Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja
| Author | An anonymous priest in Duklja (presbyter Diocleas) |
|---|---|
| Language | Latin |
|
Publication date
|
|
The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja (Serbo-Croatian: Ljetopis popa Dukljanina) is the usual name given to an alleged medieval chronicle written by an anonymous priest from Duklja. Its oldest preserved copy is from the 17th century, while it has been variously claimed by modern historians to have been compiled between the late 12th and early 15th century. Historians have largely discounted the work based on inaccuracies and fiction, nevertheless it contains some semi-mythological material on the early history of the Western South Slavs. The section of The Life of St. Jovan Vladimir, is however believed to be a novelization of an earlier work.
The work was allegedly made by an anonymous "priest of Duklja" (presbyter Diocleas, known in Serbo-Croatian as "pop Dukljanin"). The work is only preserved in its Latin redactions from the 17th century. Dmine Papalić, a nobleman from Split, found the text which he transcribed in 1509–10, which was then translated by Marko Marulić into Latin in 1510, with the title Regnum Dalmatiae et Croatiae gesta.Mavro Orbin, a Ragusan historian, included the work, and other works, in his Il regno degli Slavi (ca. 1601); and then Johannes Lucius in ca. 1666.
In modern historiography, there has been various theories on the authorship and date:
It was first written in the Slavonic language, according to the following remark by the anonymous author:
"Requested by you, my beloved brethren in Christ and honorable priests of the holy Archbishopric See of the Church in Duklja, as well as by some elders, but especially by the youth of our city who find pleasure not only in listening to and reading about the wars, but in taking part in them also, to translate from the Slavic language into Latin the Book of Goths, entitled in Latin Regnum Sclavorum in which all their deeds and wars have been described...."
Regnum Sclavorum (1601) can be divided into the following sections:
...
Wikipedia