Siege of Shkodra (1474)

Siege of Shkodra
Date Spring 1474 — 8 August 1474 Location Shkodër, Albania Veneta 42°02′47″N 19°29′37″E / 42.0465°N 19.4935°E / 42.0465; 19.4935Coordinates: 42°02′47″N 19°29′37″E / 42.0465°N 19.4935°E / 42.0465; 19.4935 Result Victory of Venice and Zeta
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Republic of Venice Albanian resistance forces Lordship of Zeta
Commanders and leaders
Hadım Suleiman Pasha	Antonio Loredan Pietro Mocenigo Triadan Gritti Leonardo Boldu Ivan Crnojević
Strength
50,000	25.000
Casualties and losses
7,000–20,000 Ottoman soldiers killed	unknown number of soldiers and 3,000 civilians from Scutari (primary source)

 Republic of Venice
Albanian resistance forces

Antonio Loredan
Pietro Mocenigo
Triadan Gritti
Leonardo Boldu

The Siege of Shkodra of 1474 was an Ottoman attack upon Venetian-controlled Shkodra in Albania Veneta during the First Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–79).

Strong Ottoman forces besieged Shkodra in spring 1474. Mehmed had dispatched the governor of Rumelia, Hadım Suleiman Pasha, with about 8,000 men, but they were repulsed by commander Antonio Loredan and feared Venetian reinforcements. According to some sources, when Scutari garrison complained for lack of food and water, Loredan told them "If you are hungry, here is my flesh; if you are thirsty, I give you my blood."

The Venetian Senate ordered all available galleys to transport archers to Shkodra through river Bojana. All Venetian governors were also ordered to help the besieged city. According to Venetian reports in July Shkodra was besieged by 50,000 Ottoman soldiers who were supported by heavy artillery.

At the beginning of 1474 the whole region around Shkodra, including the abandoned Baleč, came under Ottoman rule. According to some sources the Ottoman sultan had intentions to rebuild Podgorica and Baleč in 1474 and to settle them with 5,000 Turkish families in order to establish an additional obstacle for cooperation of Crnojević's Zeta and besieged Venetian Shkodra.

...
Wikipedia