Vrana (military commander)

Vrana Konti

Count
Vrana Konti; Count
	Bust in the museum of Krujë
Born	(now Albania)
Died	1458
Allegiance	(League of Lezhë)
Children	Bernardo Branai

Vrana (d. 1458), historically known as Vrana Konti (literally, Count Vrana) was an

Alfonso the Magnanimous

. The term conte ("count") with which he became known in historical accounts didn't refer to an actual title he held, but to his status as a figure of importance.

After his return to Albania, Vrana connected himself with

first siege. He was offered a great deal of money and a high-ranking post in the Ottoman administration by Sultan Murad II

in order to surrender the castle but he firmly held the defense with a maximum number of 4,000 troops against tens of thousands of Ottoman soldiers.

His son Bernardo left Albania when the Ottomans conquered the country and settled in the Kingdom of Naples and became duke of Ferrandina in 1505. His descendants, known as the Granai-Castriota held large estates in southern Italy and were distinguished in the internal and external affairs of the kingdom.

Life

As a result of the scarcity of primary sources, Brana's date of birth and his family have been a subject of debate. In early sources, he is usually referred to as Vrana and Vranaconte or Branaconte which correspond to the original patronymic surname of his descendants Branai in archival material. The literary form Uran is also observed in bibliography. There is no attested form of his surname. Vrana was probably one of those regional, small lords who were tied to the

Alfonso the Magnanimous as a mercenary. The status of conte ("count") which is used to refer to him in contemporary historical accounts doesn't refer to an actual title with which he was bestowed but referred to his status as a man of importance.^[4]

Military activity

Vrana had returned to Albania in the years prior to the beginning of the Albanian-Turkish wars under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg in 1443. Vrana was one of his closest and most trusted allies. He may be the Urana who is mentioned in a document of Ottoman Krujë in relation to events as a result of which Skanderbeg was given direct control of the village of Mamurras.^[5]

In the Albanian-Turkish wars, Krujë was the center of the Albanian war effort. The Ottomans besieged Krujë four times between 1450 and 1478, when it fell ten years after Skanderbeg's death. In May 1450, two years after the Ottomans had captured Svetigrad, they organized a mass campaign and

Venetian possessed areas, whereas the others were ordered to burn their crops and move into the mountains and fortresses.^[6] Vrana addressed the army with encouraging speeches in order to raise morale, in Albanian and Italian, and through interpreters. The garrison repelled three major direct assaults on the city walls by the Ottomans, causing great losses to the besieging forces and forced the Ottomans to retreat. Ottoman attempts at finding and cutting the water sources failed, as did a sapped tunnel, which collapsed suddenly. An offer of 300,000 aspra (Turkish silver coins) and a promise of a high rank as an officer in the Ottoman army made to Vrana Konti, were both rejected by him.^[9] Vrana's stance in the siege of Krujë is remembered in many folk songs and their variants in the region that Skanderbeg held.^[10]

Vrana was one of the commanders in the Siege of Berat in 1455. The purpose of the siege was to recover the city of Berat for the Muzaka family and establish a firm stronghold for the League of Lezhë in southern Albania. Skanderbeg's army had 15,000 men including a 1,000 man strong Neapolitan contingent of siege warfare engineers which Alfonso had sent to deal with the fortification of the Berat Castle. The siege was at first successful and the fortifications were breached. An armistice was signed and the Albanian army expected that the Ottomans would surrender. Skanderbeg moved with a contingent to another area.^[11] In mid July, however, the Ottomans sent an army of 20,000 troops led by Evrenosoglu Isa Bey, which surprised Skanderbeg's army. Only one commander, Vrana, managed to resist the initial Ottoman onslaught and pushed back several attacking waves. When Skanderbeg returned, the Ottoman relief force was repulsed and defeated. But the Albanians were exhausted and their numbers had dwindled to the point where the siege could not be continued. More than 5,000 of Skanderbeg's men died, including 800 men of the 1,000 Neapolitans.^[12] The commander of the siege, Muzaka Thopia, was also killed during the conflict.^[13]

Vrana died in 1458.

Rimnica. In one of the variants of the story, when he returned to the village he was sick and disappointed by the possible outcome of the war. He climbed Skerteci, a mountain near Tanusha and gathered two large stone slabs which he told the villagers to use to make his tombstone.^[3]

Historiography and literature

Historical accounts about Vrana's life and deeds are scarce beyond some references about him in official correspondence of the time and works which focus mainly on his role in the

Gjergj Kastrioti's wars in their works in the first half of the 16th century. Giammaria Biemmi in his 1742 Istoria di Giorgio Castrioto some more details about his background - like a parental lineage to an Altisferi family which he links to the Zaharia family.^[16] His work, which Biemmi claimed to be based on an unknown manuscript is considered a forgery in modern scholarship like many of his other works.^[17]

In oral literature - epic poetry and tales - he is well-remembered for his involvement in the Skanderbeg's battles. Much of the corpus of these oral tales focus on the siege of Krujë. Geographically, in Albania these tales are found in an area from Krujë to the

Gavril Dara the Younger in Kënga e Sprasme e Balës portrays Vrana with much affection as a high lord (zot i math).^[18]

In 1967, a year dedicated to the memory of Scanderbeg in literature and visual arts in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, a bust of Vrana was created by local sculptor from Krujë, Sabri Tuçi. In the same year, he was the subject of the painting Vrana Konti në kështjellën e Krujës (Vrana Konti in the fortress of Krujë) by Skender Kamberi.^[19]

Descendants

His son, Bernardo took the surname Branai in Italy. His original name may also have been Vrana/Brana, which was italianized as Bernardo after his arrival in Italy.

Donika Arianiti and their son Alfonso adopted the surname Castriota to honor that connection with the Kastrioti family with which their ancestor Vrana probably belonged to a common fis.^[20]^[2] The surname Branai was altered to Granai, so the family became known as Castriota-Granai. Vrana may also have had another son who is recorded as a scribe Zaganos in Ottoman Krujë.^[5]

The Granai-Castriota held large estates in the

condotierri. They were also patrons of art in southern Italy. Jacopo Sannazaro was very critical of the family, while Antonio de Ferraris dedicated two epistles to them.^[21] The Granai kept their connections with Albania well into the 16th century. Alfonso Granai had an active spy network in Albania and maintained a force of local stradiots and his brother Giovanni (1468-1514), Duke of Ferrandina was known to have spoken Albanian. In 1551, a relative of the family in Albania, Dimitro Massi was part of an assembly in the cape of Rodon for the organization of anti-Ottoman revolt in the country.^[20]