Marko Maruli?

Marko Maruli? (Split, August 18, 1450 - Split, January 5, 1524), Croatian poet, apologist and Christian humanist is generally considered the father of vernacular Croatian literature.

Croatian

In the works written in Croatian language Maruli? achieved permanent stature and position that remained uncontested. His central Croatian oeuvre, epic poem Judita (1521), is based on the Biblical tale from a Deuterocanonical Book of Judith, written in Croatian language (more specifically, Chakavian dialect). His other works in Croatian are:

Related Topics:
Poem - 1521 - Book of Judith - Croatian language - Chakavian dialect

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• Suzana (Susan)
• Poklad i korizma (Carnival and Lent)
• Spovid koludric od sedam smrtnih grihov (Nun's confession of seven deadly sins)
• Anka satir (Anka the satire),
• Tu?enje grada Hjerosolima (Jerusalem's Lament),
• Molitva suprotiva Turkom (Prayers asking to be saved from the Turks).

In his works he is neither aesthetically nor stylistically superior to the works of his Dubrovnik predecessors. Three puzzling facts tend to raise questions:

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• Maruli?'s Croatian work is aesthetically plainly inferior to the lyric poetry of Hanibal Luci? and dramatic vitality of Marin Dr?i?.
• His dialectal idiom was a rather archaic and did not play important role in the process of standardization of Croatian language — unlike the poetic and prose expression of writers from Dubrovnik, Kor?ula and Hvar like Hanibal Luci? and Petar Hektorovi?.
• Even chronology-wise, D?ore Dr?i? and ?i?ko Men?eti? wrote in essentially modern Croatian Shtokavian dialect some 3 decades before him.

Maruli?'s national eminence is due to happy confluence of some other facts: no one of his contemporaries or predecessors had achieved fame during his lifetime. Also, his deeply patriotic and Catholic verses had assimilated frequently superficial and imitative poetry of his southern compatriots and transformed it into an epitome of Croatian national destiny. His Judith representing Croatian people fighting Ottoman Empire invasion – Maruli? remained the ineradicable center of Renaissance Croatian patriotism – of Croathood itself. That is why his stature as the father of Croatian literature is secure and unshakeable.

Related Topics:
Ottoman Empire - Croatian literature

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The picture of Marko Maruli? appears on the 500 kuna banknote.

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