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Rh crusade. Scanderbeg died fighting at Alessio in 1467. During his long war against the Turks he became a Christian, presumably a Catholic. At any rate, he was treated as such by the Popes. He is said to have received the last Sacraments before his death; he is buried in the cathedral of Alessio. From his time dates the connection between Albania and Italy, never since forgotten, of which we have heard much lately.

There are other cases of alliance between Italian princes and the valiant Albanian warriors. In the sixteenth century there was an Albanian regiment in the service of Naples. They fought for Spain, too. In short, as their own land was gradually lost to the Turks, the Christian Albanians formed companies of mercenaries at the service of any Christian prince, particularly at the service of those who were fighting against their old enemies. Then came the period of the refugees. Horribly persecuted by the Turks, they began to flee to lands where they could practise their religion under a Christian government. The region Chimara in Albania has long been a centre of Catholicism there; already in the fifteenth century Chimara sent out a number of Catholic refugees. Many Albanian exiles fled to Cattaro and other Venetian possessions;