Demetrio Franco (; 1443–1525) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

historian. He was a close accomplice of

Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

, later publishing works on his life.

Life

Franco was born in Drivasto in 1443 to a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family. Through his mother he was a cousin of

Pal Engjëlli Pal Engjëlli (; 1416–1470) was an Albanian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as archbishop of Durrës from 1460 to 1469. In 1462 he wrote the oldest known text in Albanian. Life Pal Engjëlli was a part of the Engjëlli famil ...

, the Archbishop of Durrës and a close collaborator of

Scanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

. In 1466 he accompanied Skanderbeg in Rome as a scribe. In 1479 after Shkodër was conquered by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

he migrated to Italy, where he served as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

until his death in Trevi in 1525.

Service and work

Franco himself accompanied

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the winter of 1466–1467. Following his death in 1468, Franco moved to Tivar, and then to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In April 1480, he published a biography of Skanderbeg in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at the printing house of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Erhard Ratdolf. His most notable piece work is considered to be ''Gli illustri e gloriosi gesti e vittoriose imprese fatte contro i Turchi dal Signor Don Georgio Castriotto detto Scanderbeg, principe d' Epiro'', along with the aforementioned biography of Skanderbeg.

Sources

* Demetrio Franco : "Gli illustri et gloriosi gesti et vittoriose imprese cobtra Turchi fatte dal Signor Giorgio Castriotto detto Scanderbeg principe di Epiro, (manuscript, 1480), Italian translation 1584, in Venice. * Paolo Jovio : "Commentario delle cose de Turchi et del Signor Gorgio Scanderbeg, prencipe d'Epirro., Venice, 1539. * Jaques De Lavardin, Histoire de Georges Castriote surnommé Scanderbeg Roi d'Albanie, Paris 1576". * Jean Nicolas Duponcet : "Histoire de Scanderbeg Roy d'Albanie", Paris 1709. * R.P. Duponcet : "Les exploits heroïque de Scanderbeg Roi d'Albanie, Liège, 1854. * Anonimo di Palermo : "Storia di Giorgio Castriotto sopranomminato Scanderbeg, principe d'Albania, Palermo, 1847. * C.C. Moore, George Castriot Scanderbeg, King of Albania, 1850. * Fan Stillian Noli : " Historia e' Sknderbeut§", Tirana, 1924. * Harry Hodkinson Scanderbeg, London, 1999. * Lek Pervizi, translator, of Veprat e Lavdishme te Skenderbeut Of Dmetrius Francus, Tirana, 2005 *Lek Pervizi, Scanderbeg, Album commemoratif, Bruxelles, 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frëngu, Dhimiter 15th-century births 15th-century deaths People from Shkodër County 16th-century Albanian Roman Catholic priests 16th-century historians 15th-century Albanian Roman Catholic priests Albanian historians 15th-century historians