The Third Siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 occurred in 1467 at Krujë

Krujë

Krujë is a town in north central Albania and the capital of the municipality and the Krujë District. It has a population of about 15,900. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km from the capital of Albania, Tirana....

 in Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

.

A few months after the failure of the second siege

Second Siege of Krujë

The Second Siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire took place in 1466 at Krujë in Albania and lasted until 1467. Ottoman forces were initially led by sultan Mehmed II and later by Ballaban...

, Mehmed II

Mehmed II

Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...

 led an army into Albania in 1467. Skanderbeg for the first time attacked Mehmed frontally at Shkumbin

Shkumbin

Shkumbin is a river in central Albania, flowing into the Adriatic Sea. It is considered the dividing line for the two dialects of the Albanian language: Tosk and Gheg ....

 valley in order to gain time for the civilian population retreating to the mountains. Then he retreated and Krujë was besieged for a third time, but on a much larger and more organized scale. While a contingent of troops kept the city and its forces pinned down, Ottoman armies came pouring in from Bosnia

Bosnia Eyalet

The Eyalet of Bosnia or Bosnia Beylerbeylik was a eyalet and beylerbeylik of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as most of Slavonia, Lika, and Dalmatia in present-day Croatia...

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

, Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

, and Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 with the aim of keeping the whole country surrounded, thereby strangling 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...

’s supply routes and limiting his mobility. Krujë held, and the staunch resistance forced Mehmed to break off the siege.

See also

• First Siege of Krujë
  First Siege of Krujë
  The First Siege of Krujë occurred in 1450 when an Ottoman army of approximately 100,000 men laid siege to Krujë in Albania. The League of Lezhë, led by Skanderbeg, suffered to low morale after the losses of Svetigrad and Berat in 1448-1450...
  
  
• Second Siege of Krujë
  Second Siege of Krujë
  The Second Siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire took place in 1466 at Krujë in Albania and lasted until 1467. Ottoman forces were initially led by sultan Mehmed II and later by Ballaban...