Gjon Kastrioti II was the son of Skanderbeg

Skanderbeg

George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...

, the Albanian national hero, and of Donika Kastrioti

Donika Kastrioti

Donika Kastrioti Arianiti Muzaka, Princess of the League of Lezhë was an Albanian noblewoman. A member of the Houses of Arianiti, Muzaka and Kastrioti she was the wife of George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. She was the daughter of Gjergj Arianiti who stood as one of the greatest leaders' war against the...

, daughter of Gjergj Arianit Komneni

Gjergj Arianit Komneni

Gjergj Arianiti was an important Albanian hero and the great uncle of Moisi Arianit Golemi. He was also the father of Gjergj Kastrioti's wife Marina Donika . He shared a distant relation from his great grandmother with the famous Byzantine Komnenos dynasty, originating in Paphlagonia, Asia Minor...

. While in his teens he was forced to leave the country after the death of his father in 1468. He is known also for his role in the Albanian uprising of 1481, when after reaching the Albanian coast from Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, he tried to liberate his country from the Ottoman rule. Unsuccessful, he retired in Italy in 1484.

He married Irene Palaiologina, daughter of despot Lazar Branković of Serbia and great-granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. The Castriota Scanderbeg living in Italy today represent the only descendants of Manuel II Palaiologos

Manuel II Palaiologos

Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine Emperor from 1391 to 1425.-Life:...

.

Sources