The script of Martinac the priest in the context of Croatian literature of the period

Abstract

In his introduction the author emphasis the fact that the anti-Turkish theme was one of the most prominent temathic complexes in the older period of Croatian literature. Throughout the centuries it has inspired many Croatian poets and some of the works which mark key points in the developmental line Croatian poetry (for example, from Marulic through Gundulic and Kacic to Mazuranic) have been based on this thematic. The script of Martinac the priest from 1493 belongs to those texts which were for a long period of time valued only as cultural and historical artefacts. It is only recently that critics have emphasised some of its literary values. This began with M. Kombol (1945) and was continued by E. Hercigonja (1975) who revealed some of its poetic qualities and has recently been taken up by R. Bogisic who recognises its values in the context of the birth of Croatian prose. Accepting these appraisals concerning the poetic quality of the text, the author compares it with some of its contemporary poems devoted to the same theme joined together by the common tonality of supplication and wailing (with the anaonymous poem "Save Mary your faithful" and Marulic's "A Prayer against the Turks"). In his conclusion, the author points out that parallel to these works, a poetry of resistance, beginning with J. Sizgoric and including the remarkable poetic mastership of Marulic's "Judita", arose grounded on the same thematic.