There are two literature works on Skanderbeg written in the 15th century. The first was written at the beginning of 1480 by
Serbian writer
Martin Segon who was Catholic Bishop of
Ulcinj and one of the most notable 15th-century
humanists. A part of the text he wrote under title
Martino Segono di Novo Brdo, vescovo di Dulcigno. Un umanista serbo-dalmata del tardo Quattrocento is short but very important biographical
sketch on
Skanderbeg (). Another 15th-century literature work with Skanderbeg as one of the main characters was
Memoirs of a janissary () written in period 1490—1497 by
Konstantin Mihailović, a
Serb who was a
janissary in
Ottoman Army. In Western Europe the books on Skanderbeg began to appear in the early 16th century.
Raffaelo Maffei published in
Rome in 1506 his "Commentariorum" in which he published a short biography on Skanderbeg. Two years later one of the earliest works, the
Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi, Epirotarum Principis () (Rome, 1508), was published a four decades after Skanderbeg's death. This book was written by Albanian historian
Marin Barleti (), who, after experiencing the Ottoman capture of his native Shkodër at firsthand, settled in
Padua where he became rector of the parish church of
St. Stephan. Barleti dedicated his work to Don Ferrante Kastrioti, Skanderbeg's grandchild, and to posterity. The book was first published in Latin. Barleti is sometimes inaccurate in favour of his hero, for example, according to Gibbon, Barleti claims that the Sultan was killed by disease under the walls of Krujë. Barleti's inaccuracies had also been noticed prior to Gibbon by
Laonikos Chalkokondyles. Barleti made up spurious correspondence between
Vladislav II of Wallachia and Skanderbeg wrongly assigning it to the year 1443 instead to the year of 1444. Barleti also invented correspondence between Skanderbeg and Sultan
Mehmed II to match his interpretations of events. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Barleti's book was translated into a number of foreign-language versions: in German by Johann Pincianus (1533), in Italian by Pietro Rocca (1554, 1560), in Portuguese by Francisco D'Andrade (1567), in Polish by Ciprian Bazylik (1569), in French by
Jaques De Lavardin (, 1576), and in Spanish by Juan Ochoa de la Salde (1582). The English version was a translation made by Zachary Jones Gentleman from de Lavardin's French version, and was published at the end of the 16th century under the title,
Historie of George Castriot, surnamed Scanderbeg, King of Albinie; containing his Famous Actes, his Noble Deedes of Armes and Memorable Victories against the Turkes for the Faith of Christ. The
Serbian version is the major part and the first manuscript of the
Cetinje chronicle. All these books, written in the panegyric style that would often characterize medieval historians who regarded history mostly as a branch of rhetoric, inspired a wide range of literary and art works.
Gjon Muzaka, an
Albanian nobleman from the
Muzaka family, wrote his memoires
Breve memoria de li discendenti de nostra casa Musachi [Brief Chronicle on the Descendants of our Musachi Dynasty] in 1510 which contains substantial text about Skanderbeg. In 1562
John Shute translated to English
tract Two very notable commentaries: The one of the original of the Turcks and the empire of the house of Ottomanno, and the other of the warre of the Turcke against George Scanderbeg written by
Andrea Cambini and
Paolo Giovio at the beginning of the 16th century.
Michel de Montaigne wrote an essay on Skanderbeg at the end of the 16th century.
Luis Vélez de Guevara, a
Spanish dramatist and
novelist, wrote three comedies about Skanderbeg referred to as "escanderbechas". The first comedy titled
El jenízaro de Albania [The janissary of Albania] was written in period 1608—1610, the second titled
El principe Escanderbey [Prince Scanderbeg] in period 1620—1628 and the third titled
El principe esclavo [The Slave Prince] in 1629. In 1623 in Rome, we have the first book on Skanderbeg written by a woman
Margherita Sarrocchi, a long poem titeled
Scanderbeide. Skanderbeg was one of the heroes (Scannarebecco) of
Pentamerone written by
Giambattista Basile, published posthumously in 1634 and 1636.
Frang Bardhi, an Albanian Catholic bishop born in Albania, also wrote Kastrioti's biography, prompted by writings of another Catholic bishop,
Ivan Tomko Mrnavić. His book "Georgius Castriotus, Epirensis vulgo Scanderbegh, Epirotarum Princeps Fortissimus" was published in Latin in 1636. French philosopher,
Voltaire, in his works, held in very high consideration the hero from Albania.
Ludvig Holberg, a Danish writer and philosopher, claimed that Skanderbeg is one of the greatest generals in history.
Sir William Temple considered Skanderbeg to be one of the seven greatest chiefs without a crown, along with
Belisarius,
Flavius Aetius,
John Hunyadi,
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba,
Alexander Farnese, and
William the Silent. A number of poets and composers have also drawn inspiration from his military career. The French 16th-century poet
Ronsard wrote a poem about him, as did the 19th-century American poet,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Gibbon, the 18th-century historian, holds Skanderbeg in high regard with panegyric expressions. Numerous poets and writers from Dubrovnik wrote about Skanderbeg, like
Ivan Gundulić in his greatest work
Osman at the beginning of the 17th century and
Junije Palmotić in his work
Glasovi where he mentions Skanderbeg among other heroes of Serbian epic poetry. Many authors from Croatia wrote about Skanderbeg, including
Pavao Ritter Vitezović in 1682 and especially
Andrija Kačić Miošić whose poems about Skanderbeg, published in 1756, were basis for tragedy
Skenderbeg written by
Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski in the 19th century.
Giammaria Biemmi, an Italian priest, published a work on Skanderbeg titled
Istoria di Giorgio Castrioto Scanderbeg-Begh in
Brescia,
Italy in 1742. He claimed that he had found a work published in Venice in 1480 and written by an Albanian humanist from
Bar, in modern-day
Montenegro The "Anonymous of Antivari" was Biemmi's invention that some historians (
Fan S. Noli, and Athanase Gegaj), Albanian writers had not discovered and used his forgery as source in their works. Notable works of
Tripo Smeća (1755—1812), a historian and writer from
Perast in
Boka Kotorska, include Italian language tragedy "Skanderbeg".
Vuk Karadžić was particularly interested in Skanderbeg's era as important period of joint Albanian-Serbian struggle against the Ottomans in the 15th century, so he paid for translation of one of Skanderbeg's biographies to Serbian language. In 1816
Sima Milutinović Sarajlija, Serbian poet and historian, wrote two poems about Skanderbeg. Milutinović considered himself as spiritual descendant of Skanderbeg. Miošić's poems about Skanderbeg from his most important work
A Pleasant Discourse of the Slavic People were also basis for
Život i viteška voevanja slavnog kneza epirskog Đorđa Kastriota Skenderbega written by
Serbian playwright
Jovan Sterija Popović in 1828.
Ljudevit Gaj published in 1839 and 1840 in periodical
Danica ilirska two texts about Skanderbeg,
Juraj Skenderbeg and Muhammad and
Juraj Skenderbeg and Amurat.
Juraj Matija Šporer wrote a tragedy
Kastriota Škenderbeg: tragedija u pet izvedah published in Zagreb in 1849 and depicted Skanderbeg as
Slav who gathered around himself all
South Slavs from
Istria to
Krujë. Skanderbeg was a subordinate theme in epic poem written by Serbian 19th century academic
Jovan Subotić.
Benjamin Disraeli's 1833 novel,
The Rise of Iskander, is based on Skanderbeg's life and was written two years after his visit to Albania during his
Grand Tour. Skanderbeg is also mentioned by Prince of Montenegro,
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, one of the greatest poets of
Serbian literature, in his poem
The Mountain Wreath (1847), and in
False Tsar Stephen the Little (1851). In 1855,
Camille Paganel wrote
Histoire de Scanderbeg, inspired by the
Crimean War, whereas in the lengthy poetic tale ''
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1819), Byron wrote with admiration about Skanderbeg and his warrior nation.. In 1862, the Bulgarian writer Grigor Parlichev wrote a poem called Skenderbey'' in Greek.
Jeronim de Rada (Girolamo de Rada), an
Albanian-Italian writer (Arberesh), published poem in Albanian
Scanderbeccu i pa-faan [Misfortunate Scanderbeg] in period 1872—1884.
Paul Pisani, French historian and
Franciscan friar, wrote
La Légende de Skanderbeg in 1891. The first [Albanian poet] who wrote epic account about Skanderbeg's battles against the
Ottoman Empire was
Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and writer in
Histori e Skënderbeut [History of Skanderbeg] published in 1898. A
short story Đurađ Kastriotić Skenderbeg written by the Serbian writer
Stevan Sremac was published in 1909. wrote
The Castle with Skanderbeg as one of the main characters In
The Castle, a work written in 1970 by
Ismail Kadare, an Albanian writer who has several times been a candidate for the
Nobel Prize, which refers to Skanderbeg though he is not a protagonist. In
Alfred Döblin's novel
Berlin Alexanderplatz, an unnamed character recounts the story of
Stefano Zannowich, a pretender who claimed descent from
Skanderbeg. ==Theatre==