Pal Engjëlli

Pal Engjëlli (Pauli Angeli; 1416–1470) was an Albanian Roman Catholic cardinal, clergyman, scholar, and Archbishop of Durazzo who in 1462 wrote the first known sentence retrieved so far in Albanian. Pal Engjëlli was apart of the Engjëlli Family. His father was Andrea Engjëlli and his mother was Dorothea Arianiti. Pauli Angeli is reported to have been a friend, co-worker and close counselor of Skanderbeg. As his envoy, he frequently traveled abroad, seeking for aid in the war against the Ottoman Empire.

Angeli managed to convince Lekë Dukagjini to leave Ottomans and later reconcile with Skanderbeg, and also to convince Skanderbeg to violate an armistice signed with the Ottomans.

The Baptism Formula Document
The sentence was the baptismal formula in the Gheg Albanian (Formula e pagëzimit): Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit. ("I baptize thee in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.") and in the Tosk-based standard: "'Unë të pagëzoj në emër të Atit, të Birit, e të Shpirtit të Shenjtë").

The formula was found in a pastoral letter written in Latin by Angeli after his visit to the Church of Holy Trinity in Mat. The letter is dated 8 November 1462. The formula was meant to be used by Albanian priests to render the ritual understandable for people ignorant of Latin. Probably it was meant also to be used by Albanian people in the countryside, unable to take their children to be baptized to a church. The formula was approved by a synod in Mat, Albania, in 1462.

The document containing the baptismal formula is held in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence, Italy. It was discovered in 1915 by the Romanian scholar Nicolae Iorga.