Editing Dimitrie Cantemir (section)

==Historical works==
Cantemir was a polyglot known as one of the greatest linguists of his time, speaking and writing eleven languages. Well-versed in Oriental scholarship, his ''oeuvre'' is voluminous, diverse, and original, although some of his scientific writings contain unconfirmed theories or simple inaccuracies. Between 1711 and 1719 he wrote his most important creations. In 1714,<ref>Cantemir, Demetrius (1714) [http://www.natura2000oltenita-chiciu.ro/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Die-europaische-Fama-1714-Demetrius-Cantemirius-Palatinus-Moldaviae-Dimitrie-Cantemir-pdf-Vladimir-Toncea.pdf Moldaviae].</ref> he was named a member of the [[Royal Academy of Berlin]].

Cantemir's best-known history work was his ''[[History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire]]''<ref name=eb/> (the original title was in [[Latin]], ''Historia incrementorum atque decrementorum Aulae Othomanicae''<ref>[https://ottomanhistorians.uchicago.edu/en/historian/dimitrie-cantemir Ottoman Historians]. University of Chicago</ref>). This volume circulated throughout [[Europe]] in [[manuscript]] for a number of years. It was finally printed in 1734 in [[London]]<ref>Cantemir, Demetrius (1734) [http://www.natura2000oltenita-chiciu.ro/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Demetrius-Cantemir-History-of-Othman-Empire-1734-London-first-pages-processed-Vladimir-Toncea.pdf ''History of Othman Empire'']. London</ref> and was later translated and printed in Germany<ref>Cantemir, Demetrius (1745) [http://www.natura2000oltenita-chiciu.ro/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Demetrie-Kantemir-Geschichte-des-osmanischen-Reichs-nach-seinem-Anwachsen-und-Abnehmen-1745-bey-Christian-Herold-Hamburg-first-pages-processed-by-Vladimir-Toncea.pdf Geschichte des osmanischen Reichs nach seinem Anwachsen und Abnehmen]. Hamburg.</ref> and France.<ref>Cantemir, Demetrius (1743) [http://www.natura2000oltenita-chiciu.ro/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Robert-de-Vaugondy-Carte-de-la-Turquie-DEurope-1748-Histoire-de-lEmpire-Othoman-Demetrius-Cantimir-en-fran%C3%A7ais-par-M.-De-Joncqui%C3%A8res-1743-Paris-processed-by-Vladimir-Toncea.pdf Histoire de l'Empire Ottoman]. Paris</ref> It remained the seminal work on the [[Ottoman Empire]] up to the middle of the 19th century; notably, it was used as a reference for [[Edward Gibbon]]'s own ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''. Later scholarship contests many points owing to the dubiousness of some of Cantemir's sources.

He also published the first critical history of [[Romania]] as a whole,<ref name=eb/> the ''Chronicle of the Antiquity of the Romano-Moldavo-Wallachians'' (''{{lang|ro|Hronicul vechimei a romano-moldo-vlahilor}}''), from 1719 to 1722. It asserted the [[Latin]] origin of the [[Romanian language]] and the Roman origin of the people living within the former land of [[Dacia]].<ref>Moldavian description prefaced by club Măciuca Constantine, Ed. Ion Creanga, Bucharest 1978.{{clarify|date=June 2016}}</ref>

Cantemir wrote his ''[[Descriptio Moldaviae]]'' ("Description of Moldavia" in Latin) in 1714<ref name=eb/> at the request of the Royal Academy in Berlin. Covering geographical, ethnographical, and economic aspects of Moldavia, it was similarly circulated in manuscript and only published much later. It appeared in a German geographical magazine in 1769 and was published as a book in 1771.<ref>Cantemir, Demetrius (1771) [http://www.natura2000oltenita-chiciu.ro/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Demetrius-Kantemir-Beschreibung-der-Moldau-Tabula-Geographica-MOLDAVIAE-1771-Frankfurt-und-Leipzig.-processed-Vladimir-Toncea.pdf Beschreibung der Moldau]. Frankfurt and Lepzig</ref> His {{circa|lk=no|1714}} manuscript map of Moldova was the first real map of the country, containing geographical detail as well as administrative information. Printed in 1737 in the [[United Provinces (Low Countries)|Netherlands]], it formed the basis of most European maps of the country for decades.

His 1705 [[roman à clef]] ''A Hieroglyphic History''<ref>{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Dimitrie|title=[[:s:ro:Istoria ieroglifică|Istoria ieroglifică]]|language=ro}}</ref> was the first Romanian novel, representing the history of the Wallachian [[Craiovești|Brâncoveanu]] and [[Cantacuzino family|Cantacuzino]] dynasties through [[allegory|allegorical]] and [[bestiary|mythological]] animals.

He also wrote an introduction to [[Islam]] for Europeans, a biography of [[Jan Baptist van Helmont]],<ref name="Cantemir_1709">{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Demetrius|title=Ioannis Baptistae Van Helmont Physices Universalis Doctrine et Christianae Fidei Congrua et Necessaria Philosophia|date=1709|location=Wallachia|language=la}}</ref> a philosophical treatise in Romanian and Greek,<ref>{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Dimitrie|title=Divanul sau Gâlceava Înțeleptului cu lumea sau Giudețul sufletului cu trupul|date=1698|location=Iași|language=ro}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Demetrius|title=Le Divan ou La Dispute du Sage avec le Monde ou Le Jugement de l'Âme avec le Corps|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Demetrius|title=The Divan or The Wise Man's Parley with the World or The Judgement of the Soul with the Body}}</ref> and an unfinished second treatise on the ''Undepictable Image of Sacred Science''.<ref>{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Dimitrie|title=Imaginea științei sacre, care nu se poate zugrăvi|date=1700|location=Constantinople|language=ro}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Cantemir|first=Dimitrie|title=Sacrosantae Scientiae Indepingibilis Imago|language=la}}</ref>

Due to his many esteemed works, he won great renown at the high courts of Europe. His name is among those who were considered to be the brightest minds of the world on a plaque at the Library of Sainte-Genevieve in [[Paris]], next to those of [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz|Leibniz]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], [[Alexis Piron|Piron]], and other great thinkers.