The Governor was killed as he was returning to Edirne, unaware of Skanderbeg's intentions. Skanderbeg allied with George Arianite (born Gjergj Arianit Komneni) and married his daughter Donika (born Marina Donika Arianiti). League of Lezhë Following the capture of Krujë, Skanderbeg managed to bring together all the Albanian princes in the town of Lezhë Historian Edward Gibbon writes that: With this support, Skanderbeg built fortresses and organized a mobile defense force that forced the Ottomans to disperse their troops, leaving them vulnerable to the hit-and-run tactics of the Albanians. He managed to create the League of Lezhë, a federation of all Albanian Principalities.The main members of the league were the Arianiti, Balšić, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Spani, Thopia and Crnojević noble families. For 25 years, from 1443–1468, Skanderbeg's 10,000 man army marched through Ottoman territory winning against consistently larger and better supplied Ottoman forces. Threatened by Ottoman advances in their homeland, Hungary, and later Naples and Venice – their former enemies – provided the financial backbone and support for Skanderbeg's army. By 1450 it had certainly ceased to function as originally intended, and only the core of the alliance under Scanderbeg and Araniti Comino continued to fight on. The League of Lezhë first distinguished itself under Skanderbeg at the Battle of Torvioll where he defeated the Ottoman forces. Skanderbeg's victory was praised throughout the rest of Europe. The battle of Torvioll thus opened up the quarter-century war between Skanderbeg's Albania and the Ottoman Empire. On 14 May 1450, an Ottoman army, larger than any previous force encountered by Skanderbeg or his men, stormed and overwhelmed the castle of the city of Kruja, capital of the Principality of Kastrioti. This city was particularly symbolic to Skanderbeg because he had been appointed suba of Kruja in 1438 by the Ottomans. The fighting lasted four months and over one thousand Albanians lost their lives while over 20,000 Ottomans died in battle. Even so, the Ottoman forces were unable to capture the city and had no choice but to retreat before winter set in. In June 1446, Mehmed II, known as "the conqueror", led an army of 150,000 soldiers back to Kruja but failed to capture the castle. Skanderbeg's death in 1468 did not end the struggle for independence, and fighting continued until 1481, under Lekë Dukagjini, when the Albanian lands were forced to succumb to the Ottoman armies. See also House of Kastrioti League of