Siege of Svetigrad (1448)

First siege of Svetigrad
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
Engraving of an engagement during the siege of Sfetigrad.
Date May 14 – July 31, 1448 Location Svetigrad, now Kodžadžik, a village in the Republic of Macedonia 41°27′N 20°36′E / 41.450°N 20.600°E / 41.450; 20.600Coordinates: 41°27′N 20°36′E / 41.450°N 20.600°E / 41.450; 20.600 Result Ottoman Victory: garrison surrenders and Ottomans seize the fortress
Belligerents
League of Lezhë	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Peter Perlati led the garrison; Skanderbeg led the relief force.	Murad II
Strength
2,000 men garrisoned; 12,000 men stationed in the surrounding countryside under Skanderbeg.	80,000 men; two guns
Casualties and losses
Fortress surrendered but the garrison was spared.	Up to 20,000 casualties
Location within Macedonia

Peter Perlati led the garrison;

The Siege of Svetigrad began on May 14, 1448 when an Ottoman army, led by Sultan Murad II, besieged the fortress of Svetigrad (now Kodžadžik). After the many failed Ottoman expeditions into Albania against the League of Lezhë, a confederation of Albanian Principalities created in 1444 and headed by Skanderbeg, Murad II decided to march an army into Skanderbeg's dominions in order to capture the key Albanian fortress of Svetigrad. The fortress lay on an important route between Macedonia and Albania, and thus its occupation would give the Ottomans easy access into Albania. The force prepared by Murad was the largest force with which the Ottomans had ever attacked Skanderbeg. Murad planned to take the fortress, march into the Albanian interior, and capture the main citadel of Krujë, thus crushing the Albanian League.

At the same time, Skanderbeg had been at war with Venice. Realizing the magnitude of his challenge, Skanderbeg attempted to relieve the garrison by engaging in skirmishes with the Ottoman army. His forces succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties on the Turkish forces through guerrilla-style attacks. Efforts were made by Skanderbeg to use intelligence forces, operating as far as Constantinople, to gather information on Murad's plans of action. Meanwhile, near Scutari, he had been able to defeat a Venetian force and managed to considerably weaken the Venetian presence in Albania. Despite these efforts, on July 31 the garrison of Svetigrad surrendered due to a cut-off in the water-supply to Svetigrad. The garrison was spared and a force of Ottoman Janissaries was stationed inside the fortress instead. Two years later, Murad would march against Krujë, only to suffer a heavy defeat.

In 1444 the major princes of the Albanian Principalities, which up to that point had been vassals of the Ottoman Empire, united and formed the League of Lezhë, an anti-Ottoman confederacy under Skanderbeg's lead. As a result, the Ottoman Empire sought to crush the League and re-establish control over Albania. As of 1448, all Ottoman expeditions into Albania had failed and Murad II chose lead a force in person into Albanian territory and fragment the League. The sultan decided to capture the fortress of Svetigrad. This fortress served the strategic purpose of protecting the Albanian eastern frontier, while also allowing the Albanians to launch their own assaults on Ottoman territory. In late 1447, war began between Venice and the League, but had not yet escalated into full-scale conflict. Skanderbeg had declared war on Venice as a result of a diplomatic impasse. This left him open to invasion from the East.