Vinko Pribojević ( mid-15th century – after 1532) was a Croatian writer and
Dominican monk from the
Republic of Venice, best known as one of the founders of the early
pan-Slavic ideology.
Life
Pribojević was born on the island of
Hvar, in
Venetian Dalmatia (now
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
). He was educated in the
humanist spirit and joined the
Dominican Order around 1522.
His most famous work is the speech ''De origine successibusque Slavorum'' (On the Origin and Glory of the Slavs), where he identifies the
Illyrians
The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...
with
Slavs
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
as the indigenous peoples of the Balkans.
In particular, per the humanist approach of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
that combined scripture with ancient myth, Pribojević claimed that the paleo-Balkanic populations such as the Illyrians,
Thracians
The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...
and
Macedonians were of a Slavic character.
Furthermore according to Pribojević,
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
,
multiple Caesars and
Saint Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
He is best known for his translation of the Bible ...
were Slavs.
His main goal was to celebrate the Slavic world, speak about the origins and "glorious history" of Slavs, using the word "Slav" as a designation for people from various territories. American historian
John Van Antwerp Fine, Jr.
John V. A. Fine Jr. (born September 9, 1939) is an American historian and author. He is professor emeritus of Balkan and Byzantine history at the University of Michigan and has written extensively on the subject.
Early life and education
He was ...
notes Pribojević and
Juraj Šižgorić
Juraj Šižgorić ( or ''Sisgoritus'', ca. 1420/1445–1509) was a Croatian Latinist poet and priest from Venetian Dalmatia. He was the first humanist from Šibenik and the central personality of Šibenik's humanist circle and also one of the mos ...
among the early modern scholars from Dalmatia who did not consider themselves to be Croats, but rather identified with
Slavs and Illyrians.
His speech, made in
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 1525, was printed into a small book in 1532.
It was also published 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 ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
several times.
Its passionate glorification of Slavs and its strong
pathos
Pathos appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. ''Pathos'' is a term most often used in rhetoric (in which it is considered one of the three modes of persuasion, alongside ethos and ...
played a major role in the birth of the
pan-Slavic ideology. It was the first time that such ideology was formulated as a program, which was further developed by writers like
Mavro Orbini
Mavro Orbini (1563–1614) was a Ragusan chronicler, notable for his work '' The Realm of the Slavs'' (1601) which influenced Slavic ideology and historiography in the later centuries.
Life
Orbini was born in Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), the capital ...
and
Juraj Križanić
Juraj Križanić ( – 12 September 1683), also known as Jurij Križanič, Yuriy Krizhanich, Iurii Krizhanich, and Yury Krizanitch (; , , ), was a Croatian Catholic missionary and polymath who is often regarded as the earliest recorded pan-Slav ...
.
Legacy
Pribojević was the first to incorporate
Illyrians
The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...
and their myth into the Croatian and Slavic
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...
(or rather
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...
), as a shield and rampart against the
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 ...
,
Hungarian and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
national and territorial ambitions. His identification of Slavs as Illyrians, as well as his enthusiastic glorification of the historical greatness and importance of Illyrians, left a deep mark on world history and outlook.
He was one of the most important Croatian and global Latinists who created the ideological molds of the future. He is also the ancestor of the Croatian
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement (; ) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835 t ...
of the 19th century,
and an initiator of the pan-Slavic ideology.
Works
*''De origine successibusque Slavorum'' (The Origin and Glory of Slavs), 1532. Also available in Croatian as
Podrijetlo i slava Slavena', 1997
See also
*
Mikša Pelegrinović
Mikša Pelegrinović (or Michiele Pelegrinovich) (c. 1500 – 26 December 1562) was a Croatian poet.
Biography
Pelegrinović was born around the year 1500 in the town of Hvar on the island of the same name. He came from a noble family origi ...
*
Hanibal Lucić
Hanibal Lucić () or Annibale Lucio (c. 1485 – 14 December 1553) was a Renaissance in Croatia, Croatian Renaissance poet and playwright, author of the first secular drama in Croatian language, Croatian.
Biography
He was born to a Dalmatian nobl ...
*
Petar Hektorović
Petar Hektorović (1487 – 13 March 1572) was a Croatian writer and polymath.
Hektorović, also known as Pietro Ettoreo or Piero Hettoreo, was born and died in Stari Grad, Hvar. He was a poet and collector of Hvar's fishermen songs, and ...
References
External links
A Master's thesis on Pribojević: Abstract
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pribojevic, Vinko
People from Hvar
16th-century Venetian historians
Pan-Slavism
15th-century births
16th-century deaths
Members of the Dominican Order