Ghirlandaio - Tornabuoni Chapel - a Humanist philosopher

The migration waves of Byzantine Greek scholars and émigrés in the period following the

end of the Byzantine Empire 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 ...

in 1453 is considered by many scholars key to the revival of Greek studies that led to the development of the Renaissance humanism and science. These émigrés brought to Western Europe the relatively well-preserved remnants and accumulated knowledge of their own (Greek) civilization, which had mostly not survived the Early Middle Ages in the West. The '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' claims: "Many modern scholars also agree that the exodus of Greeks to Italy as a result of this event marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance", although few scholars date the start of the Italian Renaissance this late.

History

The main role of Byzantine scholars within Renaissance humanism was the teaching of the

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), souther ...

to their western counterparts in universities or privately together with the spread of ancient texts. Their forerunners were

Barlaam of Calabria Barlaam of Seminara (Bernardo Massari, as a layman), c. 1290–1348, or Barlaam of Calabria ( gr, Βαρλαὰμ Καλαβρός) was an Eastern Orthodox Greek scholar born in southern Italy he was a scholar and clergyman of the 14th century, ...

(Bernardo Massari) and Leonzio Pilato, two translators who were both born in Calabria in southern Italy and who were both educated in the Greek language. The impact of these two scholars on the humanists was indisputable. By 1500 there was a Greek-speaking community of about 5,000 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The Venetians also ruled Crete, Dalmatia, and scattered islands and port cities of the former empire, the populations of which were augmented by refugees from other Byzantine provinces who preferred Venetian to Ottoman governance. Crete was especially notable for the Cretan School of icon-painting, which after 1453 became the most important in the Greek world. After the peak of the Italian Renaissance in the first decades of the 16th century, the flow of information reversed, and Greek scholars in Italy were employed to oppose Turkish expansion into former Byzantine lands in Greece, prevent the Protestant Reformation spreading there and help bring the Eastern Churches back into communion with Rome. In 1577, Gregory XIII founded the

Collegio Pontifico Greco The Pontifical Greek College of St. Athanasius ( it, Pontificio Collegio Greco di Sant’Atanasio, el, Ποντιφίκιο Ελληνικό Κολλέγιο Αγίου Αθανασίου) is a Pontifical College in Rome that observes the Byzant ...

as a college in Rome to receive young Greeks belonging to any nation in which the Greek Rite was used, and consequently for Greek refugees in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as well as the

Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sou ...

and Malchites of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The construction of the College and Church of S. Atanasio, joined by a bridge over the ''Via dei Greci'', was begun in that year. Although ideas from

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

already enjoyed popularity with the scholars of the 14th century and their importance to the Renaissance was undeniable, the lessons of Greek learning brought by Byzantine intellectuals changed the course of

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

and the Renaissance itself. While Greek learning affected all the subjects of the ''

studia humanitatis The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

'', history and philosophy in particular were profoundly affected by the texts and ideas brought from Byzantium. History was changed by the re-discovery and spread of Greek historians’ writings, and this knowledge of Greek historical treatises helped the subject of history become a guide to virtuous living based on the study of past events and people. The effects of this renewed knowledge of Greek history can be seen in the writings of humanists on virtue, which was a popular topic. Specifically, these effects are shown in the examples provided from Greek antiquity that displayed virtue as well as vice. The philosophy of not only

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

but also

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

affected the Renaissance by causing debates over man’s place in the universe, the immortality of the soul, and the ability of man to improve himself through virtue. The flourishing of philosophical writings in the 15th century revealed the impact of Greek philosophy and science on the Renaissance. The resonance of these changes lasted through the centuries following the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

not only in the writing of humanists, but also in the education and values of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and western society even to the present day.Constantinople and the West by Deno John Geanakopulos- Italian Renaissance and thought and the role of Byzantine emigres scholars in Florence, Rome and Venice: A reassessment University of Wisconsin Press, 1989 Deno Geanakopoulos in his work on the contribution of Byzantine Greek scholars to Renaissance has summarised their input into three major shifts to Renaissance thought: * in early 14th century

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 ...

from the early, central emphasis on rhetoric to one on metaphysical philosophy by means of introducing and reinterpretation of the Platonic texts, * in

- Padua by reducing the dominance of Averroist

in science and philosophy by supplementing but not completely replacing it with Byzantine traditions which utilised ancient and Byzantine commentators on Aristotle, * and earlier in the mid 15th century in Rome, through emphasis not on any philosophical school but through the production of more authentic and reliable versions of Greek texts relevant to all fields of humanism and science and with respect to the Greek fathers of the church. Hardly less important was their direct or indirect influence on exegesis of the New Testament itself through Cardinal Bessarion's inspiration of Lorenzo Valla's biblical emendations of the Latin vulgate in the light of the Greek text.

Scholars

* Leo Allatius (c. 1586 – 1669), Rome, librarian of the library of Vatican * George Amiroutzes (1400–1470), Florence, Aristotelian * Henry Aristippus of Calabria (1105–10 – 1162) * Michael Apostolius (c. 1420 – after 1474 or 1486), Rome * Arsenius Apostolius (c. 1468 – 1538), Venice, bishop of Monemvasia * John Argyropoulos (c. 1415 – 1487), Universities of Florence, Rome *

Simon Atumano Simon Atumano (Greek: ''Σίμων ὁ Ἀτουμάνος'') was the Bishop of Gerace in Calabria from 23 June 1348 until 1366 and the Latin Archbishop of Thebes thereafter until 1380. Born in Constantinople, Atumano was of Greco- Turkish ori ...

(14th century), Bishop of Gerace in Calabria * Bessarion (1403–1472), Catholic cardinal * Barlaam of Seminara (c. 1290–1348), he taught Petrarch some rudiments of Greek language * Zacharias Calliergi (fl. 1499–1515), Rome *

Laonicus Chalcocondyles Laonikos Chalkokondyles, Latinized as Laonicus Chalcocondyles ( el, Λαόνικος Χαλκοκονδύλης, from λαός "people", νικᾶν "to be victorious", an anagram of Nikolaos which bears the same meaning; c. 1430 – c. 1470; ...

(c. 1430 – c. 1470), historian, Athens *

Demetrius Chalcondyles Demetrios Chalkokondyles ( el, Δημήτριος Χαλκοκονδύλης ), Latinized as Demetrius Chalcocondyles and found variously as Demetricocondyles, Chalcocondylas or Chalcondyles (14239 January 1511) was one of the most eminent Gree ...

(1423–1511), Padua, Florence, Milan * Theofilos Chalcocondylis, Florence * Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1355 – 1415), Florence, Pavia, Rome, Venice, Milan *

John Chrysoloras John Chrysoloras was a relative of Manuel Chrysoloras, (variously described as his nephew, brother or son) who like him had studied and taught at Constantinople and then migrated to Italy. There he was influential in spreading Greek letters in the ...

, scholar and diplomat: relative of Manuel Chrysoloras, patron of

Francesco Filelfo Francesco Filelfo ( la, Franciscus Philelphus; 25 July 1398 – 31 July 1481) was an Italian Renaissance humanist. Biography Filelfo was born at Tolentino, in the March of Ancona. He is believed to be a third cousin of Leonardo da Vinci. At t ...

Andronicus Contoblacas Andronicus Contoblacas ( el, Ἀνδρόνικος Κοντοβλάκας) was a Greek Renaissance humanist and scholar. He was a lecturer at the University of Basel in Switzerland. He is noted for having been a teacher to Johann Reuchlin Johann ...

, Basel, teacher of Johann Reuchlin * Johannes Crastonis (d. after 1497), Modena, Greek-Latin dictionary * Andronicus Callistus (1400 – c. 1476), Rome, Bologna, Florence, Paris, cousin of Theodorus Gaza *

Demetrius Cydones Demetrios Kydones, Latinized as Demetrius Cydones or Demetrius Cydonius ( el, Δημήτριος Κυδώνης; 1324, Thessalonica – 1398, Crete), was a Byzantine Greek theologian, translator, author and influential statesman, who served a ...

(1324–1398), Mesazon of the Byzantine Empire *

Mathew Devaris Mathew Devaris was a Greek scholar during the Renaissance. He was born in Corfu but migrated to Rome Italy at a young age. He was a student of Janus Lascaris and is known to have published Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica ...

(fl. 1552–1550), Rome * Demetrios Ducas (с. 1480 – c. 1527), Spain * Elia del Medigo (c. 1458 – c. 1493), Venice, Rome, Padua, Jewish philosopher * Antonios Eparchos (1491–1571), Venice, scholar and poet * Antonio de Ferraris (c. 1444 – 1517), academic, doctor and humanist * Theodorus Gaza (c. 1398 – c. 1475), first dean of the University of Ferrara, Naples and Rome * George Gemistos Plethon (c. 1355/1360 – 1452/54), teacher of Bessarion * George of Trebizond (1395–1486), Venice, Florence, Rome *

George Hermonymus George Hermonymus ( el, Γεώργιος Ἑρμώνυμος; born before 1435; died after 1503), also known as Hermonymus of Sparta, was a 15th-century Greek scribe, diplomat, scholar and lecturer. He was the first person to teach Greek at the Co ...

(before 1435 – after 1503), University of Paris, teacher of Erasmus, Reuchlin, Budaeus and Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples * Georgios Kalafatis (ca. 1652 – ca. 1720), Greek professor of theoretical and practical medicine *

Andreas Musalus Andreas Musalus ( la, Andreas Musalus, it, Andrea Musalo, gr, Ανδρέας Μουσάλος; ca. 1665/6 – ca. 1721) was a Greek professor of mathematics, philosopher and architectural theorist who was largely active in Venice during the 17 ...

(ca. 1665/6 – ca. 1721), Greek professor of mathematics, philosopher and architectural theorist *

Nicholas Kalliakis Nicholas Kalliakis ( el, Νικόλαος Καλλιάκης, ''Nikolaos Kalliakis''; la, Nicolaus Calliachius; it, Niccolò Calliachi; c. 1645 - 8 May 1707) was a Cretan Greek scholar and philosopher who flourished in Italy in the 17th century ...

(Nicolai Calliachius) (1645–1707), a Greek scholar and philosopher who flourished in Italy. * Mathaeos Kamariotis (d. 1490), Constantinople * Isidore of Kiev (1385–1463) *

Ioannis Kigalas Ioannis Kigalas ( gr, Ιωάννης Κιγάλας), ( it, Giovanni Cigala, Cicala), ( la, Joannes Cigala; 1622 – c. 5 November 1687) was a Greek Cypriot scholar and professor of Philosophy and Logic who was largely active in Padua and Ven ...

(ca. 1622 – 1687), Greek scholar and professor of Philosophy and Logic * Ioannis Kottounios (c. 1577 – 1658), Padua * Konstantinos Kallokratos (b. 1589), Calabria * Constantine Lascaris (1434–1501),

University of Messina The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the w ...

* Janus Lascaris or Rhyndacenus (c. 1445 – 1535), Rome * Leonard of Chios (c. 1395/96 – c. 1458), Greek-born Roman Catholic prelate *

Nikolaos Loukanis Nikolaos Loukanis was a 16th-century Greek Renaissance humanist. He worked in Venice where in 1526 he produced a translation of Homer's Iliad into modern Greek which is credited as one of the first literary texts published in Modern Greek (as most ...

(16th century), Venice * Maximus the Greek (c. 1475 – 1556) studied in Italy before moving to Russia * Maximos Margunios (1549–1602), Venice * Marcus Musurus (c. 1470 – 1517), University of Padua * Michael Tarchaniota Marullus (с. 1458 – 1500), Ancona and Florence, friend and pupil of

Jovianus Pontanus Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), later known as Giovanni Gioviano ( la, Ioannes Iovianus Pontanus), was a humanist and poet from Cerreto di Spoleto, in central Italy. He was the leading figure of the Accademia Pontaniana after the death of Anton ...

* Leonardos Philaras (1595–1673), an early advocate for Greek independence *

Maximus Planudes Maximus Planudes ( grc-gre, Μάξιμος Πλανούδης, ''Máximos Planoúdēs''; ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, scholar, anthologist, translator, mathematician, grammarian and theologian at Constantinople. Through his translations from L ...

(c. 1260 – c. 1305), Rome, Venice, anthologist, mathematician, grammarian, theologian *

Franciscus Portus Franciscus Portus (Latin; Greek: Φραγκίσκος Πόρτος, Italian: Francesco Porto) (1511 – 1581) was a Greek-Italian Renaissance humanist and classical scholar. Biography Born on Crete on 22 August 1511, Portus was orphaned early. He ...

(1511–1581), Venice, Ferrara, Geneva * John Servopoulos (fl. 1484–1500), scholar, professor, Oxford *

Nikolaos Sophianos Nikolaos Sophianos ( el, Νικόλαος Σοφιανός; c. 1500 – after 1551) was a Greek Renaissance humanist and cartographer chiefly noted for his '' Totius Graeciae Descriptio'' map and his grammar of Greek. He was born into the local ...

(c. 1500 – after 1551), Rome, Venice: scholar and geographer, creator of the Totius Graeciae Descriptio * Nicholas Leonicus Thomaeus (1456–1531), Venice, Padua *

Iakovos Trivolis Iakovos Trivolis (died 1547) was a Greek Renaissance humanist and writer. He published a historical work titled ''History of Tallapieras'' after the exploits of the namesake Venetian ship captain, and the ''Story of the King of Scotia and the Quee ...

(d. 1547), Venice * Gregory Tifernas (1414–1462), Paris, teacher of Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples and Robert Gaguin * Gerasimos Vlachos (1607–1685), Venice * Francesco Maurolico (1494–1575), mathematician and astronomer from Sicily

Painting and music

Marco Basaiti Marco Basaiti (c. 1470–1530) was a Renaissance painter who worked mainly in Venice and was a contemporary of Giovanni Bellini and Cima da Conegliano.

(c. 1470 – c. 1530), painter, Venice *

Belisario Corenzio Belisario Corenzio ( el, Βελισσάριος Κορένσιος 1558–1646) was a Greek-Italian painter, active in Venice and Naples. He is one of few Greek painters that did not belong to the Cretan Renaissance like his contemporaries of th ...

(c. 1558–1643), painter, Napoli *

Michael Damaskenos Michael Damaskenos or Michail Damaskenos ( el, Μιχαήλ Δαμασκηνός, 1530/35–1592/93) was a leading post-Byzantine Cretan painter. He is a major representative of the Cretan School of painting that flourished in the 16th and 17 ...

(1530/35–1592/93), Venice, Cretan painter * Georgios Klontzas (1535-1608) Cretan painter * Thomas Flanginis (1578–1648), Venice, funded the establishment of the Flanginian Greek school for teachers * El Greco (1541–1614), the nickname for the Cretan painter Dominikos Theotokopoulos,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

* Francisco Leontaritis (1518 – c. 1572), Italy, Bavaria: singer and composer * Anna Notaras (d. 1507), Venice, first Greek printing press * Angelos Pitzamanos (1467–1535),

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

painter, Otranto, Southern ItalyNano Chatzidakis: ''The character of the Velimezis Collection''
/ref> * Janus Plousiadenos (c. 1429 – c. 1500), Venice, hymnographer and composer *

Theodore Poulakis Theodore Poulakis ( el, Θεόδωρος Πουλάκης; 1622–1692) was a Greek Renaissance painter and teacher. He is considered the father of the Heptanese School and one of the most prolific painters of Venetian Crete. Poulakis was a me ...

(1622–1692), Venice, painter *

Emmanuel Tzanes Emmanuel Tzanes ( el, Εμμανουήλ Τζάνες, 1610 – 28 March 1690), also known as Bounialis ( el, Μπουνιαλής) Emmanuel Tzane-Bounialis, Emmanuel Zane, and Emmanuel Tzane. He was a Greek Renaissance painter. He was an a ...

(1610–1690), Venice, Cretan painter * John Rhosos (d. 1498), Rome, Venice well-known scribe *

Antonio Vassilacchi Antonio Vassilacchi (; el, Αντώνιος Βασιλάκης, Antonios Vasilakis; 1556–1629), also called L'Aliense, was a Greece, Greek painter, who was active mostly in Venice and the Veneto. Biography Antonio Vassilacchi was born of Greek ...

(1556–1629), painter from Milos worked in

with Paolo Veronese

References

Sources

* Deno J. Geanakoplos, ''Byzantine East and Latin West: Two worlds of Christendom in Middle Ages and renaissance''. The Academy Library Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1966. * Deno J. Geanakoplos, (1958) ''A Byzantine looks at the renaissance'', Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 1 (2);pp:157-62. * Jonathan Harris, ''Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400-1520'', Camberley: Porphyrogenitus, 1995. * Louise Ropes Loomis (1908) ''The Greek Renaissance in Italy'' The American Historical Review, 13(2);pp:246-258. * John Monfasani ''Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and Other Émigrés'': Selected Essays, Aldershot, Hampshire: Variorum, 1995. * Steven Runciman, ''The fall of Constantinople, 1453''. Cambridge University press, Cambridge 1965. * Fotis Vassileiou & Barbara Saribalidou, ''Short Biographical Lexicon of Byzantine Academics Immigrants to Western Europe'', 2007. * Dimitri Tselos (1956) ''A Greco-Italian School of Illuminators and Fresco Painters: Its Relation to the Principal Reims * Nigel G. Wilson. ''From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.

External links

Greece: Books and Writers.

* ttp://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html Jonathan Harris, 'Byzantines in Renaissance Italy'.
Bilingual (Greek original / English) excerpts from Gennadios Scholarios' Epistle to Orators.

Paul Botley, Renaissance Scholarship and the Athenian Calendar.

Karl Krumbacher: 'The History of Byzantine Literature: from Justinian to the end of the Eastern Roman Empire (527-1453)'.

Istituto Ellenico di Studi Byzantini and Postbyzantini di Venezia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greek Scholars In The Renaissance Byzantine science Renaissance * *Scholars Renaissance humanism Greece–Italy relations