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

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

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

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

Life

Legacy

Works

See also

References

External links