Një Vasal i Premtuar: Skënderbeu Dhe Alfonsi V i Napolit
A Promised Liege: Skanderbeg And Alfonso V of Naples

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses the documents which deal with the nature of relations Scanderbeg established with the kings of Naples in the XV century. They are mostly based upon the Treaty of Gaeta, signed in 1451 between Scanderbeg and the King Alfons V of Aragone and Naples. The other document is the feudal contract stipulated between Scanderbeg and the King Ferrante of Naples in 1464. From a close scrutiny of the above documents, we have reached the conclusion that the relations between Scanderbeg and the kings of Naples could not and quite simply labelled as of “vassalage”. This is a view held by some historians, which is rejected by our analysis of the documents. To better understand this kind of feudal relations, the paper explores the meaning of concepts such as “vassal” and “recommended”. From the study of the historical context of the time and of the intense activity Scanderbeg had in the international level, it comes out that he could not be the vassal of a king. Instead, he continuously tried to secure new alliances in Italy and in Europe, which certainly was not the characteristic of a vassal noble. In the 1460s, Scanderbeg saw as more important his relations with the Papacy, but also those with the Venetian Republic, which in their turn were harsh rivals to the Kingdom of Naples. In the last instance, the independent and very vivid military and diplomatic campaigns of Scanderbeg were not typical of a vassal noble, all the more when, by 1460s, the kings of Naples were becoming more and more marginal in the context of a general anti-Ottoman war.

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