1.           Sons of the Eagles

 

Oh thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men

--Lord Byron

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

 

 

is portrait hangs in the Pitti Palace in Florence. An equestrian statue of him stands in the Piazza Albanese in Rome. As my husband Hal and I began to research my family history, we discovered that numerous other piazzas in the Albanian villages of southern Italy bore his name. His family crest, black eagle against red background, serves as flag for the nation he helped found. When western civilization tottered on the brink of disaster in the fifteenth century, when a rampaging Asiatic power threatened to spread its rule and religion throughout Europe, he stood as lone defender, his finger figuratively in the dike, for twenty-five years.

     The name is George Castriota (sometimes written Gjergj Kastriota), although he is better known as Scanderbeg, the name given him by the Ottoman Turks, who spent a quarter century trying to dislodge and defeat him. Scanderbeg remains a symbol of Albanian independence. When I first discussed my roots with Dr. Chada, my history professor at Chicago Teachers College, he may or may not have mentioned the great Albanian warrior king. If Dr. Chada did, the name quickly slipped from my memory. Not too many people at that time gave that country much thought.

     Aloof almost to the point of paranoia, Albania turned communist after World War II, yet openly defied Soviet Russia and aligned itself with China, because the Chinese were thousands of miles further away, and presumably never would come to visit. The 2.5 million Albanians occupying the craggy lands between Yugoslavia and Greece, across the Adriatic from Italy, speak a language incomprehensible to citizens of those surrounding countries, and seem to prefer it that way. The alphabet of the Albanian language contains fifty-two letters, a heritage of centuries of rule first by Romans, later by Turks. Scanderbeg is the revolutionary who bought his people a brief interlude of freedom between occupations by the Roman and Ottoman Empires. That is one reason why Albanians revere George Castriota as their great folk hero, almost their only hero.

     The root of the name Albania is Alb, like the German word for mountain, an apparent reference to the country's rugged terrain. But that is a western name, borrowed from one of Albania's early mountain tribes, the Albanoi. The Albanians of the Middle Ages called their country Arber, themselves Arberesh, a term still used to describe Albanians living in Italy. Albanians today refer to their country as Shqiperia, "land of the eagle." They are Shqipetare, "sons of the eagle." That seemingly hints of Scanderbeg, the eagle having graced the flag of the Castrioti, but the connection of Albanians to eagles dates back before the Christian era, when northern Albania was known as Illyria and southern Albania Epirus. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, reportedly called the Illyrians "sons of eagles," because of their swiftness in battle. The Greeks coined the phrase, "to shout like an Illyrian," because their frenzied screaming and wild waving of weapons frightened even the fierce Spartans. Such good soldiers were these mountain people that the Romans courted them for their armies, and so later would the Turks. Albanians would become Grand Viziers for several Sultans.

     George Castriota Scanderbeg would become the mightiest warrior of this warrior race. At one point during his career, Scanderbeg's guerilla army besieged the fortress of Sfetigrad. Ali Feriz Pasha commanded the Turkish defenders. After six weeks of siege, with the Turks nearly defeated, Ali challenged Scanderbeg to knightly combat. Despite pleas of his officers not to endanger his life, Scanderbeg, then forty-four, shouldered his lance, mounted his horse, and bared his arm for battle. He slew Ali with the first blow.

     During his lifetime, Scanderbeg, wielding mace and curved sword, reportedly killed 3,000 men in battle. His troops, lightly armed and armored, mounted on swift horses, were the blitzkrieg warriors of the fifteenth century. They attacked swiftly without warning, drew blood, retreated, lured their enemy into traps, turned, annihilated them brutally, and then melted into the mountains to hide until their next strike. Using such guerilla tactics, Scanderbeg stalled the Sultan's armies in their relentless march across Europe.

     Yet examine his portrait hanging in the Pitti Palace and it is of a patrician, not a warrior. The artist has lettered "Georgius Scander Bek" in the background to identify the subject. The portrait shows an old man, flowing white beard, dressed in a robe, wearing a cap, looking probably the way he did when he appeared in Rome in 1461 to plead with Pope Paul II for funds to continue his defense against the infidel Turks. This old warrior's most striking physical characteristic is his nose, prominent, beaklike. Then his eyes, piercing, almost haunted, as though filled with the vision of the country that by his strength and perseverance he had created--yet also caused to be destroyed.

     One reason for Scanderbeg's success in holding the Sultan's armies at bay for a quarter century (and for Albania's current isolation from both Western and Eastern society) is its geography. Albania has three sections: highlands, lowlands, and the plains between. The mountainous highlands, particularly in the north, form almost a wall around the country, making access difficult. The lowlands on the seacoast, across the Adriatic from Italy, including the ports of Durazzo (Durres) and Valona (Vlone), as well as the current capital city, Tirene, possess a typical Mediterranean climate, partly marshy, partly fertile. Between highland and lowlands are the plains: pasture lands, green, undulating. South of Tirane, the Shkumbin river flows west into the Adriatic, forming the boundary between northern and southern Albania, each section today having distinctive dialect, cultural traditions, and economic patterns.

     Bishop Fan Stylian Noli, an Albanian priest who migrated to America and wrote perhaps the most accurate history of Scanderbeg, describes his native country as, "an amphitheatre sloping towards the Adriatic Sea, with jagged mountains covering about three fourths of the area and barring access to the lowlands. Torrential and meandering rivers rush down from the highlands towards the sea, making the mountainous hinterland a labyrinth of towering peaks, insidious passes and infernal valleys. It is certainly one of the most difficult terrains of the European continent." One Turk described those mountains as "inaccessible even to the crows, accessible only to demons, like the Albanians."

Bishop Noli stated further: "It was an ideal ground for Scanderbeg's guerilla warfare."

 

The first settlers to make an impact on the area were the ancient Illyrians, migrating from what is now Austria during the Iron Age, more than a thousand years before Christ. They gave their name to the entire eastern Adriatic shoreline, as far south as Durazzo, inland to the Morava. Illyrian nobles owned cattle, managed gold mines. The common people survived as shepherds, living in huts roofed with dung. They supposedly bathed three times in their lives: at birth, at marriage, at death. They played stringed instruments and the flute. The early Illyrian tribes from north to south were: the Liburni, Darmatae, Ardaei, Dardani, Albani, Tanlantii, Labeati, Orestes, Chaones, Thesprote, and the Molossi. As we delved deeper into the origins of Albania, searching for fragments of information on the seven founding families of Falconara, this became an important fact linking my family to the land of eagles. The Molossi reportedly were ancestors of the Muzaki, which in Italy would become the Musacchio. Muzaka is the singular form of the name; Muzaki is plural.

     The coastal Illyrians dabbled in piracy, which raised the wrath of Rome. In 168 B.C., the Romans conquered Illyria and began construction of the Via Egnatia, the great highway toward the East. After this Roman conquest, more than two thousand years of nearly continuous subjugation by outside rulers began for the sons of the Eagle. Yet Illyria would supply the Roman Empire with its best troops, and eventually conquer Rome from within. Several later Roman emperors were of Illyrian descent, including Constantine, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire between 324 and 337. Constantine, as we learned later, is a pivotal figure in the field of genealogical research. If you can trace your roots back to

Constantine, you can make connections with most of the royal families of Europe.

     As Rome's power dwindled, barbarians periodically swept through the Balkans, devastating the countryside, murdering the people, pillaging their villages. Only fortified cities survived. Albania not only suffered from barbarians, but also from its neighbors. Between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, almost every state in the Balkans contended for control of Albania and its strategic coastline. These states included Bulgaria, Serbia, the Greek state of Epirus, and inevitably Byzantium, the decaying eastern remnant of the once mammoth Roman Empire. Venice, attempting to protect its Adriatic sea routes, conquered Corfu and the Dalmatian coast at the end of this period.

     Like most of Europe, Albania then was a feudal society consisting of serfs, vassals, and overlords. The serfs worked the land, sharing their labor with the vassals. The vassals managed the land, but owed military service to the overlords. The Albanian overlords, or nobles, freed themselves from Byzantine control by 1190 and founded the first Albanian feudal state, the principality of Aerberia, its capital Croya (Kruja), its ruler Archon Progon. Albania entered an era of prosperity with the introduction of new tools to cultivate the land, becoming an exporter of food. Cities, populated by artisans and merchants, thrived.

     The nobles consolidated their power in the countryside, fighting each other until only the strong remained. Eight major tribes, or families, eventually would emerge: the Dukaghini, Balsha, Shpata, Komneni, Ariani, Thopia, Castrioti, and--significantly--the Muzaki.

     The Muzaki had vast land holdings in the southeastern corner of Albania, as we learned when my husband and I visited Davide Musacchio on one of our many research trips to Italy. Davide is another one of my many cousins. His mother was the first wife of Agosto Musacchio, my Uncle Gus, who began a second family when he moved to the United States. Uncle Gus died when I was a young girl. Davide's sister-in-law is Totina Musacchio, who both entertained and amused us during our visits to Falconara. Davide lives in the north, near the Swiss Alps.

     Davide told of serving in Albania with the Italian army during World War II. There, he met his wife, who was related to deposed King Zog. Although our efforts at the time to obtain visas to visit Albania had been rebuffed, Davide and his wife, as well as their daughter Lily, had visited the hearthland on several occasions. "In 1960 I was the first Italian citizen issued a visa to enter Albania," Davide told us. He showed us photographs taken at a family gathering and, despite bleak reports of life in Albania, his relatives seemed well-dressed and cheerful.

     Davide also drew us a map of the lands controlled by the Muzaki in the fifteenth century: from Elbasan in the north to Berat in the west to Leskovic in the south and blanketing the Yugoslavian border in the east, nearly a third of the present country. The center of the Muzaki lands was the town of Berat with a current population of 47,486. Over Berat flew the banner of the Muzaki: a two-headed black eagle with a star above on a field of red. Assuming the Muzaki were like the other Albanian nobles of the period, they undoubtedly minted their own coins, although we have seen none.

     During our exploration of Albanian history, we found frequent mentions of the Muzaki clan. The first name of an individual we encountered was that of Andrea Muzaki. In 1304 the Anjous, a French noble family that ruled in southern Italy, came to Albania seeking allies against the Byzantines and Serbians. The Anjous divided their power with Arberesh nobles, and in 1368 named Andrea Muzaka Despot of Arberia. They ceded him the lands between the rivers Shkumbin and Seman, an area that roughly coincides with the map drawn us by Davide Musacchio.

     Bishop Noli identified three social classes in Albania of this era: the free peasants of the highlands and hill country; the merchants of the flourishing seacoast towns; and the petty aristocrats (or patriarchal chieftains) of the highlands. Andrea Muzaki was part of this third noble class. Some of the nobles wavered and at times aligned themselves with foreign powers, but most retained ties with the peasants and merchants. They opposed domination either by Turkey's feudal society, in which the Sultan claimed all land, or by Venice's merchant society, in which only the nobility and bourgeoisie held land. In fact, Albania at the start of the fifteenth century had as close to a free society as you could find in Europe. The Albanians cherished their freedom, reportedly recoiling at the idea of serfdom or slavery. According to V. V. Makushev, a Slavic historian: "An Albanian could not be a slave. Nobody in the slave markets of Turkey would buy an Albanian or Hungarian slave, because they were impossible to handle and too dangerous for their masters."

     Toward the close of the fourteenth century, Albania seemed at the point of becoming a cohesive nation. The Muzaki were among the major landholders in the south. In the north, the Balsha (or Balshajt) tribe held great strength, particularly around Scutari (Shkoder). But the most powerful noble at the end of the fourteenth century was Karl Thopia, who called himself prince of Albania.

       Thopia ruled Durazzo and Croya after 1359, but made the mistake of starting a shipyard on the Adriatic, catching the attention of Venice. The Venetians always reacted against power on their flanks. The thriving Italian city-state disliked having its sea routes threatened and began plotting against Thopia. Venice supported George II of the Balsha clan, who conquered Durazzo. Thopia, in turn, sought help from the Ottoman Empire, the Turks. In 1385, the Turks crushed the armies of George II, killing him. Thus did the Turks gain their first foothold in the land once called Illyria.

 

The Ottoman Empire, was founded in 1300 (760 H, since the Hegira). It took its name from its founder, Osman the Conqueror, a follower of the prophet Mohammed. The Ottomans were Turks from Anatolia in Asia Minor below the Black Sea. They had crossed into Europe in 1352, conquering Gallipoli two years later. Soon after, the Turkish Sultan cast his eyes upon the Balkans, and the land beyond the Balkans, all of it Christian, all of it ripe for conversion to the Moslem faith. In 1371, the Turks defeated the Bulgarian king, forcing him to become a vassal of the Sultan. In 1386, the Turks took Sofia and Nise (Nish).

     Three years later, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, and Albanian feudal lords united under King Lazar of Serbia against the Turks. Two Albanian lords were involved, both with links to the Muzaki. One was Theodor Corona Muzaka of Berat. The other was Balsha II of Scutari. Although the historical records we examined are unclear, apparently Theodor Corona Musaka's father was the Andrea Muzaka, mentioned earlier. Andrea had two sons (Ghin and Theodor) and two daughters (Comita and Chiranna). Comita married King Balsha, possibly the same Balsha II above, or possibly his father. Theodor and Balsha probably were young men, because the name Theodor Corona Musaka would resurface in Albanian history a half century later.

     The Balkan army reportedly contained 100,000 troops. The Turks had 40,000 under the leadership of Sultan Murad I, but included in this number was an elite corps created by Murad, known as the Janissaries. Their name in Turkish meant, "new troops." The Janissaries were recruited from the strongest, most agile children in the Empire. Converted to Islam, given many privileges, the Janissaries formed a standing army for the Sultan.

     The Janissaries were well-clothed, well-fed, and well-paid. They lived in barracks, in celibacy and seclusion, bound by a rigid espirit de corps. They wore uniforms topped by white caps with hanging folds. They numbered between 60,000 and 70,000 regular troops, the largest professional army in the western world. In addition to the Janissaries, the Sultan's forces included the fief-holding spahi horsemen, the irregulars, the volunteers, and contingents of vassals.

     On August 29, 1389, the two armies clashed at the Battle of Kossova. The Turks won with Murad I killing Lazar, only to fall himself to a Serbian assassin during the victory parade. Murad's son Bayazid proclaimed himself Sultan, murdering his brother Yakub to secure his right to the throne.

     What happened to the two Albanian nobles, Theodor and Balsha II, who fought at Kossova? We don't know, but immediately after the Turkish victory the Ottoman Empire began annexing Albanian lands. According to Ottoman law, the Sultan owned all land, his feudal system based on a series of military land grants. The Turks offered those it conquered the opportunity to convert to the Moslem religion. Those who refused to convert were allowed to live in peace, but without privilege. Those bowing to Mecca were offered the opportunity to manage the Sultan's lands. It was a relatively humane way to be governed, provided you had no qualms about subjugating self and soul to the Sultan.

 

In 1402 on the Ottoman Empire's eastern frontier, Tamerlaine defeated Sultan Bayazid's army, capturing him and many of his generals outside Ankara. Bayazid died in captivity, causing a power struggle between his five sons. Mehmed I emerged as the new sultan. After his death in 1421, his son Murad II assumed the throne.

     Meanwhile on the Otoman Empire's western frontier, an Albanian named John Castriota began to expand and consolidate his power. His father, Paul Castriota, had been only a minor noble, ruler of only two villages, Signa and Lower Gardhi. John Castriota became Lord of Mati and extended his territory from Prizren to Shufadaya on the Adriatic Sea. He probably also included Croya in his principality. John Castriota married Voisava Tripalda of Polog, who bore him four sons and five daughters. The four sons were: Stanisha, Reposhi, Constantine, and George. His daughters married neighboring princes, so eventually John Castriota became father-in-law of the most important chieftains of Northern Albania. Among the tribes with whom the Castrioti intermarried were the Muzaki.

     John Castriota, like many Albanian nobles of that era, attempted to walk a tightrope between the two main Balkan powers: the Venetians and the Turks. In 1413, he signed a friendship treaty with Venice, but also recognized Mehmed I as his overlord. In 1428, the Venetians battled the Turks over Salonika. John Castriota sided with Venice and attacked the Turks. In 1430 Isaak Beg Evrenoz of Scopia crushed Castriota, who had to cede castles, manors, and large regions of land to the Sultan. Castriota, repentant, changed his religion from Catholic to Moslem and his name to Hamza, becoming an Ottoman feudal lord.

     It was strictly a marriage of convenience. The Albanians, who had walked to the altar with shotguns, or rather curved swords, thrust against their backs, had little love for the Turks--or anyone who would threaten their freedom. Albanian nobles, who lost their lands, seethed with discontent. The peasant masses also apparently disliked Turkish rule. In 1433, the Shpata family started an uprising in the area from Scutari to Vlore. Assisting them were the Thopia and Muzaki families. George Araniti Thopia Comneni trapped an Ottoman army under Ali Beg Evrenoz in the passes of Kurveleshi and annihilated them, becoming famous throughout Europe. The Albanians defeated three Turkish armies within the next several years, but Izak Beg Evrenoz eventually quelled the rebellion.

 

The Muzaki continued to play their part. One history of the founding of Falconara-Albanese we discovered in Italy refers to the Turks having massacred (in 1434) the five children of one of the Albanian leaders: Blaise Muzaka. In the genealogical records we encountered him as Biagio Muzaka, who was one of seven children of Ghin Muzaka, who was himself the son of Andrea the Despot. The seven children of Ghin included four boys (Andrea, Matarango, Bogdano, and Biagio) and three girls (Laldi, Elena, and Condisa). Biago's five sons, the ones killed by the Turks, were Bogdano, Ghin, Costantino, Teodoro, and Giovanni. Biago also had two daughters, one apparently named Miserri, the other Teodora.

     Also reappearing in 1437 is the name Theodor Corona Muzaka. That had been the name of the noble who fought in the battle of Kossova forty-eight years earlier. A half century is a long time to remain on the stage of world history. Whether, this is the same Theodor, continuing his battle against the Turks into old age, or merely another person with the same family name, we cannot say. Regardless, Theodor Corona Muzaka led a revolt in Berat in 1437. The Turks crushed the revolt mercilessly, and the Muzaki lost their lands. The son of Theodor Corona Muzaka, for reasons of expediency, took the name Jakub Bey and became administrator for much of the Ottoman holdings in Albania. The histories we examined failed to list Jakub's Christian name, but it may have been Nicolo Muzaka. If so, Nikolo had a son named Pietro, who named his son Hassan, noted in genealogical records as a “Turc.” Hassan would become a pasha (a high Turkish rank) in Romania in 1514.

     In 1439, the Ottomans advanced into Hungary, but three years later King Vladislav of Poland mustered a combined Polish, Serbian, Vlalakian, and Hungarian Army, which defeated the Turks at Nise in 1443. It was after this battle that John Castriota's son, George, a general in the Sultan's elite Janissary corps, returned to Albania and set in motion the most critical events in that nation's history. For the next quarter century, the lives and fortunes of the Muzaki--as well as others in the seven families who eventually founded Falconara--would be closely intertwined with George Castriota, the man they called Scanderbeg.