Giovanni Thomas Marnavich

Giovanni Thomas Marnavich or Joannes Thomas Marnavich or Ivan Tomko Mrnavić (born 1579; died 1635 or 1637 or 1639) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Bosnia (1631–1639)[1][2][3] and an author of historical works.[4] He was the author of several forgeries, with the most famous being that of the Life of Justinian.[4] He also wrote a book on the Life of Saint Sava.

Most Reverend Giovanni Thomas Marnavich
Bishop of Bosnia
Cover of the 1631 book Osmanchica authored by Mrnavić
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Bosnia
In office	1631–1639
Successor	Thomas Marnavich
Orders
Consecration	23 November 1631 by Luigi Caetani
Personal details
Born	1579 Sebenico (Šibenik), Republic of Venice
Died	1635 or 1637 or 1639 Republic of Venice

Biography

On 10 November 1631, Giovanni Thomas Marnavich was appointed during the papacy of Pope Urban VIII as Bishop of Bosnia.[1][5][3] On 23 November 1631, he was consecrated bishop by Luigi Caetani, Cardinal-Priest of Santa Pudenziana, with Erasmo Paravicini, Bishop of Alessandria, and Bartol Kačić, Bishop of Makarska, serving as co-consecrators.[5] He served as Bishop of Bosnia until his death in 1635[3] or 1639.[5]

In 1631, Marnavich published a pamphlet that Albanian national hero Scanderbeg was not an Albanian but rather a Slav. His claim was refuted by Frang Bardhi in his The Apology of Scanderbeg, published in Venice in 1636.

Views

Mrnavić believed that the Illyrians were Slavs.[4] He claimed that Skanderbeg, the national hero of Albania, was of Slav origin, which prompted Frang Bardhi to write a biography on Skanderbeg published in Venice in 1636[6] as a polemic against him, defending the Albanian identity of Skanderbeg.[7][8]

Episcopal succession

While bishop, Marnavich was the principal co-consecrator of:[5]

• Octavio Asinari, Bishop of Ivrea (1634); and
• Nicolaus de Georgiis (Zorzi), Bishop of Hvar (1635).

Works

His works written in Latin include:

• Vita beati Augustini (Augustin Kažotić)
• Vita Berislavi (Petar Berislavić) 1620
• Vita s. Sabbae (Saint Sava), Rome, 1630–31

His works written in "Illyrian" language include:

• Život Margarite blažene divice, kćeri Bele, kralja ugarskoga i hrvatskoga, 1613, translated from Italian
• Žalosnoskazje Krispa Cezara, 1614 - translated from Latin, tragedy of Bernarda Stefoni
• Život Magdalene od knezov Žirova, Rome 1626, Biblical-religious epic, translated to Italian, celebrating union of asceticism and anti-Turkish sentiment
• Potuženje pokornika, songs on death of Jesus, half of the poem is translated from song written on Latin by Sannazar
• Osmanšćica, drama written in 1631

References

1. Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice). HIERARCHIA CATHOLICA MEDII ET RECENTIORIS AEVI Vol IV. p. 119.
2. "Diocese of Bosnia (Bosna)" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
3. "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Đakovo–Osijek" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
4. Fine, John V. A. (2006). When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 421.
5. Cheney, David M. "Giovanni Thomas Marnavich". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
6. Georgius Castriotus Epirensis, vulgo Scanderbegh. Per Franciscum Blancum, De Alumnis Collegij de Propaganda Fide Episcopum Sappatensem etc. Venetiis, Typis Marci Ginammi, MDCXXXVI (1636).
7. Bartl, Peter (2007). Bardhyl Demiraj (ed.). Pjetër Bogdani und die Anfänge des alb. Buchdrucks. Nach Vier hundert fünfzig Jahren (in German). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 273. ISBN 9783447054683. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
8. Elsie, Robert. "1959 Arshi Pipa: Communism and Albanian Writers". www.albanianhistory.net. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012. He also raised his voice to defend the Albanian identity of Scanderbeg against a Slavic Catholic priest who claimed that our national hero was a Slav.