Sebastian Franck, in 1534: Albanians worship the Sun and the Moon

 

 In a manuscript of 1534 that belongs to author Sebastian Franck (humanist, theologian, geographer and German publisher who lived between 1499-1543) gives a description of the Albanians. The manuscript that was discovered by Robert Elsie has a lot of information that is not based on facts. The content is as follows:

Albania, a powerful province of Europe.

People in Albania are born with white hair because it is a cold region facing Asia. This place has been the place of the great strains, which can attack and massacre wild bulls and elephants.

These people have bright colored eyes that can see better at night than on daylight.

Fragment of the original text of Sebastian Franck’s “World Book: Mirror and Image of the Whole Planet” (1534)

Solinus was amazed at this.

Albania was more or less part of Macedonia and belonged to it.

Its parts are the famous cities like Durrës and Apollonia.

People's language is not understood by both Greeks and Slavs.

In the east are the sea and in the west is Iberia.

It is a mountainous region and the inhabitants were originally shepherds.

These people are so simple as they do not know even of what the money is.

Fragment of the original text of Sebastian Franck’s “World Book: Mirror and Image of the Whole Planet” (1534)

They do not know how to count over one hundred.

They remain busy among them.

They do not know the weight and the masses, nor do they know how to be farmers.

They are only equipped for war and worship the sun and the moon.

This country has big snakes, scorpions and deadly spiders.

Strabo says they have 26 languages.

Initially, they were occupied by the Persians, later by the Macedonians, then by the Romans and now occupied by the Turks."