TIRANA, March 26 – The history of Albania’s national hero, Skanderbeg, published in the early 16th century in Latin by Albanian historian and Catholic priest Marin Barleti has been made available online at the World Digital Library portal. The book originally titled Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarvm principis is believed to have been published between 1508 and 1510, four decades after Skanderbeg’s death.
“Scanderbeg, the son of a noble family, was taken hostage at a young age by the Ottoman sultan, Murad II. In 1443, Scanderbeg turned against the Ottomans and led the military campaign that drove the Turks from Albania. He maintained Albania’s independence for 25 years, but after his death opposition to the Turks collapsed,” says the portal about the book.
This work describes the influence of Scanderbeg on the political life of the Albanian people, the Balkan Peninsula, as well as the continent of Europe. The title page is printed in red and black and is surrounded with an engraving on wood that shows the two-headed eagle, the emblem of the Kastrioti family. The name of the author appears at the beginning of the detailed table of contents and again at the top of the preface. Following the table of contents is a portrait of Scanderbeg engraved on wood. The colophon indicates that the book was published in Rome by “B.V.,” the initials of the Venetian printer Bernardino dei Vitali, who was active in Rome in 1508−10, suggesting this as the probable date of publication. Barleti’s History of Scanderbeg became known all over Europe. It was translated into German, Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Russian, and Albanian. It was also the basis for other works about the life of Scanderbeg, for example, Jacques de Lavardin’s Histoire de Georges Castriot Surnommé Scanderbeg, Roy d’Albanie, which was published in France in 1576 and reprinted in numerous editions.
