Battle of Torvioll - Aftermath

Aftermath

When the battle ended, 8,000 to 22,000 Turks died while 2,000 were captured. The Albanians were originally attributed to have lost as little as 120 men, but modern sources suggest higher figures with about 4,000 men dead and wounded. Skanderbeg remained quiet in his camp for the remainder of that day and the following night. Having addressed his troops, he directed his infantry to mount the captured horses. The spoils of the victory were abundant and even the wounded took part in the pillaging. Skanderbeg thereafter ordered a general retreat toward Krujë. Skanderbeg's victory was praised through the rest of Europe. The European states thus began to consider a crusade to drive the Ottomans out of Europe. When Ali Pasha returned to Adrianople (Edirne), he explained to the sultan that the loss should be attributed to his forces and the fortunes of war and not his generalship. The battle of Torvioll thus opened up the quarter-century war between Skanderbeg's Albania and the Ottoman Empire.

Kenneth Meyer Setton claims that majority of accounts on Skanderbeg's activities in period 1443—1444 "owe far more to fancy than to fact". According to him, after Skanderbeg was allegedly victorious in Torviolli Hungarians are said to have sung praises about him and urged Skanderbeg to join the alliance of Hungary, the Papacy and Burgundy against the Turks.