Constantine of Berat
18th-century Albanian writer and translator of religious texts.
Constantine of Berat, known among Albanians as Kostandin Jermonak Berati or shortly Kostë Berati, was an Albanian writer and translator of the 18th century. He is attributed as the author of a manuscript from 1764 to 1822, known as the Codex of Berat, which contains religious texts, a poem, and Greek-Albanian glossaries. His work is considered part of a wider cultural enlightenment in the Berat area, though some experts doubt his existence as a writer.
- born
- highly probably between 1745
- died
- highly probably between 1825
- field
- Writer and translator
- nationality
- Albanian (Ottoman Empire)
- known_for
- Codex of Berat, Greek-Albanian glossaries, religious translations
Lore & Background
Not much is known about Constantine of Berat, except that he was from Berat, then part of the Sanjak of Berat in the Vilayet of Janina of the Ottoman Empire. He was quite likely an Orthodox monk. He copied a part of the lexicon of Theodore Kavalliotis and is believed to have signed a religious document in 1779 together with Kavallioti and Teodor Haxhifilipi in Moscopole. Some experts, including German Albanologist Armin Hetzer in 1982, have questioned his existence, suggesting the name in the manuscript refers to a date rather than a person.
Reader's Guide
Constantine of Berat is attributed as the author of a manuscript from 1764 to 1822, originally 154 or 152 pages, preserved in the National Library in Tirana. This Codex of Berat contains biblical and Orthodox liturgical texts in Albanian written in the Greek alphabet, a forty-four-line Albanian poem called 'The Virgin Mary before the Cross,' and two Greek-Albanian glossaries totaling 1,710 entries. His alphabet used 37 letters with diacritics to represent Albanian sounds not found in Greek. The manuscript also includes a chronicle of events between 1764 and 1789 written in Greek. Albanian researcher Ilo Mitkë Qafëzezi discovered the codex in 1938 and praised Constantine's Albanian as superior to that of his contemporaries. The work aimed to make Orthodox religion understandable to Albanians who did not speak Greek. However, controversy exists: Hetzer and later philologist Bardhyl Demiraj (2019) argued that Constantine may never have existed, with the manuscript possibly authored by a certain Thimi Nuni. The manuscript is top-listed for digitization as part of the Albanological Portal.
Did You Know?
- Constantine of Berat's manuscript contains a 44-line Albanian poem called 'The Virgin Mary before the Cross' in fifteen-syllable political verse.
- His alphabet used 37 letters, including diacritics for Albanian sounds like ë, nj, sh, and zh.
- The Codex of Berat is not to be confused with the illuminated Codex Beratinus I and II.
- Some researchers, including Armin Hetzer and Bardhyl Demiraj, have argued that Constantine of Berat never existed.
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