Marin Barleti

Marin Barleti (Latin: Marinus Barletius, Italian: Marino Barlezio; c. 1450–1460 – c. 1512-1513) was a historian and Catholic priest from Shkodra.[1] He is considered the first Albanian historian because of his 1504 eyewitness account of the 1478 siege of Shkodra. Barleti is better known for his second work, a biography on Skanderbeg, translated into many languages in the 16th to the 20th centuries.

Marin Barleti
Marinus Barletius
Bornc. 1450-1460
Scutari, Republic of Venice (modern Shkodër, Albania)
Diedc. 1512-1513 (age 52-63)
Padua, Republic of Venice (modern Padua, Italy)
Known forAuthor of Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis
Scientific career
InstitutionsChurch of St. Stephan

Life

Barleti was born and raised in Scutari (modern Shkodra, Albania), then part of the Republic of Venice. Although there is no debate whether Barleti was a native Shkodran or an Albanian in a geographical sense, scholars variously assert that he was of Italian (DuCange, Iorga), Dalmatian (Giovio, Czwittinger, Fabricius), or Albanian (Zeno, Fallmerayer, Jireček) ethnic origin.[2][3] In his works Barleti repeatedly calls himself Shkodran (Latin: Scodrensis), and then equates being Shkodran with being Epirote, a term used by early Albanian language authors as an equivalent form of the ethnonym "Albanian".[3]

In 1474, the Ottoman Empire besieged Shkodra and Barleti participated in the successful defense of the town, both in the first siege in 1474 and the second in 1478. When Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottomans in 1479, Barleti escaped to Italy where he would become a scholar of history, classical literature and the Latin language.

Soon after Barleti arrived in Venice, he was given a stall at the Rialto meat market as a temporary means of financial aid. In 1494 became a priest after his theological studies in Venice and Padova, and soon was appointed to serve at St. Stephen's Church in Piovene.

Works
A page from De obsidione Scodrensi (1504)
A page from Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis

The Siege of Shkodra

Barleti's first work was The Siege of Shkodra (Latin: De obsidione Scodrensi, Venice, 1504). It was published several times in Latin and translated into Italian, Polish, French, Albanian, and English. Barleti wrote this work as an eyewitness. Of this work, acclaimed Albanian author Ismail Kadare wrote that "if one were to search for a literary creation wholly worthy of the expression 'monumental work,' it would be hard to find a better example than The Siege of Shkodra."[4]

The History of Scanderbeg

Barleti's second and largest work was The History of Scanderbeg, fully entitled About the excellent Prince of the Epirots, George Castrioti's, life, character and deeds, especially against the Turks. Because of his famous exploits he was surnamed Scanderbeg, that is, Alexander the Great. Thirteen books by Marin Barleti of Shkodra (Latin: De Vita Moribus Ac Rebus Praecipue Aduersus Turcas, Gestis, Georgii Castrioti, Clarissimi Epirotarum Principis, qui propter celeberrima facinora, Scanderbegus, hoc est, Alexander Magnus, cognominatus fuit, libri Tredecim, per Marinum Barletium Scodrensem conscripti). It was first published in Rome between 1508 and 1510 (2nd ed.: Strasbourg, 1537; 3rd ed.: Frankfurt am Main, 1578; 4th ed.: Zagreb, 1743) and translated into German (1533), Italian (1554), Portuguese (1567), Polish (1569), French (1576), Spanish (1588), and English (1596). Unlike The Siege of Shkodra, Barleti relied on the testimonies of others to produce this work.

The History of Scanderbeg is considered an Albanian cultural treasure, vital to the formation of Albanian national self-consciousness. The Serbian language version is the major part and the first manuscript of the Cetinje chronicle. A note at the end of this manuscript says that the author of the text is "Marin from Shkodër of Slavic origin".[5][6]

Paolo Giovio was the first historian to confound Barletius with another contemporary Marinus Scodrensis, Marino Becichemi (1468-1526), professor of rhetorics and author of commentaries on classic literature. The confusion has been elucidated by Thomas Reinesius and Apostolo Zeno. While Barletius in his works calls himself "sacerdotis Scodrensis" (priest of Scodra), Becichemi professes himself married and a "father of boys", professor of Ragusa, Brescia, and Padua, neither of which applies to Barletius.

A Brief History of Lives of Popes and Emperors (disputed)

Barleti's third work is titled, A Brief History of Lives of Popes and Emperors (Latin: Compendium vitarum pontificum et imperatorum, Venice, 1555).

Criticism

Barletius' work has inspired chroniclers like Giammaria Biemmi and Theodore Spandounes. It is still popular among romanticist and nationalist historians. Modern historical research on Skenderbeg relies more on archival records than on Barletius.[7]

Barleti invented spurious correspondence between Vladislav II of Wallachia and Skanderbeg, wrongly assigning it to the year 1443 instead to the year of 1444.[8] Barleti also invented correspondence between Scanderbeg and Sultan Mehmed II to match his interpretations of events.[8]

Memorials

The main public library of Shkodra and a publishing house have been named after Marin Barleti. Also, a university in Tirana, Albania has been established under his name.

gollark: Oh, like sudo with the insults setting on, but hidden somehow.
gollark: See, I would be smart about it, and write a script to just do one order a second for several hours.
gollark: Something something I D E M P O T E N C E.
gollark: If the SYSTEM™ says no, it should mean you have not been charged and nothing happens.
gollark: No, it is the SYSTEM™ at fault.

See also

References
  1. Setton, Kenneth M. (1978). The papacy and the Levant (1204-1571) (null ed.). Philadelphia: Amer.philos.soc. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-87169-127-9. ...perhaps of Italian origin.
  2. Francesco Pall (1938), Marino Barlezio: uno storico umanista
  3. Barleti, Marin (2012). David Hosaflook (ed.). The Siege of Shkodra: Albania's Courageous Stand Against Ottoman Conquest, 1478. Translated by David Hosaflook. Onufri Publishing House. pp. xxix, 11. ISBN 978-99956-87-77-9.
  4. Kadare, Ismail in Marin Barleti (ed. David Hosaflook), The Siege of Shkodra: Albania's Courageous Stand Against Ottoman Conquest, 1478. Tirana: Onufri, 2012. p. v.
  5. Martinović 1962
    Rukopis se završava na str. 30a; napomenom da je ovo pisao Marin Skadranin, rodom Sloven, "na u latinskom jeziku velmi učen".
  6. Petrović, Vasilije; Radmilo Marojević (1985) [1754], Istorija o Crnoj Gori [History of Montenegro] (in Serbian), Podgorica: Leksikografski zavod Crne Gore, p. 133, OCLC 439864504, Овом Повијешћу и почиње Љетопис, до стр. 30а, гдје стоји напомеана да је ово написао Марин Скадранин, родом Словен на "на (!) у латинском језику велми учен".
  7. Jeton Omari (2014), Scanderbeg tra storia e storiografia
  8. Setton, Kenneth (1976–1984), The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571, four volumes, American Philosophical Society, p. 73, ISBN 978-0-87169-114-9, ... The spurious correspondence of July and August 1443, between Ladislas and Scanderbeg (made up by Barletius, who should assigned it to the year 1444) ... He also invented a correspondence between Scanderbeg and Sultan Mehmed II to fit his interpretations of the events in 1461—1463 ...

Sources
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