Moisi Arianit Golemi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Moisi Arianit Golemi, (also,
Moisi Arianit Golem Komneni or simply
Moisiu i Dibres), the
Albanian feudal lord of
Dibra, and grandnephew of Gjergj Arianit Komneni. When
Skanderbeg came in Albania, Moisi quickly allied with him and became commander of the border guard. In that capacity he oversaw the capture of the crucial castle of Sfetigrad (Srb: Svetigrad) in modern day
Macedonia. He was a dashing cavalry commander, always charging at the most dangerous point, often changing the course of the battle to Albanian benefit. After the debacle of the
Siege of Berat in 1455, and growing envious of the fame Scanderbeg had accumulated over the years, he betrayed his commander in chief and went over to the
Ottomans. One year later he returned at the head of a fifteen thousand men-strong army, but was promptly defeated by Scanderbeg. He retreated first to Macedonia and then to
Istanbul, where he was left ignored by the Ottoman authorities. Soon thereafter, he went back to Scanderbeg, who pardoned and reinstated him. Moisi devoted the rest of his life to the Albanian struggle, but in 1464 he fell prisoner to
Ballaban Badera, an Albanian-born Ottoman general at the Battle of Vaikal. Dispatched hastily to Istanbul along with other Albanian princes and captains, he was skinned alive publicly in Constantinople in what became known as the Massacre of Constantinople. His memory was captured in literature in Kenga e Moisi Golemit (the Songs of Moisi Golemi) amongst the Albanian-Italian comunity in Southern
Italy known as
Arbereshe
