Byzantine University
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Byzantine university refers to
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
during the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
.


Definition

Although some Byzantine institutions are occasionally referred to as "
universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
" on grounds they were centers of higher education, the Byzantine world, unlike the Latin West, did not know universities in the strict and original sense of the term.
Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...
: "Universities, Byzantine", in: ''
Dictionary of the Middle Ages The ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' is a 13-volume encyclopedia of the Middle Ages published by the American Council of Learned Societies between 1982 and 1989. It was first conceived and started in 1975 with American medieval historian Jos ...
'', Vol. 12, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1989, pp. 300–302 (300):
Marina Loukaki: "Université. Domaine byzantin", in: '' Dictionnaire encyclopédique du Moyen Âge'', Vol. 2, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1997, , p. 1553: Higher education was rather provided by private teachers, professional groups, and state-appointed teachers, but not by the permanent
corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
s (
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''universitas'') of the
medieval university A medieval university was a corporation organized during the Middle Ages for the purposes of higher education. The first Western European institutions generally considered to be universities were established in present-day Italy, including the K ...
.


History

In the early period
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
,
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, and
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
were the main centers of learning, but were overtaken in the 5th century by the new capital,
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 ...
. After the
Platonic Academy The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Classical Athens, Athens by Plato ''wikt:circa, circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where ...
closed in 529, only a few other important centers remained apart from Constantinople such as Law school of Berytus for legal studies and the Rhetorical school of Gaza with its focus on rhetoric and classical philosophy. When Alexandria, Beirut and Gaza were conquered by the Muslims in the mid seventh century, the focus of all higher learning moved to Constantinople. After Constantinople's founding in 330, teachers were drawn to the new city and various steps were taken for official state support and supervision, but nothing lastingly formal in the way of state-funded education emerged. But in 425
Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...
founded the '' Pandidacterium'', described as "the first deliberate effort of the Byzantine state to impose its control on matters relating to higher education." This established a clear distinction between private teachers and public (paid from imperial funds) ones. Official teachers enjoyed privilege and prestige. There were a total of 31: 10 each for Greek and Latin grammar; two for law; one for philosophy; and eight chairs for
rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
, with five taught in Greek and three in Latin. This system lasted with various degrees of official support until the 7th century.
Byzantine rhetoric Byzantine rhetoric refers to rhetorical theorizing and production during the time of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine rhetoric is significant in part because of the sheer volume of rhetorical works produced during this period. Rhetoric was the mo ...
was the most important and difficult topic studied in the Byzantine education system, forming a basis for citizens to attain public office in the imperial service, or posts of authority within the Church. Along with the dominance of Byzantine intellectual life by imperial patronage came imperial scrutiny of the higher schools' curriculum and staff. In the 7th and 8th centuries Byzantine life went through a difficult period. Continued Arab pressure from the south and the
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
, Avars, and
Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...
to the north led to dramatic economic decline and transformation of Byzantine life. But higher education continued to receive some official funding, the details of which are not well known to scholars, but it is assumed the quality of the education was probably lower than before. With improving stability in the 9th century came measures to improve the quality of higher education. In 863 chairs of grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy (which included mathematics, astronomy, and music) were founded and given a permanent location in the imperial palace. These chairs continued to receive official state support for the next century and a half, after which the Church assumed the leading role in providing higher education. During the 12th century the Patriarchal School was the leading center of education which included men of letters such as
Theodore Prodromos Theodore Prodromos or Prodromus (; ), probably also the same person as the so-called Ptochoprodromos (Πτωχοπρόδρομος "Poor Prodromos"), was a Byzantine Greek writer, well known for his prose and poetry. Biography Very little is kno ...
and
Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...
. The
Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
rs's capture of Constantinople in 1204 during the
Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
ended all support for higher education, although the government in exile in
Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...
gave some support to individual private teachers. After the restoration in 1261 attempts were made to restore the old system, but it never fully recovered and most teaching fell to private teachers and professions. Some of these private teachers included the diplomat and monk Maximos Planudes (1260–1310), the historian Nikephoros Gregoras (1291–1360), and the man of letters
Manuel Chrysoloras Manuel (or Emmanuel) Chrysoloras (; c. 1350 – 15 April 1415) was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek classical scholar, Renaissance humanist, humanist, philosopher, professor, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. Serv ...
, who taught in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
and influenced the early Italian humanists on Greek studies. In the 15th century, following the
Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
, many more teachers from the City would follow in Chrysoloras' footsteps.


See also

* University of Constantinople


References


Primary sources

*


Secondary sources

* Browning, Robert: "Universities, Byzantine", in: ''
Dictionary of the Middle Ages The ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' is a 13-volume encyclopedia of the Middle Ages published by the American Council of Learned Societies between 1982 and 1989. It was first conceived and started in 1975 with American medieval historian Jos ...
'', Vol. 12, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1989, pp. 300–302 * *


Footnotes

{{Byzantine Empire topics Byzantine science Medieval European education Types of university or college History of academia