Second Siege of Krujë

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The Second Siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire took place in 1466 at Krujë in Albania.

In 1466 Sultan Mehmed II led an army into Albania and again laid siege to Krujë as his father Murad II had attempted sixteen years earlier in the first siege of the town. It was defended by a garrison of 4,400 men, led by Prince Tanush Topia. After several months Mehmed, like Murad, saw that seizing Krujë by force of arms was impossible for him to accomplish. He left the siege to return to Istanbul. However, he left a force of 40,000 men under Ballaban Pasha to maintain the siege, even building a castle in central Albania, which he named El-basan (the modern Elbasan), to support the siege. This second siege was no more successful than the first and was eventually broken by Skanderbeg, resulting in the death of Ballaban, who fell victim to the use of an early version of the new weapon, firearms.