and friendly history faculty generated a wonderful learning 

environment. 

Finally, I dedicate this work to my parents overseas, and Darrell and Ruth in Vale. 

None of this would be possible without them. I stand in awe of their selflessness, 

acceptance and constant support of my endeavors throughout my life. 

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii 

ABSTRACT iv 

PROLOGUE 1 

CHAPTER 

I. THE MYTH OF SCANDERBEG IN THE 

MEMORY OF THE ARBERESH OF 

ARBERESH AND ALBANIA 27 

II. HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE STUDY OF 

SCANDERBEG 39 

III. TACTICS OF INTERVENTION: 

DIASPORA AND THE USE OF 

SCANDERBEG’S MEMORY IN THE 

CREATION OF ALBANIAN NATIONAL 

IDENTITY 51 

IV. THE POLITICS OF NATIONALISM: 

THE USE OF SCANDERBEG’S IMAGE 

IN THE SERVICE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY 64 

EPILOGUE 85 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 90 

iii

ABSTRACT 

Since his death in 1468, Scanderbeg’s life served as the source of many tales and 

myths in Albania and Europe. It is my contention that even though, Albanians and the 

Albanian diaspora in the world kept his memory alive, it was not until the nineteenth 

century, that Scanderbeg’s memory was resurrected by Albanian nationalists, who lived 

outside Albania, as a rallying point toward the achievement of Albanian independence 

from the Ottoman empire. 

The Albanian movement for independence is a phenomenon of the Albanian 

Diaspora. It was the work of intellectuals like Girolamo De Rada, Giussepe Scura, Zef 

Serembe, Dora D’Istria, Naim and Sami Frasheri, Ismail Qemali and Fan Noli who used 

the memory of Scanderbeg to revive and bring to fruition Albanian independence in 

1912. Many Albanians intellectuals from Diaspora, returned to Albania in the late 

nineteenth century to create an independent Albanian state. While many Diasporic 

intellectuals lived in the Arberesh communities in Southern Italy, many others lived in 

Egypt, Romania, Turkey, and the United States. Their efforts toward the achievement of 

Albanian independence were a direct response and reflected the changes that were 

occurring in their respective geographic domiciles of the time. 

iv

PROLOGUE 

ALBANIA AND THE HISTORICAL 

GEORGE CASTRIOTA SCANDERBEG 

“Land of Albania! Where Iskander rose; 

Theme of the young and beacon of the wise, 

And he his namesake whose oft-baffeled foes 

Shrunk from his deeds of chivalrous emprize; 

Land of Albania! Let me bend mine eyes 

On thee, thou rugged nurse of Savage men! 

The cross descends, thy minarets arise, 

And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen, 

Through many a cypress grove within each city’s ken.” 1 

I was eight years old when my father first recited Lord Byron’s stanza on 

Scanderbeg, in Albanian, and from that moment my imagination was captured by the 

tales and film depictions of the hero. I remember reading as a child children’s books that 

told of Scanderbeg’s deeds and his stand against the Turks, and I remember wanting to 

have witnessed his existence. For me, Scanderbeg’s character leaped from the pages of 

novels and became alive the day my father took me to visit Scanderbeg’s museum in 

1 

Peter J. Terpatsi ed., Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron, Selected Verse Depicting 

Albania, (Peter Terpatsi, 1958): 1. 

1

Kruja. Fiction and reality became one that day at the museum as I walked through the 

rooms, looked at the paintings and touched the walls where Scanderbeg once conducted 

his war, the place where he lived and raised his family. 

Memories of Scanderbeg are rich and prevalent in every aspect of Albanian 

society. Scanderbeg’s face is on the money, his emblem on the flag, schools and piazzas 

are named after him, even whiskey as a brand is called Scanderbeg Whiskey in Albania. 

Surrounded with so many reminders and commemorations of Scanderbeg at home, 

growing up in Albania I believed the entire world was familiar with the hero. And yet, as 

I traveled to other countries I found that people knew very little about Albania and even 

less about Scanderbeg. Whether Albania’s isolation to the world under a forty five year 

communist dictatorship, its volatile relationship with its neighbors, and its remote 

location in southern Europe are reasons for the country to remain and be defined as an 

“exotic other” by the West, what I found of interest is that regardless of little international 

recognition, Scanderbeg’s memory continues to thrive in Albanian communities around 

the world. As I began research on Scanderbeg, initially I was interested in understanding 

why Scanderbeg was such a dominating figure in Albanian history, but as I continued my 

research I became fascinated with the depth of memories that Albanian diaspora has 

allocated to Scanderbeg since the sixteenth century. Thus I decided to focus my thesis in 

tracing the memory of Scanderbeg in the Albanian community in southern Italy, the 

Arberesh and explore their importance in keeping and maintaining Scanderbeg’s memory 

alive for all Albanians. 

2

Background on Albania 

Who were the Albanians? Much controversy surrounds the issue because there is 

a distinct difference between the time the Albanian tribes first appeared in the Balkan 

peninsula and the first time their records became available. Albanians trace their 

descendancy from one of the Illyrian tribes as far back as the thirteenth century BC. 2 

Many of the names used by the Illyrians continue to be used presently in Albania. The 

first mention of the name Albani, which was one of the Illyrian clans, was made by 

Ptolemy during the second century AD. 3 During medieval times many names were used 

interchangeably to refer to the lands occupied by the Albanian populations. Early 

medieval chroniclers in their writings used two main distinctions with respect to 

nationality: the geo-political divisions and religious affiliation. 4 All the nations that 

embraced Christianity and were part of the Byantium were known as romaioi. As part of 

Illyricum the Albanians had accepted Christianity early, due to the exchange between 

their kings and Rome. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to Romans, makes note of his trip 

to Illyricum to preach the Gospel. 5 This connection with Rome changed when Pope Leo 

I placed the Illyrian lands under the protection of Constantinople in 734 AD, but it was 

2 Nelo Drizari, Scanderbeg: His Life Correspondence Orations, Victories and Philosophy, 

(California: National Press,1968): 26. 

3 Ibid., 27; and Anthony Bryer, “Scanderbeg, National Hero of Albania”, History Today 12(June 

1962):426 also Fan Stylian Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg:1405-1468, (New York: International 

University Press, 1947):7. 

4 Kristo Frasheri, “Trojet e Shqiptareve ne Shekullin e XV”[Albanian Lands in XV century], I 

(November,1989):7. 

5 Ibid., 7-10; Jack W. Hayford, ed. “Romans, 15:30", Spirit Filled Life Bible, (Nashville: Thomas 

Nelson Publishers,1991):1713. 

3

not until 1043 that Byzantine sources referred to these lands as albanoi. 6 Apart from 

‘Illyrian’ and ‘Albanoi’, the inhabitants were referred by Byzantine chroniclers also as 

‘Macedonian sive Albaniam’, and ‘Epirotes’ with no relation to modern day Greek and 

Macedonian lands. 7 

Marin Barleti, the first Albanian historian and contemporary of Scanderbeg, 

confirmed the use of these terms as analogous to one another when he wrote his history 

on the life of Scanderbeg. He referred to him both as ‘Scanderbegus Albanorum’ and 

‘Scanderbegus Epirotarum.’ 8 Scanderbeg himself in his correspondence with other 

foreign dignitaries used these terms interchangeably when he referred to himself. He 

signed a letter to king Ladislaus of Hungary, ‘Scanderbeg Prince of the Epirotes,’ and in 

a letter to King Ferdinand Ferrante he called himself, ‘...Scanderbeg, Prince of Albania.’ 9 

The reasons why Abanians were not mentioned in sources again until the tenth 

century, are both geographical and political. First, their cultural heritage was not 

developed in the same scale of its neighbors the Greeks and Romans. Second, the 

country’s geography in relation to other neighbor states was important. Geography has 

played both a positive and negative role in the shaping of Albanian society. Through out 

6 Kristo Frasheri, “Trojet e Shqiptareve ne Shekullin e XV”, I (November,1989):9; Fan Stylian 

Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg:1405-1468, (New York: International University Press, 1947):7. 

7 Kristo Frasheri, “Trojet e Shqiptareve ne Shekullin e XV,” Studime Historike I 

(November,1989): 14-15; Edmond Dulaj, “Koncepti Epir dhe Epirot ne Shekullin e XII-XIV”, Studime Per 

Epoken e Skenderbeut, Vol.I (March, 1989):29. 

8 Marin Barleti, Historia e Jetes dhe e Veprave te Skenderbeut, trans. Stefan Prifti, (Tirane:Tirane 

University Press,1967):37,44,55,60, 69. 


(California: National Press,1968): 23, 64. 

4

Albanian history the land has always been a frontier zone; first between Byzantium and 

Rome, Orthodoxy and Catholicism, then between Christianity and Islam, and even more 

recently between Communism and the Western world. The mountainous territory has 

been advantageous to the Albanian people because it preserved their identity as a people 

and allowed them to withstand a series of invasions from the East and West without 

losing their distinctive traits as a nation, but at the same time the mountains proved a 

barrier to development. Constant warfare and political divisions made it hard for the 

Albanian people to form both political and economical stability. 

Between the tenth and fourteenth centuries there did not exist a proper ‘Albanian 

nation.’ There were lands inhabited by Albanian people but the framework for a proper 

state did not exist. The land was divided into many principalities, and the Albanian 

nobles more often fought one another. Their main concern was not the establishment of 

an independent state but the weight of their purse. The only surviving evidence are the 

records of trade between these nobles and their counterparts in the Commonwealth of 

Venice, the city of Ragusa and the Neapolitan kingdom. One historian, Dimitri Obolenski, 

suggests that the disappearance of Albanians from the sources was a product of their 

retreat to the mountains. Perhaps the Albanians moved to the highlands before the Slavic 

invasions where they, “...exchanged their life of farming for that of shepherds.” 10 Then, 

with no real explanation Obolensky maintains, they came down from the mountains in 

the fourteenth century and invaded the lands of their neighbors to the south, the Greeks, 

10 

Dimitri Obolensky, The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453, (London: 

Phonenix Press, 2000):8, 21, 22. 

5

and those to the north, the Serbs. Conveniently, this move concurred with the span of 

time in which the Serbs formed their national and religious identity in a land that is 

none other than present day Kosovo–an Albanian land currently inhabited by 

Albanian people. The irony continues today more then seven centuries later. The 

Serbs maintain that the land belongs rightly to them: “ Why should these Muslim 

foreigners, who came only 300 years ago to Old Serbia, the historic heartland of our 

nation, have autonomy there? Never!” 11 

History, however, dictates the contrary. Albanians did not just reappear during 

the fourteenth century. They were there all along, before the Slavic invasions and 

after the dissolution of the Serbian Empire in the fourteenth century. According to 

William Armstrong, Albanians were, “...autochthonous...Their appellation as 

Albanians in these lands dates from the year 1079.” 12 The earliest revolts of the 

Albanians against the Byzantine rule date as far back as the eleventh century. It was 

not until the twelfth century that the Albanian nobles took sole possession of their 

lands. Even though a consolidated state did not exist, these nobles were able to keep 

foreign invaders out of their lands until the rise of the Ottoman Turks during the 

fourteenth century. 13 

1996):39. 

1905): 195. 

11 Robert D. Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History, (New York: Vintage Books, 

12 William Jackson Armstrong, The Heroes of Defeat, (Ohio: The Robert Clarke Company, 

13 Universiteti Shteteror ne Tirane, George Kastriot-Scanderbeg and the Albanian-Turkish 

War of the XV Century, (Tirane: Tirane University Press,1967): 5. 

6

George Castriota Scanderbeg 

This prolonged detour in Albanian history is important to place the figure of 

Scanderbeg in a historical context of the times in which he lived. Scanderbeg did not 

just emerge in the fifteenth century to fight for the Albanians without a sense of 

national pride. Before Scanderbeg took the center of the Albanian politics, there were 

three predominant principalities in Albania during the thirteenth and fourteenth 

centuries: the Balshas in the north with their capital in present day Shkoder or Scutari; 

the Thopias in the center with their capital in Durres or Durrachium; and in the south 

the principality of Comnenis with Vlora or Valona as the capital. A century later, 

Scanderbeg entered in alliance with the Comnenis by marrying one of their heirs, 

Donica Comneni. 

Of these noble families the Balshas were the first to unite the country and 

made Christianity the religion of the state. They joined the Roman Catholic Church in 

1368, and the country became Catholic. 14 After the invasion by the Ottoman Turks, 

the Balshas were reduced to a small principality between Turkish and Venetian 

interests. While the Balshas fought the Bosnians, in the south Ghin Bua Shpata of 

Arta won a victory against the combined Greek, Serb and Neapolitan troops in 

1379. 15 As a result, the seige over his capital ,Arta, was lifted; and Nicephorus II, 

Despot of Epirus and Thessaly failed to assert Greek rule over the land. 

Another great leader, who was a predecessor and contemporary to Scanderbeg, 

14 Fan Stylian Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg:1405-1468, (New York: International 

University Press, 1947):8-13. 

15 Ibid., 10. 

7

was his father-in-law George Araniti Thopia Comneni leader of the Comneni 

prinicipality. He was one of the first rulers to resist Turkish forces with an open 

military resistance in 1433, slightly ten years before Scanderbeg. George Comneni’s 

military victory over Ali Bej Evrenoz, a Turkish general, earned him credit and 

support from the rulers of the west and the Pope. Pope Eugene IV, and the Holy 

Roman Emperor Sigismund were among the foreign dignitaries who offered George 

Araniti their protection and support. 16 

These three prominent families foreshadowed the entrance of the Castriota 

family into Albanian politics. The Castriotas were first mentioned in sources in 1394 

and 1410 when John, Scanderbeg’s father, notified the Republic of Venice of his 

decision to send his son over to the Turks as hostage. 17 According to the Turkish 

sources, the Castriota family originated from the village of Kastrat in northeastern 

Albania. Unlike the Thopias and the Comnenis, the Castriotas did not have a long 

history as members of the aristocracy. In fact, their elevation of status began with 

Scanderbeg’s grandfather, Paul Castriota, who initially owned two villages named 

Sinja and Lower Gardi. 18 

16 Ibid., 11; Noli cites sources: Laonicos, Book V pg. 251. Also Diplomatarium Ragussamun, 

1434, Aug.16 pg. 386-7: “...accerrimum bellum ipsi Albanenses commiserunt, adeoque res succesit, 

quod ex Turcis multi et multi ceciderunt; similter et Albaneses damnun receperunt ex suis, sed tamen 

in campo cum victoria remanserunt...” and C.O, The Conduct and Character of Count Nicholas Serini, 

Protestant Generalissimo of the Most Prudent and Resolved Champion of Christendom with his 

Parallels Scanderbeg and Tamberlain, (London: Rainbow in Fleet Street,1664): 120. 

17 Kristo Frasheri, “Nga ishin Kastriotet? Ku lindi Skenderbeu? Studime per Epoken e 

Skenderbeut, V.II(Tirane, 1989): 473-474. 

18 Selami Pulaha ed., Lufta Shqiptaro-Turke ne Shekullin e XV, Burime Osmane (Tirana 

University Press, 1968): 53; Kristo Frasheri, “Nga ishin Kastriotet? Ku lindi Skenderbeu? Studime per 

Epoken e Skenderbeut, V.II(Tirane, 1989): 469. 

8

Scanderbeg was born in 1405 in Albania as the youngest son of Prince John 

and his wife,Vojsava Castriota. When Albania was invaded by Turkey in 1413, 

George Castriota went as a hostage in the Ottoman court where he was educated in 

the Muslim faith and received the name Iskander, after Alexander the Great. While in 

Turkey, he excelled in his military training and Sultan Murad II rewarded him with 

the title Beg and an army command hence the name Scanderbeg. In 1443, when the 

Ottomans planned to attack Albania, Scanderbeg escaped to his homeland, renounced 

Islam, and after forming a league of princes among the Albanian chieftains, he 

proclaimed himself prince of Albania. The sources first mention the Castriota family 

in 1394 and 1410 when John, Scanderbeg’s father, notified the Republic of Venice of 

his decision to send his son over to the Turks as hostage. 19 

Modern historians and chroniclers of his time have attributed Scanderbeg’s 

qualities of leadership and ingenuity to his father John. Scanderbeg’s actions, in his 

resistance against the Ottoman Turks, are rightly understood in light of his father. 

John Castriota extended his political influence in Albania by his marriage connection 

to Vojsava, the daughter of one of the neighboring nobles. Later, John did the same 

with his children. He married his daughters within neighboring noble families and 

became grandfather to future leaders of Albania. Scanderbeg, following in his father’s 

footsteps, married into the Comneni family, which was one of the most influential 

noble family at the time in Albania, and made sure that his nephews and nieces were 

married in families with whom he formed political alliances. When he married 

Donica Comneni in 1451, Scanderbeg added the south principality to his holdings, 

19 Kristo Frasheri, “Nga ishin Kastriotet? Ku lindi Skenderbeu?” Studime per Epoken e 

Skenderbeut, V.II(Tirane, 1989): 473-474. 

9

and just a couple years earlier in 1445, when he married his sister, Mamica, to the 

heir of the Thopia principality he added the center portion of the country to his 

alliance system. 20 

Scanderbeg was John’s youngest son. According to Turkish records,he joined 

his brothers as a hostage to the Sultan in Adrianople in 1423. Initially Scanderbeg’s 

hostage status to the Porte was beneficial to his father, who realized that the Ottoman 

threat would not disappear for years to come. His presence in Turkey, allowed his 

father, John, to keep his lands intact. While in the Sultan’s court, Scanderbeg was 

educated at the Palace School in military arts. Like his father, Scanderbeg realized the 

importance of outward conversion to Islam in order to gain the trust of the Sultan, but 

upon his return to his homeland, he made his intentions clear, in a speech which he 

delivered to the Albanian people upon seizing the Castle of Kroya. 

“Although we lived together as a family, as it were, in one and the same 

course of life, although we ate at the same table and though we did in a 

manner breathe the jointly with one and the same soul, nevertheless, neither 

they, nor any man alive ever heard me mention my country... Neither was 

there any man that heard me use any speech, or utter any word at any time, 

which might reveal me to be a Christian or a free man.” 21 

When Scanderbeg returned to Albania in 1443, his main goal was to regain 

the lands his father had lost and to unite the country against the Ottoman Turks. His 

call to the Albanian people was not to take the cross and repel the infidels, but to, 

“...lead on and conduct in the recovery of the rest of our country...,” 22 by all means 

20 Ibid., 41; Fan Stylian Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg:1405-1468, (New York: 

International University Press, 1947):39. 


(California: National Press,1968): 2. 

22 Ibid., 3. 

10

available, “...art, cunning and strategy, by pains and toil, by patience and the 

sword...” 23 Scholars argue about Scanderbeg’s motives for his return in 1443. Fan 

Noli and Kurt Treptow, biographers of Scanderbeg, both agree that Scanderbeg was 

deeply shaken by the news of his father’s death earlier that year. John Castriota, after 

his rebellion against the Sultan in 1430, was defeated in 1436 and lost most of his 

lands. He died a broken man in 1443, never to witness his son’s success. Even so, he 

played an enormous role in Scanderbeg’s early development as a military strategist 

and politician. 

Upon John Castriota’s death, all his lands were transferred to the Sultan. 

Nevertheless, Scanderbeg’s outward loyalty to Sultan Murad was convincing enough, 

that he granted Scanderbeg a timar in his father’s holdings. 24 Scanderbeg, capitalizing 

on this opportunity, acted on two occasions to regain his father’s lands. His first 

chance came with the news of his father’s death, when the Sultan offered Scanderbeg 

the governance of his castle. Eventhough he outwardly remained faithful to the Porte, 

as soon as Scanderbeg became Governor of Croya, he immediately entered in secret 

negotiations with the Republic of Venice and Ragusa, in hopes of creating a system 

of support for future action. Scanderbeg’s second chance came earlier than he 

expected. After taking command of the Ottoman troops from the Sultan, Scanderbeg 

deserted them in the battlefield of Nish in1443, which Sultan Murad I, sent to crush 

John Hunyadi of Hungary, and with three hundred troops Scanderbeg fled to Albania. 

He forced the Sultan’s seal bearer to sign a firman, which gave Scanderbeg the 

23 Ibid., 4. 

24 Universiteti Shteteror ne Tirane, George Kastriot-Scanderbeg and the Albanian-Turkish 

War of the XV Century, (Tirane: Tirane University Press,1967): 43. 

11

authority to take over the Turkish garrison in Croya, his father’s capital city, 25 and 

with that seal Scanderbeg became an adversary to the Sultan, and assumed the 

leadership of the Albanian troops. 

When Scanderbeg arrived in Croya, he took the castle peacefully. On 

November 28, 1443 he raised his father’s red flag with a black double-headed eagle, 

and announced to the Albanian people his conversion to Christianity. Afterwards, he 

offered the Ottoman soldiers the opportunity to convert to the Christian faith or die as 

martyrs for Islam. 26 By this act Scanderbeg broke all ties with the Porte.The role of 

Scanderbeg as a national figure stands undisputed in Albanian history. 27 Without him 

there would not have been a resistance movement against the Ottoman Empire, and 

the sense of unity among Albanians would not have been achieved. His impact on the 

country turned into a legend, and even though Albania was invaded again by the 

Ottomans in 1481, Albanian folk songs and oral traditions kept alive the memory of 

his stand against the Turks for centuries to come. “He became the focus of an ethnic 

identity, whereby Albanians realized that they were a distinct group of people with a 

unique heritage.” 28 Albanians before Scanderbeg did not have a medieval state 

formation; they lived separatedly divided into principalities with no common laws 

2001):37. 

128. 

25 Camil Muresanu, John Hunyadi: Defender of Christendom, trans. Laura Treptow, (Portland, 

26 Anthony Bryer, “Scanderbeg, National Hero of Albania”, History Today 12(June 1962): 

27 Michael Schmidt-Neke, “Nationalism and National Myth: Scanderbeg and the Twentieth 

Century Albanian Regimes,” European Legacy 2 (1): 1997, 2. 

28 Kurt William Treptow, Of Saints and Sinners: Native Resistance to Ottoman Expansion in 

SouthEastern Europe: 1443-1481: George Castriota and Vlad II Dracula, Ph.D. diss., (University of 

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995): 338. 

12

and state structure. Scanderbeg was the cornerstone of the foundation of the Albanian 

state. Based on the groundwork he laid, four centuries later Albanians rallied again 

under his flag and claimed independence for their county from the Ottoman empire 

on November 28, 1912. 

One of the first actions which Scanderbeg undertook in his plan to form an 

independent Albanian state was to create the League of Lezha in March of 1444 29 . 

The League was an alliance of both political and military resources between the noble 

families of Albania. Under the provisions of the League of Lezha, Scanderbeg was 

elected leader of all military affairs, which meant that only in times of war did he 

have the power to exert his authority over other nobles and their possessions in 

Albania. 

Since war between Albania and Turkey was inevitable in the summer of 1444, 

the League served as the first institution through which Scanderbeg solidified his 

basis of power. Initially the nobles who pledged their loyalty to Scanderbeg, were 

free to withdraw from the League if conflict of interests arose between them and 

Scanderbeg. Such was the case of two nobles Pjeter Span and Gjergj Dushmani in 

1447, who withdrew their troops and monetary resources from the League, when 

Scanderbeg was engaged in military actions against the Republic of Venice for 

possession of Danja. 30 Other nobles who began to waiver in Scanderbeg’s ability to 

29 Kristo Frasheri, Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu: Jeta dhe Vepra 1405-1468, (Tirane: 

Akademia e Shkencave e Shqiperise, Botimet Toena, 2002): 177. 

On his speech to the Albanian nobles Scanderbeg said: “ Up then, noble and most Catholic Princes, let 

us not delay even for a moment. Let us set up good laws and orders and discipline. Let us levy and 

muster our soldiers. And let us make known unto all ages to come that we are men worthy of a 

Christian Nation.” (Nelo Drizari, Scanderbeg: His Life Correspondence Orations, Victories and 

Philosophy, (California: National Press,1968): 13. 

30 Ibid., 178. 

13

defeat the Turkish troops also began to enter in agreements with the Porte. Such were 

Gjergj Arianiti and Pal Dukagjin. In a letter to the Pope, Scanderbeg’s ambassador to 

the Republic of Ragusa, Gjon Gazulli, wrote that some of the Albanian nobles has 

already turned their loyalty to the Turkish Sultan. 31 

However, as Scanderbeg began to have success after success against the 

Turkish troops especially in defeating the Ottoman army in front of the walls of Kruja, 

many nobles reconsidered their alliance with the Porte. Scanderbeg, won the support 

of the nobles in Albania primarily because he capitalized in one of the provisions of 

the League of Lezha: military support. His army even though small in numbers was 

very loyal to Scanderbeg, which meant that he had sole control of the troops. By 

controlling the military, he began to exert his power over the other nobles, at times 

stripping them of their titles and lands and awarding them to his loyal officers. As 

Scanderbeg’s influence over the military and nobles grew, he annexed into his 

property the lands of the Thopia, Stresi and Balsha families, and thus with control of 

the military and expansion of territory, Scanderbeg brought into existence the first 

unified Albanian state. 

Demetrio Franco, one of the first biographers of Scanderbeg noted in his work, 

that when Scanderbeg began to solidify his control in Albania after the battle of Kruja, 

his control extended also to lands of his relatives, as much as it extended to other 

nobles. 32 Thus the League of Lezha, in the beginning of Scanderbeg’s war against 

31 Ibid., 178. 

32 

D. Franco, Commentario delle Cose de Turchi et del S. Georgio Scanderbeg, Principe di 

Epyrro, (Venetia, 1539): 19, 20, 24. 

“.. e dopo che fu stato Capitano generale delli Signori d’Albania…tende designo 

d’insignorirse de tutto quello paese, fe prigione il signor Giovani e il Signor Coico Balsa…e li tolse il 

14

Turkey served both as a legislative and judicial body of the Albanian State. By 1451, 

however, at a time when Scanderbeg solidified his power over Albania, the League 

lost all of it power and became non-existent in its entirety, which explains its 

disappearance in all the sources. 

Another important feature of Scanderbeg’s consolidation of power in Albania 

was also the establishment of the first codes of law or the Kanun 33 . For Albanians the 

establishment of the Kanun is closely related to Scanderbeg’s reign in Albania, but 

there is no historical evidence that directly links the authorship of Kanun to him. 

Although the Kanun is referred to as Scanderbeg’s Law Code, sources ascribe its 

authorship to one of Scanderbeg’s generals, Leke Dukagjin. In fact, in Northern 

Albania the law code is often referred to as Lek’s Kanun. 34 The codes, however were 

seen as progressive especially those that directly dealt with property and women’s 

rights to own property. Under Scanderbeg’s laws when the patriarch of the family 

died the property did not get transferred to the oldest son, but to the member of the 

family who was most able to manage it. 

stato loro che era tra Croia et Alessio… Tolse anco il Signor Moise Comnino il stato suo, quale era in 

la Dibra…Et essendo morto mio padre, ce tolse anco a noi la Tomonista, cioe Mosachia minore et 

similmente as altri Signori il paese de Comni e de Randisia, che non se ne possevano ajuatare, per che 

lui gia se ritrovava apoterato delle gente de Guerra, et il Turco c’era sopra ad ogn’hora.” 

33 Scanderbeg’s law code in Albania, also known as the Code of Lek Dukagjin, is most 

commonly known as Kanun which is the Code of Customary Law. 

34 Syrja Pupovci, “ Origjina dhe Emri i Leke Dukagjinit,” in Studime Historike 26: 1 ( 1972): 

114-115. See also J. Swire, Albania the Rise of A Kingdom, (New York: Arno Press, 1971):22-23. Also 

in 

Edwin Jacques, The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present, (North 

Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1995): 176-177. 

15

Also, with regards to women Scanderbeg’s codes provisioned that a woman had the 

right to the land she was given upon marriage and if divorce occurred she had the 

rights to half of her husband’s property. 35 

It would be futile to write of Scanderbeg’s success in his stand agains the 

Ottoman Empire, without emphasizing the help he received from the Vatican and the 

popes. George Castriota realized that to fight the Ottomans and regain his possessions 

in Albania he had to have the monetary support of the popes and unlike his father, 

Scanderbeg, placed importance to religion. His outward practice of Christianity was a 

key factor in collecting Christian support from the West. Upon summoning the 

bishops to pray for the deliverance of Croya, Scanderbeg had reportedly seen a vision 

of Saint George the Patron State of Albania. 36 His religious behavior did not go 

unnoticed by the West. Indeed, when he visited Vatican in 1451, Te Deums were sung 

in his honor. 37 In December 1457, Scanderbeg’s primary ally was Pope Calixtus III. 

Their relationship was close. 

35 

Haxhihasani, Qemal, Tregime dhe Kenge Popullore per Skenderbeun, (Tirane: Universiteti 

Shteteror i Tiranes, 1967): 34. 

“Femija qysh se len e ka tenin nja per nja me te madhin.” …“Me kanun te Skenderbeut, 

grueja mundet me u nda pa hise vetem per bracallek e per pune te panershme, per ndreshje grueja merr 

zhimsen e tokes se burrit dhe pjesen e gjas se ene jo ka mundin e vet per plang te shpajs.” 

430. 

36 Anthony Bryer, “Scanderbeg, National Hero of Albania”, History Today 12(June 1962): 

37 Kurt William Treptow, Of Saints and Sinners: Native Resistance to Ottoman Expansion in 

SouthEastern Europe: 1443-1481: George Castriota and Vlad II Dracula, Ph.D. diss., (University of 

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995): 339. 

16

The pope referred to Scanderbeg as his “vero dilecto filio.” In Rome he was 

recognized as an important commander against the infidel and appointed Captain- 

General of the Holy See but Scanderbeg was more commonly known by the popes as 

“Christ’s Athlete.” 38 

In December 1466, Scanderbeg traveled for the last time to Rome to obtain 

help for his war against the Ottoman empire. He received a great welcome by Pope 

Paul II, but the Romans were disappointed by his appearance. As the defender of 

Christendom, Scanderbeg, presented himself not as a powerful ruler but as a 

commoner. He appeared in front of the Pope and Roman public dressed in a soldier’s 

outfit and without an entourage. 39 Even though Scanderbeg received the needed 

monetary help from the Pope, after twenty three years of fighting, he had aged 

considerably. He continued his war against the Ottomans, and during one battle in 

1468, he acquired pneumonia and died shortly afterwards. It is ironic that for a hero 

like Scanderbeg, his death lacked the epic proportions of his life. Even so, Albanians 

carried his memory and defied Turkish occupation for more than a decade afterwards. 

Although the West considered Scanderbeg a crusader he was not one. In the traditions 

of his predecessors he fought to preserve independence and protect his people. 

38 Mateo Sciambra, Giuseppe Valentini and Ignazio Parrino, Il “Liber Brevium” di Callisto 

III: La Crociata, L’Albania e Scanderbeg, (Palermo: Scuola Graphica Salesiana,1968), B(325):43, 44, 

46. [Siamo molto ansiosi di saper notizie sullo stato dell’Albania e su quel glorioso cavaliere e atleta di 

Dio Scanderbeg.] 

39 Ibid., 434. 

17

It was these memories that Albanians clung to as they began their exile to 

neighboring Italy, when faced once again with the threat of Turkish occupation. As 

Albania fell under Ottoman control, it was the Arberesh who settled in Italy that 

became the protectors of Scanderbeg’s memory and heritage. 

Immigration of Arberesh in Italy 

The roots of the Albanian Diaspora in Italy date as far back as the late 

fifteenth century. After resisting Turkish occupation for nearly 25 years under George 

Castriota Scanderbeg, Albanian resistance against the Ottoman Empire weakened and 

many Albanians chose Italy for refuge rather than surrender themselves to Turkish 

hands. Italy proved to be a safe haven for Albanians escaping Turkish occupation of 

their country, not only because of its traditional geographic proximity, but also 

because Albanians and Italians have been bound to one another through trade 

throughout their existence. 

Since the eighth century sources document the presence of Albanians in 

Italian lands, whether they were there as traders, soldiers, slaves or called on by the 

Byzantine emperors to tend to their possessions. 40 This relationship between the two 

countries intensified in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries when the kingdoms of 

Napoli, Ragusa and the Republic of Venice invested in Albanian lands and held 

Albanian assets. 

40 Luigi De Rosa, “The Balkan Minorities (Slavs and Albanians) in South Italy,” in The 

Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000):249. 

18

This exchange in property explains in part why ,Albanians when they immigrated to 

Italy, they settled predominantly in the southern part of the country. Between the 

fifteenth and seventeenth centuries there have been documented seven waves of 

Albanian emigration to Italy. 41 

In the middle of the fifteenth century Albanian mercenary soldiers were 

fighting for the kingdom of Napoli on behalf of King Alphonse V against Robert III 

from the house of Anjou. The Anjou and the Aragons were continuously disputing 

each other’s claims in southern Italy around 1445. 42 The Albanian mercenaries fought 

under the command and leadership of Demetrio Reres and his two sons Giorgio and 

Basilio. Together they led three Albanian squadrons against the French troops. After 

King Alphonse V consolidated his claims when he defeated Robert III of Anjou, he 

made Demetrio Reres governor of Calabria Ultra and permitted the Albanian soldiers 

to settle there. This event marked the first Albanian emigration to Italy. Since the 

proper name for Albania during the Middle Ages was Arberia, the first Albanian 

settlers kept their name Arberesh, and continue to be recognized as such even today. 

The first Arberesh initially settled in modern day Catanzaro, where they 

established seven villages. Demetrio Reres served as governor of Calabria, where as 

his sons Giorgio and Basilio went to Sicily where they established more Albanian 

military communities among them Contessa Entellina, Palazzo Addriano, and 

41 T. Morrelli, Cenni storici sulla remeta degli albanese nel regno delle due Sicilie, 

(Gutenberg, Napoli, 1842): 13. 

42 Michele Famiglietti, Educazione e cultura in Arberia, (Roma: Mario Bulzoni Editore, 

1979):63. See also Peter Bartl, Albanien. Vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, trans. Eni Papa 

(http://www.albanovaonline.com). 

19

Mezzoiuso. 43 The first Arberesh settlements in Italy were founded around 1448. In 

his study of Albanians in Southern Italy Francesco Giunta, found that in a short 

amount of time the Arberesh, were well adjusted in the Italian society and this 

allowed for future Albanian migrations to Italy. 44 

The relationship between Albania and the Neapolitan kingdom continued to 

flourish when Scanderbeg, took control of Albania. Alphonso V along with the Papal 

state were among his greatest supporters in his fight against the Ottomans. Among the 

Albanians who had fought along side Dimetrio Reres in Napoli was also 

Scanderbeg’s best commander Count Vrana Altisferi, who often served as a 

diplomatic envoy between Scanderbeg and Alphonse. On March 26 ,1451 

Scanderbeg and Alphonse concluded a treaty between Albania and the Kingdom of 

Napoli. Under this treaty Scanderbeg’s family and many members of the Albanian 

nobility were placed under the guardianship of Alphonse, who reserved the right to 

grant them any fiefdom he pleased. 45 

The second emigration of Albanians into Southern Italy occurred from 1460- 

1462, where they were invited at the request of king Ferrante I. After king Alphonso 

V died, King Ferrante I, who was Alphonso’s illegitimate son, inherited the crown. 

43 Ibid., 64; and also see, Luigi De Rosa, “The Balkan Minorities (Slavs and Albanians) in 

South Italy,” in The Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000):252. 

1947):48-49. 

44 Francisco Giunta, “Colonie Albanesi in Sicilia,” in Economia e Storia, 21: 1(1974): 16-17. 

45 Fan Noli, George Castrioti Scanderbeg, (New York: International Universities Press, 

20

The Anjous renewed their claims to the kingdom and Ferrante called on Scanderbeg 

to help him fend the Anjou’s off. In 1460 Scanderbeg, was tied with the war effort in 

Albania, but he sent to Ferrante troops under the command of his nephew John Stressi 

Balsha. 46 

In this war, Ferrante of Aragon, did not have very many advantages. Not only 

was he an illegitimate son, but almost all of his barons had sided with the Anjous. 

This was clearly evidenced in the correspondence of the Prince of Taranto, Giovanni 

Antonio Orsino, and Scanderbeg. 47 Despite Orsino’s efforts to dissuade George 

Castriota from aiding Ferrante, Scanderbeg came to Ferrante’s aid when the king of 

Napoli needed him the most. Ferrante was besieged at Barletta, by Giacommo 

Piccinino, one of the most known commanders of his time, and Jean D’Anjou, the 

duke of Calabria; the main contender for the throne. Together they had managed to 

confine Ferrante to Napoli, Trani and Barletta. According to Vincenzo Dorsa, upon 

arrival Scanderbeg and his troops defeated Piccinino and the siege of Barletta was 

46 Ibid., 57. See also Michele Famiglietti, Educazione e cultura in Arberia, (Roma: Mario 

Bulzoni Editore, 1979):68; and Luigi De Rosa, “The Balkan Minorities (Slavs and Albanians) in South 

Italy,” in The Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000):254. 

47 

Giuseppe Schirò, Gli Albanesi E la questione balkanica,(Napoli: A Spese dell’editore 

Ferd. Bideri, 1904): 600-601. 

“Spectabilis Magnifice et strenue vir amice noster carissime.- Avengadio che prima ce fosse 

dicto voi havere mandato a dire a Don Ferrando, che se luj ve mandava galee che sopra de quelle voi 

faraste montare gente che verriano as ardere Brundusio et correre lo paese nostro facendoli grande 

offerte de venire o de mandare per subvenire ali bisogni soj, non havemo possuto credere lo dovessivo 

fare tenedove per savio, e per prudente, fin che non ne havemo visto experientia. Al presente simo 

advisati voi havere mandato de le vostre gente da pede et al cavalo in Puglia et quelle discorrere at 

damnificare le terre de la Maesta de Re Ranieri e nostre, de la qual cosa ne meravigliamo perchè de la 

prefata Maestà ne da noj non receveste mai iniuria nè, despiacere alcuno. Anco ne possete sperare più 

beneficio et piacere che non recevesti mai dal Re de Ragona per memoria del quale dicite movervi a 

fare quello facite: perchè dovete essere certo che sono più catholici christiani li Regali de Franza che 

altri principi del mondo, et dovete pensare che essendo gia quasi tucti li principi et populi del Reame 

tornati a la fidelità de questo Signore che voi non bastati con Albanesi ad aiutare don Ferrando ne 

manco offendere tanti possenti inimici come luj teme, et per tanto ve pregamo et exortamo vogliate 

desistere dali proposti vostri et per la bona via revocare le vostre gente…” 

21

lifted. 48 Scanderbeg’s actions were not lost to the Italian people, leading Giovanni 

Pontano to write: “His name and his arrival not only confounded the plans of the 

enemy but filled all Italy with his fame and glory.” 49 In return for his help against the 

Anjous, Ferrante gave George Castriota a large territory which included the cities of 

Puglia, Trani, Siponto and the castle of S. Giovanni Rotondo. The Arberesh settled in 

these lands and today they comprise the municipalities of Campomarino, 

Portocannone, Greci, Ururi, and Montecilfone. 50 

The largest Albanian immigration in Italy occurred after Scanderbeg’s death 

in 1468. According to the Arberesh oral tradition it was George Castriota’s wish 

before he died that Albanians go to Italy, rather than surrender to the Ottomans. In the 

song Scanderbeg leaves for battle and encounters death who shows him the end of his 

life. After he is able to see the bleak future for his family and his country, Scanderbeg 

turns to his son and says: “ Abandoned flower, flower of my heart, take your mother 

and three of your best ships, leave quickly from here, because if the Turk knows of it, 

he will kill you and will shame your mother.” 51 The song does not stray too much 

1847):54. 

48 Vincenzo Dorsa, Su gli Albanesi, ricerche e pensieri, (Napoli: Dalla Tipographia Trani, 

49 Johannes Jovianus Pontanus, “ De bello Neapolitano, quod Ferdinandus Rex Neapolitanus 

Senior contra Ioannen Andegaviensem Ducem gessit,” in Opera Omnia, V. II Book II (Venice: Aldi e 

Andrea Socero, 1519): 279. See also Appendix No. 46. 

“Hujus igitur nomen atque adventus non hostem modo, ejusque turbavit consilia, verum Italian omnem 

opinionis suae fama implevit.” 


Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000): 255. 

51 Vincenzo Dorsa (1847), Giuseppe Schiro (1905), Fan Noli (1924) Rosolino Petrotta (1941), 

and Salvatore Petrotta (1966), all make mention of this song, in their recounting of the third Albanian 

emigration to Italy. It is the account of Rosolinno Petrotta in 1941, however that refers to Italy as the 

place of salvation for Albanians. The song as recorded by Dorsa in Vincenzo Dorsa, Su Gli Albanesi, 

Ricerche e Pensieri, (Napoli: Dalla Tipographia Trani, 1847): page 126, does not mention it. In the 

newest anthology collection of the Arberesh oral tradition transcribed in 1998 by Francesco Altimari, 

22

from the truth. After his father’s death, John Castriota, his mother Donica and most of 

the Albanian nobles, fled Albania and settled on the Italian lands that King Ferrante 

had given to his father. Ferrante gave John Castriota the Duchy of S. Pietro a 

Galatina, near Taranto, maintaining the status of nobility for the Castriota family.The 

Albanians who settled there formed communities in Carosino, Roccaforzata, San 

Crispieri, Monteparano and San Marzano.The settlement of the Arberesh in Calabria 

Ultra however occurred in the latter part of the fifteenth century when Irene 

Castriota, sister to John Castriota, married Prince Pietro Antonio Sanseverino of 

Bisignano. Many Albanian nobles and their families followed Irene and settled in S. 

Demetrio, Macchia, S. Cosmo, and Cosenza. 52 These centers continue to be part of a 

thriving Arberesh community in Italy today. 

In 1533 the town of Corone fell in Turkish hands, after Charles V signed a 

treaty with Solimen. The Arberesh who settled there were permitted to move in the 

the text of the song is similar to the one found in Dorsa’s book. Anton Nike Berisha, Antologia della 

Poesia Orale Arbereshe, transcrizione a cura di Francesco Altimari, trad. Vincenzo Belmonte, 

(Catanzaro: Rubbettino Editore, 1998): 312-315. Rosolino Petrotta wrote his book in 1941, at a time 

when Albania was under Italian occupation and it was fashionable to view Italian presence in Albania 

not as occupation but a fulfillment of Scanderbeg’s wish. 

Version of Vincenzo Dorsa (1847): “ Ducagino, menami qui mio figlio quel vaghissimo figlio, acciò 

ch’io l’avverta. Fiore abbandonato, fiore dell’amor mio, prendi tua madre e prepara tre galee, delle 

migliori che n’hai, che se saprallo il Turco, verrà a impossessarsi di te e insulterà tua madre.” 

Version of the Anthology (1998): “Ma mio buon Ducagino, conducimi qui mio figlio perchè devo 

parlargli. Gli condussero il figlio dai capelli d’oro, innocente. Fiore abbandonato, fiore del mio cuore, 

prendi tua madre e tre galee, le migliori che hai, e fuggi subito di qua. Chè, se il Turco verrà a 

saperlo, ti ucciderà e tua madre condurrà con sè.” 

Version of Rosolino Petrotta (1941): E rivoltosi al figlio esclamò: “ Fiore abbandonato, fiore 

dell’amor mio, prendi tua madre e prepara tre galee delle migliori che hai, vanne alla spiaga del mare 

e partì, perchè se lo saprà il turco verrà a impossessarsi di te e insulterà tua madre.” E additò 

L’Italia!. 

1979):71. 


23

Kingdom of Napoli and this movement marked the fifth wave of Albanian migrations 

in Italy. A little more than a thousand Arberesh from Corone moved in Napoli, 

Palermo, in Messina and other villages along the Adriatic coast and formed new 

Arberesh communities. 53 

The last two migratory waves of the Arberesh in Italy occurred in 1647 during 

the reign of Phillip IV of Spain. The Arberesh were uprooted from Morea, as it too, 

fell to the Ottomans, after the Albanian population made a last stand there in 1646. 

The Morea Arberesh moved in Barile. 54 The seventh Arberesh emigration to Italy 

happened during the reign of Charles III from the house of Bourbon. The Albanians 

who ultimately settled in Villa Badessa in the commune of Pescara in 1744, came 

from Himara, a province south of the city of Vlora in Albania. Southern Albanians 

banned together during the seventeenth century and rose in revolts against the 

Ottomans. Ultimately all of the rebellions were put down by the Turkish troops who 

retaliated in harsh measures against the Albanian populations, leaving them little 

choice but to look across the Adriatic for refuge. 55 

53 Salvatore Petrotta, Albanesi di Sicilia:storia e cultura, (Palermo: Editori Stampatori 

Associati, 1966): 36. 

1979):81. 


55 Ibid., 81. See also Luigi De Rosa, “The Balkan Minorities (Slavs and Albanians) in South 

Italy,” in The Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000):260 and also 

Salvatore Petrotta, Albanesi di Sicilia: storia e cultura, (Palermo: Editori Stampatori Associati, 

1966):36. 

Pope Paul II in a letter to Duke of Borgogna, makes note of the desolate situation that Albanians 

experienced in the hands of the Turks: “Gli Albanesi in parte sono uccisi con la spada, in parte sono 

ridotti in schiavitù. Quelle cittadelle, che avevano sostenuto in nostro favore vigorossamente l’impeto 

dei Turchi, si dovettero a loro consegnare. Le vicine genti rivierasche dell’Adriatico atterrite dalla 

paura tremano. Ovunque paura, ovunque lutti, ovunque si presenta ai nostri occhi la morte e la 

schiavitù. È spettacolo veramente misero…È doloroso scorgere le imbarcazioni dei fuggenti, che si 

riversano sulle spiagge d’Italia, avendo abbandonato le loro case. Si scorgono sdraiati sul litorale, con 

le mani alzate verso il cielo.” 

24

The Arberesh and Italians 

The Arberesh communities in Italy were able to blend with the native Italian 

populations, but at the same time they continued to keep their distinct traditions and 

religious institutions intact. Italian accounts from historians and anthropologists 

however vary in their interpretations. Most of the scholarly debates fall in two 

categories: those in support of a friendly exchange between the Arberesh and Italian 

natives and those who believe the contrary. Salvatore Petrotta and Michele Famiglieti 

in their respective research make the case for a friendly exchange between the 

Arberesh and Italians for several reasons. 

First Albanians were invited in the country by the Italian rulers who gave 

them lands, second they were active participators in the Italian economy as they had 

an established landowning class, and third the catholic church supported their 

settlement in Italy by virtue of their religion. These Albanian emigrants were their 

Christian brothers. 56 

Luigi de Rosa and the majority of the Italian scholars, on the other hand, view 

the role of the Catholic church toward the Arberesh as anything but supportive. 

Luigi De Rosa notes in his article that the Catholic Church did not encourage the 

56 Salvatore Petrotta, Albanesi di Sicilia: storia e cultura, (Palermo: Editori Stampatori 

Associati, 1966):37. In an article on Italo-Albanians Gaetano Petrotta notes: “ Per le antiche relazioni 

di amicizia dei principi albanesi con i re di Napoli, per la collaborazione militare tra i due paesi, 

sebbene non mancassero manifestazioni di ostilità delle popolazioni costiere terrorizzate dai progressi 

e dalle feroci rapresaglie dei Turchi, gli esuli albanesi protteti dai pontefici come vittime, e quasi 

martiri della fede e favoritti dai sovrani,venivano come in una seconda patria a colonizzare e a 

bonificare larghe zone spopolate a causa dei terremoti, delle pestilenze e delle continue guerre. Per 

questi indiscutibili vantaggi demografici ed economici anche i baroni ei vescovi furono larghi di 

concessioni ai nuovi coloni che godettero sempre i diritti di cittadinanza ed esercitano il culto religioso 

nel rito greco indisturbati nelle loro chiese e con clero proprio senza che si elevassero mai sospetti 

sulla loro cattolicità.” 

See also Michele Famiglietti, Educazione e cultura in Arberia, (Roma: Mario Bulzoni Editore, 

1979):81-82. 

25

exchange between Italians and the Arbereshe. More so, the majority of the Italian 

people did not think very highly of the Arberesh. Albanians were known to Italians as 

“robbers,” violent and warlike people. 57 Norman Douglass, a British writer, who 

traveled in Calabria in the nineteenth century noted that the Arberesh who had settled 

there had, 

“ [arrived] …solely ‘with their shirts and rhapsodies’ (so one of them 

described it to me)-that is despoiled of everything they indulged in 

robberies and depredations somewhat too freely even for those free days, with 

the results that ferocious edicts were issued against them, and whole clans 

wiped out.” 58 

The Italian populations of Calabria, were rightly afraid of the Arberesh, 

because they initially came as paid mercenaries. These feelings of hate and fear were 

best captured by an Italian proverb, which underlies the uneasiness that Italians felt 

toward the Arberesh: “If you see an Albanian and a wolf, kill the Albanian and let 

live the wolf.” 59 These exchanges were often reciprocated by the Arberesh, toward 

their Italian neighbors. The Arberesh discouraged their daughters from marrying 

Italians. The common advice to unmarried women was to “be aware of Italians like 

the woodcutter the axe.” 60 Yet, even so, the Arbereshe communities managed to 


Journal of European Economic History 29: 2-3 (Fall/Winter,2000):260-263. 

1956);182-183. 

58 Norman, Douglass, “ Old Calabria,” (New York : Harcourt, Brace and Company, 

59 Giuseppe Carlo Siciliano, “ Politica e rivolte: dall’ utopia al contributo unitario,” in 

Caterina Brunetti, Giuseppe Cacozza, Piera L. Oranges and Giuseppe Carlo Siciliano, Chi 

dona,tramanda: Studi su alcuni aspetti della vita sociale, culturale e politica degli Italo-Albanesi in 

Calabria, (Calabria: Calabria Letteraria Editrice, 1988): 103. 

“Si vidi lu gjegjiu e lu lupu, ammazza lu gjegjiu e lassa vivu lu lupu.” (se vedi l’albanese e il lupo, 

ammazza l’albanese e lascia vivo il lupo.) 

60 Koli Xoxi, Shqiptaret dhe Garibaldi, (Prishtine: Rilindja, 1983): 38. “Ruaju nga Italiani, sic 

ruhet druvari nga sepata.” 

26

thrive in Italy. They held on to their values and traditions, by immortalizing the 

memory and figure of George Castriota Scanderbeg, which by the end of the 

nineteenth century had reached its height and become a rallying symbol for all 

Albanians in Diaspora and the homeland. 

27

Introduction 

CHAPTER I 

THE MYTH OF SCANDERBEG IN THE 

MEMORY OF THE ARBERESH AND ALBANIA: 

AN INTRODUCTION TO METHODOLOGY 

Annon from the castle walls 

The crescent banner falls, 

And the crowd beholds instead, 

Like a portent in the sky, 

Iskander’s banner fly, 

The Black Eagle with double head; 

And a shout ascends on high, 

…….. 

And the loud, exultant cry 

That echoes wide and far 

Is “Long Live Scanderbeg!” 1 

Since his death in 1468, Scanderbeg’s life served as the source of many tales and 

myths in Albania and Europe. It is my contention that even though Albanians and the 

Albanian diaspora in the world kept his memory alive, it was not until the nineteenth 

century, that Scanderbeg’s memory was resurrected by Albanian intellectuals, who lived 

outside Albania, as a rallying point toward the achievement of Albanian independence 

from the Ottoman empire. Before developing the evolution of the Scanderbeg myth it is 

important to provide the framework under which I study the evolution of Scanderbeg’s 

1 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Scanderbeg,” 

[http://www.readbookonline.net/read/3148/12702, Copywright 2003-2004]. 

27

memory in Albania and its diaspora in southern Italy in the late nineteenth and early- 

twentieth centuries. I will thus focus my study around three main themes: first I will 

study the establishment of the historiographical trends and methods of approach that have 

permeated studies on Scanderbeg since the beginning, second I will provide the basis in 

which the Scanderbeg myth develops and operates in the diasporic community, but also 

define who comprises the Albanian diasporic community of Southern Italy and how it 

relates to Albania, third I will study the importance of the Diasporic intellectuals in their 

response to the homeland by their use of Scanderbeg’s myth as a means of altering 

Albania’s destiny from a Turkish colony to independent entity, by comparing how 

Scanderbeg’s memory develops in Diaspora and Albania. 

The study of Scanderbeg in Albania continues to flourish because both the figure 

and the idea of Scanderbeg as a national hero, continue to remain central to the Albanian 

historical narrative, which during the course of the nineteenth century was constructed 

through the work of Albanian intellectuals living abroad. Intellectuals such as Girolamo 

de Rada, Giussepe Scura, Giusepe Serembe, Dora D’Istria, the brothers Frasheri, Ismail 

Qemali, Fan Noli and many others who lived and worked outside Albania, began to 

record and construct Albanian history, with Scanderbeg as its centerpiece in hopes of 

reaching the Albanian people and achieving Albanian independence from the Ottoman 

empire. Every Albanian history book, recognizes these individuals first and foremost as 

Albanian nationalists who happen to live outside Albania, underscoring their importance 

as diasporic intellectuals. I suggest we re-examine their role and contribution toward the 

achievement of Albanian independence as members of the diaspora first, and Albanians 

second. First, their experience and intellectual pursuits abroad, made it possible for them 

28

to evaluate Albania in the context of the larger European framework. Second, as 

intellectuals they were able to gain the respect of other European intellectuals and use 

their influence toward the construction of an independent Albanian state, to be seen in the 

European arena both as a product and triumph of modern ideas. Third, their position as 

members of the aristocracy and or clergy, in their host countries allowed them access to 

European politicians, as was the case during the Conference of Berlin in 1878, when they 

had the opportunity to lobby for Albanian independence. Their position as intellectuals 

and members of the Albanian diaspora abroad, was crucial in giving these individuals not 

only the tools, but the freedom to pursue their goals unfettered from Ottoman control, 

something that in the reality of nineteenth century Albanian society would have been 

impossible to accomplish. 

Under these premises, it is obvious to conclude that the Albanian movement for 

independence is primarily a phenomenon of the Albanian Diaspora. It was the work of 

intellectuals like Girolamo De Rada, Giussepe Scura, Zef Serembe, Dora D’Istria, Naim 

and Sami Frasheri, Ismail Qemali and Fan Noli who used the memory of Scanderbeg to 

revive and bring to fruition Albanian independence in 1912. Many Albanians intellectuals 

from Diaspora, returned to Albania in the late nineteenth century to create an independent 

Albanian state. While many Diasporic intellectuals lived in the Arberesh communities in 

Southern Italy, many others lived in Egypt, Romania, Turkey, and the United States. 

Their efforts toward the achievement of Albanian independence were a direct response 

and reflected the changes that were occurring in their respective geographic domiciles of 

the time. 

29

The nineteenth century has been aptly named the century of revolutions and 

nationalism. For the Arberesh intellectual community of Southern Italy, the events of the 

late nineteenth century in Italy did not go unnoticed. Indeed it is my contention that it 

was their participation in the unification of the Italian state that paved the way for 

Arberesh intellectuals, to frame and consolidate a clear platform by which to pursue 

Albanian independence. Much like Italian nationalists evoked the memories of the 

glorious Italian past, for the intellectuals of the Arberesh diaspora the memory of 

Scanderbeg became the center of rally for the creation of Albanian national identity. In 

their efforts to achieve this goal, Arberesh intellectuals like Girolamo de Rada, Zef 

Serembe and Giuseppe Schiro who had participated in the Italian war of independence, 

extended their friendship to other intellectuals of Albanian Diaspora in the world, like 

Dora D’Istria, Naim and Sami Frasheri, Ismail Qemali and Fan Noli to work together for 

their homeland. 

While the Albanian Diaspora with its center in Southern Italy fervently worked to 

construct the frame and platform of the independent Albanian state, Albanians inside 

Albania in the absence of intellectual leadership and absence in development of their 

native language for four centuries, resorted to oral commemorations of their identity to 

resist Turkish occupation. Even though, they lacked the means to share Albanian 

traditions in writing, oral memories of Scanderbeg remained prevalent in Albania. 

Generation after generation passed on stories about Scanderbeg and his stand against the 

Ottoman empire. For four centuries, since the death of Scanderbeg, Albanians in Albania 

and Albanians of Diaspora had co-existed in separate spheres from one another. It was 

not until the late nineteenth century when the two sides began to engage in a dialogue 

30

with one another and found Scanderbeg’s memory a common ground upon which 

Albanian national identity was built. Thus Albanian memories of Scanderbeg, although 

prevalent in Albania, did not become politicized until Diasporic intellectuals used them to 

evoke memories of the past and build a strong basis for Albanian nationalism, which 

served as a context for the movement toward Albanian independence and its achievement 

on November 28,1912. 

Methodology: Theoretical Foundation 

Before identifying the occupants of the Albanian diaspora and their role in 

passing on the memory of Scanderbeg it is necessary, to construct a theoretical lens 

through which one can better examine the power of Scanderbeg’s memory with relation 

to nation-state formation and nationalism. Nationalism, diaspora, and national memory 

are all themes which help to explain why Scanderbeg continues to be remembered in 

Albania and its diasporic communities outside Albania. 

A popular folk song sung by the Arberesh in Calabria from the nineteenth 

century, describes the emotive force of an imagined homeland and the relationship which 

ensues between the disporic individual and the homeland: “We are like swallows, we are 

like eagles,We are united, because we have common roots.” 2 While, the emotive power 

of the song is inescapable it raises important questions to the process of one’s 

displacement and issues of self identification. Under this premise it becomes important 

to identify what constitutes a diaspora and how do diasporic individuals relate to their 

country of origin. 

33:1(1979):172. 

2 Shkurtaj, Gjovalin, “Kenge Popullore te Arberesheve te Italise,” Studime Filologjike, 

31

What is Diaspora? The term itself is as ambiguous as it is complex. The moment 

one hears it, images of Jewish exile flood the mind. Even though it is closely related to 

the Jewish experience, “Diaspora,” as a word has no roots in the Hebrew lexicon, and its 

genesis in the English vocabulary is fairly modern 3 . The term Diaspora derives from the 

indo-European root ‘sper-‘ meaning ‘to sow’, which later evolved to mean scattered and 

dispersed, or people in exile and a place in exile. The term embodies feelings of 

separation, longing, melancholy of a home lost, of memories left behind, and of the 

eternal hope of a return to one’s roots, to the glorious homeland. 

Although, this definition of Diaspora carries powerful, emotive meaning, in light 

of new insights about nations, and national identities, it has become outdated. Benedick 

Anderson’s ideas of nations being ‘imagined communities,” both inherently limited and 

sovereign, 4 challenge the importance of the nation-state, and raise new questions about 

Diaspora and the role of the diasporic intellectual in the promotion of national identity. 5 

My definition of Diaspora is that of a community which embodies several 

common traits such as dispersal from a specific region, retention of a collective memory, 

vision or myth about the original homeland; a community that regards the ancestral 

homeland as the true, ideal home, where it would eventually return; it is committed to the 

restoration and maintenance of the homeland; and it continues to relate personally, or 

3 Howard Wettstein, “Coming to Terms with Exile,” in Howard Wettstein ed., Diasporas and 

Exiles: Varieties of Jewish Identity, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002):47. According to the 

OED, the term first appeared in 1876, and by 1881 was used by Wellhausen, in the Encyclopedia 

Britannica, in reference to Jewish dispersion. 

4 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin, and Spread of 

Nationalism, (New York: Verso, 1983): 6. 

5 In my construct of Albanian Diaspora, I employ features set forth by other intellectuals engaged 

in the study of diaspora and diasporic intellectuals and national identity such as William Safran, Rey Chow, 

Benedic Andersen, E.J, Hobsbawm, Khachig Tololyan, Gayatry Spivak, Homi Bhabha, and Hamid Naficy. 

32

vicariously to the homeland. 6 This definition is very useful in the study of the Albanian 

Diaspora in Southern Italy because the Arberesh of Italy are an Albanian community who 

left Albania after the death of Scanderbeg, they continue to maintain their culture and 

Albanian language, and are committed to the restoration of their homeland. Borders have 

always defined the relationship between Diaspora and the nation-state. However if 

nations are real yet imagined entities, the border itself also becomes an imagined entity. 

Benedict Anderson’s work on nationhood fits well with the trends exhibited in Albania 

and the struggle for Albanian independence on the part of the Albanian Diaspora. 

In the modern world, ideas of national economy, become useless, since modern 

nations are moving toward globalism and global economies. The classic Wilsonian- 

Leninist form based on the slogan for self-determination is outdated and offers no 

platform for the twenty-first century. In this construct Diaspora no longer occupies a 

peripheral space, instead it becomes the hybrid which embodies the Other. This third 

space to use Khachig Tololyan, definition is a “land, a territory , a place that functions as 

the site of homogeneity, equilibrium,[and] integration.” 7 As such Diaspora becomes the 

center, the place where discourse flourishes; and the exchange of ideas sets the frame for 

political and social change in the homeland. The role then of the diasporic intellectual 

becomes defined, first in relation to the place of origin and second to the place of 

domicile. In the first case it is a question of a consciousness that resists the “submission 

to consaguinity,” that is demanded by nationalists, and instead inhabits the borders 

6 My definition of diaspora is closely aligned with William Safran’s work in diasporic 

communities as developed in William Safran, “Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and 

Return,” in Diaspora 1 (1991): 87. 

7 Khachig Tololyan, “The Nation-State and Its Others, In Lieu of a Preface,” in Geoff Eley and 

Ronald Grigor Suny eds., Becoming National, A Reader, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996):429. 

33

etween hegemonic fields. In the second place, the diasporic intellectuals are called to 

function as “spokespersons for the natives.” 8 Under these premises Diaspora and the 

diasporic intellectual become quite important in understanding nations and nation- 

building. Indeed, under this premise it is the role of Diaspora, and more precisely the 

diasporic intellectual, to define a nation’s consciousness and set the pace for change. 

Since nations, nationalism, national memory and identity are transnational and 

reconstructured modern constructs what then, happens to diaspora and what is its role in 

the modern community? Many scholars, like Rey Chow, Homi Bhabha, Ngugi and 

Spivak, are all concerned with the question of the “Other,” the peripheral, the subaltern 

which is the Third World in relation to the First World, or the West to describe the 

direction in which societies are moving presently. They offer different views on what 

diaspora is and how it affects the nation-state. For this study, I rely heavily on the model 

presented by Rey Chow, in understanding the role of the Arberesh in Albanian ideas of 

national identity and nationalism. 

The contribution of the Diasporic intellectual to national identity can be clearly 

traced in the Albanian case. It is in light of Diaspora that we can understand the Other, 

and explain the relationship between colonizer and the colonized. Furthermore, I argue 

that it was the work of the diasporic intellectuals in the nineteenth century that altered the 

relationship between Albania and the Ottoman Empire through the establishment of the 

formal written Albanian language. 

8 Chow, Rey, Writing Diaspora: Tactics of Intervention in Contemporary Cultural Studies, 

(Bloomigton: Indiana University Press,1993): 9-14. 24, 99, 118. 

34

It was their pressure in the Ottoman court that legalized the teaching of Albanian inside 

Albania in 1908. In fact it was the input from the Diasporic intellectuals which created 

the conditions for Albanian independence in 1912. 

The roots of Albanian nationalism and the role of Diasporic intellectuals are better 

understood by examining the importance which memory and politics of national identity 

play in Albanian history. Sectoral memories on the myth of Scanderbeg in Albania 

function much in the same way, that French memories on the myth of Joan of Arc are 

constructed in France. According to Pierre Nora, these sectoral memories have 

restructured the way the relationship between past, present and future is experienced and 

they have reshaped the forms of collectivity that now cohabit the national space. For 

Nora national memory is not a monolithic mental image of the past which is internalized 

the same way by all members of a given society but as the diverse representational modes 

by means of which communities imagine, represent and enact their specific relationship 

to the past. In the modern world, it is the society rather than the nation state that has 

become the linchpin of social organization. The idea of Nation and nationhood remains 

the nostalgic and enduring figure of the larger social collectivity. It is the emotive force 

of national memories argues Nora that has given them their magnetic, contagious and 

volatile character in the life of modern nation-states. 9 

Like Joan of Arc in France, for Albanians, Scanderbeg and his memory serve 

primarily the nationalist cause and its proponents. Even though he lived in the fifteenth 

century, it is not until the rise of nationalism in the nineteenth century that images of 

Scanderbeg become prolific.The idea of collective amnesia applies well to Scanderbeg’s 

9 Nora, 11. 

35

memory in the twentieth century Albania. In Communist Albania it became pivotal to 

view Scanderbeg as the national hero, a man who came from the masses and fought for 

them; while conveniently forgetting his relationship with the Vatican, or that he was part 

of the nobility and his unifying struggle aimed at creating his own monarchical order over 

Albania. Yet to this day he continues to be remembered as the savior of Albanian national 

identity. When this occurs what happens then to a nation’s identity? 

In Albania and its Diaspora in southern Italy, Scanderbeg’s memory is 

perpetuated by images and texts that have been accumulated since his twenty-five year 

heroic stand against the Ottoman Turks. He has inspired many works ranging in quality 

from vile to the sublime, and often times they spill beyond the Albanian borders. 

Monuments, museums, plazas, street names, schools, money and flags bear either the 

name or insignia of Scanderbeg. Novels, poems, songs, school books, movies, and 

paintings continue to keep the memory of Scanderbeg alive. These images are more 

profound in Albania and its diasporic communities in Kosovo and Southern Italy. 

Under this analysis the Albanian nation is an imagined construct. It is also a 

product of the modern era. Albanian independence from the Ottoman Empire was 

achieved in 1912. The language did not evolve until the beginning of the twentieth 

century. Previous to 1912 Albanians were to be Turcofied but never to join in as equals. 

They were always to be seen as the Other. After achieving independence the twentieth 

century witnessed the Albanian plunge into communism and fifty years later its liberation 

from communist ideology. It became important then for Albanians to reach back to its 

diaspora and identify themselves through ethnicity. In all scenarios, pre-independence, 

communism and post-communism one individual; Scanderbeg and his memory, are 

36

prevalent. Writing in 1941, Vandeleur Robinson after visiting Albania in 1913 and 1926 

noted a most peculiar fact. Albanians regarded the greatest event in their history 

Scanderbeg’s stand against the Turks in the fifteenth century. 10 This observation is 

hardly surprising since the Albanian nationalist movement which began in the middle of 

the nineteenth century had as its main goal the fulfillment of Scanderbeg’s dream: 

Albanian independence. 

Scanderbeg’s return to Albania and his first declaration of independence has been 

dated November 28, 1443. This date of independence is significant in Albanian history. 

When Ismail Qemali declared independence in Vlora in 1912 he resurrected 

Scanderbeg’s flag. The date for this declaration of independence was also November 28. 

Since 1912 every regime in Albania, has rooted itself on the memory of Scanderbeg to 

gain legitimacy, and November 28 has become a date pregnant of emotive meaning. 

Derek Hall, a British journalist who has written extensively on Albania, also 

recognizes the importance of Scanderbeg as a national symbol especially during the 

communist regime, 1941-1990. The communists in Albania viewed Albanian liberation 

from Nazi Germany as another kind of independence. They claimed Albania liberated 

from foreign rule on November 29, 1944. But the connection to Scanderbeg was not lost. 

Indeed the communist regime used the figure of Scanderbeg to its advantage. The Day of 

the Flag, November 28, was restored as a national day; the main square of the capital, 

Tirana, became Scanderbeg Square; Kruja, Scanderbeg’s capital was made into a Hero 

City; and on the ruins of the old fortress, in 1980, the newest Scanderbeg Museum, 

1941):13-15. 

10 Robinson, Vandeleur, Albania’s Road to Freedom, (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 

37

designed by the dictator’s daughter Pranvera, was built. 11 It is impossible to be in Albania 

and not know about Scanderbeg. Upon visiting Albania in 1968 two Swedish tourists 

wrote, “Scanderbeg’s statue stands in the main square in Tirana. Scanderbeg’s statue is 

all over the country. People sing about Scanderbeg. Write poems about Scanderbeg. 

Build Museums to Scanderbeg.” 12 Cleary memory and commemoration play an important 

role in the permeation of Scanderbeg’s Myth in the modern times. 

New nations as well as old states require ancient pasts. As soon as Albanian 

independence was declared, its elites also felt a need to commemorate. The role of the 

elites in Albanian national memory will be explored in greater detail on the last chapter 

but the basis for most of this commemoration however was directly linked to the 

evolution of language and the print technology. Previous to these two key changes, 

commemoration was kept alive through songs, ballads and tales. This thesis, however, is 

better understood within the construct of the Albanian nation. Scanderbeg’s memory, 

changes significantly when it serves the needs of the diasporic community, whether it is 

Kosovo or Southern Italy. Diaspora as a construct is more fluid and thus allows for 

changes in perception and mentality to the Scanderbeg Myth which would be hard to 

achieve in Albania proper. It is clear that diaspora often times controls the means by 

which Scanderbeg’s memory is channeled in the Albanian society. 

11 Hall, Derek, Albania and the Albanians, (London, New York: Pinter Reference, 1994): 36-37. 

12 Myrdal, Jan and Gun Kessle, Albania Defiant, trans. Paul Britten Autin, (Monthly Review 

Press, reprinted 1976):34-35. 

38

CHAPTER II 

HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE STUDY OF SCANDERBEG 

Herefore doth vaine antiquitie so vaunt 

Her ancient monuments of mightie peeres, 

And old Heroes, which their world did daunt 

With their great deedes, and fild their childrens eares? 

Who rapt with wonder of their famous praise, 

Admire their statues, their Collossoes great, 

Their huge Pyramids, which do heauen threat. 

Lo one, whom later age hath brought to light, 

Matchable to the greatest of those great: 

Great both by name, and great in power and might, 

And meriting a meere triumphant feate. 

The scourge of Turkes, and plague of infidels, 

Thy acts, ô Scanderbeg, this volume tels. 1 

Since the sixteenth century, writings on Scanderbeg have been prolific, as he 

inspired many contemporaries who kept his memory alive, through diaries and printed 

book. The bulk of historiography on Scanderbeg, runs through several methodologies. 

Historians, biographers, and literary critics both inside and outside Albania have 

undertaken studies on the topic and drawn from different aspects of the hero’s life. From 

the beginning the earlier publications, during the fifteenth century were biographies or 

commemorations of Scanderbeg’s war against the Turks. Most of these works were 

1 Spenser, Edmund, "Historie of George Castriot, surnamed Scanderberg, King of Albanie: 

containing his famous actes, etc. Newly translated out of French into English by Z. I., Gentleman. 

Imprinted for W. Ponsonby, 1596 (folio). [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/sonnets.html.] This HTML 

etext is based upon The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Edmund Spenser [Grosart, London, 1882] 

by Richard Bear at the University of Oregon. The text is in the public domain. Markup is copyright © 1995 

University of Oregon; this version is distributed for nonprofit use only. 

39

written by priests and Arberesh Albanians who wanted to claim back Scanderbeg’s 

heritage to the exiled Albanian community living in Southeastern Italian peninsula. 

During the sixteenth and seventieth centuries, the works that were devoted to 

Scanderbeg were literary poems or epic ballads. As the printed press developed in Europe, 

more and more novellas and epic poems that glorified the ancient past became prominent. 

Elizabethan poets like Edmund Spenser and Zachary Jones commemorated Scanderbeg’s 

war against the Ottoman empire in direct response to British dominance in the European 

continent. In all the works of the time the figure of Scanderbeg was fashioned after the 

ideal romantic Christian hero who fought valiantly against the Ottoman armies. 

It was not until the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that Scanderbeg’s 

commemoration as a national symbol was really developed by the Albanian Diaspora, 

Italian, British, and American writers. Europe and the world were ripe with revolution 

during the nineteenth century and for many European writers Scanderbeg was more than 

an exotic figure. In a time when patriotism and national identity took paramount 

importance, Scanderbeg became the European leader that saved Christendom. Literary 

figures from Byron and Benjamin Disraeli in England, Vivaldi in Italy, and Henry 

Wadsworth Longfellow in America, all wrote about Scanderbeg and made his memory 

immortal through their writings. 2 

2 

Terpatsi, Peter J. ed., Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron, Selected Verse Depicting 

Albania, (Peter Terpatsi, 1958.) 

Disraeli, Benjamin, “The Rise of Iskander,” in “Popanilla and Other Tales, Volume III,” in The 

Bradenham Edition of the Novels and Tales, of Benjamin Disraeli, 1 st Earl of Baconsfield, (London: Peter 

Davies, 1926.) 

Vivaldi, Antonio, and Antonio Salvi, Anton Maria Albizzini, Richard Macnutt, Scanderbeg : 

drama per musica da rappresentarsi in Firenze nel Teatro degl' illustrissimi signori Accademici Immobili 

posto in via della Pergola, nell'estate dell'anno MDCCXVIII sotto la protezione dell'Altezza Reale del 

serenissimo Gran Principe di Toscaza, (Firenze : Da Anton Maria Albizzini da S. Maria in Campo, 1718.) 

40

Alongside prominent authors that wrote about Scanderbeg during the nineteenth 

century Albanian intellectuals as members of the Albanian Diaspora began to recall and 

write more about the memory of Scanderbeg as an Albanian leader. Writings from 

Girolamo De Rada, Giusseppe Scura, Zef Serembe, Naim and Sami Frasheri, and Andon 

Zako Cajupi sought to place Scanderbeg’s memory at the center of Albanian 

consciousness. As such, Scanderbeg was no longer the celebrated Christian hero who 

fought to save Europe from Islam, but he became the Albanian hero who fought to 

liberate his country and establish the first Albanian independent state. It was during the 

nineteenth century at the hands of the Diaspora intellectuals that Scanderbeg’s memory 

became historic memory with an agency for Albanian independence. 

Historians, anthropologists and linguists did not begin to critically study 

Scanderbeg’s figure as an Albanian until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Even at this juncture the studies were minimal and did not stray from revisiting past 

biographies of the hero. For most of the twentieth century Albanian history witnessed the 

independence of Albania, the experience of both World Wars, Albanian descent into 

communist dictatorship and by the end of the century the establishment of a democratic 

form of government. Through all these important political changes, the country’s 

enduring symbol for Albanian identity remains Scanderbeg and his legacy. As such, it is 

important to highlight how the study of this topic has developed through time. 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, “Scanderbeg,” [http://www.readbookonline.net/read/3148/12702, 

Copywright 2003-2004]. 

41

The study of Scanderbeg dates back at least four centuries, but one of the first 

works and primary source documents in the written form which commemorates 

Scanderbeg is Marin Barleti’s biography of the hero 3 . The book is dedicated to Don 

Ferrante of Naples, who is believed to have been the nephew of Scanderbeg. Since its 

publication this work by Marin Barleti has been translated in many European languages. 4 

Marin Barleti tried to write an accurate history of the life of Scanderbeg. During 

the time he wrote however, no one was writing about Scanderbeg. Barleti noted in his 

introduction that one of the incentives to write the book was to bring back to life the 

3 Barleti, Marin, Historia e Jetes dhe e Vepravet te Skenderbeut, [The History of the Life and 

Actions of Scanderbeg] trans. Stefan Prifti, (Tirane: Universiteti Shteteror i Tiranes, 1967.) 

Unfortunately, Barleti does not provide any detailed information about himself as the author. The 

only secure dates on him are the publication of Scanderbeg’s biography in 1504 and another work in 1512. 

Apart from these two instances the only clue about Marin Barleti is that he was a priest from Scutari 

modern day Shkoder, who lived in Italy. Even though there is much debate on the importance of Marin 

Barleti as a historian, he himself notes on the introduction of his work that his primary goal is the “pursuit 

of truth.” \ He writes to Don Ferrante, Scanderbeg’s nephew for whom the book is published, that he is 

aware that much of the history of the past is influenced by the present, but he has tried to base his work on 

solid sources.” This is the closest statement where it is clear that Barleti viewed himself as a historian and 

that he regarded his work as a historical monograph rather than fiction. This biography produced by Marin 

Barleti is one of the most authentic sources on the life of George Castriota and it is also the first 

proffesional biography on Scanderbeg. The book was written in Latin titled: “Historia de Vitat er Gestis 

Scanderbegi, Epirotarum Pricipis.” The original, does not have a publishing date, but it is agreed that it 

was written during 1508-1510. 

4 G. T. Petrovitch and F. Pall are two historians who have traced most of these translations of 

Marin Barleti’s work. Much of the contribution from F. Pall can be found in: Noli, Fan S., George 

Castrioti Scanderbegh, (New York: International Universities Press, 1947): 140-142. The work by G.T 

Petrovitch can be found in the following volumes: 

Pétrovitch, Georges T., Scanderbeg (Georges Castriota) Essai de bibliographie raisonnée, Book 

XXIV, XXIX (München: Trofenik, 1967.) 

Pétrovitch, Georges T., Scanderbeg (Georges Castriota). Essai de bibliographie raisonnée. 

Ouvrages sur Scanderbeg écrits en langues française, anglaise, allemande, latine, italienne, espagnole, 

portugaise, suédoise, et grecque, et publiées depuis l'invention de l'imprimerie jusqu'à nos jours, 

( Amsterdam, B. R. Grüner, 1972.) 

The work in German was translated by Johan Piciani and was published seven different times first 

in 1533, 1561, 1577, 1578, in Augsburg, then in Frankfurt 1597 and in Magdeburg 1604, 1606. Petro 

Rocca translated it in Italian and it was published in Venice 1554, 1560, 1568, and 1580. F. de Andrade 

translated it in Portuguese and it was published in Lisbon, 1567. Jacques de Lavardin translated it into 

French and it was published in Paris 1576, 1597, and 1621, in La Rochelle 1593 and in Geneva 1604. The 

book was also published in English in 1596 as noted in 

Biçoku, Kasem and Jup Kastrati, Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu : bibliografi, 1454-1835, (Tirane: Biblioteka 

Kombetare, 1997): 234-237. 

42

memory of Scanderbeg to the Albanian community in Southern Italy. 5 Even though 

Barleti’s data in the book is exaggerated in terms of casualties during the battles, 

Scanderbeg’s oratorical skill and the dates when Scanderbeg was sent as a hostage to the 

Porte, his is the only work that provided the foundation upon which the Abanian exiles in 

Italy would continue to commemorate the memory of Scanderbeg. Even in 

acknowledging the deficiencies in Barleti’s work it is important to note that it is his work 

that carried for many Albanians the images of Scanderbeg as a man, a husband, a father 

and a warrior. Perhaps of most importance is to realize that while Barletti’s work should 

be examined closely, most of the scholarly analysis on Scanderbeg’s speeches comes 

directly from Marin Barleti’s records. 6 

Another quoted source on Scanderbeg and contemporary of Marlin Barleti was 

Raphael Volaterranus. He published his work in 1506, Thirty Eight Commentary Books 

on the History of Rome 7 , which provided detailed information about the time Scanderbeg 

spent in the Ottoman court. The volumes also contain information about the death of 

Scanderbeg’s father John, Scanderbeg’s return to Albania, and his betrayal by his nephew 

5 Barleti, Marin, Historia e Jetes dhe e Vepravet te Skenderbeut, [The History of the Life and 

Actions of Scanderbeg] trans. Stefan Prifti, (Tirane: Universiteti Shteteror i Tiranes, 1967): 51. 

The debate over the accuracy of Barleti’s work continues even today. G. T. Petrovic views the book as a 

good starting block in the study of Scanderbeg, but another historian, Pal Jovi on the other hand disputes 

the importance of Barleti, since [Barleti] gave much praise to Scanderbeg. Other historians like Gibbon and 

Jorga subscribe to this view as well as noted by Fan Noli in Noli, Fan S., George Castrioti Scanderbegh, 

(New York: International Universities Press, 1947.) 

6 The most quoted line in every story goes back to one of Scanderbeg’s speeches that later served 

as the rallying cry for Albanian independence. When Scanderbeg returned in Albania and repossessed his 

castle from the Ottoman Turks he held a speech in front of his soldiers and people. He is quoted by Barleti 

as saying: 

“I did not bring you freedom, I found it amongst you. …The kingdom and this city I did not give 

you; you delivered it to me. I did not bring you weapons, I found you already armed. You have 

freedom all around you, in your chest, in your forehead, in your swords and spears…” (Barleti, 

76.) 

7 Bicoku, Kasem and Jup Kastrati eds, Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu: Bibliografi1454-1835, 

(Tirane: Biblioteka Kombetare, 1997): 62. 

43

Hamza. This work by Volaterranus led the way for Georgius Pontanus in 1609 to further 

elaborate on the details of Scanderbeg’s life. Pontanus, who was a Czech priest, was the 

first author to comprise an anthology about Scanderbeg. Pontanus used Barleti’s work 

and his citations to put together some of Scanderbeg’s speeches to his troops and his 

people. When Pontanus wrote his work on Scanderbeg the Ottoman threat was imminent. 

Pontanus’ aims in his book were to discredit and stereotype the Ottoman Turks as 

faithless and barbarians. During a time when the very safety of Europe was endangered 

by invasion, Pontanus wanted to rally the people of central Europe behind the memory of 

Scanderbeg and his deeds. Perhaps if they followed the example of Scanderbeg these 

nations would be able to hold of invasion from the Ottoman Turks. Under such a context 

it is not surprising then, that Scanderbeg’s memory in the early modern period was used 

as a symbol of freedom and resistance to foreign occupation. All these three works by 

Barleti, Volaterranus and Pontanus complement one another and help modern readers to 

understand how the first historians treated the figure of Scanderbeg. 

Another historian, Jacques de Lavardin, published in 1604 a biography of 

Scanderbeg. 8 In the book, Lavardin explored the military activity of Scanderbeg, as well 

the records of Scanderbeg’s victories against the Turkish troops. The book ends with the 

death of Sultan Mahomet II. Lavardin, unlike Marin Barleti, included in his work a full 

Turkish chronology of events, which strengthened his claim on many disputed dates such 

as Scanderbeg’s birth, his time in the Turkish court, and his death. Lavardin’s work has 

been critiqued by many historians. Petrovich believed that Lavardin published his 

8 Lavardin, Jacques De, Histoire de Georges Castriot, svrnomme Scanderbeg, roy D’Albanie, 

[History of George Castriota Scanderbeg, King of Albania], (Paris: Par P. De La Roviere, 1604). 

44

iography of Scanderbeg under three different names. 9 Since Lavardin was a protestant, it 

would have been difficult for him to publish the same work in a Catholic country, hence 

Petrovich suggested, he changed names in order to facilitate publication. The problem 

with the publication in 1604 is the lack of a sponsorship. There exist no documents which 

show Lavardin’s permission to publish the book, nor is there any permission given by the 

state administration. This has led many scholars to conclude that perhaps the book was 

not an original but a copy of the original text. Unlike the other two publications which 

contain Scanderbeg’s portrait, the publication of 1604 does not contain any portraits. In 

this publication however, Lavardin made extensive use of Marin Barleti’s work. In fact 

he used most of Barleti’s description when he wrote about the Ottoman siege to the 

fortress of Shkodra. Based on Lavardin’s extensive use of Barleti’s work, many historians 

concluded that his biography of Scanderbeg was a loose translation of Barleti’s work. 10 

A century passed before another historian critically examined Scanderbeg’s life 

and legacy. Apart from the works of Barleti, Antivarino and Lavardin. Giammaria 

Biemmi, an Italian priest, published in 1742 his history of Scanderbeg. 11 In his book 

Biemmi claimed that his history of Scanderbeg surpassed those written by Barleti and 

9 Pétrovitch, Georges T., Scanderbeg (Georges Castriota). Essai de bibliographie raisonnée. 

Ouvrages sur Scanderbeg écrits en langues française, anglaise, allemande, latine, italienne, espagnole, 

portugaise, suédoise, et grecque, et publiées depuis l'invention de l'imprimerie jusqu'à nos jours, 

( Amsterdam, B. R. Grüner, 1972): 34,38. 

10 Ibid., 153. Albanian historians of Scanderbeg such as Fan Noli, Jup Kastrati and Kasem Bicoku 

agree with Georges Petrovitch’s view that most Lavardin’s biography of Scanderbeg is a translation of 

Marin Barleti’s text. Noli, Fan S., George Castrioti Scanderbegh, (New York: International Universities 

Press, 1947.) and Bicoku, Kasem and Jup Kastrati eds, Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu: Bibliografi1454-1835, 

(Tirane: Biblioteka Kombetare, 1997.) 

11 Biemmi Giammaria, Istoria di Giorgio Castrioto detto Scanderbegh, (Brescia: Dalle Stampe di 

Giam-Batista Bossino, 1742). 

45

Lavardin because his book contained more accurate historical data. Biemmi claimed that 

he stumbled upon his discovery of Scanderbeg. He claimed that he ran upon a work 

entitled, “ Explicit Historia Scanderbegi, Edita per Quendam Albanensem. Venettis 

Impresa Industria, Atque Impensa Erhardi Radolt de Augusta Anno Domini 1480, die 2 

Mensis Aprilis Ducante Joanne Mocenyco, Inchito Duce 12 . According to Biemmi, an 

Albanian priest from Tivari, who served as an officer in Scanderbeg’s army, wrote this 

work. Since the name of this man was not available , Biemmi called him Antivarino. 

Biemmi claimed that the discovery of this work was more important than Barleti’s 

treatment of the figure of Scanderbeg. Later, historians who continued to write about 

Scanderbeg, such as Babinger, Fallmerayer, and Noli, carefully studied Biemmi’s work 

and concluded that Biemmi’s work was a product of exaggeration and misuse of 

sources. 13 Initially Biemmi’s work left much room for doubt, but under careful 

examination it became apparent that what the author attributed to Antivarino was a 

combination of names, dates and fictional events juxtaposed to the reality of other 

sources who were contemporary to Scanderbeg; Barleti, Frangu, and the use of the diaries 

of Popes Calixtus III and Pius II who helped Scanderbeg in his work against the Turks. 

However the work of Biemmi is often times used alongside the work of Barleti and 

Lavardin to put together the life and deeds of George Castriota. 

In the latter part of the nineteenth century two prominent historians undertook 

studies on the figure of Scanderbeg separately: Jakob Philip Fallmerayer and Georges T. 

Petrovitch. Jakob Philip Fallmerayer a German traveler and historical investigator, best 

1947): 21. 

12 Ibid., 2 

13 Noli, Fan S., George Castrioti Scanderbegh, (New York: International Universities Press, 

46

known for his opinions in regard to the ethnology of the modern Greeks, became famous 

for his contributions to the medieval history of Greece. 14 Though his theory that the 

Greeks of the present day are of Albanian and Slav descent, with hardly a drop of true 

Greek blood in their veins, has not been accepted in its entirety by other investigators, it 

has served to modify the opinions of even his greatest opponents. Fallmerayer also wrote 

also about Scanderbeg 15 and his work is one of the first historical criticisms of other 

historian’s work on Scanderbeg. He disputed Biemmi on several issues and regarded 

Barleti’s work both as a historical and literary work. Fallmerayer was one of the first 

historians to discover Scanderbeg’s death in 1468 through the sources. The bulk of 

Fallmerayer’s work dealt with the expeditions of the Ottoman Turks against Albania. He 

was among the first historians to critically analyze Scanderbeg’s war as a war of 

resistance. Fallmeraryer also gave Scanderbeg the credit he deserved, when he wrote 

about the military campaigns and defended his war and military tactics in the war for 

independence. 16 

Fallmerayer’s contemporary George T. Petrovitch, a French scholar, was the 

first historian to publish an exhaustive bibliography on works about Scanderbeg. 17 He 

collected French, German, British, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, and 

Greek published works about Scanderbeg and produced a book that contains a wealth of 

14 Bicoku, Kasem and Jup Kastrati eds, Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu: Bibliografi1454-1835, 

(Tirane: Biblioteka Kombetare, 1997.): 244-47. 

15 Fallmerayer, Jakob Phillipp, “Das Albanesische Element in Greicheland,” in Abhandlungen der 

Historichen Klasse der Koeniglich Bayrischen Academie der Wissenschaften, 8, no., 3 (Munchen: G. Franz, 

1860) 657-736. 

16 Ibid., 546-9. 

17 Petrovitch, Georges, Scanderbeg Georges Castriota: Essai de Bibliographie Raisonee, (Paris, 

1881, and Amsterdam, 1972.) 

47

information for scholars engaged in research in the field. Petrovitch included one hundred 

and eighty published works on Scandereg in 1881. Presently, approximately one 

thousand works have been published on the topic of Scanderbeg, and new works continue 

to be discovered in previously unavailable libraries and archives. 

In the first part of the twentieth century, a decade after Albania became 

independent from the Ottoman Turks, an Albanian bishop Fan S. Noli, educated in the 

United States, was the first Albanian scholar since Barleti to write a history of 

Scanderbeg. 18 His first edition of the book came out in 1921; however, Noli published it 

again in 1947 after a series of corrections. The first part of the book presents a short 

biography of Scanderbeg, while the second part is a critical analysis of the sources on 

Scanderbeg. This work by Noli is used by other historians as one of the cornerstones in 

the study of George Castriota’s historiography. 

By the middle of the twentieth century more Albanian and Eastern and Western 

European scholars began to write about Scanderbeg. Most of the Albanian historians 

wrote about the figure of Scanderbeg as the national hero and tried to link Scanderbeg’s 

memory to the Albanian renaissance in the nineteenth century. 19 At the same time Italian 

scholars wrote about the Arberesh minorities in Southeastern Italy and their preservation 

of Scanderbeg’s memory in popular folklore. 20 More books were published in 1967 in 

Albania about Scanderbeg than at any other time. 1967 marked the 500 th anniversary of 

18 

Noli, Fan S., George Castrioti Scanderbegh, (New York: International Universities Press, 

1947.) 

19 

Pollo, Stefanaq, “Mbi Disa Aspekte Ideologjike e Politike te Rinlindjes Kombetare Shqiptare,” 

Studime Historike [Albania] 22 no., 1 (1968): 95-100. 

20 Kasem Bihiku, “Traditat e Epokes se Skenderbeut ne Historine e Arbersheve te Italise,” Studime 

Historike [Albania] 22 no., 1 (1968): 113-119. 

48

Scanderbeg’s death and the Albanian communist government sought to legitimize its 

power in Albania by drawing parallels between Scanderbeg’s struggle against the Turks 

in 1444 with the War of Liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944. 

Karl Gollner and Joseph Macurek were two historians that continued to write 

about Scanderbeg in 1967. Karl Gollner, a Romanian scholar, focused on Scanderbeg’s 

military engagements. 21 While Gollner specifically examined published sources of the 

latter half of the sixteenth century. Joseph Macurek, a Czech historian, studied the 

relationship between Scanderbeg and Czechoslovakian rulers. 22 Both scholars offered 

new insights about Scanderbeg’s abilities as a military commander and head of state. 

During the seventies and eighties much of the work done on the subject changed 

dramatically. Biographies on Scanderbeg were rare, and much of the work in the field 

was done by literary critics. A majority of the studies on Scanderbeg tended to focus on 

different aspects of his life and tried to make it relevant to the experience of the people. 

Francesco Altimari wrote an article in 1980 about Scanderbeg’s role in the oral literary 

traditions of the Albanian communities in Italy. 23 Also, Aleksander Zoto published in 

1982 an article which studied the figure of Scanderbeg in French literature. 24 

21 Gollner, Karl, “Veprat Luftarake te Skenderbeut ne Botimet nga Gjysma e dyte e Shekulllit 

XVI,” Studime Historike [Albania] 21 no., 4 (1967): 75-80. 

22 Macurek, Joseph, “Gjergj Kastrioti: Skenderbeu, Shqiperia dhe Vendet Ceke,” Studime 


23 Altimari, Francesco, “Mbi Figuren e Skenderbeut ne Letersine Gojore Arbereshe,”, Studime 

Filologjike [Albania] 34 no., (1980): 73-80. 

24 Zoto, Aleksander, “Figura e Skenderbeut ne Letersine Frenge te Shekujve 16, 17 e 18,” Studime 

Filologjike [Albania] 36 no., 2 (1982): 129-157. 

49

In the nineties, new questions on the historiography of Scanderbeg resurfaced. 

New books and articles tended to focus on issues dealing with culture, political 

legitimacy and history of memory. Lorant Balla’s work in 1990, Scanderbeg, the 

Historical and Literary Hero, examined the historiography of George Castriota 

Scanderbeg between 1405-1468 and the successful war he led against the Turks. 25 Balla 

noted that literature on Scanderbeg is divided into various categories: Western, Albanian, 

Turkish, and Greek. He views the latter as the most objective of all, but since this 

publication many questions have risen to challenge his findings. 

Another work, written by Kurt William Treptow written in 1995, compared 

George Castriota with Vlad the Impaler. 26 Treptow relied heavily on the research done by 

Noli, Jorga and Petrovitch. There is very little analysis to compare the differences 

between Vlad and Scanderbeg. Treptow’s work on Scanderbeg is general and resembles a 

biography. Micheal Schmidt-Neke’s study of Scanderbeg tended to focus on more 

political trends such as nationalism. 27 His article examined the extent to which Albanian 

regimes since 1912 have drawn on the figure and symbolism of Scanderbeg and 

presented themselves as his heirs in the struggle for independence. On a more broader 

scope of study two Albanian historians Kasem Bicoku and Jup Kastrati published in 1997 

a comprehensive bibliography on Scanderbeg which drew heavily on the work done by 

Petrovitch. 28 This is one of the best available collected bibliographies to date about 

25 Balla, Lorant, “Szenderbeg, a Tortenelmi Es Irodalmi Hos,” (Fall –Winter, 1990: 76-85.) 

26 Treptow, Kurt William, Of Saints and Sinners. Native Resistance to Ottoman Expansion in 

Southeastern Europe, 1443-1481: George Castriota Scanderbeg and Vlad III Dracula, Ph.D. diss. 

(University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, 1995): 1-380. 

27 Schmidt-Neke, Michael, “Nationalism and National Myth: Scanderbeg and the Twentieth 

Century Albanian Regimes,” European Legacy 2 no. 1 (1997): 1-7. 

50

Scanderbeg. The book is divided in three parts which contain published works, 

unpublished works, and questionable work, as well as a wealth of indexes, which 

examine authors, artistic publications, cities where works are published, cited authors, 

libraries, abbreviations and illustrations. The book covers published works on Scanderbeg 

between 1454 and 1835. 

In 2002 the newest study in Albanian social history appeared. Albanian Identities, 

is a compilation of the most recent scholarship on the study of Albania and its national 

mythology 29 . Derived from a conference on Albania, the book is the first comprehensive 

work in the field of history and memory which focuses on Albanian myths. It offers great 

insight to the current debates that deal with Albanian nationalism and state identity. Also, 

it provides some of the best comprehensive historiographies in the study of Albania. This 

is one of the few books that directly puts forward concrete models about the theory 

behind the figure of Scanderbeg in the memory of the Albanian people. 

Another forthcoming work, the most recent on this topic, is being conducted by 

Dimitris Livanios at Cambridge University. 'Heroes Are for Ever: The Life and Afterlife 

of Scanderbeg in Greek and Albanian Historiography, 1800s - 1920s'. The author offers 

an examination of the mechanisms of appropriation of the medieval 'Albanian' hero 

George Kastriotis/Castriota/Scanderbeg by the Greek and Albanian historical imagination, 

exploring how he developed from Christian hero into 'Greek' and 'Albanian' national. 

28 Bicoku, Kasem and Jup Kastrati, Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu: Bibliografi 1454-1835, (Tirane: 

Biblioteka Kombetare: 1997). 

29 Schawndner-Sievers, Stephanie and Bernd J.Fischer, ed., Albanian Identities: Myth and History, 

(Bloomington and Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2002). 

51

Clearly as the historiography suggests, though much analysis has been provided 

with regards to Scanderbeg as a historical figure, very little has been written in terms of 

his memory in the culture of Albanian people in Albania and Southern Italy. Furthermore, 

historians have neglected to look at the role of Diaspora in shaping Scanderbeg’s 

mythology for the purpose of national identity. 

By not framing this topic as a biographical sketch new conclusions can be 

drawn about George Castriota Scanderbeg and his descendants. Scanderbeg’s image 

continues to resist the test of time. He remains alive in the memory of the Albanian 

people and the Diaspora. Aside from his place in Albanian history as a national hero, he 

has become an icon in the popular culture of the Albanians and the Arberesh of Italy. His 

life and actions continue to pass on from generation to generation, and each time they 

carry the agency of those that use them for the achievement of their own ends. 

52

CHAPTER III 

TACTICS OF INTERVENTION: 

DIASPORA AND THE USE OF SCANDERBEG’S 

MEMORY IN THE CREATION OF ALBANIAN 

NATIONAL IDENTITY 

Kruja O blessed town, 

Wait, O wait for Scanderbeg, 

He is coming as a golden dove, 

To save the motherland 1 

Since most of the Albanian intellectuals engaged in the movement for Albanian 

independence were either part of the Arberesh Diaspora in Southern Italy, or lived 

outside of Albania in Europe and America, it is important to distinguish them from one 

another. While the Arberesh intellectuals recognized themselves, as members of the 

Diaspora they differed from Albanian intellectual nationalists living abroad who dreamed 

of a return to an independent homeland as was the case with the brothers Frasheri and 

Fan Noli. For the intellectuals of the Arberesh community however, a return to the 

homeland was not an option, as for most of them and their families, they had lived in 

Southern Italy for over four centuries. Their position, both geographically and 

intellectually, between the homeland and the European community, gave the Arberesh 

1 

Naim Frasheri, Histori e Skenderbeut, Vepra, 2, (Tirana: Universiteti Shteteror i Tiranes, 

republished in 1967). 

Note: Unless otherwise noted, author does all translated work. 

51

intellectual community a central role on the movement for Albanian independence 

because they became the bridge between Albanian nationalists living abroad, and the 

homeland. This chapter will focus on the role of the Arberesh intellectual diaspora in the 

formation of national consciousness in Albania through the use of Scanderbeg’s memory. 

I will heavily rely on three Arberesh intellectuals who through their works together show 

how the myth of Scanderbeg has permeated both Albanian and Arberesh cultures. The 

first intellectual Girolamo de Rada with his work, Ill-fated Scanderbeg (1837-1884 2 ), 

raises questions of identity for the Arberesh diaspora in Italy. De Rada turns to the story 

of Scanderbeg to give answers to these questions, but also to spark the movement for 

independence inside Albania. The second intellectual Giuseppe Serembe, is another 

important figure from the Arberesh intellectual community to evoke the memory of 

Scanderbeg for Albanian independence in his writing. Another Arberesh intellectual who 

worked tiressly for Albanian independence was also Dora d’Istria, one of the first women 

intellectuals who used the memory of Scanderbeg in her writings with clear nationalist 

motives. Together these three Arberesh intellectuals gave the memory of Scanderbeg its 

nationalist agency and founded the network between other Arberesh intellectuals and 

other Albanian intellectuals abroad, to work together toward the establishment of the 

independent Albanian state. 

Jeronim de Rada, or Girolamo de Rada was born on 29 November 1814 in 

Macchia a province of Cosenza in the region of Calabria in Italy. Macchia Albanese as 

the village was known otherwise became an Arberesh colony in the fifteenth century 

2Rada, Girolamo de., Poesie Albanesi, Scanderbeccu iPa Faan, Prefatione 1870, (Corigliano 

Calabro, 1872):5 -8. 

52

when the Arberesh of Albania emigrated there after the death of Scanderbeg in 1467. 3 

Raised in an intellectual home, his father was a teacher of Latin and Greek while his 

mother came from a long tradition of folklorists, the most noted Francesco Avati who 

held the chair of humanities at the University of Urbino, de Rada spent his childhood in a 

state of liberi paludibus, pursuing studies in Greek and Latin but also collecting Arberesh 

tales and songs from the people in the village. 4 

An important aspect on the education of Jeronim de Rada had to do with his 

ability to write in Albanian. While the Albanian language was not developed as a written 

language in Albania, outside its borders especially in Calabria, the Arberesh continued 

the tradition and taught Albanian to their children. In 1849 the Arberesh established at 

Saint Adrian College the teaching of the Albanian language as a subject. The first teacher 

assigned by the college was De Rada. 5 

This opportunity signaled not only the development of the written language but at 

the same time allowed for research to be undertaken by other European scholars, making 

Cosenza one of the first centers for Albanian studies. The Albanian language flourished 

outside its borders, and scholars like De Rada, Giussepe Serembe, and Giuseppe Schirò 

were key in bringing about a Risorgimento in Albania. Stefanaq Pollo, furthers this claim 

and notes that De Rada’s contribution with his epic work on Scanderbeg was important 

to the nationalist cause in Albania. 6 

3 Rada, Girolamo de., Autobiologija, Book I, (Cosenza, 1898,) 3. 

4 Kodra, Ziaudin, “Ne Gjurmet e De Rades,” Drita IV, vol 37 (Tirane , 13 September, 1964): 194. 

Varfi, Andrea, “ Reth Formimit Kulturor Artistik dhe Shoqeror Patriotik te De Rades, ne Prag te Krijimit te 

Poemes ‘Kenge te Milosaos’”, Nentori 20 (Tirane, February 1973):2, 37. 

5 Kastrati, Jup, Jeronim De Rada: Jeta dhe Veprat IV, (Prishtine: Rilindja, 1980):124-5. 

53

De Rada’s work toward the formulation of a standardized Albanian alphabet was 

key in his work for Albanian Risorgimento. In an article to La Nazione Albanese in 1897, 

a newspaper from the Arberesh community in Catanzaro, Girolamo de Rada in defense 

for a standardized Albanian alphabet wrote: 

“The language and its sounds are born with the nation who speaks. Its expression 

fiksated in signs, develops through time as its skills heighten. It [the alphabet], is 

always artificial and well developed if it is capable to reflect the sounds of the 

words…..When our abandoned nation, will rise again, to breathe freely, 

regardless of outside conditions, then it will be able to have its own alphabet, an 

expression of its full and free existence.” 7 

De Rada lived and worked in the nineteenth century, a time known in Europe as 

the birth and consolidation of nationalism and the nation-state. He noted in his biography 

that the time which he spent in college had immense influence in his involvement in the 

Albanian movement for independence. 8 Italy during this time was one of the bastions of 

European culture, and romanticism was a popular trend. Following in the footsteps of 

other romantic writers, De Rada began his career by collecting and publishing Arberesh 

folklore from the region of Calabria and Sicilia. This schooling in the oral tradition 

helped him later to develop his own style in his writings. 9 

His noted work, Skanderbegu i Pafan, took de Rada forty two years to write. He 

began writing it in 1837 until 1879 in different places in Italy beginning in Macchia 

6 Pollo, Stepanaq, and Arben Puto, The History of Albania: From Its Origins to the Present Day, 

trans, Carol Wiseman and Ginnie Hole, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981): 113-116. 

7 Rada, Girolamo De, “The National Alphabet,” in La Nazione Albanese, Nr. 6 Marzo 23, 1897; 

taken from Zihni Sakaj, ed., Mendimi Politik e Shoqeror i Rilindjes Kombetare Shqiptare (Permbledhje 

artikujsh nga shtypi) Vellimi I, 1879-1908, Dokument 108. (Tirane: Universiteti i Tiranes, Instituti i 

Historise dhe I Gjuhesise, 1971): 230-231. 

8 Rada, Girolamo de., Un Autografo Inedito, (Trani, 1909): 19. 

9 Shala, Demush, Jeronim de Rada: Vepra, (Prishtine, Rilindja 1969): 10-11. 

Shuteriqi, Dhimiter, Jeronim De Rada, Tirane: Universiteti i Tiranes, 1965):26. 

54

Albanese, and Napoli. In a letter to Gustav Mayer, a German scholar who criticized the 

author’s structure and form, De Rada noted the reasons for publishing this work, “…more 

than artistic value, my primary goal [in writing this work] was to awaken in the Albanian 

people a national consciousness.” 10 De Rada would include in other published versions 

of Scanderbegu i Pafaan prefaces in which he would defend his works not as literary 

writings, but primary works which were aimed to serve the independence movement in 

Albania, since he was aware that the Albanian language was continuously developing. 11 

A significant feature in the book has to do with the title; Ill –Fated Scanderbeg. 

Scanderbeg however is mentioned conservatively throughout the book. De Rada, ascribes 

to the hero a few songs, throughout the five books. The main story is set in the fifteenth 

century which for the Albanians in Calabria and Albania proper was known as the 

century of Scanderbeg. As glorious as Scanderbeg’s memory was for the Albanians, De 

Rada calls it ill-fated because it ended with Turkish colonization of Albania. Therefore 

he calls on Albanians to reclaim their freedom, regardless of the sacrifices by asserting: 

E c’na duhet jeta e kote “…For what do we need to live for, 

Ne nje dhe q’e shtyp Armiku In a country occupied by the enemy?” 12 

The figure of Scanderbeg even though used sparingly evokes feelings of pride 

and unmatched strength. De Rada tried to resurrect in his readers the electric feelings of 

national pride, by creating a memory of Scanderbeg as the warrior who valiantly fights 

10 Rada, Girolamo de, All’illustre prof. Gustavo Mayer in Kastrati, Jup, Jeronim De Rada: Jeta 

dhe Veprat IV, (Prishtine: Rilindja, 1980):166-1667. 

11 Ibid., 168 -169. 

Prefazione Decemebra 1870, Scanderbeccu i Pa-faan. Also in Taluni Brevi Schiarimenti, 1877, 

Scanderbeccu i Pafan. Napoli. 

12 Shala, Demush, Jeronim de Rada: Vepra, Book 1 Song 1 (Prishtine, Rilindja 1969):94. 

55

for his country, but also the kind leader using the same language of Marin Barleti, who is 

“always hopeful and never gives up.” De Rada writes of Scanderbeg, as a “brave 

warrior, ….with the strength of a lion,” but also, “merciful toward his enemies.” 13 

The importance of this work does not rest within the confines of literary criticism. 

Its importance lies in its use of Scanderbeg as a symbol, in literature for a specific 

purpose: the glory of Albania under Scanderbeg. This is the first trend where 

Scanderbeg’s image is polititicized for nationalism. Jeronim De Rada is important 

because he was the first to use Scanderbeg’s memory for political reasons. He permeated 

the flourishing of Albanian nationalism through Scanderbeg’s memory. His writing 

influenced other intellectuals in diaspora to use Scanderbeg’s memory to achieve 

independence. One of them was the beloved poet Giuseppe Serembe. 

Giuseppe Serembe was born on March 4, 1843 in San Cosmo Albanese an 

Arberesh town in the vicinity of Cosenza, a Calabrian province. Very little is 

documented in sources about his childhood but Serembe did attend the College of Saint 

Adrian where he met Girolamo de Rada who taught at the school Albanian language and 

literature. 14 Both men struck a close relationship with one another, and De Rada 

recognizing Serembe’s talent allowed him to publish in his magazine, Fjamuri i Arberit. 

It was during the years spent at Saint Adrian under the tutelage of De Rada that Serembe 

became interested in the Arberesh movement for Albanian independence. 

13 Kastrati, Jup, Jeronim De Rada: Jeta dhe Veprat IV, (Prishtine: Rilindja, 1980):174-175. 

Also in Shala, Demush, Jeronim de Rada: Vepra, Book 4 Song 4 (Prishtine, Rilindja 1969):123-125. 

14 Gunga, Fahredin ed., Zef Serembe: Vepra IV, Studime dhe Kritike, Monografi, (Prishtine: 

Redaksia e botimeve Rilindja, 1985): 19. 

56

His efforts alongside De Rada and other arberesh focused toward the establishment of a 

standardized Albanian alphabet. In a letter to Girolamo de Rada, Serembe wrote of his 

ambitions to someday publish “a comprehensive book on Albania.” 15 

Like Girolamo de Rada, for Giuseppe Serembe, Scanderbeg became a central 

figure in his writings on Albania and its political condition. Initially the use of 

Scanderbeg’s memory was linked to two main themes which dominated Serembe’s early 

career. The first theme was that of freedom understood as freedom for his homeland, and 

the second theme, was the theme of love understood in the patriotic sense: as in love of 

one’s country. In his early poems in 1860 Serembe writes: 

“Beautiful birds sing in happiness, 

But my heart will explode inside me. 

Poisoned I lead my life in this country [Italy], 

I am saddened in the loneliness of the village. 

………………………………. 

Arberia, beyond the sea reminds us 

That we are foreigners in this land, 

How many years have passed! The heart cannot forget 

That the Turks rendered us [Arberesh], with no homeland. 

…………………………………. 

Because the Arberesh forgot what he was before 

And is not ashamed, but sits and sleeps.” 16 

15 Ibid., 25. 

16 Serembe, Giuseppe, “Vrull,” in Kadare, Ismail ed., Fjalet e Gjuhes se Zjarrte: Antologji e 

poeteve te Rilindjes, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Naim Frasheri, 1982): 141. This poem is titled Vrull, which 

means Vigor in English. It is one of the first poems in which Serembe directly calls on the Arberesh to 

wake up and defend their homeland. 

Zogj te bukur kendojne me hare, 

Por zemra do te me plase mua ne gji, 

I helmuar e shkoj jeten tek ky dhe, 

Merzitem ne katund, ne vetmi. 

………………………… 

Arberia matane detit na kujton 

Se net e huaj jemi tek ky dhe 

Sa mote Shkuan! E zemra nuk harrron, 

Qe nga turku ne mbetem pa memedhe. 

…………………………………… 

Se Arbereshi harroi c’ish me pare 

Edhe nuk ka turp e rri e fle. 

57

This poem very aptly documents three dramatic shifts which for Serembe 

encompassed his feelings about the situation in Albania. As a member of the intellectual 

diaspora he was conflicted about the role of the diasporic individual in relation to the 

homeland. The first shift prevalent in his writing and through this poem is that he 

recognized the need for political change inside Albania, but understood that the inferior 

conditions in Albania would hamper the movement for independence. Secondly he 

identified with the drama of the diasporic individual who remembers the homeland with 

feelings of longing and nostalgia, and thirdly he recognized his own drama as an 

intellectual who wants to figure out a way to actively benefit the nationalist agenda. Klara 

Kodra, a biographer of Serembe noted that the complex feelings among many Arberesh 

intellectuals and Giuseppe Serembe in the middle of the nineteenth century were a 

reflection of the socio-political realities of life in Italy; furthermore she noted that, “ the 

Arberesh , who had for so long…. kept the native Albanian language and traditions alive 

sought the independence of their homeland from Turkish occupation, much the same way 

the Italian masses sought independence of their country from Bourbon control.” 17 

Another important theme in Serembe’s work was also the treatment of the Italian 

realities and their importance in the development of a platform for independence in 

Albania. Giuseppe Serembe in his poem, For the freedom of Venetia, expressly noted his 

desire to participate in the revolution led by Garibaldi. 18 In the poem he likens Garibaldi 

to Scanderbeg, a memory which would certainly resonate with the Arberesh. However, 

1975):15. 

17 Kodra, Klara, Vepra Poetike e Zef Serembes, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Naim Frasheri, 

18 Ibid., 39. 

58

unlike Girolamo de Rada’s agency for Scanderbeg and his heritage, Giuseppe Serembe 

insisted on focusing on one central aspect of the memory of Scanderbeg: the idea that the 

spirit of heroism which defined Scanderbeg in his war for freedom is present to his 

descendants in Albania proper and the Arberesh of Italy. It was indeed that heroism 

according to Serembe which gave the Arberesh strength and perseverance in the war for 

Italian independence and which would guide them in their efforts for Albanian 

independence. 

“Scanderbeg rejoices, 

In the heavens where he rests, 

[He] sees that we are the hope, 

Of Albania, the country to which we were not born.” 19 

Giuseppe Serembe throughout his writings whenever he returned to the memory of 

Scanderbeg he did so to enforce one central idea: Scanderbeg was first an Albanian who 

fought for the independence of his country first and the salvation of western civilization 

second. In a poem dedicated to Dora D’Istria, Serembe wrote of Scanderbeg: 

“Scanderbeg appeared like lightning 

After he parted the darkness, 

He is ours [Albania’s],our history dictates 

Because he overwhelmed the Turks. 

…………………………………….. 

When that fire is put out 

Bring you the flag in the House 

Because the country who was in the grave 

Is now in dance and freedom.” 20 

19 Gunga, Fahredin ed., Zef Serembe: Vepra IV, Studime dhe Kritike, Monografi, (Prishtine: 

Redaksia e botimeve Rilindja, 1985):66 The following is an excerpt of the poem “For the freedom of 

Venetia.” 

Skanderbeku edhe gezon, 

Te parajsii ku pushon: 

Shef se shpresa jeemi e kjeem 

T’Arberiis, ku o s’u ljeem… 

59

Giuseppe Serembe, thus became one of the first Arberesh diasporic intellectuals to write 

about a day when Albania would indeed be free from the Ottoman yoke like it had during 

the time of Scanderbeg. By 1870 the Arberesh movement for Albanian independence was 

in its early stages of organization and development, but the contribution and vision of 

Serembe for the homeland remained unshaken. Because, throughout his entire life 

Giuseppe Serembe remained, “an exiled and afflicted son of the undefeated Albanian 

hero George Castriota Scanderbeg.” 21 

While most of the Arberesh intellectuals involved in the movement for the 

Albanian Risorgimento, were men, women also contributed to the efforts for Albanian 

independence. Among them, the most noted and the most outspoken was Elena Gjika, 

otherwise known as Dora D’Istria. As an individual Dora D’Istrial blurred the lines 

between Arberesh diasporic intellectuals and Albanian nationalist intellectuals abroad, 

because she frequented both circles. 

20 Gunga, Fahredin, ed., Zef Serembe: Vepra III, Vjersha te tjera, Nga Leterkembimi, Nga 

Doreshkrimi (facsimile,) Dokumente (facsimile,) Bibliografi, (Prishtine: Redaksia e botimeve Rilindja, 

1985):81, 89. 

This is an excerpt from the poem “Elegy for Elena Gjika.” First published by Serembe in 1870. 

Skanderbegy shkoi si shqote 

Pasi qe shperndau erresiren 

Eshte I yni historia thote, 

Se permbysi Turqerine. 

………………….. 

E pra kur te shuhet ai zjarr, 

Sill flamurin Ti ne Shtepi 

Pse Katundi, q’ish ne varr 

Eshte ne valle e liri. 

21 Gunga, Fahredin, ed., Zef Serembe: Vepra II, Poezi Italishte dhe Kenge Origjinale, Ushtari I 

Kthyer, Sonete te Ndryshme, (Prishtine: Redaksia e botimeve Rilindja, 1985): 65. 

60

She lived long enough in Italy to be part of the community there, but also frequented 

other Albanian communities outside of Italy as well. In an editiorial to the Shqiperia 

newspaper, an organ of the Albanian community in Bucharest, on May 10, 1897, the 

editor of the paper writes enthusiastically concerning Dora D’Istria: 

“…This brief study of the movement for Albanian independence would be too 

brief if one were to not include an event, a very fortunate event for the Albanian 

nation. This nation is very fortunate indeed to have a woman occupied with its 

cause, a beautiful woman, of high esteem born into the highest circles of society, 

a woman with an Albanian heritage. 

She is the excellent Dora D’Istria. The Gjika family never denied their Albanian 

heritage. Dora D’Istria is their daughter, who with her pen provoked Benloew’s 

devotion to the Albanian nation,…making it possible for books to be published in 

the Albanian language.” 22 

Dora D’Istria was born in Constance, Romania on January 22, 1828 to Albanian 

parents. Her family had settled in Romania in the latter part of the seventeenth century 

but kept their heritage as Albanians. In 1841 Dora D’Istria, began her studies in Berlin 

and then continued to study also in Dresden and Vienna. By the time she completed her 

studies Dora D’Istria had mastered French, Italian, German, English, Russian, Greek, 

Albanian and Romanian languages, which made her very prolific in her writing. 23 

Throughout her life Dora D’Istria worked to maintain her independence as a 

woman and a writer in her own right. Many accounts of her biography faithfully trace her 

marriage to Alexander Kolcov Masasky a prominent Russian aristocrat, and all describe 

the Russian court too backward, which prompted Dora D’Istria to dissolve her marriage 

22 Artikull i Redaksise, Shqiperia, Bukuresht: Nr. 1, 10 Maj 1897 in Zihni Sakaj, ed., Mendimi 

Politik e Shoqeror i Rilindjes Kombetare Shqiptare (Permbledhje artikujsh nga shtypi) Vellimi I, 1879- 

1908, Dokument 16. (Tirane: Universiteti i Tiranes, Instituti i Historise dhe I Gjuhesise, 1971): 89. 

23 

Kondo, Ahmet ed., Dora D’Istria Per Ceshtjen Kombetare Shqiptare, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese 

8 8 Nentori, 1977):3. 

This work edited by Ahmet Kondo is a compilation of the letters exchanged between Dora 

D’Istrian and Girolamo de Rada. 

61

in 1855, and return to live in Europe as an independent writer and a publicist. Among the 

many homes she made for herself, Dora spent the rest of her life between Belgium, 

Switzerland, Venice and Florence. 24 During the thirty years she spent in Europe Dora 

D’Istria struck close friendships with Arberesh intellectuals, especially Girolamo de Rada 

and Giuseppe Serembe, the latter in 1870 immortalized her in an elegy dedicated to her 

work for Albania. 

Even though Dora D’Istria was the author of more than one-hundred and fifty 

articles on Albania and the Albanian movement, it is in her correspondence with 

Girolamo de Rada that the memory and use of Scanderbeg’s image becomes 

predominant. Almost in every letter she mentions or refers to Scanderbeg either in 

passing or in direct relation to the present events of the time. In a letter from Livorno, on 

19 February 1865 she writes to De Rada: 

“…Like you, I hope that the day of freedom will come to the legendary land, from 

which are parents came from… It is the job of all Albanians to resolve the most 

heavy burden—the Eastern Crisis, but before they do so it is important that they 

realize ….they are devoted sons of the same country, ready to march as one body 

under the flag of Alezander the Great, Pyrrhys, and Scanderbeg.” 25 

In another letter to De Rada, after she returned from her travels to Eastern Europe in 

March 21, 1865 she wrote, “..I prayed to the heavens to be able to see the day when the 

Albanian flag would fly free upon the grave of Scanderbeg, the flag which he 

[Scanderbeg], fought to protect in a hundred battles.” 26 

24 Ibid., 4. 

25 Ibid., 40-41. 

26 Ibid., 42. 

62

Albania and the movement for Albanian independence defined most of Dora’s 

life. They were central themes not only in her correspondence with De Rada but also in 

her critical writings. Before too long other Albanian intellectuals in Diaspora began to 

quote her as a source in Albanian history. Alexander Stavre Drenova was an Albanian 

intellectual who lived in Romania and later became the author of the Albanian national 

anthem, in his response to an article on Albania quoted Dora D’Istria, by noting her 

contribution to Albanian history: 

“ Let it be accepted,”says Dora D’Istria, “ that Albanians are pellasgian 

amalgations, let it be accepted as some say that they have come from Caucasia, 

but it is entirely true that the grandfathers of Albanians filled the military 

garrisons of Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Pyrrhos, Queen Teuta, and 

Scanderbeg, and they invaded Greece and the empire of ‘the king of kings,’ They 

made Italy tremble, they withstood the fury of Rome, and blocked Sultan 

Muhamed II march toward the West.” 27 

Dora D’Istria like many other intellectual diaspora, realized that if there was 

going to be a solution favorable to Albanian independence, Albanians had to be aware of 

their own history. She used the memory of Scanderbeg’s stand against the Ottomans, as a 

basis from which Albanians could reclaim back their identity. Under this premise, 

Scanderbeg and his memory became really an agent of Albanian nationalism, which was 

further developed through the Albanian intellectual diaspora, with the dawn of the 

twentieth century. Even though Dora D’Istria witnessed the formation of the League of 

Prizren in 1878, which was the first Albanian political structure recognized by the 

27 Drenova, Alexander Stavre, “Pergjigje Gazetes ‘Pirros,’ Prej nje Ortodoksi, in Drita, nr. 52 

(Sofje: Novemeber 5, 1904) in Zihni Sakaj, ed., Mendimi Politik e Shoqeror i Rilindjes Kombetare 

Shqiptare (Permbledhje artikujsh nga shtypi) Vellimi I, 1879-1908, Dokument 189. (Tirane: Universiteti i 

Tiranes, Instituti i Historise dhe I Gjuhesise, 1971): 

63

European Powers since the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, she did not live to see the 

day in which all her work toward independence came to fruition. Nevertheless she passed 

away on November 17, 1888 saying, “Though I die without seeing Albania free, please 

tell me in my grave the day freedom arrives.” 28 

28 

On November 21, 2002 under order 3567, President Moisi of Albania gave Dora D’Istria the 

title “Nderi I Kombit,” [Honor of the Nation]. 

[http://www.president.al/shqip/docs/dekorime/U[1].%20Nderi%20i%20Kombit.doc.] 

64

CHAPTER IV 

THE POLITICS OF NATIONALISM: 

THE USE OF SCANDERBEG’S IMAGE 

IN THE SERVICE OF THE NATIONAL IDENTITY 

“There is none like Scanderbeg. 

He was a man with wings. 

His beard was four feet long. 

When he fought in battle his eyes 

turned red and smoke came out of his mouth.” 

Macukull, Mat, 1929 1 

If the Arberesh intellectual community actively perpetrated the memory of 

Scanderbeg for Albanians, it was the work of Albanian nationalists living abroad who 

brought the memory of Scanderbeg to the homeland. Even though the Albanian 

intellectuals could also be considered members of the diaspora, because they were born 

and spent the majority of their lives outside of Albania, they differed from the Arberesh 

intellectuals because unlike them, they actively worked toward an actual return to 

Albania. However,it was in their exchange with the Arberesh intellectuals, that Albanian 

nationalists defined and shaped their plans for the homeland. 

1 Haxhihasani, Qemal ed., Tregime dhe Kenge Popullore per Skenderbeun, (Stories and Folk 

Songs about Scanderbeg), (Tirane: Instituti i Folklorit, Shtypshkronja: Mihal Duri, 1967): 113. 

Author does all translated work unless otherwise noted. 

64

Scanderbeg’s memory has had its alterations and variations in time and space. 

Therefore it becomes necessary to examine George Kastriota’s memory in the oral 

traditions of the Albanian people from the mid- nineteenth century to the modern era. 

From its conception, Scanderbeg’s myth has served nationalism in Albania. It has come 

to define who the Albanians are not only to the Albanian people but also to Eastern and 

Western Europe. Even in the modern era, Albanians continue to hold on to Scanderbeg as 

the central figure that represents them, to one- another and to the world. 

The oral preservation of Scanderbeg’s memory is very important because it 

provides the basis in which much of Albanian academic work is founded. The primary 

reason for this, concerns the development of the written Albanian language. The 

Albanian language did not become formulated until the middle of the nineteenth century, 

and its alphabet became standardized later in the Congress of Manastir in 1908. 2 Even 

though the first document in old Albanian dates back to 1555, the language was never 

developed since Albania was colonized by the Ottoman Empire for five hundred years 

and the official language was Turkish. This lack in language development, led to a 

prolific oral tradition. It is this tradition which is the point of origin for the creation of the 

Scanderbeg Myth in Albania. 

Under this analysis the Albanian nation is an imagined construct. It is also a 

product of the modern era. Albanian independence from the Ottoman Empire was 

achieved in 1912. The language did not evolve until the beginning of the twentieth 

century. Previous to 1912 Albanians were to be Turcofied but never to join in as equals. 

They were always to be seen as the Other. After achieving independence the twentieth 

2 Pollo, Stefanaq; Arben Puto, The History of Albania: From its Origins to the Present Day, Trans. 

Carol Wiseman and Ginnie Hole, (London, Boston and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981): 133-137. 

65

century witnessed the Albanian plunge into communism and fifty years later its liberation 

from communist ideology. It became important then for Albanians to reach back to its 

diaspora and identify themselves through ethnicity. In all scenarios, pre-independence, 

communism and post-communism one individual; Scanderbeg and his memory, are 

prevalent. 

Three Albanian nationalists and members of the Diaspora Naim Frasheri, Fan 

Stilian Noli and Ismail Kadare base their writing on the oral traditions and 

commemoration of Scanderbeg. The first work, History of Scanderbeg, 3 by Naim 

Frasheri, was published in 1898, at a time when Albania was looking for legitimacy and 

independence from the Turkish Empire. The second book, Scanderbeg 4 , by Fan Stilian 

Noli, an archbishop educated in America, was published in 1921 before the Zogist 

government was overthrown in Albania during the July revolution. The third book 

written by Ismail Kadare, Keshtjella (The Castle) in 1974 5 was written during a time 

when Albania was under a communist regime. Kadare returns to the story of Scanderbeg 

in his book, to explore why the past affects the present. Together these works lend 

insights not only on the culture of the Arberesh and the Albanian people but they offer 

greater understanding on the role that diaspora, commemoration and national mythology 

play in the ways that people perceive themselves and the others. 

3 Frasheri,Naim, Histori e Skenderbeut, Vepra, 2, (Tirana: Universiteti Shteteror i Tiranes, 

republished in 1967). 

,1921). 

4 Noli, Fan, Historia e Skënderbeut (Gjerq Kastriotit), mbretit të Shqipërisë 1412-1468, (Boston 

5 Kadare, Ismail, The Castle, trans., Pavli Qesku, (Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific, 2002). 

66

Naim Frasheri and his brothers Sami and Abdyl Frasheri together with Jeronim de 

Rada worked to create the Prizren League on June 10, 1878. The Prizren congress 

convened at the same time the Congress of Berlin was in session. Most of the Albanian 

intellectuals living abroad used the League to appeal to the European powers to secure 

independence from the Ottoman Empire. The situation was particularly delicate in the 

summer of 1878 because Greece and Serbia had already declared independence from the 

Ottoman Empire and as their rule was drawing to an end, the Albanian lands could be 

available as additions for these states. The Albanian diaspora continued to press the case 

for Albanian legitimacy and independence and Naim Frasheri published two important 

works , The History of Scanderbeg and A History of Albania. His brother Sami Frasheri, 

published Albania What It Was, What It Is, and What Will Become of It, a work that 

would embody all the feelings of the Diaspora intellectuals for independence. 

Naim Frasheri was born on May 25, 1846 in Frasher, a village near the region of 

Permet in Albania. He was the son of Halit and Emine Frasherit, and brother to seven 

other siblings. He was raised as a Muslim and attended elementary school in Turkish 

and Arabic. His father and mother died in 1859 and 1861. From that time Naim and his 

younger siblings were raised by their older brother Abdyl Frasheri. Under the care of his 

brother the family moved from Albania to Yanina a Greek province in northern Greece. 

Naim and his brother Sami attended high school in Zosimea where they learned old and 

modern Greek, French, Italian, while at home under the tutelage of Abdyl they learned 

Arabian, Persian… and the natural sciences. 6 

1998): 13-14. 

6 Xholi, Zija, Naim Frasheri: Midis te Kaluares dhe Se Sotmes, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Luarasi, 

67

After finishing school in Zosimea in 1871, both Naim and Sami Frasheri moved 

to Istanbul. Two important events took place in Naim’s life which changed the course of 

his activities for the future. First he was diagnosed with consumption which he would 

battle until his death in 1900. Due to his ill- constitution Naim went to Vienna to seek 

treatment. While he was there he visited the National Museum of Austria where 

Scanderbeg’s sword and crown were held. The visit had a deep impact on Naim who 

would later remember it in verse: 

Lum ti moj Shqiperi thashe “Blessed are you Albania, then I said 

Armet e Tij kur I pashe When I saw His [Scanderbeg’s] Weapons 

Nde Belvedere, ne Vjene In a coffeeshop in Vienna 

Sikur pashe Skenderbene I thought I saw Scanderbeg.” 7 

Between 1882 and 1892 Naim stayed in Istanbul. This was a period in his life 

where he chose to champion education and Albanian literature. During this time all the 

Frasheri brothers sacrificed most everything to the Albanian cause. Abdyl was the leader 

of the Prizren League and continued to work with foreign diplomats and connect with 

Albanian diaspora to champion the Albanian cause. Sami the younger brother worked to 

put together an Albanian society in Istanbul so the Albanian intellectuals had a place to 

meet and submit their works on Albania but also to awaken Albanian consciousness. In 

1892 after being imprisoned and interned Abdyl Frasheri died. This event greatly 

impacted Naim’s direction for his life. He chose to dedicate all his efforts and energy to 

the work for the independence of Albania. His brother Sami did the same. 8 

220. 

7 Frasheri, Naim, Vepra te Zgjedhura, vell. I, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Naim Frasheri, 1967): 219- 

68

Naim Frasheri is best known for his work with Jeronim De Rada and Gjergj 

Fishta for the formulation of a curriculum for schools in Albania and the development of 

the Albanian alphabet. He put together several elementary text books and worked with 

the Ottoman authorities to get the permissions that would allow the teaching of Albanian 

language in schools. He called on Albanians to remember “Scanderbeg’s Language” and 

his verse became immortal when he described the Albanian language: 

Gjuha jone sa e mire, “Our Language how good, 

Sa e embel sa e gjere How sweet, how deep, 

Sa e lehte sa e lire How light, how free, 

Sa e bukur sa e vlere! How beautiful and worthy!” 9 

His efforts in this endeavor were successful which spurred Naim to work even 

harder toward independence. 10 It was that strong desire which led him to work on an epic 

work called History of Scanderbeg. Like Jeronim De Rada before, him Naim saw in 

Scanderbeg a common memory which all Albanians shared. This same memory could be 

evoked again among the Albanian people and it could be used to unite all the Albanians 

in their fight for the freedom of their country. Even though his health was rapidly 

deteriorating, Naim finished the epic which included twenty two chapters and over ten 

thousand verses. 11 

127-128. 

8 Shuteriqi, Dhimiter S., Naim Frasheri: Jeta dhe Vepra, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese 8 Nentori): 

9 Frasheri, Naim, Vepra te Zgjedhura, vell. I, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Naim Frasheri, 1967): 152. 

10 Xhiku, Ali, “Naim Frasheri dhe Shkollat e Romantizmit Shqiptar,” in Bulo, Jorgo and Enver 

Hysa eds., Naim Frasheri dhe Kultura Shqiptare, (Tirane: Akademia e Shkencave Instituti I Gjuheise dhe I 

Letersise, 2001):86-87. 

1998):206-207. 

11 Xholi, Zija, Naim Frasheri: Midis te Kaluares dhe Se Sotmes, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Luarasi, 

69

Naim Frasheri based his epic on Scanderbeg on Marin Barleti’s biography of the 

hero. He connected the memory of Scanderbeg to other “Albanian heroes” from 

antiquity like Pyrrhus, and Alexander the Great , to modernity through names like Marko 

Bocari and the Suliotes in Greece. Naim’s aim in writing this history first had to do with 

rekindling Scanderbeg’s memory to Albania, but he also wanted to make clear that the 

Albanian nation had its own history independent of other nations. The author makes two 

arguments in his work. First that Albanians have their own language, and second that 

they have a national history. 12 

Naim’s Scanderbeg is the traditional hero who is admired by his people. He is the 

personification of Albanian heroism and bravery. Scanderbeg has qualities that 

distinguish him from others. He is the sort of leader that is primarily concerned with the 

well being of his people. He is a man who dresses simple, is kind and very intelligent. 

The image of Scanderbeg that Naim tried to convey to his readers is that of a typical 

romantic hero, who serves his homeland selflessly. 13 

Throughout the twenty-two songs/chapters Naim analyzes different aspects of 

Scanderbeg’s image. Scanderbeg is often depicted as the Albanian king but he does not 

embody royal characteristics. He is a good king, he is aware of the condition of his 

people and does not live above his means. 

12 Malltezi, Luan, “ Legjenda dhe Historia ne Poemen Istori e Skenderbeut te Naim Frasherit,” 

Studime Filologjike 44, 4 (1990): 113. 

13 Bulo, Jorgo and Bujar Hoxha, “ Figura e Gjergj Kastriotit—Skenderbeut ne Letersine Shqipe,” 

in Simpozium per Skenderbeun, (Prishtine: Instituti Albanologjik I Prishtines, 1969):319-20. 

70

Like Barleti, Naim portrays Scanderbeg as a human with a touch of the divine. He 

referrers to him as an angel many times in the epic. 14 In his description of Scanderbeg, 

the hero embodies all the qualities that Naim idealized about Albanians. Scanderbeg thus 

was a : 

Ish burre I gjalle e I gjate “…. a lively and tall man, 

E ne shpatualla I gjere Broad shouldered, 

S’ish I ligur e I thate He was not sickly and weak, 

Po ish si lulja ne vere He was like a flower in the summertime… 

Ishte mbret I bukurise He was the King of all that was beautiful, 

Si dielli epte drite And the sun gave him light, 

Fytyren e kish te mire His face was gorgeous, 

Zene te embele si mjalte His voice was sweet as honey, 

Zemerene plot meshire His heart was full of mercy…. 

……. …… 

Lufta posa zij te ndizej As soon as the battle called 

Ajy s’duronte aspake He never stayed behind, 

I hipen kalit e hidhej He jumped on his horse 

Permbi armiket si flake And turned on the enemy like a flame.” 

Scanderbeg also was a man who could be “distinguished in a crowd.” He was 

interchangeably described like an eagle, and like a dove. 15 Even though through out the 

epic Naim’s image of Scanderbeg is romanticized, he also politicizes Scanderbeg’s 

memory.At the end of the epic, Naim Frasheri calls on Albanians, to never forget 

Scanderbeg, for he remains alive in every Albanian heart. 

14 Qosja, Rexhep, “ Skenderbeu ne Visionin e Naim Frasherit,” in Simpozium per Skenderbeun, 

(Prishtine: Instituti Albanologjik I Prishtines, 1969): 338. 

15 Frasheri, Naim, Vepra te Zgjedhura, vell. I, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Naim Frasheri, 1967). 

[http://www.albasoul.com/letersia/Rilindja/nfrasheri/kreu3.htm]. 

71

Since the Albanian national destiny has been derived from myths of the national 

past, the past and the future can no longer be seen as interdependent factors. Instead 

infers Pierre Nora, it has the effect of making past and future into virtually autonomous 

instances. 16 To this day, Naim’s verse continues to resonate with Albanians, for it has 

become part of the Albanian heritage. 

A e shihni Skënderbenë? Do you see Scanderbeg? 

Mbren' e mirë, trim e burrë? The good King, brave man? 

U përpoq për mëmëdhen He worked hard for his motherland, 

Pa s'i vdes emëri kurrë. And his name will never perish. 

Skënderbeu ësht' i gjallë, Scanderbeg is alive 

Rron e mbretëron përjetë, He lives and reigns in eternity 17 

After Naim Frasheri published his History of Scanderbeg, his brother Sami in 

1898, published in Albanian his book, Albania:What It Was, What It Is and What Will 

Become of It. In it Sami highlighted the history of Albania by mentioning key events of 

the glorious past, the present situation under Turkish domination, and his ideas of the 

future. Like his brother Naim, Sami Frasheri tried to commemorate the existence of the 

Albanian state under Scanderbeg. Both works of the Frasheri brothers, were key 

documents in legitimizing the claims for the creation of an independent Albanian state. 18 

On 28 November 1912 Ismail Qemali opened the National Assembly with 

delegates from every province in Albania. He proposed that Albania declare 

independence from the Ottoman Empire, form a temporary government and send a 

commision in Europe to plead the Albanian case before the European Powers. 

Berg,1999): 31. 

16 Wood, Nancy, Vectors of Memory: Legacies of Trauma in Postwar Europe,(New York: 

17 Ibid., [http://www.albasoul.com/letersia/Rilindja/nfrasheri/kreu22.htm]. 

18 Xholi, Zija ed., Sami Frasheri, Vepra 2, (Tirane: Instituti I Historise, 1988): 27-28. 

72

After the acceptance of these proposals, all the delegates signed the petition and on that 

day Albania was declared independent. As a symbolic gesture Ismail Qemali, raised in 

Vlore the Flag of Scanderbeg, fulfilling thus the dreams of people like Jeronim De Rada 

and the brothers Frasheri. 19 

Among the supporters of the new Albanian state was Bishop Fan Noli, also 

known as Theofan Stilian Noli, who has become one of the most renown figures in 

Albanian history. Fan Noli through out his life supported Albania and made lasting 

impact to its politics, diplomacy, history, poetry and literature. He was the first scholar to 

write a history of Scandberg from a historian’s perspective and like other intellectuals of 

the Albanian diaspora, he created a role for Scandbeg’s memory in the modern Albanian 

state. 

Noli was born in the village of Ibrik Tepe (Alb. Qyteza), south of Edirne in 

European Turkey on 6 January 1882. His father Stylian Noli had been a noted cantor in 

the Orthodox church and had instilled in his son a love for Orthodox music and 

Byzantine tradition. Fan Noli attended the Greek secondary school in Edirne, and in 

1900, after a short stay in Constantinople, settled in Athens where he managed to find 

occasional and badly-paying jobs as a copyist, prompter and actor. 

In April 1906, with a second-class steamer ticket, Fan Noli set off via Naples for 

the New World and arrived in New York on May 10. After three months in Buffalo 

where he worked in a lumber mill, Noli arrived in Boston. There publisher Sotir Peci 

gave him a job at a minimal salary as deputy editor of the Boston newspaper Kombi (The 

nation), where he worked until May 1907 and in which he published articles and 

19 Ermenji, Abaz, Vendi Qe Ze Skenderbeu ne Historine e Shqiperise, 2 nd Ed., (Tirane: Botime 

Cabej, 1996): 323. 

73

editorials under the pseudonym Ali Baba Qyteza. These were financially and personally 

difficult months for Noli, who did not feel at home in America at all and seriously 

considered emigrating to Bucharest. Gradually, however, he found his roots in the 

Albanian community and on 6 January 1907 co-founded the Besa-Besën (The pledge) 

society in Boston. 20 

In 1908 Noli became an orthodox priest and enrolled at Harvard University. He 

received his BA in 1912, and did not return back to school until 1938, and in 1945 Noli 

received his Ph.D. from the University of Boston. His doctoral dissertation was on the 

history of Scanderbeg, which later he revised and published as a book in 1946. 21 This 

was not his first attempt at writing a history of Scanderbeg. Noli first published a History 

of Scanderbeg in 1921. 

His first visit in Albania was in 1913, and since that time he took an active 

interest on Albanian political life. He returned to Albania in 1921and his presence did not 

go unnoticed by Edith Durham, a British traveler, who was visiting Albania during that 

time: 

“….a great procession with lights and songs came to do honour to me...I was 

thunderstruck. I went on the balcony and heard a speech in English given by a young 

American Albanian (Fan Noli) but was too overpowered to reply properly..." 22 

20 Elsie, Robert, Albanian Authors in Translation, 2003. 

[http://www.albanianliterature.com/html/authors/bio/noli.html]. 

1994):72. 

21 Noli, Fan S., Autobiografia, trans, Abdullah Karjagdiu, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Elena Gjika, 

22 Kralica e Malesorevet / Queen of the Mountains: The Balkan Adventures of Edith Durham, 

(London: The British Council, 1996). 

74

Noli became active in Albanian politics and was elected as a deputy on the 

Congress of Lushnja. He became a leader in Ahmet Zogu’s party and led the July 

Democratic Revolution in 1924 against the governmentt of Ahmet Zogu. Noli’s 

government failed to materialize on his promises and the revolution failed. Fan Noli left 

Albania in December 1924 never to return; where as Ahmet Zogu reclaimed power, 

proclaimed himself king and Albania became a monarchical state. 23 

After the failure of the July Revolution Noli returned to the United States where 

he spent the rest of his life in religious and academic activity. It is during this time that he 

revised the History of Scanderbeg for the third time since his first publication in 1921 and 

republished it in 1949. He continued to appeal to Albanian patriotism by evoking 

memories of Scanderbeg and his Flag in his poetry. In an elegy to “Scanderbeg’s Flag,” 

Noli wrote: 

O Flamur gjak, o flamur shkabë, O flag of Blood, O flag of Eagles, 

O vënd e vatr' o nën' e babe, O land and home, o mother anfather, 

Lagur me lot, djegur me flage, Wetted by tears, burned in flames 

Flamur i kuq, flamur i zi. Red Flag, Black Flag. 

Fortesë shkëmbi tmerr tirani, A rocky fortress, horror to the tyrant, 

S'të trëmp Romani, as Venecjani, You were not afraid of Rome or Venice 

As Sërp Dushani, as Turk Sulltani, Or the Serb Dushan, Or the Turk Sultan 

Flamur i math për Vegjëli. A great Flag for the Masses. 

Flamur që lint Shën Kostandinin, A flag that bore Saint Konstantin 

Pajton Islamn' e Krishtërimin, Unites Islam with Christianity 

Çpall midis feve vllazëri, Declares brotherhood among religions 

Flamur bujar për Njerëzi. A good Flag for Human Kind. 

23 Tako, Piro, Fan Noli ne Fushen Politike dhe Publicistike, (Tirane: Shtepia Botuese Naim 

Frasheri, 1975): 68, 104-5,152-4. 

75

Me Skënderben' u-lavdërove With Scanderbeg you were elevated 

Dhe në furtun' i funtmi u-shove, and in battle you were the last to fall 

Me Malon prapë lart vrapove, with Ismail again you were raised high 

Yll i pavdekur për Liri. Undying Star for Freedom…… 24 

Noli, like Naim Frasheri and Jeronim De Rada, saw in Scanderbeg a figure that 

could help Albania transition toward democracy in the twentieth century. Scanderbeg 

could offer Albania and the Albanian people a new memory, a different heritage than the 

inheritance of colonialism. For post-colonial Albania national memories required a 

forgetting of turkish colonialism for four hundred years and a commemoration of 

Scanderbeg’s stand for a quarter of a century. When Fan Noli undertook the study of 

Scanderbeg as a historian, his goal was to give Scanderbeg back to Albania. Thus 

Scanderbeg entered the academe, particularly the Albanian academic life, and Albanian 

scholars began to write the history of Albania in the backdrop of Scanderbeg’s memory. 25 

During the nineteen sixties and seventies, when Albania was under communism, new 

memories and collective amnesias about Scanderbeg began to infiltrate Albanian national 

memories. Scanderbeg was remembered more and more as a man of the people, a true 

revolutionary, whose dreams were fulfilled by his communist descendants. It is under this 

political climate that Ismail Kadare published his book, the Castle in 1974. 

24 Noli, Fan, Hymni I Flamurit, [http://www.albasoul.com/letersia/PAVARESIA/Noli/hymni.htm]. 

25 Ermenji, Abaz, Vendi Qe Ze Skenderbeu ne Historine e Shqiperise, 2 nd Ed., (Tirane: Botime 

Cabej, 1996. The first edition of the book was written in 1968. Abaz Ermenji wrote a monograph of the 

Albanian history through the memory of Scanderbeg. 

76

Ismail Kadare is one of the few Albanian modern writers that is widely known 

outside his country. Born in Gjirokaster in 1936, Kadare attended the University of 

Tirana and the Gorky Institute in Moscow. He was one of the first intellectuals to leave 

Albania in 1990 and seek political asylym in France. His defection to the West started a 

series of reforms which ultimately led to the fall of Communism in Albania. 26 

Most of Kadare’s work merges Albanian nationalist thinking and socialist 

thought. 27 Ismail Kadare’s fiction is often based on historical events, or traditions. The 

Castle tells the story of the first stand Albania made against the Ottoman Empire under 

the leadership of Scanderbeg. Kadare in the novel does not develop Scanderbeg as a 

character. He is only referred to by name a few times throughout the novel. The Turks 

surround the castle but are unable to break in, and thus the fortress becomes a symbol of 

the stand against the Turks. 

Arshi Pipa, a critic of Kadare, has suggested that Scanderbeg in the novel serves 

as a mirror to the Hoxha cult. Just as the Scanderbeg fades in the novel, so will the 

Dictator Enver Hoxha. 28 Eventhough The Castle, is set during the fifteenth century the 

novel offers insights about Albania during the 1960s. This was a time when Albania 

severed the relations with The Soviet Union and in turn suffered under a blocade imposed 

from the members of the Warsaw Pact. The book serves as a reminder to Albanians 

because it proposes that they stand together just like they stood with Scanderbeg. 

26 Rosen, Roger and Patra McSharry eds., Border Crossings, Emmigration and Exile, (New York: 

The Rosen Publishing Group, INC., 1992):60-61. 

27 Byron, Janet, “ Albanian Nationalism and Socialism in the Fiction of Ismail Kadare”, World 

Literature Today 53, 4 (1979): 614. 

28 Pipa, Arshi, “ Subversion vs. Conformism: The Kadare Phenomenon,” Telos 73 (1987): 49. 

77

The parallel’s seem to favor the stand, rather than the debunking of the Hoxha myth. 

Throughout the novel Scanderbeg’s role is implied. He is never questioned as the leader, 

nor are any references to suggest that the author underscores Scanderbeg’s role and 

importance. 

The castle is a fictive story which retells the glory days of Albania, under 

Scanderbeg. Unlike other authors who have used Scanderbeg’s image in their writing , 

Kadare does not indulge in the physical attributes of the hero. He develops an image of 

Scanderbeg that is deeper and more complex. There are no long battle scenes to show 

Scanderbeg’s heroism. Kadare accomplishes that by simply using his name or placing 

Scanderbeg in the context of the story. Lines like “Scanderbeg, harasses them every 

night,” “The Albanians’s have embarrased us greatly,” and “…Scanderbeg …Have you 

seen him?” 29 are all abundant in the novel. 

Kadare like Jeronim de Rada and Naim Frasheri, has based The Castle on the oral 

traditions of Albanians. There are many tales that circulate in Albania which allude to 

Scanderbeg and to the heroic stand against the Turks. This characterization of the 

Albanian people as warriors, lovers of freedom brave and self—sacrificing, willing to die 

for their country is abundant in many songs and tales. In a story derived from Dibra, a 

city that belonged to Scanderbeg, the men tell Kastriota that “they will follow him 

wherever he leads.” In other tales not only the men but also the women are willing to die 

fighting than surrender to the Turks. In a story in South Albanian, after the Turks take the 

city of Sopot the battle is fought inside the castle. The women are asked whether they are 

willing to leave and save themselves. They respond in unison that they will stay and fight 

258, 124, 126. 

29 Kadare, Ismail, The Castle, trans., Pavli Qesku, (Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific, 2002): 

78

for Scanderbeg’s Flag. 30 By using these traditions Kadare created an image of the 

Albanian people that permiates the myth. In the novel Albanians are tall, strong, 

steadfast, resilient, and undefeatable, just like their leader Scanderbeg. 

The lines between fact and fiction become blurred in the story. Kadare uses the 

history of Albania in the fifteenth century to explain the present history of the country. 

The idea of Nation and nationhood remains the nostalgic and eduring figure of the larger 

social collectivity. It is the emotive force of national memories that gives them their 

magnetic, contagious and volatile character in the life of modern nation-states. 31 When 

faced with the reality of a blocade from the Soviet Union, Albanians needed to reinvent 

the past and embrace it with the present. In the process Scanderbeg becomes a myth with 

an agency. 

It is thus, in the backdrop of nation and nationalism, memory and diaspora that 

one can understand Scanderbeg’s impact on Albania and the Arberesh. Indeed after 

closer examination Scanderbeg himself becomes diasporic. He was an Albanian native 

who spent the majority of his life abroad. His education was completed in Turkey which 

at the time held the position of a First World power. 

30 Haxhihasani, Qemal ed, Tregime dhe Kenge Popullore per Skenderbeun, (Tirane: Instituti I 

Folklorit, Shtypshkronja Mihal Duri, 1967): 114, 117, 213. 

31 Nora, Pierre, Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past,. Vol.3, Trans.Goldhammer, 

Arthur, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996): 11. 

79

These works by Albanian intellectuals are also evidence that the memory of 

Scanderbeg varies in time because it was not until the nineteenth century that 

Scanderbeg’s memory served primarily the nationalist cause and its proponents. 

Although he lived in the fifteenth century, it is not until the rise of nationalism in the 

nineteenth century that images of Scanderbeg become prolific 

Indeed, Naim and Sami Frasheri, Fan Noli and Ismail Kadare are all intellectuals 

who were educated abroad. It is significant in terms of Albanian history that all these 

writers/intellectuals are remembered as Albanians nationalists when in reality they are all 

part of the Albanian diaspora, and they all have had a deep impact in the formation of 

Albanian identity, along with the contribution of the Arberesh intellectuals. In this 

context the concepts of power and hegemony take an agency of their own with regard to 

Albanian political history. Since modern nations have no boundaries it is the role of the 

diaspora to define a nation’s conciousness and set the pace for change. 32 As such, for the 

twenty first century it is the job of the diasporic intellectual to loosen Scanderbeg’s 

memory as a nationalist construct and ultimately alter the rhetoric of patriotism and 

nationalism in Albania. 

After the fall of Communism in Albania, in 1991, the Albanian nation needed to 

reinstate its point of origin, by toppling anything that was connected to communism, the 

communist party or the dictator, Enver Hoxha. The newly elected government decreed on 

November 12, 1993 to change the date of Liberation from 29 November, to 28 November 

32 Chow, Rey, Writing Diaspora: Tactics of Intervention in Contemporary Cultural Studies, 

(Bloomigton: Indiana University Press,1993): 91-92. 

80

1944. 33 Clearly the chief objective for this change was to reinstate once again, the 

connections between Scanderbeg and his war of independence to the modern political 

system in Albania. Scanderbeg has become once again the rallying point for Albanians 

everywhere. Presently the memory of Scanderbeg has become more popularized and it 

has received new parameters in its definition. 

This detour in Albanian political history is necessary because the oral traditions 

that commemorate Scanderbeg run along the same lines of chronology. Studied in light of 

national Independence, Communism and post-communism, one can better perceive the 

change and yet at the same time the constancy which has come to define the figure of 

Scanderbeg. Parallel these lines run the oral traditions from outside the Albanian borders. 

Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and the Arberesh in Italy are more nostalgic about the 

memory of Scanderbeg but at the same time they have the freedom to be more elastic 

with it in a variety of ways. 

Survival of Oral Tradition 

The primary source on which most of the oral tradition on the memory of 

Scanderbeg is based upon is Marin Barleti’s biography of Scanderbeg. This biography 

produced by Marin Barleti is one of the most authentic sources on the life of George 

Castriota. It is also one of the first biographies on Scanderbeg. The book was written in 

Latin titled: “Historia de Vitat er Gestis Scanderbegi, Epirotarum Pricipis.” The original, 

does not have a publishing date, but it is agreed that the book was written during 1508- 

33 The World Factbook, 1994. Albania 

[http://brain.mhri.edu.au/text/references/cia94fb/country/2.html.] 

81

1510. 34 The book is dedicated to Don Ferrante of Naples, who is believed to have been 

the nephew of George Castriota. After Scanderbeg’s death in 1468 many Albanians 

emigrated to Southern Italy to escape the Ottoman occupation. 

If everything that Barleti writes is taken literally, Scanderbeg cannot be human. 

Beginning with the story of Scanderbeg’s birth. Barleti writes that when his mother 

Vojsava was pregnant, a dragon the size of the Ottoman Empire appeared on her dream. 

When Scanderbeg was born he had a sign on his right arm that resembled a sword. As a 

toddler, he used to play with his father’s swords. As a teenager he spent most of his time 

riding horses, and shooting arrows. 35 

As a child Scanderbeg always thought of bigger things. He was very sharp and in 

a short period of time he was able to learn Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Italian and the Slavic 

languages. He always wanted to prove himself in battle and sought opportunities to 

achieve glory. He was never under the weather. He barely slept two hours a night, this 

due to his divine body and a never-ending strength. 36 

According to Barleti Scanderbeg’s physical appearance was without match in 

relation to other men. Barleti appeals to Greek ideas of male beauty and describes young 

Scanderbeg as a man who was “ very tall, with beautiful arms like no other, strong neck 

like an athlete, broad shoulders, beautiful white skin, strong gaze, not sleepy, but very 

pleasant.” 37 For Barleti Scanderbeg represented the ideal, the unattainable. 

34 Fan Noli, Historia e Skenderbeut, Tirana (1962): 127-128. 

35 Ibid, Book 1, 44. 

36 Ibid, Book 1: 76 

37 Ibid., Book 1: 53-59. 

82

Often times Barleti compares Scanderbeg to Moses and attributes him divine 

qualities. His body could not be wounded since he was “divine” or “almost divine.” God 

himself would not allow for Scanderbeg to die. Scanderbeg is patient and merciful. He 

was loved by his enemies to the degree that they welcomed being taken over by him. Not 

only that but they wanted to touch him so that part of his immortality could be transferred 

unto them. According to Barleti Scanderbeg was “the miracle of the century.” 

Clearly Barleti is the first diasporic intellectual to perpetuate the memory of 

Scanderbeg in mythical proportions. Many of the legends and songs about Scanderbeg 

that surface during the Albanian Renaissance/ Independence movement accentuate 

Scanderbeg’s divine qualities, his bravery, skill and national zeal. They represent every 

part of Albania even from areas where Scanderbeg never set foot. The most quoted line in 

every story goes back to one of Scanderbeg’s speeches that later served as the rallying 

cry for Albanian independence. When Scanderbeg returned in Albania and repossessed 

his castle from the Ottoman Turks he held a speech in front of his soldiers and people. He 

is quoted by Barleti as saying: 

“I did not bring you freedom, I found it amongst you. …The kingdom and this 

city I did not give you; you delivered it to me. I did not bring you weapons, I 

found you already armed. You have freedom all around you, in your chest, in 

your forehead, in your swords and spears…” 38 

This characterization of the Albanian people as warriors, lovers of freedom brave 

and self—sacrificing, willing to die for their country is abundant in many songs and tales. 

In a story derived from Dibra, a city that belonged to Scanderbeg, the men tell Kastriota 

that “they will follow him wherever he leads.” In other tales not only the men but also the 

women are willing to die fighting than surrender to the Turks. In a story in South 

38 Barleti, 74. 

83

Albanian, after the Turks take the city of Sopot the battle is fought inside the castle. The 

women are asked whether they are willing to leave and save themselves. They respond in 

unison that they will stay and fight for Scanderbeg’s Flag. 39 

Another aspect of Scanderbeg’s memory which served the nationalist cause 

during this time was the issue of his death. In many tales Scanderbeg is aware that he is 

dying and his dying wish always concerns his country and the preservation of the 

Albanian state. In one tale his dying wish is that, Albanians love one another, and stay 

united, because “if you are united no-one will be able to divide you”. 40 

National unity was a major theme of the early movement for independence in the 

twentieth century as the Ottoman Empire was nearing its collapse. The proponents of the 

Independence movement sought to fulfill George Kastrioti’s dream of Independence. The 

only way the Albanians could achieve it was in their capacity for unity. 

While the tales from Albania are deeply concerned with nationalism, the oral 

traditions of the Arberesh in Southern Italy focus on other memories. The stories and 

songs refer primary to family ties, who the Arberesh are and the preservation of their 

traditions going back to the time of Scanderbeg. In a ballad that describes Scanderbeg’s 

wedding, George Kastriota is offered many beautiful women from royal European houses 


Folklorit, Shtypshkronja Mihal Duri, 1967): 114, 117, 213. 

40 Ibid., 205. 

84

ut he only wants “an Arberesh wife, that speaks Albanian and knows the Albanian 

traditions.” 41 A common trend that is prevalent in Arberesh sources has to do with their 

identification with Albania. This memory however is more nostalgic than nationalistic. A 

popular folk song sung in Calabria describes the emotive force of an imagined homeland: 

We are like swallows, we are like eagles, 

We are united, because we have common roots…. 42 

The memory of Scanderbeg in Calabria is primary connected with tradition and 

language. As an Arberesh saying goes: When he is happy an Arberesh sings in Albanian 

and Italian, but when he is sad, he only cries in Albanian. 43 Even though the Arberesh 

are more closely associated with Scanderbeg, their memory of him is more fluid and is 

less politicized than in Albania, especially during communism. 

41 Ibid., 222. 

33:1(1979):172. 

42 Shkurtaj, Gjovalin, “Kenge Popullore te Arberesheve te Italise,” Studime Filologjike, 

43 Zllatku, Rexhep, Me Arbereshet, ( Kosove: Shkup, 1996): 110. 

85

EPILOGUE 

THE MEMORY OF SCANDERBEG 

CONTINUES TO REMAIN POPULAR 

Since the creation of the Communist Party in Albania in 1941, Scanderbeg’s 

figure was initially used to legitimize the partisan movement against German occupation. 

The Scanderbeg flag inherited the Communist star, and Scanderbeg’s memory became 

solely identifiable in Marxist terms and class theory. At the same time clear lines of 

identification were drawn between Scanderbeg and the dictator Enver Hoxha. Scanderbeg 

could only share in the spotlight if it strengthened the position of the Party and the 

dictator. The folk tradition came to embody these themes as well. In a song that 

commemorates the founding of the communist party, Scanderbeg’s importance can be 

understood only in relation to communism and Enver Hoxha: 

capitalism: 

….That day the Party was born, 

Albania saw the light, 

Rays of freedom exploded, 

The fate of the Motherland 

Stands on the hands on Scanderbeg’s nephews 

And today in Enver’s hands, 

Rests the sword of Scanderbeg. 1 

In another song Scanderbeg is depicted as the leader of the fight against class and 

Rise up men and women, 

To war against slavery 

To free our motherland 


Folklorit, Shtypshkronja Mihal Duri, 1967):267. 

85

From the shackles of dependence 

From the bourgeoisies and land owners 

Lets unite again as we did with Scanderbeg 

Under the leadership of the Party 

And the Command of Enver 

To send away the remnants 

Of Duce and Hitler 

Like our grandfathers before us 

Against the myriads of Turks 

with Scanderbeg as their leader 

the great son of Albania. 2 

During communism the image of Scanderbeg became one dimensional. Its worth 

depended on the collective amnesia to his memory. He came to be identified with the 

masses, when in reality George Kastriota was a member of the nobility. Monuments, 

paintings, museums glorified the warrior, by casting aside his Christian upbringing, his 

noble heritage, and the connection with the Vatican. 

With the fall of communism, came down also these constructed memories of 

Scanderbeg. As people did away with books, literature, paintings, and their myths which 

glorified the dictatorships a need was created to return to the place of origin. That place 

for Albanians and Albania is still with Scanderbeg. 

A new Scanderbeg and memory of Scanderbeg was born. The need to give 

Scanderbeg back to Albania in his “authentic state,” was done primary as a response to 

the political environment, and was reflected in the oral traditions as well. The newly 

elected Democratic Party wanting to gain legitimacy through Scanderbeg, turned the Day 

of the Flag, November 28 into the Day of Independence for Albania. To this day 

depending on which party is in control 28 and 29 November continue to be debated as 

2 Ibid., 262. 

86

days of Independence. 3 The Communist star was removed from the Flag and any 

government publication, so that Scanderbeg’s memory could continue to live on without 

being linked to Communism. 

In 1999, Naum Prifti, a very well known Albanian writer, republished a collection 

of legends and stories on Scanderbeg, tailored toward the elementary school students. 4 

Before these children can process or interpret ideas, these ideals of Scanderbeg myth are 

paraded to them, and the outcome is clear in terms of creating and perpetuating another 

construct of national identity. With this regard the audience of Naum Prifti is no different 

than that of Stephen Heathorn. His study focused on the construct of Englishness in the 

elementary school system at the turn of the twentieth century in Britain. 5 The nationalities 

here differ, but the model can be useful to the Albanian case. 

Even though these stories are collected, a few common myths become prevalent. 

First is the idea that Scanderbeg lives on, second the love of country, and lastly the idea 

of using Scanderbeg’s powers as a tool to bring people together for the greater good of 

the country. In one tale a girl Albana, tells her grandfather that she knows when 

Scanderbeg died. Her grandfather then tells Albana the stories which he has heard from 

his own father that refute the death of Scanderbeg. 6 Elementary school children are the 

target of the tale, which tells the historian that the Albanian nation is not interested in the 

3 BBC News, 28 November 2002, Socialists and Democrats divided on the Issue of Independence, 

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/albanian/021129103422.shtml]. 

4 Prifti, Naum, Legjenda dhe Rrefime per Skenderbeun, (Tirane: Horizonti, 1999). 

5 Heathorn, Stephen J., For Home, Country and Race: Constructing Gender, Class and 

Englishness in the Elementary School, 1880-1914, (Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press, 

2000): 5. 

143. 

6 Prifti, Naum, Legjenda dhe Rrefime per Skenderbeun, (Tirane: Horizonti, 1999): 128,131, 140- 

87

story of the Real Scanderbeg, but becomes an agent in the longevity of the myth. The 

Real Scanderbeg is no longer the national symbol because the tale has taken over. People 

want to believe the tale, and they want to keep it alive, because the tale unlike reality has 

the power to make people identify with one another, and rally around the flag i.e. 

Scanderbeg’s Flag. 

The warrior like image that this tale commemorates, did not appear until Albania 

needed a hero for its independence. The written Albanian language did not appear in print 

until the nineteenth century. Yet this tale suggests that Albanians have a long history, 

hence the association to the Illyrian roots. That is why the oral history/legend becomes 

important .It is the carrier of agency because it helps to formulate an identity that defies 

time and space, and when used in service to nationalism can legitimize the claims for a 

nation’s point of origin. 

The Albanian history is not a peaceful one. Albania is surrounded by neighbor 

countries who continue to challenge its borders. By permeating the Scanderbeg Myth to 

the youth, the very tale becomes a power tool and has an agency of its own. The myth 

evokes emotive feelings that become harder to overthrow. 

A different tale evokes the idea that the motherland is more important than even 

one’s family. In the tale Scanderbeg has heard that his nephew has betrayed him and 

given a fortress to the Turks. Scanderbeg, who could have saved his nephew, sends him 

back to Napoli and orders his imprisonment. 7 Since Scanderbeg is the model for every 

Albanian, it is only natural that he would put the interest of the country above his own, 

which is what every good Albanian should do. 

7 Ibid., 69-78. 

88

The idea of collective amnesia applies well to Scanderbeg’s memory in the 

twentieth century and is very apparent in the tale. In Communist Albania it became 

pivotal to view Scanderbeg as the national hero, a man who came from the masses and 

fought for them; while conveniently forgetting his relationship with the Vatican, his 

religious practice, or that he was part of the nobility and his unifying struggle aimed at 

creating his own monarchical order over Albania. 

Much more telling is the simple truth that Scanderbeg died in his bed from a 

fever. Even in the present day Albanians have a hard time reconciling to that truth. 

Perhaps because this reality makes Scanderbeg human and it is more powerful when one 

thinks of him as an extraordinary being rather than ordinary. And yet to this day he 

continues to be remembered as the savior of Albanian national identity. In this tale the 

imagery abounds. Scanderbeg is almost supernatural. He is given Messianic like 

qualities. He feels no pain. He is magnanimous. At the same time, he is simple; he 

interacts with his friends on an equal level. More importantly He lives on! 

These recent trends in Albanian popular tradition, seem to suggest that the 

memory of Scanderbeg continues to change in Albania and often times it is a product of 

the political climate in the country. People want to recall and perpetuate the myth, in the 

absence of stability. There is a neutralizing element to the Scanderbeg myth, because it 

allows for Albanians, to remember who they are in a period of difficult transition to 

democracy. As evidenced in a most recent publication, by resurrecting Scanderbeg back 

to the center, it seems to suggest that things will be well, for the people and the country, 

because now they are being led by a “King who’s crowned by the angels”. 8 

8 Meca, Hamdi, Scanderbeg : King Crowned by the Angels, (Kruje: Shtypshkronja Emal, 2003.) 

89

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