Third Siege of Krujë

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The Third Siege of Krujë by the Ottoman Empire occurred in 1467 at Krujë in Albania.

A few months after the failure of the second siege, Mehmed II led an army into Albania in 1467. Krujë was besieged for a third time, but on a much larger and more organized scale. While a contingent of troops kept the city and its forces pinned down, Ottoman armies came pouring in from Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Greece with the aim of keeping the whole country surrounded, thereby strangling Skanderbeg’s supply routes and limiting his mobility. During this conflict, Skanderbeg fell ill with malaria in the Venetian-controlled city of Lezhë, and died on January 17, 1468, just as the army under the leadership of Lekë Dukagjini defeated the Ottoman forces in the battle of Shkodër. However, Krujë held, and the staunch resistance forced Mehmed to break off the siege.