Skanderbeg in Italy Skanderbeg's Italian expedition

skanderbeg disembarking in italy - engraving jost amman 1587

even though lifted siege of barletta upon seeing skanderbeg s approaching men week before, angevin forces remained active. once skanderbeg arrived, ferdinand put him in command of fortress of barletta whereas king himself went ariano irpino. once left in command of fortress, skanderbeg moved against ferdinand s rivals. among them giovanni orsini, jean d anjou (the duke of calabria), piccinino, , francesco del balzo. had stationed in andria, albanian assaults continued. albanian cavalry s light armament, swift horses , loose ranks allowed them overcome more heavily armed italian cavalry, fought in tight formations. in 1 of operations, albanian warrior captured alois minutulo, lord of castle of monte sant angelo imprisoned in fortress of barletta. 3 years later, ferdinand present skanderbeg castle token of gratitude.

ferdinand s opponents, under piccinino s main command, tried open battle skanderbeg, due combined strength of albanian , neapolitan forces, withdrew andrian fields acquaviva delle fonti. news of piccinino s retreat reached venice sent message francisco sforza. skanderbeg marched taranto, giovanni orsini prince. orsini tried again dissuade skanderbeg marching against him, ferdinand wary of orsini s faithfulness, skanderbeg continued raiding orsini s territory. split army 3 parts, 1 under moisi arianit golemi, other under vladan gjurica, , last under command. led attacks against ferdinand s enemies in 3 directions without halt, thoroughly exhausting them. during month of october, skanderbeg continued pillage orisini s territory bases @ barletta , andria since angevins not present; ferdinand meanwhile mopped in calabria, recaptured cosenza , castrovillari. @ point, orsini asked skanderbeg truce albanian rejected. on 27 october, skanderbeg reported had captured town of gisualdo. piccinino asked skanderbeg discontinue campaign skanderbeg exuberantly accepted, believing peace near.

the castle of monte sant angelo in 20th-century photograph

piccinino, however, did not seek maintain agreement 1 of deserters reported. upon learning this, skanderbeg decided open battle piccinino s men. after feeding men , preparing horses, skanderbeg set off moonlight angevin camp. found place empty, however, since 1 of piccinino s men had informed piccinino on albanians intentions. skanderbeg returned barletta reinforced ferdinand , men. split army two, 1 under alessandro sforza s command, other under his, , approached troia. jean d anjou , piccinino stationed in lucera, however, 8 miles troia. knowing battle come between troia , lucera, skanderbeg set out night capture seggiano, mountain lying between 2 cities, stationed of men protect it. thence, men find refuge in case of defeat. piccinino had same objective in mind , set out capture mountain, instead met skanderbeg s men. kept men in order coming battle. next day, 2 armies met. battle lasted until dusk, jean s men suffered serious defeat , forced flee. piccinino retreated campaigns. went northwards joined sigismondo malatesta , 200 of men launch assaults on papal state.

skanderbeg s next task recapture trani, second important point in apulia, aside barletta. succeeded in capturing commander of garrison, fuscia de foxa, had rebelled against ferdinand. fuscia outside walls of trani sixteen men when skanderbeg saw him , surrounded him , tried convince him abandon orsini, whereby fuscia refused pecuniary reasons. on morning of 28 december 1461, fuscia s pleas, gracciani, vice-commander of garrison, surrendered trani. both fuscia , gracciani, however, refused hand on garrison s munitions. skanderbeg threatened imprison them if did not surrender asked to, forcing 2 hand on trani s stores. after weeks of marauding, skanderbeg , aragonese colleagues joined alessandro sforza s men. yielded of fortresses had recaptured ferdinand.