Ilija Crijević

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Ilija Crijević

Ilija Crijević
Born c. 1460
Dubrovnik, Republic of Ragusa (modern Croatia)
Died c. 1521
island on the Umbla river (a name for the lower course of the Trebišnjica)
Occupation poet
Period late '400
Genres Latin Laudes
Literary movement Accademia Romana
Notable work(s) De Epidauro, stribiligo illyrica

Ilija Crijević (Latin: Aelius Lampridius Cervinus), also known in Italian as Elio Lampridio Cerva, was a poet born in the city of Dubrovnik in the homonymous Republic c. 1460 (or 1434 as indicated by some sources[1]), and belonged to one of the most important local noble families, the House of Cerva.[2]

Life and literary works

The life of Elio Lampridio Cerva, one of the more scholarly poets of his time, was stormy and restless. It was marked by a strong intolerance to the barbarism around him. Linguistically, he was close to Latin and Dalmatian, and rejected the Serbo-Croatian language:

“ Latin: «In speciem magnae deducta propagine Romae. Nec sapio Illyriam, sed uiuo et tota Latina Maiestate loquor.»
English: «Now I shine as descendant of the great Rome. I don't know Illyric, but I speak and I live in the entire majesty of Latin.»		 ”

—Ilija Crijević, De Epidauro et Ad Sanctum Blasium pro Rhacusa[3]

This torment are clearly apparent in his works, where he declared his nostalgia for the times when no language other than Latin had been officially used in the Ragusan Republic (and he had as a wish not to hear the echo of that stribiligo Illyrian, "infecting Slavic language".[4])

He spent several years in Rome, where he arrived still child, to succeed his uncle Sthepan, ambassador to Pope Sixtus IV. Here, in the circle of Pomponio Leto, his poetic talent awoke. He studied ancient drama and made a study of the comedies of Plautus. It was in this period that he produced Lexicon (1480), an encyclopedic dictionary in Latin, 429 pages long and in quarto format (33 x 23 cm). He returned to Ragusa in 1490.

He was spokesman for the Republic of Ragusa. Finally, perhaps pushed by the circumstances in which he lived, Crijević decided to withdraw to the island of Umbla, where he remained until his death in 1521. Although called a poet, he published only four short components (all in Latin) during his life. His main work, De Epidauro, was a draft of an epic poem, about the Turkish invasions of Ragusan territory.

References

  1. ↑ projektu Croatiae Authori Latini
  2. ↑ Il dalmato Elio Lampidrio Cerva (in Italian)
  3. ↑ original text available from Projektu "Croatiae Authori Latini" (English)
  4. ↑ Documentation Centre of Dalmatian Culture, Uomini Illustri, Elio Lampridio Cerva, poeta incoronato (Italian)

See also

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