Giovanni Lucio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is currently semi-protected to prevent sock puppets of currently blocked or banned users from editing it. Please discuss changes on the talk page, or request unprotection. |
Giovanni Lucio or (also, Ivan Lučić or Joannes Lucius; September, 1604 - January 11, 1679) was a Dalmatian historian.
[edit] Life and works
Lucio was born in a noble family in Traù (today Trogir, Croatia), in the Venitian Dalmatia. After some schooling in his hometown, he went to Rome, where he spent two years, and then obtained his Ph.D. in ecclesiastical and civil law in the University of Padua. He returned to Traù and held various offices, but he went again to Rome in 1654. here he became a member of the Fraternity of Saint Jerome and then its president. He participated in the work of many scientific academies of his age and wrote to scientists from Dalmatia, the Italy and Europe.
He wrote numerous historical works, which he published in Italian and Latin.
His greatest and most famous work is De regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae (About the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia). The book was published after the war of Candia, a critical moment for the Republic of Venice. Aim of the book was to show the historyc rights of Venice on the East Adriatic coast (against Hasburg's expansionism), and to demonstrate that the Venitian possession on this area formed a Kingdom: that give to Venice the Royal status. According to Lucio the Dalmatian cities were forced to ask the Venitian aid, the preserve their freedom from the Croatian expansionism. Lucio pointed out the difference between the romance Dalmatia and Croatia, the habits of the people and the borderlines of the two countries. It was first printed in Amsterdam in 1666. This book provides an overview of the history of Dalmatia and Croatia from the prehistory to the 15th century. While his predecessors and contemporaries used supositions as much as facts, Lucio founded his history on genuine sources. At the end of the book, he included certain valuable historical sources and a bibliography with his comments. The book had six historical maps. One of these, the historical map Illyricum hodiernum (Illyria Today) was dedicated by Joannes Blaeu, Lucios publisher, to the Croatian ban Petar Zrinski [1].
Lucio participated in the dispute about the authenticity of the text of Trimalchio's Banquet by the Roman satirist Petronius, which had been found in Traù. Although some contemporaries and later historians sometimes resented his cold and pedantic style, it was necessary in a time ripe with uncritical and sloppy works.
He published the history of his hometown and region in Venice Memoriae istoriche di Tragurio, ora detto Trau (Traù in Historical Literature; 1673). He also published a book of Roman inscriptions from Dalmatia, including the inscriptions collected by the famous Croatian poet Marko Marulić (Marco Marulo). Shortly before death, Lucio prepared the Statute of Traùr for printing. He died in Rome, where he was buried in the Dalmatian Church of St Jerome (today Rome's chief Croatian church).
[edit] Significance
Giovanni Lucio was the first Dalmatian historian who critically examined and used historical sources: documents and chronicles, inscriptions and last wills. His historical methodology is far above his time.
He wrote to many famous people from Ragusa, especially Stefano Gradi, the head of the Vatican Library. His numerous letters, revealing him as a man of integrity and a skillful writer, are a valuable fresco of the conditions of his time.
Lucio's work, written in a lapidary and clear style, based on critical considerations, is the cornerstone of the modern Dalmatian historiography.
