User:Antidiskriminator/Drafts of articles/Siege of Krujë (1466) for GA


 * "A lot of your suggestions are irrelevant so I skipped many. However, I have decided to implement the good ones."
 * You are welcome. I think that by implementing more than 20 of my suggestions you managed to improve the quality of article a little. You are right that not all of them were major issues, but will you please be so kind to explain why did you ignore the following issues:
 * The name issue. Takabeg presented evidence that the name of the article should be moved to Croia.
 * The siege period issue. According to Babinger, Ballaban pitched a camp outside Kruje in February 1466. The article says he came with sultan in June.

About the review process
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GAR If you believe a current good article does not meet the criteria, try reassessing the article yourself (an individual reassessment), and only request a community reassessment if a disagreement arises... It is rarely helpful to request a community reassessment for an article which has not had a proper review: simply renominate it.]

I already explained here that the reviewer of this article did not follow the Reviewing good articles guidelines because he undertook this review although he is "too close to the topic" and "involved in a contentious discussions" related to the topic. Instead of withdrawing, so that a less-involved editor can make the final assessment and decision on the Good article criteria the reviewer continued the review and passed the article ignoring numerous requests of the WP:RGA guideline:
 * 1) First things to look for:
 * 2) The topic is treated in an obviously non-neutral way. The Ottoman point of view was totally ignored. On 27 April 1463 Skanderbeg signed the Peace of Ushkub, a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire. On 20 August 1463 Skanderbeg violated this agreement and allied himself with Venice during Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479). During the next couple of years Skanderbeg fought against Ottoman Empire (sometimes together with Venetian troops like in the Battle of Ohrid) and allowed Venetian troops to garrison in Kruje. Even the very existence of the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) is ignored in the article which don't provide any link to it.
 * 3) The article should be factually accurate.

Besides this important review fault, there was proposal for renaming the article that was not addressed at all, although there was agreement reached that it should be renamed. One of the proofs that the review has been done hastily is that reviewer had not even noticed that the name of the article Siege of Krujë (1466) was wrong because it had not included year 1467 as year of the siege Siege of Krujë (1466–1467).

Title
 * 1) 1466→1466—1467
 * 2) The expression "second siege of Kruje" is not used in sources about this event, except one tertiary source which is very inaccurate in this case. ❌ the name of this conflict remained the second siege of the Kruje despite provided rationale
 * 3) Croia

Why?
 * 1) The Ottoman side emphasized that the main reason for Ottoman campaigns against Skanderbeg was his "breaking of faith" and allowing a Venetian forces to garrison in Kruje. Ottoman forces in Albania were threatened by them and because of that treat Ottomans organized campaigns against Skanderbeg after 1464..

When?
 * 1) According to Babinger, and "probably as early as February" "piched camp outside Kruje". The article says June, without providing any cited source for this important assertion? ❌
 * 2) According to Babinger,  Balaban probably came to Albania before Mehmed (February). The article says they came together in June (Mehmed had marched into Albania with Ballaban Badera under his command)? ❌

Size?
 * 1) Important assertion about the number of the Ottoman soldiers is not referenced at all. (except in case of rumours Venetians have heard) - ✅ ❌ - The number of 30,000 is referenced, but the number of 100,000 remained on rumor level. To illustrate how wrong is to ignore arguments based on reliable sources and to overestimate the size of the Ottoman army I will present the number of Ottoman soldiers in much bigger and much more important battles against the coalitions of many strong medieval countries and empires or the whole crusading armies: Battle of Kosovo: 27,000—40,000, Battle of Nicopolis: 12,000—15,000, Battle of Kosovo (1448): 40,000 — 60,000, Battle of Varna: 60,000, ...
 * 2) If Babinger is right when estimate the size of the Ottoman army to 30.000, then Mehmed did not leave Albania with his main army (but only with 25%) if he left Balaban with 23,000 soldiers. ❌ - If Mehmed left 23 out of 30 thousand soldiers (Babinger), then he left with small part of his army, not with "his main army". The number of 100.000 Ottoman soldiers remained in the article despite it was only a rumor which was refuted by the reports and presented source

Who?
 * 1) League of Lezhe is presented as one of belligerents in this siege. Here are the members of the League of Lezhe:
 * 2) Lekë Zaharia (lord of Sati and Dagnum) - Murdered by his vassal Nikola Dukagjin in 1444. Zaharia's realm became a part of Venice.
 * 3) Paul Dukagjin and Nikola Dukagjin (vassal of Lekë Zaharia) - Dukagjini family left the League of Lezhë in 1450, together with Arianiti family, they concluded a peace with Ottoman Empire and started their actions against Skanderbeg. Even the text of the article presents the information that Dukagjini did not want to help Skanderbeg until he returned from Italy in April 1467, a couple of days before the siege was over.
 * 4) Peter Spani - There is no information about any kind of principality belonging to Spani family in 1466-1467 or participation of any member of Spani family in the events connected with this siege
 * 5) Leke Dushmani - There is no information about any kind of principality belonging to Dushmani family in 1466-1467 or participation of any member of Dushmai family in the events connected with this siege
 * 6) George Stresi Balsha - There is no information about any kind of principality belonging to George Stresi Balsha in 1466-1467 or participation of George Stresi Balsha in the events connected with this siege
 * 7) Andrea Thopia with nis nephew Tanush Thopia - Tanush Thopia did not have any kind of principality under his control in 1466-1467 which could have been allied into any kind of League
 * 8) George Arianiti Thopia Comneni - There is no information about any kind of principality belonging to Arianiti family in 1466-1467 which could have been allied into any kind of League
 * 9) Theodor Corona Musachi- There is no information about any kind of principality belonging to Musachi family in 1466-1467 which he could have been allied into any kind of League
 * 10) Stefan Crnojević - died in 1464 or 1465

Some less important issues
Possible inaccuracies


 * 1) " the Turks could march against Bosnia, Serbia, Dalmatia, Negroponte, or Albania" Again Turks marching ... but in this case against Serbia (? Serbia was captured by the Ottomans in 1459, seven years before this event), (Bosnia in 1463, three years before this event) and again of course Albania (which significant part of the territory already belonged to the Ottomans for decades). Wikilinks are leading to the modern day republics of Serbia and Bosnia. ❌ Ottomans are unlikely to march against countries they already conquered, like Serbia, Bosnia, major part of Albania...
 * 2) Venice reported to Hungary that Mehmed had offered peace and was willing to accept it. Hungary also opted for peace, but Mehmed only sought peace with Venice in order to isolate Skanderbeg and thus peace was not signed.  - It is not so big problem because of this assertions are not referenced. The problem is that it seems to contradict to what Setton says about the same thing. According to Setton, it was totally the opposite. Venice wanted peace, but Mehmed refused it by requesting too much for peace (Venice to pay him yearly tributes among other things) - page 287. ❌
 * 3) According to Marin Barleti, Skanderbeg's main biographer, Skanderbeg had placed 4,400 men under Tanush Thopia. Along with them were placed Venetian infantry under Baldizar Perduzzi and 200 Neapolitan marksmen. - Venetian infantry (Babinger says 1,000) and Napolitan marksmen (200) together with 4,400 men under Thopia equals 5,600. Infobox says 4,400? ❌ I checked again. The dictionary defines along with as accompanying; together with. In that case together with 4,400 men under Thopia were 1,000 Venetian infantry and 200 Napolitan marksmen, which makes total number 5,600.
 * 4) According to Babinger, the commander of the garrison was Baldizar Perduzz (Baldassare Perducci) (The commander in Kruje was Baldassare Perducci). This information corresponds with the Ottoman version of the main reason for the attack on Skanderbeg's (Venetian) stronghold. ❌

Unclear
 * 1) The fortress especially worried Venice since Elbasan was constructed on the banks of the Shkumbin River which would allow the Ottomans to send ships into the Adriatic and threaten Venetian colonies. - This sentence does not make much sense. In 1466 Ottomans already had Vlore under their control for 50 years. Why would they need Shkumbin River to send ships into the Adriatic? ❌
 * 2) against the Ottoman Empire - not only against Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg fought against Venetian Republic also, not to mention his Italian campaign and clashes with Dukagjini clan. ❌
 * 3) He organized a timar in eastern Albania to strangle Skanderbeg's domains. - A timar? Numerous timars existed in eastern Albania much before 1466. Timars were part of the sanjaks, so there is no need to mention only one timar in eastern Albania because readers could be mislead to believe that other timars in eastern Albania did not participate in struggle against Skanderbeg. ❌
 * 4) Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) should be explained because it shows a wider picture of the events and provide a basis for the Ottoman version of the events. It is very important to emphasize one simple fact: During this Ottoman-Venetian war territory of Albania became one of the main battlefields. ❌


 * 1) June event: "Soon after, Mehmed's men marched into Albania...Skanderbeg had remained in Albania, however, but he had sent many inhabitants of Krujë to Italy as refugees in twelve ships. With them, he sent his wife, Donika, and his son, John . ."....August event: "On 16 August, around the time that Elbasan was finished,... Venetian faith in Skanderbeg's resistance began to subside,..Since the Signoria still had not delivered its promised aid, Skanderbeg sent his son John to Venice...John returned to Albania empty-handed"...The voyage of this 12 year old boy should be clarified. ❌ It is still unclear how many times John traveled to Italy in period June-August ❌ Regarding John, I didn't say that he hadn't travelled to Venice. I proposed to investigate his voyage, because I find it unclear from where he travelled and where to he returned, especially taking in consideration that Skanderbeg travelled himself to Italy in October
 * 2)  According to the Babiner, the commander of the besieged forces was Venetian officer, Baldazarre Perducci. He is totally forgotten in the infobox. Instead, there is only Moneta mentioned on the bottom of the list, although he was not in the besieged fortress but in relief forces. Maybe it would be a good idea to divide information about besieged and relief forces and their commanders, like in other siege articles about Skanderbeg. ✅ ❌
 * 3) February 1467 - This amount had not been gathered, however, and Paul thus offered Skanderbeg 2,300 ducats. - Offered or granted? What happened with that offer and 2,300 ducats? ❌
 * 4) February 1467 - Ottoman force sent to defeat the League of Lezhë definitively, however, had been defeated. - What force, who defeated it and where? ❌
 * 5) Spring 1467 - The once distant Albanian nobles, among them Dukagjini, were now convinced of their impending end and allied themselves with Skanderbeg. - If forces of other Albanian nobles were distant and if they allied themselves with Skanderbeg only in spring 1467, what is the reason for emphasizing that one of belligerents was League of Lezhë? Who (besides Venetians) fought against Ottoman Empire until April 1467? ❌
 * 6) Ballaban had raised his camp in hills southwest of Krujë and beneath Mt. Sarisalltëk, he placed a guarding force. The rest of his army surrounded Krujë.[29] Skanderbeg and his allies marched through the mouth of the Mat River and cut through the woods of Jonima to the boundaries of Krujë.[61] Skanderbeg's staff was assigned different groups for an assault on the main Ottoman camp: northern Albanian forces would be put under Dukagjini's command, Venetian battalions were under the command of Moneta, and Skanderbeg's most trusted forces would be assigned to another group under his command; Krujë's garrison would naturally defend the fortress. Moneta's and Dukagjini's men would attack the besieging forces from the north and Skanderbeg's men would attack from south of Krujë while also blocking any possible Ottoman reinforcements from the east.[62] Skanderbeg first assaulted the guarding force which Ballaban had left and he gained control of this strategic point.[29] Skanderbeg then managed to defeat Ottoman relief forces under Ballaban's brother, Jonuz, and captured him and his son.[63][29] Four days later, Ballaban ordered an assault on Krujë but was killed in the resulting clashes by Gjergj Lleshi (Georgius Alexius). - This description is confusing.
 * 7) Ballaban's army was divided and positioned: 1) in "camp in hills southwest of Krujë", 2) "beneath Mt. Sarisalltëk... a guarding force" and 3) force which "surrounded Krujë".
 * 8) Allied forces of Skanderbeg's supporters were divided to three groups, under command of: 1) Dukagjini, 2) Moneta and 3) Skanderbeg
 * 9) The battle:
 * 10) Dukagjini and Moneta attacked would attack "the besieging forces from the north"
 * 11) Skanderbeg attacked "the guarding force" "beneath Mt. Sarisalltëk" "from south of Krujë" and gained control of this strategic point
 * 12) Skanderbeg defeated Ottoman relief forces under Ballaban's brother, Jonuz, and captured him and his son.
 * 13)  Four days later Ballaban ordered an assault on Krujë but was killed in the resulting clashes by Gjergj Lleshi (Georgius Alexius) - What were they doing for four days, after they successfully attacked besieging forces from both South and North ? If Skanderbeg managed to defeat one Ottoman relief force, why would he allow Ballabana to attack fortress four days later? How can Ballaban attack Kruje if there were Dukagjini, Moneta and Skanderbeg who were victorious against the besieging forces, guarding forces and relief forces surrounding Kruje from both North and South? Did Ballaban attack relief forces or Kruje?  It is not clear if Ballaban was with encircled Ottoman forces or not (the article says his camp was "in hills southwest of Krujë". Attack of the encircled Ottoman forces to the fort instead of Skanderbeg's relief forces which encircled the besieging forces does not make much sense, especially taking in consideration that they failed to capture it in much better conditions with much larger forces during almost a year period. Why would they wait for four days before performing this assault on Kruje, ....  ❌

Other


 * 1) He thus requested the arrival of promised Venetian forces when they signed a treaty of alliance on 20 August 1463 and the promised contribution of 3,000 ducats. - Is it mistake in the year? Maybe it should be 1466? If it was really a treaty of alliance signed in August 1463, when Venice and Ottoman Empire were confronted and starting Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) then this fact should be clearly presented to the readers. Skanderbeg allied with Ottoman enemy. ❌
 * 2) Here Kenneth Setton explains that "documents relating to Skanderbeg's struggle with the Turks in 1466 are conveniently assembled in J. Radonić "Djuradj Kastriot Skenderbeg" so I propose to add Further reading section and include this work in it.  ❌
 * 3) The Siege section can be expanded with above mentioned works of Setton and Babinger. ❌
 * 4) the men stationed in Elbasan would constantly harass the Albanians, to leave them no place for refuge - Sultan did not build Elbasan to constantly harass people who are Albanians, leaving them no place for refuge. Ottoman Empire did not divide people on ethnicity basis. ❌ Albanians were major part of the Ottoman armies active in the region of Albania.
 * 5) According to Marin Barleti, Skanderbeg's main biographer, - Main biographer?! ❌ Barleti was Skanderbeg's main biographer in 16th century. Today, Skanderbeg's main biographer is scholar who wrote the best biography of Skanderbeg. Oliver Schmitt. Refering to Barleti as Skanderbeg's main biographer despite the fact that major part of biography he wrote are his inventions and forgery can mislead the readers to believe that Barleti's panegyric inventions are reliable.
 * 6)  200 Neapolitan marksmen - There is no information in the infobox about this unit. ❌ The number of the marksmen is not so important as the fact that Kingdom of Naples supported the defense of this Kruje too. That support is mentioned by Babinger too.

Minor issues
 * 1) and had grown close with the Western Christian states, especially with Alfonso V of Aragon and the Papal States - He had not only grown close with Alfonso V of Aragon but Ferdinand I of Naples too. In 1466 it was Ferdinand I who was the king, not Alfonso. He was vassal of the king of Naples from 1448. His vassal status is important and should be clearly presented in the article. ❌
 * 2) Despite his inability to subdue Krujë, Mehmed decided that the Ottoman presence would not depart Albania. - This sentence does not make any sense. Why would Ottoman Empire leave Albania after 50 years of their presence there because there is one highland fortress which remained out of their control. ❌
 * 3) "By the beginning of May, however, it was clear that Turkish preparations had been made for Albania. This was made clear when after ending his campaigns in Wallachia, Karaman, and the Morea, Mehmed moved his forces to the Albanian border. None of the promised reinforcements from Naples and Venice arrived and Skanderbeg was thus left to fight Turkish forces alone."...."News arrived from eastern Albania that the Ottomans had begun massacring the inhabitants there....Soon after, Mehmed's men marched into Albania."..."Skanderbeg did not expect such a campaign and his army was not ready to halt the advances." - Contradictory informations. Everybody knew, it was clear ... but Sk. did not expect it? ❌
 * 4) (middle of 1467) The map which presents "Main Albanian towns during the 15th century, including settlements in neighboring regions" is not useful for this article. This article is about the siege of Kruje. The names of the towns on the map are so small that they are not visible. It is impossible to notice the position of Kruje unless you don't click three times on the map. ❌
 * 5) (August 1467) Venetian faith in Skanderbeg began to subside, however, since the sultan took a much more aggressive approach in his relations with Venice. - Much more aggressive approach in his relations with Venice? Ottoman Empire and Venice were in the middle of the war - Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479). ❌ Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) is not mentioned and linked despite the fact that this siege was not only part of this war, but it was organized because Skanderbeg allied with Venice in this war.
 * 6) Skanderbeg's only hope was for help to come from Italy - Setton and Babinger mention help of Ragusa in their above mentioned works. The story is not comlete without mention of this help and later Ragusan decision to forbid Skanderbeg to enter Ragusa. ❌
 * 7) Babinger published information about the (page 260) rumors that Skanderbeg was to surrender Kruje under mediation of the King of Naples, who became Ottoman ally. Taking in consideration that Skanderbeg was at the Ferdinand's court at the same time when there was Ottoman ambassador who signed peace treaty with Naples it is not strange that Babinger thought such information is worth mentioning. ❌
 * 8) In the article about the Siege of Berat (1455) Skaderbeg is positioned at the bottom of the list of the commanders, probably because he was not present at the end of the siege. Instead there is a long list of local commanders before Skanderbeg, although Skanderbeg was responsible for big mistake when leaving the siege with sizeable contigent before capturing Berat "believing the situation was well in hand and that the castle would fall". But in case of this article the same logic was not followed. Although sultan did not even participate in the siege for most of its duration (Babinger says that he did not actively participate in the siege, but only occasionally and hesitantly), his name is positioned on the top of the list of the commanders in the infobox, while local Ottoman-Albanian commanders are not mentioned at all, except Balaban. On the other hand, Skanderbeg's name is at the top of the list although he was not in the besieged fortress at all. According to the Babiner, the commander of the besieged forces was Venetian officer, Baldazarre Perducci. He is totally forgotten in the infobox. Instead, there is only Moneta mentioned on the bottom of the list, although he was not in the besieged fortress but in relief forces. The same comparation could be done with other articles, like i.e. Siege of Svetigrad (1448). That was also a big defeat of Skanderbeg's men, and Skanderbeg is again positioned on the bottom of the list with clear remark that he only led the relief force, while real commander of the besieged town is positioned at the top. ✅ Baldazarre Perducci is added to the infobox, ❌ other part of the issue remained non-attained

Additional issues
 * 1)  By the beginning of May... None of the promised reinforcements from Naples and Venice arrived and Skanderbeg was thus left to fight Ottoman forces only with the league's troops. - Incorrect. Babinger emhasize that Venetian forces were already inside Kruje in February 1466 and that Venetian senate ordered Venetian providorre in Albania to personally organize defense of Kruje ("...probably as early as February Ballaban pitched the camp outside Kruje...the Venetian providorre received orders from Signoria to direct the defensive operations in person. The commander in Kruje was Baldassare Perducci....".
 * 2) The infobox presents this siege as part of the larger group of wars (Ottoman wars in Europe) although Template:Infobox military conflict clearly say "For battles or campaigns, this should be the war during which the event takes place" (which is Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)) and only "For wars, the parameter may be used to link to a larger group of wars"
 * 3) The location parameter of the infobox links to the Republic of Albania, established 500 years after this siege
 * 4) "Combatants should be listed in order of importance to the conflict, be it in terms of military contribution, political clout, or a recognized chain of command." Combatants are not listed in order of importance of the conflict. Baldassare Perducci was commander of the garrison, and he is placed below Tanush Thopia who was subordinate to Perducci. On the other hand, Mehmed II has not significantly contributed to the siege which was organized by Ballaban from February 1466 to April 1467. Still Ballaban was positioned below Mehmed II.
 * 5) units1/units2/units3 parameters are not used, though it could be useful to the readers to explain the structure of the besieged forces
 * 6) the name of the soldier who killed Ballaban was Gjergj Aleks or Gjergj Aleksi