Barleti was born and raised in Scutari, then part of the Republic of Venice. Although there is no debate whether Barleti was a native Shkodran or an Albanian in a geographical sense, scholars variously assert that he was of Italian, Dalmatian, or Albanian ethnic origin. In his works Barleti repeatedly calls himself Shkodran, and then equates being Shkodran with being Epirote, a term used by early Albanian language authors as an equivalent form of the ethnonym "Albanian". In 1474, the Ottoman Empire besieged Shkodra and Barleti participated in the successful defense of the town, both in the first siege in 1474 and the second in 1478. When Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottomans in 1479, Barleti escaped to Italy where he would become a scholar of history, classical literature and the Latin language. Soon after Barleti arrived in Venice, he was given a stall at the Rialtomeat market as a temporary means of financial aid. In 1494 became a priest after his theological studies in Venice and Padova, and soon was appointed to serve at St. Stephen's Church inPiovene.
Barleti's first work was The Siege of Shkodra. It was published several times in Latin and translated into Italian, Polish, French, Albanian, and English. Barleti wrote this work as an eyewitness. Of this work, acclaimed Albanian author Ismail Kadare wrote that "if one were to search for a literary creation wholly worthy of the expression 'monumental work,' it would be hard to find a better example than The Siege of Shkodra."
The History of Scanderbeg
Barleti's second and largest work was The History of Scanderbeg, fully entitled About the excellent Prince of the Epirots, George Castrioti's, life, character and deeds, especially against the Turks. Because of his famous exploits he was surnamed Scanderbeg, that is, Alexander the Great. Thirteen books by Marin Barleti of Shkodra. It was first published in Rome between 1508 and 1510 and translated into German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, French, Spanish, and English. Unlike The Siege of Shkodra, Barleti relied on the testimonies of others to produce this work. The History of Scanderbeg is considered an Albanian cultural treasure, vital to the formation of Albanian national self-consciousness. The Serbian language version is the major part and the first manuscript of the Cetinje chronicle. A note at the end of this manuscript says that the author of the text is "Marin from Shkodër of Slavic origin". Paolo Giovio was the first historian to confound Barletius with another contemporary Marinus Scodrensis, Marino Becichemi, professor of rhetorics and author of commentaries on classic literature. The confusion has been elucidated by Thomas Reinesius and Apostolo Zeno. While Barletius in his works calls himself "sacerdotis Scodrensis", Becichemi professes himself married and a "father of boys", professor of Ragusa, Brescia, and Padua, neither of which applies to Barletius.
Barleti's third work is titled, A Brief History of Lives of Popes and Emperors.
Criticism
Barletius' work has inspired chroniclers like Giammaria Biemmi and Theodore Spandounes. It is still popular among romanticist and nationalist historians. Modern historical research on Skenderbeg relies more on archival records than on Barletius. Barleti invented spurious correspondence between Vladislav II of Wallachia and Skanderbeg, wrongly assigning it to the year 1443 instead to the year of 1444. Barleti also invented correspondence between Scanderbeg and Sultan Mehmed II to match his interpretations of events.
