Myth of Skanderbeg

Skanderbeg's monument in Tirana

The Myth of Skanderbeg is one of the main constitutive myths of Albanian nationalism. Albanian nationalist writers transformed Skanderbeg's history into myth and thus his figure and deeds became a mixture of historical facts, truths, half-truths, inventions, and folklore. The Myth of Skanderbeg is the only myth of Albanian nationalism that is based on a person; the other myths are based on ideas, abstract concepts, and collectivism. There are two different Skanderbegs today: the historic Skanderbeg, and a mythic national hero as presented in Albanian schools and nationalist intellectuals in Tirana and Pristina.

From the 16th to the early 19th century Skanderbeg's fame survived mainly in Christian Europe and was based on perception of Skanderbeg being Antemurale Christianitatis against invading Turks. In largely Islamized Albania of this period Skanderbeg's fame faded and was rediscovered at the end of 19th century when figure of Skanderbeg was brought to the level of national myth.

History transformed into myth

Antemurale Christianitatis

Skanderbeg's painting

Skanderbeg is built in part of antemurale myth complex which portrays Albanians united by Skanderbeg as protectors of the nation and Christendom against "invading Turks". In the 16th century, the "Defence against the Turks" had become a central topic in East Central and South East Europe. It was put in functional use and served as a propaganda tool and to mobilize religious feelings of the population. People who participated in campaigns against the Ottoman Empire were referred to as “antemurale Christianitatis” (the protective wall of Christianity). The Pope Calixtus III gave Skanderbeg the title Athleta Christi, or Champion of Christ. Furthermore, during the 18th century the Myth of Skanderbeg was moulded and transformed to suit the taste and the anxieties of the British readers.

Under the influence of the Myth of Skanderbeg and antemurale myth, the Albanian Catholic clergy seems to understand the figure of Mother Teresa as Skanderbeg's ideological heir who completes his task of guarding the boundaries of Catholicism and Albanianism, introducing a new era after the end of glorious era that culminated with Skanderbeg. On the contrary to the Skanderbegs' myths of Albanian Christians, the Myth of Skanderbeg of Albania's Muslim community ended with positive outcome because the glory of Illirian era does not end with Skanderbeg, but continues into the Ottoman era.

Skanderbeg in Serbian propaganda and slavicisation of Skanderbeg

Serbo-Montenegrin-Greek-Ottoman occupation of Albania.

While Greek references to Skanderbeg were used up, Serbian propagandists, often contradictorily, used Skanderbeg as a symbol of joint Serbian-Albanian progress (1866). On the other hand, forty years later, in a different political environment, the faded memory of Skanderbeg among a large portion of Albanians was used as evidence of a lack of an ethnic identity and even the said Serbian character of the medieval hero. Spiridon Gopčević, a proponent of Serbian expansion in the Ottoman Balkans, claimed that northern Albanians are actually Serbs and Skanderbeg's main motivation was his feelings of Serb nationally injury. In Montenegro, a country which had tribal structures similar to the ones in northern Albania and also had a similar mentality, Skanderbeg was celebrated as a Slavic hero, a concept which was incorporated into the movement to justify an expansion of Montenegro into northern Albania. By the end of the 19th century, one could find a wide dissemination of brochures with Skanderbeg being presented as a Slavic hero along the Montenegro-Albania border. This rendition of history was given life again in the 1980s, right before the crisis in Kosovo, where Serb propagandists again celebrated Skanderbeg as "the son of Ivan, Đorđ Kastrioti, the Serbian horseman of Albania."

Albanisation of Skanderbeg

In "Istori'e Skenderbeut" written by Naim Frasheri in 1898 Skanderbeg's figure assumed a new dimension of the Albanian national hero.

Skanderbeg's fame survived in Christian Europe for centuries, while in largely Islamized Albania it gradually faded. It was only in the 19th century, in the period of Albanian National Revival, when Skanderbeg has been rediscovered in the Albanian speaking world and raised to the level of national myth. Although Skanderbeg has already been used in the construction of the Albanian national code, especially in communities of Arbėresh, it was only after the last years of the 19th century and the publishing of the work of Naim Frasheri "Istori'e Skenderbeut" in 1898 when his figure assumed a new dimension. Naim Frasheri was the biggest inspiration and guide for most Albanian poets and intellectuals.

Albanian nationalists needed an episode from the medieval history for the centre of the Albanian nationalistic mythology and they chose Skanderbeg, in the absence of the medieval kingdom or empire. The figure of Skanderbeg was subjected to the Albanisation, and he was displayed as a national hero. The other books and periodicals published later also began to consider Skanderbeg as the national hero. The nationalist writers subjected Skanderbeg to the laboratory which transformed the history into myth. There was significant effort of the Albanian historiography to adapt the facts about Skanderbeg to meet the requests of the contemporary ideology. Although the Myth of Skanderbeg had little to do with the reality it was incorporated in works about history of Albania.

Borrowings of the national epics and nationalisms of Greeks, Croats and Serbs of Montenegro (like those of Gjergj Fishta and his Lahuta e Malcís) largely contributed the creation of Skanderbeg as the Albanian national hero. The religious aspect of Skanderbeg's struggle against Muslims was eluded by Albanian nationalists because it could divide Albanians and undermine their unity because Albanians are both Muslims and Christians. Therefore, Albanian nationalists selectively used elements of the Skanderbeg's image and painted it as nationalist myth presenting Skanderbeg as hero of the nation. Because of the insufficient primary sources it is difficult to pin down the "hero o the Albanian nation" status of Skanderbeg.

Exploits of Skanderbeg's figure

Skanderbeg's name, horse, and sword summarize exploits of his figure:

1. Nomen est omen is used in the exploitation of Skanderbeg's figure by connecting his name with Alexander the Great, who defended his territory, and implying that Skanderbeg also struggled to defend his territory from the Ottoman Empire.
2. The sword used by Skanderbeg was a present of the sultan and was equipped with magical powers.
3. The horse connects the mythological hero with both earthly and spiritual powers, also making the hero look taller. The neighing of Skanderbeg's horse would trigger a huge terror among his enemies.

At the dawn of the 20th century, the figure of Skanderbeg as the Albanian national hero took another dimension through the appearance of pretenders to the throne who claimed his descent. Being aware of the myth of Skanderbeg, many pretenders on the Albanian throne, like the German nobleman Wilhelm of Wied and several European adventurers, named themselves and their descendants after Skanderbeg. Both Zogu and Enver Hoxha presented themselves as heirs of Skanderbeg. One of the important reasons for the regime of Enver Hoxha to emphasize the interest in Skanderbeg's period was to justify the building of a totalitarian dictatorship. Albanian historians intensively mythologized Skanderbeg during communist regime to give legitimacy to the policy of the government.

The main components of various interpretations of the picture of Skanderbeg are still present, except that communist ideological components installed by Hoxha's regime are replaced by nationalist ones. In some historical and commercial publications, Adem Jashari (1955—1998) is portrayed as the new Albanian national hero in a historical succession of Skanderbeg.

Transformation of Skanderbeg into a national symbol served both national cohesion and as an argument for Albania's cultural affinity to Europe because the national narrative of Skanderbeg symbolized the sacrifice of the Albanians in "defending Europe from Asiatic hordes". Pro-European public discourse in modern Albania uses the Myth of Skanderbeg as evidence of Albania's European identity.

Consequences

Since Skanderbeg occupies the central place in Albanian national myths, it complicates his critical analysis by the historians. Those who performed a critical analysis of Skanderbeg, like Oliver Jens Schmitt (a historian from Vienna) did, would be soon accused of committing sacrilege and sullying the Albanian national honor. There is a danger of emphasis on Skanderbeg's struggle as symbol of the unitary state because it no longer refers to the territory of the Republic of Albania, but to the whole of the Albanian area of settlement in the Balkans. The myth of Skanderbeg represents the main ingredient of the debate about future aspirations of the Albanian nation.

Scientific research of the Myth of Skanderbeg

Myth of Skanderbeg was included in the program of the following academic conferences:

• The Role of Myths in History and Development in Albania, held in London, Great Britain, on June 11—13, 1999
• The myth of Skanderbeg, held in Palermo, Italy on March 29, 2007
• A living Skanderbeg, the multidisciplinary analysis of the myth, historical facts and current knowledge about George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, held in Lecce, Italy, in March 12—13, 2009
• The lexicon of identity and exclusion, held in Palazzo Chiaramonte, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy, in October 13—14, 2009 with The Hero and the Nation: On the Various Interpretations of Skanderbeg’s Myth
• George Kastriot Skanderbeg: the history and image held on May 28, 2010 in Durres, Albania
• Recycling Myths, Inventing Nations, held in July 14—16, 2010 at Gregynog Hall, the University of Wales Conference Centre, UK

The key question in scientific research of the Myth of Skanderbeg is not its historical basis, or whether it has one at all, but the investigation of its meanings and purposes.

See also

• National myth
• Historiography and nationalism