Jakov Bunić (also ''Giacomo Bona'' in Italian or ''Iacobus Bonus'' in Latin) (1469 - 1534) was a Croatian renaissance

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

latinist Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, state official,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

from the Republic of Dubrovnik (Republic of Ragusa). He was a member of the Bunić noble family, one of the oldest families in the Republic. Coa ita FAM bona

Biography

Bunić was born in 1469 in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

. His father Ilija (Elijah) Bunić served as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of the Republic of Dubrovnik to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

and to Ferdinand I, King of Naples. There are very few reliable sources of information about his youth years. His boyhood days he spent mostly in Dubrovnik, where he acquired his first education, and then continued his studies in Padua (Padova) and

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in Italy. A significant part of his lifetime Bunić spent

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. Traders generally negotiate throu ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, mostly in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, dealing with

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

s and

jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

. In 1496 he married Marija Crijević with whom he had two sons, Franjo and Nikola, as wall as a daughter, Većica. As a young poet (around 1490) Bunić wrote an

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

called "The kidnapping of Cerberus" (). It is the oldest epic poem in

Croatian literature Croatian literature refers to literary works attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats, Croatia, and Croatian language, Croatian. Besides the modern language whose shape and orthography were standardized in the late 19th centu ...

. Later he wrote several dozens of shorter

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and other works, as well as the large epic "The Life and Works of Christ" (). In the latter one, he covered the entire life of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

in verse, using 10,049 hexameters and 16

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from th ...

s. All of his late works were published in 1526. With his works he influenced other latinists from Dubrovnik, for example Damjan Benešić /or Beneša/ ("Death of Christ") and

Junije Palmotić Junije (Džono) Palmotić, (also ''Giunio'' in Italian or ''Junius Palmotta'' in Latin) (1606 – 1657) was a Croatian literature#Baroque literature, Croatian baroque writer, poet and dramatist from the Republic of Ragusa. He was a member of the ...

"Christiade - Life and Work of Jesus Christ"). During his lifetime, Bunić, as a distinguished citizen, held many public offices. Five times he was the Rector of the Republic (1521, 1523, 1526, 1530 and 1532), five times he was appointed to represent his country abroad. He worked as a municipality lawyer, state

appraiser An appraiser (from Latin ''appretiare'', "to value") is a person that develops an opinion of the market value or other value of a product, most notably real estate. The current definition of "appraiser" according to the Uniform Standards of Profes ...

of the value of goods, then served as the Rector of

Ston Ston () is a settlement and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. History Because of its geopolitical and strategic position, Ston has had a rich history since ...

and

Šipan Šipan (), nicknamed the Golden Island, is an island located in southern Croatia, more specifically in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. It is located northwest of Dubrovnik, and is separated from the mainland coast by the Koločep Channel, which ...

, member of the Minor Council etc. At least two times he was in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The first time he went to Rome in 1513 as the head of the Dubrovnik

delegation Delegation is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person.Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Woods, P., Simon, A., & McBarron, E. (2017). ''Management'' (6th ed., pp. 282–286). Brisbane: John Wiley & Sons Australia. ...

to the newly elected

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

. The second time he visited Rome in the autumn of 1525 to ask Pope

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

for a recommendation for the publication of his epic "The Life and Works of Christ". Having achieved that, he remained in Rome, supervising the printing of the book until its completion in May 1526. Jakov Bunić died on 18 May 1534 in Dubrovnik and was buried in the Dubrovnik

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. His death was mourned in a biographical poem (containing 263 hexameters) by Damjan Benešić.

List of works

* ''De raptu Cerberi'' ("The kidnapping of Cerberus") * ''De vita et gestis Christi'' ("The Life and Works of Christ") * ''Carmina minora'' ("Minor Songs") * ''Epistulae'' ("Letters")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunic, Jakov People from Dubrovnik Ragusan writers 15th-century Croatian poets 16th-century Croatian poets

Jakov Jakov ( sr-Cyrl, Јаков, ) is a masculine given name of Biblical origin and a saints' name. It is cognate to Jakob, Yakov, Jacob and James. It is often found in Croatia and Serbia, and also appears elsewhere. The name Jacob is of Hebrew origi ...

Ragusan diplomats Ragusan nobility Ragusan poets 15th-century Croatian writers Ragusan merchants Croatian lawyers Croatian male poets Croatian Latinists 16th-century male writers Ragusan politicians Renaissance writers 15th-century Croatian nobility 16th-century Croatian nobility 1469 births 1534 deaths

Biography

List of works

See also

References