Editing Mehmed II (section)

===Conquest of Albania (1466–1478)===
[[File:Gjergj Kastrioti.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of [[Skanderbeg]], prince of [[League of Lezhë]]]]

[[Skanderbeg]], a member of the [[Albanian nobility]] and a former member of the Ottoman ruling elite, led [[Skanderbeg's rebellion|a rebellion]] against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. Skanderbeg, son of [[Gjon Kastrioti]] (who had joined the unsuccessful [[Albanian revolt of 1432–1436]]), united the [[Albanian principalities]] in a military and diplomatic alliance, the [[League of Lezhë]], in 1444.  Mehmed II was never successful in his efforts to subjugate [[Albania]] while Skanderbeg was alive, even though he twice (1466 and 1467) led the Ottoman armies himself against [[Krujë]]. After Skanderbeg died in 1468, the Albanians could not find a leader to replace him, and Mehmed II eventually conquered Krujë and Albania in 1478.

In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against Skanderbeg and the [[Albanians]]. Skanderbeg had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy,<ref name="Finkel63"/> and believed that the ongoing [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)]] offered a golden opportunity to reassert Albanian independence; for the Venetians, the Albanians provided a useful cover to the Venetian coastal holdings of [[Durrës]] ({{langx|it|Durazzo}}) and [[Shkodër]] ({{langx|it|Scutari}}). The major result of this campaign was the construction of the fortress of [[Elbasan]], allegedly within just 25 days. This strategically sited fortress, at the lowlands near the end of the old ''[[Via Egnatia]]'', cut Albania effectively in half, isolating Skanderbeg's base in the northern highlands from the Venetian holdings in the south.<ref name="Finkel64">{{harvnb|Finkel|2007|p=64}}</ref> However, following the Sultan's withdrawal Skanderbeg himself spent the winter in Italy, seeking aid. On his return in early 1467, his forces sallied from the highlands, defeated [[Ballaban Badera|Ballaban Pasha]], and lifted the [[Second Siege of Krujë|siege]] of the fortress of Croia ([[Krujë]]); they also attacked Elbasan but failed to capture it.<ref name="Crusades327">Setton, Hazard & Norman (1969), p. 327</ref><ref name="Setton278">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=278}}</ref> Mehmed II responded by marching again against Albania. He energetically pursued the attacks against the Albanian strongholds, while sending detachments to raid the Venetian possessions to keep them isolated.<ref name="Crusades327"/> The Ottomans [[Third Siege of Krujë|failed again]] to take Croia, and they failed to subjugate the country. However, the winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.<ref name="Setton283" /> Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus ([[Lezhë]]), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.<ref name="Finkel64"/> The Albanians were left to their own devices and were gradually subdued over the next decade.

After Skanderbeg died, Mehmed II personally led the [[Siege of Shkodra (1478)|siege of Shkodra in 1478–79]], of which early Ottoman chronicler [[Aşıkpaşazade]] (1400–81) wrote, "All the conquests of Sultan Mehmed were fulfilled with the seizure of Shkodra."<ref>Pulaha, Selami. ''Lufta shqiptaro-turke në shekullin XV. Burime osmane''. Tirana: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë, 1968, p. 72</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2017|reason=Unable to verify source; English source needed to verify; there must be more objective sources available for this}}{{Better source needed|date=April 2017|reason=Unable to verify source; English source needed to verify; there must be more objective sources available for this}} The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1479)|Treaty of Constantinople]] as a condition of ending the war.