Gennadius II (
Greek Γεννάδιος Βʹ;
lay name Γεώργιος Κουρτέσιος Σχολάριος, ''Georgios Kourtesios Scholarios''; c. 1400 – c. 1473) was a
Byzantine Greek philosopher and theologian, and
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople ( Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of ...
from 1454 to 1464. He was a strong advocate for the use of
Aristotelian philosophy in the Orthodox Church.
Gennadius was, together with his mentor,
Mark of Ephesus, involved in the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
which aimed to end the schism between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Gennadius had studied and written extensively on Catholic theology. After the failure of the union of Florence and the
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
, Gennadius became the first Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople under Ottoman rule. Just before the fall of Constantinople, and after Cardinal Isodore had celebrated a Latin Mass in St. Sophia to celebrate the ratification of the council of Florence, its citizens consulted Gennadius. Gibbon has him say: "O miserable Romans, why will ye abandon the truth? and why, instead of confiding in God, will ye put your trust in the Italians? In losing your faith you will lose your city. Have mercy on me, O Lord! I protest in thy presence that I am innocent of the crime. O miserable Romans, consider, pause, and repent. At the same moment that you renounce the religion of your fathers, by embracing impiety, you submit to a foreign servitude."
A polemicist, Scholarios left in writing several treatises on the differences between Catholic and Orthodox theology, the
Filioque, a defence of
Aristotelianism and excerpts from an exposition (entitled ''Confession'') of the
Eastern Orthodox faith addressed to
Mehmed II.
Biography
He was born Georgios Kourtesios in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in c. 1400 and he belonged to an ethnic
Greek family originally from the island of
Chios
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mast ...
; the name Scholarios (which was also a title) is thought to derive from a family member's position in the
Byzantine Navy
The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its Imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than ...
or the imperial palace. His abecedary was
Mark of Ephesus (d. 1444). Following his tutelage under the famous
John Chortasmenos ("didaskalos" of the Patriarchal School), Manuel-Mark might have then recommended him to study under his own previous master, Georgios
Gemistus Pletho (d. 1452/1454), c. 1428. However, his studies under Pletho are a matter of speculation and, at any rate, would have been more likely attendance at Pletho's lectures at Mistra. Scholarius had been a teacher of philosophy before entering the service of the emperor
John VIII Palaeologus
John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, Iōánnēs Palaiológos; 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448) was the penultimate Byzantine emperor, ruling from 1425 to 1448.
Biography
John VIII was ...
as a theological advisor. In fact, in 1437 – in anticipation of the
Council of Ferrara-Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place ...
– the emperor formally studied
Nilus Cabasilas's works along with Mark of Ephesus and Gennadius Scholarius. Curiously, the trio also formally studied the works of
John Duns Scotus (d. 1308) because of his rejection of the Filioque in
Thomistic metaphysics, as well as Scotus' doctrine of a "formal distinction" between the persons and essence of God, as well as God's attributes (or "energies"). It was for this reason that Scholarius wrote an academic refutation of the first eighteen of Mark of Ephesus' "Syllogistic Chapters against the Latins." From this, we can surmise that Scholarius was likely writing an academic exercise to inform his former master that Thomas Aquinas' opinions did not constitute a universally Latin approach to questions on the Trinity.
Council of Florence
Georgios Scholarius became historically important when, as judge in the civil courts under John VIII (1425–1448), he accompanied his emperor to the council of Ferrara-Florence, held in 1438–1439 in
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
and
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
. The object of this endeavor was bringing a union between the
Greek and
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...
es, which he supported at that time. He made four speeches at the council – all exceedingly conciliatory.
At the same council appeared the celebrated Platonist, Gemistus Pletho, the most powerful opponent of the then dominant
Aristotelianism, and consequently an antagonist of Scholarius. In church matters, as in philosophy, the two were opposed – Pletho advocated a partial return to Greek
paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
in the form of a
syncretic union between Christianity and
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
; while Scholarius, more cautious, pressed the necessity for ecclesiastical union with Rome on doctrinal grounds, and was instrumental in drawing up a form which from its vagueness and ambiguity might be accepted by both parties. Georgios Scholarius was at a serious disadvantage because, being a layman, he could not directly take part in the discussions of the council.
Return to Constantinople
Despite his initial advocacy of the union (and berating many of the Orthodox bishops for their lack of theological learnedness), Georgios Scholarius soured on union during the council, and left it early in June 1440. At the behest of his mentor
Mark of Ephesus, who converted him completely to anti-Latin Orthodoxy, until his death, Georgios Scholarius was known (with Mark of Ephesus) as the most uncompromising enemy of the union. It was at just about this time (1444) that he began to draw attention to the putative heterodoxy of Aquinas' "distinction of reason" between the attributes (viz., energies) and essence of God. First, as contained in
Martin Jugie's edition of his ''opera omnia'', Georgios Scholarius interrupts chapters 94–96 of his discourse "On Being and Essence" of
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...
, and replaces the Thomistic explanation with that of Scotism in order to agree better with
Palamas. However, he initially mitigates total condemnation of Aquinas, noting that later
Scholastics (like
Hervaeus Natalis Hervaeus Natalis (c. 1260, Nédellec, diocese of Tréguier, Brittany-1323) was a Dominican theologian, the 14th Master of the Dominicans, and the author of a number of works on philosophy and theology. Among his many writings may be included the ...
) interpret Aquinas in a more Orthodox light. This point marks Scholarius' increasing theological distance from Aquinas, where he begins to be more theologically condemnatory of him in later works (e.g., his treatises on the Holy Spirit and his Preface to the Greek "Summa Theologiae"). However, this distance can be overstated. Marcus Plested observes that Scholarios' "love and esteem for Thomas was to continue undimmed throughout his career" "although he would often accentuate the note of caution in later works."
[Marcus Plested (2012) ''Orthodox Readings of Aquinas'', Oxford University Press, pp. 128,129] Despite his cautions, Scholarios writes of Thomas "we love this divinely-inspired and wise man." He wrote many works to defend his new convictions, which differ so much from the earlier conciliatory ones that
Allatius thought there must be two people of the same name; to whom
Gibbon: "
Renaudot has restored the identity of his person, and the duplicity of his character".
After the death of John VIII in 1448, Georgios entered the
Pantokrator monastery in Constantinople under
Constantine XI (1448–1453) and took, according to the invariable custom, a new name: Gennadius. Before the
fall of the city he was already well known as a bitter opponent of the union. He and Mark of Ephesus were the leaders of the anti-Latin party. In 1444, Mark of Ephesus on his deathbed praised Gennadius's irreconcilable attitude towards the Latins and the union. It was to Gennadius that the angry people went after seeing the
Uniate services in the great church of
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
. It is said that he hid himself, but left a notice on the door of his cell: "O unhappy Romans, why have you forsaken the truth? Why do you not trust in God, instead of in the Italians? In losing your faith you will lose your city."
Ottoman period
After the
fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
, Gennadius was taken prisoner by the
Turks. In administering his new conquest, 21-year-old conquering Sultan
Mehmed II wished to assure the loyalty of the Greek population and above all avoid them appealing to the Roman Catholics for liberation, potentially sparking a new round of
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
. Mehmed therefore sought the most anti-Catholic cleric he could find as a figure of unity for the Greeks under Turkish rule – and Gennadius as leading anti-Union figure was a natural choice. On 1 June 1453, just three days after the fall of the city, the new Patriarch's procession passed through the streets where Mehmed received Gennadius graciously and himself invested him with the signs of his office – the
crosier (''dikanikion'') and mantle. This ceremonial investiture would be repeated by all sultans and patriarchs thereafter.
The city's famous patriarchal basilica, the
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
, had already been converted into a mosque by the conquerors, so Gennadius established his seat at the
Church of the Holy Apostles. Three years later the edifice, which was in a dilapidated state (in 1461 it was demolished by the Ottomans to make way for the
Fatih Mosque), was abandoned by the Patriarch, who moved again to the
Church of the Pammakaristos.
The Ottomans divided their Empire into ''
millets'' or subject nations, of which the Greeks were the largest, known as the
Rum Millet
Rūm millet (millet-i Rûm), or "''Roman nation''", was the name of the Eastern Orthodox Christian community in the Ottoman Empire. Despite being subordinated within the Ottoman political system, the community maintained a certain internal auto ...
. The Patriarch was appointed the official head or ''
Ethnarch'' of the Greek millet, which was used as the Ottomans as a source for imperial administrators. Gennadius became a political authority as well as a religious one, as were all his successors under the Ottomans.
As was normal when a monk or lay scholar was appointed patriarch, Gennadius was consecutively
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
, first as a deacon, then as a priest, then finally as a bishop before being appointed patriarch.
Patriarch
In the spring of 1454 he was consecrated by the
metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
of
Heraclea Perinthus, but, since both the Church of Hagia Sophia and the palace of the patriarch were now in the hands of the Ottomans, he took up his residence successively in two
monasteries of the city. While holding the episcopal office Gennadius drew up, apparently for the use of Mehmed, a confession or exposition of the Christian faith, which was translated into Turkish by Ahmed,
Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
of Berrhoea (and first printed by A. Brassicanus at
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1530).
Gennadius was unhappy as patriarch, and tried to abdicate his position at least twice; in 1456 he resigned. The full reason for this step commonly attributed to his disappointment at the sultan's treatment of Christians, though Mehmed seems to have kept the fairly tolerant conditions he had allowed to them; various writers hint darker other motives.
Eventually, he found the tensions between the
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...
and the Ottomans overwhelming.
He was later called two times to guide the Christian community as Patriarch during the turbulent period that followed the patriarchate of
Isidore II. There is no consensus among scholars about the exact dates of his last two patriarchates: according to Kiminas (2009), he reigned again from April 1463 to c. June 1463 and from August 1464 to autumn 1465.
Blanchet objects to the existence itself of these two additional terms.
Gennadius then, like so many of his successors, ended his days as an ex-patriarch and a
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
. He lived in the monastery of John the Baptist near
Serrae in
Macedonia, where he wrote books until he died in about 1473.
Gennadius fills an important place in Byzantine history. He was the last of the old school of
polemic
Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...
al writers and one of the greatest. Unlike most of his fellows he had an intimate acquaintance with Latin theological literature, especially with St.
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...
and other
Scholastics. He was as skillful an opponent of Catholic theology as
Mark of Ephesus, and a more learned one. However, his opposition to Aquinas can be overstated. Marcus Plested observes that Scholarios' "love and esteem for Thomas was to continued undimmed throughout his career" "although he would often accentuate the note of caution in later works."
Despite his cautions Scholarios writes of Thomas "we love this divinely-inspired and wise man."
[Luis Petit, Xenophon Sidéridès, Martin Jugie, Eds. (1928-36), ''Oeuvres Complètes de Georges Scholarios'' 8 vols., Paris, VI:177-8. quoted in Plested, p. 129]
His writings show him to be a student not only of Western philosophy but of controversy with Jews and Muslims, of the great
Hesychast question (he attacked
Barlaam and defended the monks; naturally, the Barlaamites were "latinophrones"), in short, of all the questions that were important in his time. He has another kind of importance as the first Patriarch of Constantinople under the Turks. From this point of view he stands at the head of a new period in the history of his Church; the principles that regulated the condition of Orthodox Christians in the Turkish Empire are the result of Mehmed II's arrangement with him.
Writings
About 100 to 120 of his alleged writings exist, some of which have never been published, and some of which are of doubtful authenticity. As far as is known, his writings may be classified into philosophical (interpretations of Aristotle,
Porphyry and others), translations of
Peter of Spain
__NOTOC__
Peter of Hispania ( la, Petrus Hispanus; Portuguese and es, Pedro Hispano; century) was the author of the ', later known as the ', an important medieval university textbook on Aristotelian logic. As the Latin '' Hispania'' was conside ...
and Thomas Aquinas, defenses of Aristotelianism against the recrudescence of
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ...
) and theological and ecclesiastical (partly concerning the union and partly defending Christianity against Muslims, Jews, and
pagans), in addition to numerous
homilies,
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...
s, and letters.
Gennadius was a prolific writer during all the periods of his life.
The complete works of Gennadius were published in eight volumes by Jugie, Petit & Siderides, 1928–1936. (Note: this edition supersedes the references made below.)
First Period (pro-Union)
The chief works of this time are the "speeches" made at the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
, also a number of letters addressed to various friends, bishops, and statesmen, mostly unedited. An ''Apology for five chapters of the Council of Florence'' is doubtful. A ''History of the Council of Florence'' under his name (in manuscript only) is really identical with that of
Syropulos.
Second Period (anti-Union)
A great number of polemical works against Latins were written in this time. Two books about the ''Procession of the
Holy Ghost''; another one "against the insertion of the ''
Filioque'' in the Creed"; two books and a letter about "
Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
"; various sermons and speeches; a ''
Panegyric
A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens.
Etymology
The word originated as a compound of gr ...
of Marcus Eugenicus'' (in 1447), etc. Some translations of works of St. Thomas Aquinas, and polemical treatises against his theology by Gennadius are still unedited, as is also his work against the Barlaamites. However, his hostility toward Aquinas can be overstated. Marcus Plested observes that Scholarios' "love and esteem for Thomas was to continue undimmed throughout his career" "although he would often accentuate the note of caution in later works."
Despite his cautions Scholarios writes of Thomas "we love this divinely-inspired and wise man."
There are also various philosophical treatises of which the chief is a ''Defence of Aristotle'' (''antilepseis hyper Aristotelous'') against the Neoplatonist,
Gemistus Pletho.
His most important work is easily his "Confession" (''Ekthesis tes pisteos ton orthodoxon christianon'', generally known as ''Homologia tou Gennadiou'') addressed to
Mehmed II. It contains twenty articles, of which however only the first twelve are authentic. It was written in Greek; Achmed,
Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
of Berrhoea, translated it into
Turkish. This is the first (in date) of the Orthodox Symbolic books. It was published first (in Greek and Latin) by Brassicanus (Vienna, 1530), and again by Chytræus (Frankfurt, 1582). Martin Crusius printed it in
Greek,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, and Turkish (in Greek and Latin script) in his ''Turco-Græcia'' (Basle, 1584 reprinted in ''
Patrologia Graeca'', CLX 333, sqq.). Rimmel reprinted it (Greek and Latin) (in his ''Monumenta fidei Eccl. Orient.'' (Jena, 1850), I, 1–10.); and Michalcescu in Greek only. There exists an arrangement of this Confession in the form of a dialogue in which Mehmed asks questions ("What is God?" – "Why is he called ''theos''?" – "And how many Gods are there?" and so on) and Gennadius gives suitable answers. This is called variously Gennadius's ''Dialogue'' (''dialexis'', διάλεξις), or ''Confessio prior'', or ''De Via salutis humanæ'' (''Peri tes hodou tes soterias anthropon''). Rimmel prints it first, in Latin only, and thinks it was the source of the Confession. It is more probably a later compilation made from the Confession by someone else. It should be noticed that Gennadius's (quasi-Platonic) philosophy is in evidence in his Confession (God cannot be interpreted, ''theos'' from ''theein'', etc.; cf. Rimmel). Either for the same reason or to spare Muslim susceptibility he avoids the word ''Prosopa'' in explaining the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
, speaking of the three Persons as ''idiomata'' "which we call
Hypostases".
Third Period (post-resignation)
During the third period, from his resignation to his death (1459–1468), he continued writing theological and polemical works. An
encyclical letter to all Christians ''In defence of his resignation'' is unedited, as are also a ''Dialogue with two Turks about the divinity of Christ'', and a work about the ''Adoration of God''. Jahn (''Anecdota græca'') has published a ''Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew'' and a collection of ''Prophecies about Christ'' gathered from the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
. A treatise, ''About our God, one in three, against
Atheists and
Polytheists'', is chiefly directed against the theory that the world may have been formed by chance. Five books, ''About the Foreknowledge and Providence of God'' and a ''Treatise on the manhood of Christ'', are also in ''
Patrologia Graeca'', CLX. Lastly, there are many homilies by Gennadius, most of which exist only in manuscript at
Mount Athos.
[''Codd. Athous'', Paris, 1289–1298.]
In popular media
* In 2012 film, ''
Fetih 1453'', Gennadius is played by
Adnan Kürtçü.
* Gennadius is a significant character in the historical novel
Porphyry and Ash which covers the final year of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and the controversy of the act of union.
* Appears in novel
The Dark Angel by
Mika Waltari.
See also
*
Greek scholars in the Renaissance
The migration waves of Byzantine Greek scholars and émigrés in the period following the end of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 is considered by many scholars key to the revival of Greek studies that led to the development of the Renaissanc ...
*
Joannes Chortasmenos
Notes
*
*
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
Athanasios Angelou‘'Who am I?’’ Scholarios' answers and the Hellenic identity", in Φιλέλλην. Studies in honour of Robert Browning, Venice 1996, p. 1-19.
* Marie-Hélène Blanchet, ''Georges-Gennadios Scholarios (vers 1400-vers 1472): un intellectuel orthodoxe face à la disparition de l'empire byzantin'', Institut Français d'Études Byzantines, Paris, 2008.
* Joseph Gill, 'George Scholarius', in J. Gill, ''Personalities of the Council of Florence and other Essays'', Oxford, 1964, pp. 79–94.
*
* Livanos, Christopher, "Greek Tradition and Latin Influence in the Work of George Scholarios," Gorgias Press, 2006.
*
*
* Eugenia Russell, "St Demetrius of Thessalonica; Cult and Devotion in the Middle Ages", Peter Lang, Oxford, 2010.
* C.J.G. Turner, 'The career of Georgios Gennadios Scholarios', ''Byzantion'' 39 (1969), 420–55
* C.J.G. Turner, 'George Gennadius Scholarius and the Council of Florence', ''Journal of Theological Studies'' 18 (1967), 83–103
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae: Bibliography of Gennadius Scholarius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gennadios 02 of Constantinople, Patriarch
1400 births
1473 deaths
People from Constantinople
Byzantine theologians
Byzantine philosophers
15th-century Greek people
Greek Renaissance humanists
15th-century patriarchs of Constantinople
15th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians
Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
15th-century Byzantine writers