John Argyropoulos (; ''Ioannis Argyropoulos''; ; surname also spelt ''Argyropulus'', or ''Argyropulos'', or ''Argyropulo''; c. 1415 – 26 June 1487) was a lecturer, philosopher, and humanist, one of the émigré Greek scholars who pioneered the revival of classical Greek learning in 15th century Italy. He translated Greek philosophical and theological works into

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 ...

besides producing rhetorical and theological works of his own. He was in Italy for the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

during 1439–1444, and returned to Italy 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 ...

, teaching 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 ...

(at the Florentine Studium) in 1456–1470 and in

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, ...

in 1471–1487.

Biography

John Argyropoulos was born c. 1415 in

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 ...

where he studied theology and philosophy. As a teacher in Constantinople, Argyropoulos had amongst his pupils the scholar

Constantine Lascaris Constantine Lascaris ( ''Kostantinos Láskaris''; 1434 – 15 August 1501) was a Greek scholar and grammarian, one of the promoters of the revival of Greek learning in Italy during the Renaissance, born in Constantinople. Life Constantine Lasca ...

. He was an official in the service of one of the rulers of the Byzantine

Morea Morea ( or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used by the Principality of Achaea, the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the O ...

and in 1439 was a member of the Byzantine delegation to the

, when they accepted Catholicism and abjured Greek Orthodoxy. In 1443/4, he received a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

degree from the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

before returning to Constantinople. When the city fell in 1453, he left for the still autonomous

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea () or Despotate of Mystras () was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its existence but eventually grew to include almost a ...

in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. In 1456, he took refuge in Italy, where he worked as a teacher in the revival of Greek philosophy as head of the Greek department at Florence's Florentine Studium. In 1471, on the outbreak of the plague, he moved to Rome, where he continued to act as a teacher of Greek until his death. His students included

Pietro de' Medici Don Pietro de' Medici (3 June 1554 – 25 April 1604) was the youngest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. Early in 1571 he went to Rome and in the spring of 1575 he went to Venice. In 1571 he married his f ...

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...

Angelo Poliziano Agnolo (or Angelo) Ambrogini (; 14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known as Angelo Poliziano () or simply Poliziano, anglicized as Politian, was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scholars ...

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 ...

Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (; Latinized as Jacobus Faber Stapulensis; c. 1455 – c. 1536) was a French theologian and a leading figure in French humanism. He was a precursor of the Protestant movement in France. The "d'Étaples" was not par ...

and, allegedly,

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

, although no primary source verifies this claim. He also made efforts to transport

Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysic ...

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

by leaving a number of Latin translations, including many of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's works. His principal works were translations of the following portions of

: ''Categoriae'', ''De Interpretatione'', ''Analytica Posteriora'', ''Physica'', ''De Caelo'', ''De Anima'', ''Metaphysica'', ''Ethica Nicomachea'', ''Politica''; and an ''Expositio Ethicorum Aristotelis''. Several of his writings still exist in manuscript. He died on 26 June 1487 in Florence, supposedly of consuming too much

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

.Harris, Jonathan, ''The End of Byzantium'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2011), p. 252.

Notes

References

* * Geanakoplos, Deno J., ''Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1989, * Geanakoplos, Deno J., ''A Byzantine looks at the Renaissance – Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies''. * Harris, Jonathan,
Byzantines in Renaissance Italy
, ''Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies''. * Vassileiou, Fotis & Saribalidou, Barbara, ''Short Biographical Lexicon of Byzantine Academics Immigrants in Western Europe'', 2007, * Nicholl Charles, ''Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind'', Penguin Books Ltd, 2005, * Vassileiou Fotis, Saribalidou Barbara, 'John Argyropoulos teacher of Leonardo da Vinci', ''Philosophy Pathways'', Issue 117, 19 May 2006, International Society for Philosophers *Migné, ''

Patrologia Graeca The ''Patrologia Graeca'' (''PG'', or ''Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca'') is an edited collection of writings by the Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857–18 ...

'' volume 158
documentacatholicaomnia.eu

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Argyropoulos, John 1410s births 1487 deaths

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Writers from Constantinople Constantinopolitan Greeks Former Greek Orthodox Christians 15th-century Greek philosophers Greek Renaissance humanists Greek–Latin translators Greek Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy 15th-century Byzantine writers 15th-century Greek writers 15th-century Greek educators People from Constantinople Byzantine diplomats People from the Despotate of the Morea

Biography

See also

Notes

References

External links