O i larti Skenderbe!

Letter from Skanderbeg to the Prince of Taranto:
ÒGiorgio, gentleman of Albania, to Giovanni Antonio,
Prince of Taranto, greeting.

Having made a truce with the enemy of my religion I
have not wanted that my friend remain (fraudato) of my
aid. (Spesse?) times, Alfonso, his father, invited my
help while I waged war against the Turks. Therefore I
would be very ungrateful if I had not resisted
(lÕistesso?) service to his son. I remember what your
king did because now (non deve vedere succedergli?)
this who is his son? You adored his father, and why
now do you try to throw out his son? Where did this
power come from? Who has the power to set up the King
of Sicily, you or the Roman Pontiff?
I came to aid Ferrante, son of the king and seat of
the Apostolica. I came opposing your unfaithfulness
and innumerable great betrayals in this kingdom.
(NeÕ?) will you ever be unpunished for your perjury.
This is the reason for my war against you. I merit
this no less than I merited making war against the
Turks, nor are you less Turk than them. (ImperoccheÕ
vi sono alcuni?) that guide you in a straight line not
to be of some sect. You my opponents the French and
the names of those people, and those for the religion
wage grand war.
I do not want to dispute ancient matters with you,
matters that perhaps were much less than what was told
about them. Certainly in our times the Aragonese
armadas have often coursed the Aegean Sea, have
plundered the Turkish coasts, have (riportata?) the
prey of the enemies; and even today the Aragonese
armies defend Troja from the jaws of the enemy. Why do
I remember the old things and leave the new parts? If
they change the family costumes and the plowmen of the
kingdom, and the kings of the plowmen return? (NeÕ
troverai nobilitaÕ piuÕ antica della virtuÕ.)
Nor can I deny that you are not with the obnoxious
French nation, (imperoccheÕ) you being mainly in aid
of King Alfonso, you hunted the French of this
kingdom. I do not know now what new virtue shines in
this. Perhaps it is some new star that you have now
seen among the French?
Moreover, you scorned our people, and compared the
Albanese to sheep, and according to your custom think
of us with insults. Nor have you shown yourself to
have any knowledge of my race. My elders were from
Epirus, where this Pirro came from, whose force could
scarcely support the Romans. This Pirro, who Taranto
and many other places of Italy held back with armies.
I do not have to speak for the Epiroti. They are very
much stronger men than your Tarantini, a species of
wet men who are born only to fish. If you want to say
that Albania is part of Macedonia I would concede that
a lot more of our ancestors were nobles who went as
far as India under Alexander the Great and defeated
all those peoples with incredible difficulty. From
those men come these who you called sheep. But the
nature of things is not changed. Why do your men run
away in the faces of sheep?
In the past the Albanese have (fatto?) experience if
the Pugilese were armed; (neÕ) I would again find some
who would have been able to aspired to my nature. I
have well noted from the back how many of your
soldiers are well armed but have never been able to
see their helmets or (tanpoco?) the face except those
that have become prisoners. (NeÕ?) I seek your house
(Bastandomi?) my own. Besides, it is well known that
you often would have shot your neighbors for their
possessions, as now you would force out the king of
your house and your kingdom.
(Che se?) If I fall in the difficult task I have
embarked on I will be buried as (mi vai?) wishing in
your letter, will bring back my soul as a reward from
the Chancellor of the universe, of God. Not only will
I have perfected my intention, but also I will have
planned and attempted some distinguished deed.
Good bye....Ó