Plain of Torvioll
Encyclopedia
Dibër County
The County of Dibër is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Bulqizë, Dibër, and Mat and its capital is Peshkopi.Dibër is known for its resistance against the Turks. Historical Dibër included parts of Albania and Macedonia...
region in eastern Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, north of Peshkopi
Peshkopi
Peshkopi is a city in Dibër District, Dibër County, northeastern Albania.It is located away from Tirana, the capital of Albania, and from the Macedonian border. It is situated at 41°40'N and 20°25'. It sits above sea level. In the 2004 census, there were approximately 14,100 residents. It is...
. It is most famous for being the battlefield for Skanderbeg
Skanderbeg
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
's first battle against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the Battle of Torvioll
Battle of Torvioll
The battle of Torvioll, also known as the battle of Lower Dibra, was fought on June 29 of 1444 in Albania. Skanderbeg was an Ottoman captain of Albanian origin who decided to go back to his native land and take the reins of a new Albanian rebellion...
which took place on 29 June 1444. According to a defter
Defter
A Defter was a type of tax register in the Ottoman Empire. The information collected could vary, but tahrir defterleri typically included details of villages, dwellings, household heads , ethnicity/religion , and land use.The defter-i hakâni was a land registry, also used for tax...
gathered by the Ottomans in 1467, the region of Lower Dibra included the northern half of Dibran territory.
The plain, according to Giammaria Biemmi
Giammaria Biemmi
Giammaria Biemmi was an Italian priest who published a work on Skanderbeg titled Istoria di Giorgio Castrioto Scanderbeg-Begh. His work was published in Brescia, Italy in 1742....
's work, one of the primary sources on Skanderbeg and his campaigns, was 7 miles (11.3 km) long and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide, stretching from Mount Maran in Lower Dibra to the Mokra Mountains. He also says that it is closed by a series of hills at whose feet runs the Shkumbin
Shkumbin
Shkumbin is a river in central Albania, flowing into the Adriatic Sea. It is considered the dividing line for the two dialects of the Albanian language: Tosk and Gheg ....
River and two heavily-wooded mountains where Skanderbeg hid his ambushing force. However, the Shkumbin River does not run through Lower Dibra. Instead, the Black Drin
Black Drin
The Black Drin is a river in Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. It flows out of Lake Ohrid in Struga, Macedonia. After approximately it crosses the border to Albania, west of Debar. It merges with the White Drin in Kukës to form the Drin, which flows into the Adriatic Sea...
does. Kristo Frashëri, an eminent historian on the study of Skanderbeg, states that Biemmi lapsed, confusing the Black Drin with the Shkumbin. Furthermore, the Black Drin matches all of the geographical features described by Biemmi, as does the modern-day Plain of Shumbat.
Biemmi furthermore states that the plain derived its name from a nearby village. It is not sure if this village actually existed, but it is assumed that Torvioll lends its etymology to the word tevioll in the Dibër dialect meaning land without a lord, noting that it did not have any owners and any shepherd could feed his livestock there. It is therefore possible that the battle was originally named after Tevioll and was corrupted to Torvioll.