Marin Barleti - Life

Life

Barleti lived in Shkodër and was a scholar and a clergyman. In 1474, the Ottoman Empire besieged Shkodër and Barleti participated in the defense of the town, both in the first siege in 1474 and the second in 1478. Both Barleti's parents were killed in the sieges . When Shkodër fell to the Ottomans, he 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 theological studies in Venice and Padova, and soon was appointed to serve at St. Stephen's Church in Piovene.

In Venice he wrote The Siege of Shkodra (Latin: De obsidione Scodrensi, Venice, 1504) and then his largest work, known colloqiually as The History of Scanderbeg but 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) (published between 1508 and 1510). A third work has often been attributed to him, A Brief History of Lives of Popes and Emperors (Latin: Compendium vitarum pontificum et imperatorum, Venice, 1555), but new research claims that it was not Barleti’s work, but rather an extract from Giovanni Stella’s works, published by Bernardino de Vitali. Barleti was from Shkodra (Shkodër).

Also shortly known as the Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis, the book is the biography of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg. The book was printed in Rome between 1508 and 1510 and during the 16th century spread in several languages and eventually was translated from Latin into Portuguese four times and German seven times. It was translated into English by Zachary Jones in 1596 and is being prepared for republication in English in 2013. It is still the foundation of Skanderbeg studies, and also established the Skanderbeg cult that was important for the formation of the Albanian national self-consciousness. The book is considered an Albanian cultural treasure. The Serbian version is the major part and the first manuscript of the Cetinje chronicle

Other known works include:

1. Expugnatione Scodrensi a Turcis, published in three volumes in Venice in 1504 and reprinted in Basel in 1556, translated in Italian as "Storia dell' origine et imperio de Turchi" and in French.
2. Chronicorum Turcicorum, (Frankfurt) 1578, in 3 volumes.
3. Compendium vitarum Summorum Pontificium usque ad Marcellum II Imperatorumque Romanorum (English: Compendium of biographies of Popes and Roman emperors until Marcellus II), although this last work is perhaps erroneously attributed to Barleti.

He made up spurious correspondence between Vladislav II of Wallachia and Skanderbeg wrongly assigning it to the year 1443 instead to the year of 1444. Barleti also invented correspondence between Skanderbeg and Sultan Mehmed II to match his interpretations of events.

The old library of Shkodër and a publishing house have been named after Marin Barleti. Recently a University in Albania has been established under his name.