Andronicus Contoblacas () was a Greek Renaissance humanist and scholar. Contobacles originated from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and left after the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

conquered the city. He first travelled to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Italy.Schmidt, Wolfgang O. (1971).p.266 From 1458 and 1465 an Andronikos from Constantinople is mentioned as a lecturer in humanist studies at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

. A professor for the

Greek Language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

is mentioned for the term 1466/67 at the same university. Coming from Northern Italy, he arrived in Basel where he resided for about three years between 1474 and 1477. He taught Greek to students of the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

, staying at the dorm of Hieronymus Berlin. He is noted for having been a teacher to

Johann Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522), sometimes called Johannes, was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France. Most of Reuchlin's c ...

. The last notion from Contobacles is a letter to Reuchlin, in which he encourages him to become a teacher for Greek language himself.Schmidt, Wolfgang O. (1971).p.269

References

* Jonathan Harris, ''Greek Émigrés in the West, 1400-1520'', Camberley UK: Porphyrogenitus, 1995. * John Monfasani, ‘In praise of Ognibene and blame of Guarino: Andronicus Contoblacas’s invective against Niccolò Botano and the citizens of Brescia’, ''Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance'' 52 (1990), 309–21, reprinted in John Monfasani, ''Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and other Emigres'', Aldershot UK: Ashgate, 1995, no. XI * W.O. Schmitt, `Eine unbekannte Rede zum Lob der Griechischen Sprache und Literatur - zur literarischen Biographie des Humanisten Andronikos Kontoblakes', ''Philologus'' 115 (1971), 264-77 15th-century Byzantine writers Greek Renaissance humanists 15th-century Greek educators {{edu-bio-stub

See also

References

Further reading