2020/09/18 by Oliver Jens Schmitt · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Balkans: History, Politics, Society #Ancient history #History #Classics
paper · doi:10.4324/9780429464799-4
openalex publication_date 2020/09/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Ottoman conquest in Albania started in ca. 1385 and ended in 1479 when Venice had to cede its territory, after a protracted war, around the fortress of Shkodra in northern Albania. Kosovo was eventually integrated into the Ottoman provincial system only in 1455 when Novo Brdo, the most important silver mine of the Balkans, was conquered. A coalition of his successors had survived the indecisive but legendary battle of Kosovo Polje against Ottoman forces in 1389 but kept reduced territory and authority mainly in present-day central Serbia with residences in Belgrade and Smederevo on the Danube until 1459. However, until the end of the eighteenth century, only Christian Albanians in mountainous coastal areas followed Scanderbeg’s example and sought wider support for armed opposition. The exodus still left a substantial number of Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, in subsequently disputed proportions, but weakened the Christian capacity for further resistance.