The fall of Krujë ended Albanian resistance to Ottoman expansion, completing the conquest of Albania nearly a decade after Skanderbeg's death.
Key Facts
- Siege duration
- Early 1477 to June 1478
- Previous failed sieges
- Three prior Ottoman sieges repelled
- Years after Skanderbeg's death
- Almost 10 years
- Ottoman sultan
- Mehmed II
- Fate of male defenders
- Massacred despite promised safe conduct
- Fate of women
- Taken as slaves by Ottomans
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the death of Skanderbeg in 1468, the Albanian defensive leadership collapsed, leaving Krujë increasingly isolated and unable to secure adequate supplies or reinforcements against sustained Ottoman pressure over subsequent years.
Beginning in early 1477, Ottoman forces under Sultan Mehmed II besieged Krujë for over a year. Exhausted by starvation and cut off from supplies, the city's defenders eventually surrendered in June 1478 after Mehmed promised them safe passage, marking the fourth and final Ottoman siege of the city.
Despite the surrender terms, the Ottomans massacred all male defenders and enslaved the women, extinguishing organized Albanian resistance. The fall of Krujë effectively completed the Ottoman conquest of Albania and ended the resistance movement Skanderbeg had led.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Mehmed II.
Side B
1 belligerent