Constantine of Berat

Constantine of Berat, known among Albanians as Kostandin Jermonak Berati or shortly Kostë Berati, was an Albanian writer and translator of the 18th century.

Life and work Not much is known about him, except that he was from Berat, today's southern part of central Albania, then Sanjak of Berat in Vilayet of Janina of the Ottoman Empire. His lifespan was highly probably between 1745 and 1825. Also, Constantine was quite likely an Orthodox monk. Elsie mentions that some experts doubt his existence, at least as a writer. He has copied a part of the "lexicon" of Theodore Kavalliotis, and is believed to have signed in 1779 a religious document (in Greek) together with Kavallioti and Teodor Haxhifilipi in Moscopole.

Constantine of Berat is attributed as the author of a manuscript from 1764 to 1822, originally a 154 It is preserved in the National Library in Tirana. This so-called Codex of Constantine of Berat or Codex of Berat (but not to be confused with Codex Beratinus I and II), is a simple paper manuscript and must not be envisaged as an illuminated parchment codex in the Western tradition. The Albanian part of the manuscript contains some religious prayers and Bible fragments, a hymn-poetry on Christ's suffering, and a Greek-Albanian dictionary.

A street in Berat is named after him.

Controversy German Albanologist Armin Hetzer in 1982 was the first scientist to notice that the name Constantinos in the Berat manuscript is not a reference to a person, but to a date (St. Constanties date). Thus, according to Hetzer, there was no Constantine in Berat that authored the manuscript, instead he notices another name in it of a certain Thimi Nuni. More recently (2019), Albanian philologists Bardhyl Demiraj made a claim agreeing with the German, seeing it possible that Constantine of Berat, in fact, never existed. There seems to be a rise in the number of researchers agreeing with this hypothesis.