Charota U. I. “De inventoribus rerum” by Polydore Vergil of Urbino in the literature of Belarus of the second half of the 16th – early 17th century

The work “De inventoribus rerum” (1499) by Polydore Vergil of Urbino was very popular in Western Europe. We have discovered that this book of the Italian writer was known also to the readers on Belarusian lands in the second half of the 16th – early 17th century. This article is devoted to the reception of Polydore Vergil’s work by the literature of Belarus. The purpose of this study is to find out who of the writers refers and appeals to the book of the Italian humanist and how they evaluate it, to analyse in which forms the reception of “De inventoribus rerum” takes place in the literature of Belarus of that period. The research allowed to suppose that Symon Budny read the work of the Italian writer, because he referred to it in the preface to translation of New Testament (Łosk, 1574). In “Threnos” (Wilna, 1610) Meletii Smotritskii gave a quotation from the book “De inventoribus rerum”, called his author a “flatterer of Roman court” and accused him of partiality and telling lies. The reception of “De inventoribus rerum” by the literature of Belarus at the beginning of the 17th century was also in a very interesting and unusual form: in 1608 was published the book “Inventores rerum...” by Jan Protasowicz. This book is a short paraphrase in verse of Polydore Vergil’s work, which was enlarged by Jan Protasowicz with his own comments and remarks. “Inventores rerum...” expanded the range of genres and themes of the literature of Belarus.