Marin Barleti’s History of Scanderbeg in English, 1560–1596

Abstract

If the history of a particular figure is not recounted across multiple languages, then that figure is destined to remain obscure beyond the geographical boundaries of his or her own ethnic group. In 1968, at the Second Albannological Conference dedicated to George Castriot Scanderbeg, on the 500th anniversary of his death, various scholars highlighted world literature as a primary factor spreading Scanderbeg’s renown. The three papers that emphasized this were: “Scanderbeg in World Literature” (Androkli Kostallari), “Scanderbeg in Italian Literature” (Henrik Lacaj) and “Scanderbeg in English Literature” (Skënder Luarasi).¹ Building upon these foundational works, this paper shall examine in greater detail the English translations of Marin Barleti’s History of Scanderbeg. This is of particular importance because of the role English plays today as the world’s foremost language, due to the spread of the British Empire in the nineteenth century and the growth of America’s culture influence in the twentieth. In particular we shall present several impressive details that do not appear to have been treated before in Scanderbeg studies related to English literature.