Today is marked the 555th anniversary of the death of Gjerg Kastriot (1405-1468), born in Kruja, central Albania, who was given the name Iskender Bey, or in Albanian Skënderbeg, due to his military abilities and merits, after comparisons with the military tactics of Alexander the Great . Gjerg Kastriot graduated from a military school in Edirne, and then served in the Ottoman army, where he contributed to many victories. After 1443, when he participated in the battle against the Hungarians near Niš, he left the Ottoman army and went to the city of Kruja, where he took down the Ottoman flag and waved a red flag with a double-headed black eagle.
Kastriot raised an uprising in the Debar region and became independent as a ruler, successfully repelling the attacks commanded by Sultan Murat and his successor Murat II. Durrës, Lezha and Berat were conquered by George Castriot, and he cooperated with the King of Aragon, Alfonso V, the Venetians and the Hungarians, while Pope Paul II honored him as a "Knight of Christianity". This famous medieval Albanian ruler died of an illness in 1468. Gjerg Kastriot remains a symbol of freedom for the Albanian people, but also for other Balkan peoples, and his name and work have been an inspiration in art throughout time. Sir William Temple pointed out that Skanderbeg was one of the seven greatest rulers without a crown, and Antonio Vivaldi wrote an opera "Skenderbeg".