Battle of Torvioll

Battle of Torvioll
Beteja e Torviollit
Part of the Albanian–Ottoman Wars (1432–1479)

Battle plan at Torvioll
Date29 June 1444
Location
Plain of Torvioll, north of Peshkopi (present-day Plain of Shumbat, Albania)
Result Albanian victory
Belligerents
League of Lezhë Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
 Ali Pasha
Strength
10,000–15,000[2][3] 25,000
Casualties and losses
120
4,000 wounded[4]		 7,000–10,000 killed
500–2,000 captured[2][3][4][5]

The Battle of Torvioll (Albanian: Beteja e Torviollit), also known as the Battle of Lower Dibra, was fought on 29 June 1444 on the Plain of Torvioll, in what is now Albania. Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg was an Ottoman Albanian general who decided to return to his homeland and take the reins of a new Albanian league against the Ottoman Empire. He and 300 other Albanians who fought in the Battle of Niš deserted the Ottoman Army and made their way to Krujë, which quickly fell due to subversion. He then formed the League of Lezhë, a confederation of Albanian princes united in war against the Ottoman Empire. Realising the threat, Murad II sent one of his most experienced generals, Ali Pasha, to crush the new state with a force of 25,000 men.

Skanderbeg organised an army of 10,000-15,000 men assembled from the League of Lezhë to defeat Ali Pasha's army. The Albanians confronted Ali Pasha on his way to Krujë, and on 29 June 1444, Skanderbeg's forces split into three groups and pretended to retreat, drawing the Ottomans into the gorge of Torvioll as they dispersed in the surrounding mountains. The Albanians regrouped and attacked the Ottomans in the gorge, who were confident that the Albanians had retreated, resulting in the defeat of the Ottomans.[3]

The victory consolidated Skanderbeg's leading role in the League of Lezhë and boosted the morale of the Albanians in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire. The battle encouraged Pope Eugenius IV and John Hunyadi to organise a new crusade against the Ottomans in the autumn of 1444. Skanderbeg would lead the Albanians against the Ottomans for twenty-five years of constant warfare until his death.

  1. ^ Frantzis, Georgios. Chronicles of the Byzantine Era
  2. ^ a b Tibbetts, J. (2016). 50 Great Military Leaders of All Time. VIJ Books (India) PVT Limited. p. 815. ISBN 978-93-86834-19-5.
  3. ^ a b c Rogers, Clifford J. (2010). The Oxford encyclopedia of medieval warfare and military technology. New York: Oxford University press. p. 363. ISBN 9780195334036.
  4. ^ a b Frashëri 2002, p. 139
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hodgkinson75 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).