47. Vinko Pribojevic. Della origine et successi de gli Slavi (1595).

Vinko Pribojevic came from the city of Lesina on the Adriatic island known to its inhabitants as Hvar; he was probably of Dalmatian origin. He received a humanist education and then proceeded to study theology, becoming a Dominican monk around 1522.

The oration which this book contains was apparently delivered in Venice in 1525. Its intent was to demonstrate and praise the greatness and glory of the Slavic people, especially the city of Hvar and its inhabitants. In his account of the origins of the Slavs, Pribojevic asserts that famous classical figures, particularly the kings of Macedon and Aristotle himself, were Slavic. The oration, delivered originally in Latin, made a deep impression on Venetian contemporaries for its beauty and, remarkably enough, was translated into Italian more than sixty years later, apparently to render it accessible to those who had no Latin.