Colloquia Maruliana, Vol. 4 , 1995.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Marulić's Letter to the Brač Priest Marko Prodić
Bratislav Lučin
Sažetak
For this or that reason literary historiographers have overlooked this brief Marulić’s letter. As a consequence, it has not been included into the list of Marulić’s works, even if it was mentioned on several occasions by different historians of the island of Brač. The first to treat of it was Andrea Ciccarelli, who published it in his book Osservazioni sull’isola della Brazza e sopra quella nobiltà (Venice 1802), along with other documents by means of which he endeavored to prove the thesis that the aristocratic families of Brač were descended from the ancient aristocracy of Salona.
In the present article the letter is treated of in the prospective of literary history and in the light of what we know about Marulić’s background, his general outlook and his work. Taking as a premise that whatever comes from Marulić must somehow be interesting to us, the author finds out that, despite its briefness, the letter provides us with the basis for several interesting conclusions. Also, bearing the date of 10 May 1496, it represents the earliest precisely dated text by Marulić we know of.
The formulations used in the letter clearly indicate the pedagogic convictions of the Split humanist. His recommendation to the friend Marko Prodić to bring up his nephews in Dei timore and educate them in humanioribus literis means that Marulić, along with pious Christian formation, advised such a type of education that was in keeping with the new humanist ideas. The sentence in which Marulić reminds his namesake that no other deed will be more pleasing to God or more useful to the Christian community than such an upbringing, illustrates the point most clearly. Marulić’s advice is in complete harmony with the well known fact that one of the scopes of humanist training was to enable young men to take an active part in public life.
The letter shows another Marulić’s typically humanist trait: his interest in Antiquity. The author points to the link between what we read in this letter and Marulić’s work In epigrammata priscorum commentarius in which he collected and commented numerous inscriptions from Italy, Croatian Adriatic coast and Salona. Strolling among the ruins of the antique city and contemplating the illustrious past of his native country he, with sighs, repeated in his thoughts Virgil’s words: Fuimus Troes...
We do not know what historical texts exactly Marulić and Prodić read in youth. Yet, we may infer from the hints in the letter that the references might be to the Historia Salonitana by the 13th century Split historian Thomas the Archdeacon, the Historia de gestis Romanorum imperatorum et summorum pontificum by the Split his-torian from the former half of the 13th century, Micha Madius de Barbazanis and the Descriptio insulae Brachiae by the Brač historian of the 14th/15th centuries, Dujam Hranković (Domnius de Chranchis).
In the end, the author points to the warm and cordial tone of the letter, the feature which it shares with other Marulić’s letters written to friends and which points to his steady charitas erga proximum and his humanitas.
The text of the letter that is given here has been taken from the only known source, Ciccarelli, with slight changes in orthography.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
9820
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.4.1995.
Posjeta: 3.084 *