Establishment of the League of Lezhë

Date: March 2, 1444 • Location: Ulcinj, Montenegro

The League of Lezhë, an alliance of regional chieftains, was established in Venetian Albania with Skanderbeg as their commander.

The League of Lezhë, also commonly referred to as the Albanian League, was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The League of Lezhë is considered the first unified independent Albanian country in the Middle ages, with Skanderbeg as leader of the regional Albanian chieftains and nobles united against the Ottoman Empire until his death in 1468, and then Lekë III Dukagjini led the army and resisted the Ottomans until 1479 when the Ottomans captured Shkodra. Skanderbeg was proclaimed "Chief of the League of the Albanian People," while Skanderbeg always signed himself as "Dominus Albaniae".