Setton, 1956

The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance
Author(s): Kenneth M. Setton

Source: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 100, No. 1 (Feb. 24, 1956), pp.
1-76
Published by: American Philosophical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3143807 .
Accessed: 06/01/2014 06:46
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
American Philosophical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
THE BYZANTINE BACKGROUND TO THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
KENNETH M. SETTON
Henry C. Lea Professorof History and Director of Libraries, Universityof Pennsylvania
(Read in part, April 21, 1955)
CONTENTS effortof this essay is carried only to the early

PAGE
fifteenthcentury. Byzantineinfluences upon Italy,
Introduction .................................... 1 extendingback into the Middle Ages, had done
1. Byzantium and Southern Italy ....... .......... 1 theirworkby thistime. To roundout the essay,
2. Greek scholarship in Sicily and Northern Italy .. 17 however,a few pages are added to refreshthe
3. Commercial, cultural, and ecclesiastical relations 29
4. The Franco-Greek romances ................... 38 reader's memoryof Greek scholars and scholar-
5. The fourteenthcentury ........................ 40 ship in the highQuattrocento.
A. Barlaam and Paulus .......... .............. 40 Every historianwho seeks to depictthe back-
B. Simon Atumano .............. .............. 47 ground of a period which is assumed to have a
C. Demetrius Cydones ........... .............. 52
D. Some Cretans and the Chrysobergae ........ 58
characterof its own, as the Augustan Age, the
6. England and Catalonia ......................... 60 Renaissance,or the Enlightenment, embarksupon
7. Ferrara-Florence and its aftermath ............. 69 a troublesometask. It may be no more difficult
in actual factto definethe influenceof one society
THE purpose of this essay is to present the
upon anotherthan of one person upon another,
Byzantinebackgroundto the Italian Renaissance, but in eithercase the undertakingwill have its
and particularlyto humanism,which is regarded nebulousaspects. The searchforinfluences easily
by some scholars as the most characteristicex- becomesconfusedwiththeinvestigation of origins.
pression of the Renaissance. We shall pursue, The historianentersa labyrinthand cannot find
withespecial care, the fortunesof the Greek lan- his way out; he is soon studyingtopicswhichare
guage in Italy, for language is the vehicle in ever more remotefromhis originalsubject. The
which ideas are carried. Much of our attention studyof the Byzantinebackgroundto the Italian
will be directedtowardthe relationsof Byzantium Renaissancebecomes,as it were,an essay on class-
with Italy and the impact of Byzantine upon ical scholarshipin the age of Justinian. To avoid
Italian thought. Only sparse and general notice thisdeflection fromtheoriginalpurpose,one must
will be takenof art and architecture.For us, at put a stopto such retrogression at practicalpoints.
theoutset,"Renaissance"will be merelya chrono- We shall try to be practicalthroughout. Disci-
logicalterm,denotingin a generalway the period pline must check deviationinto all sorts of in-
fromthefourteenth centuryto the sixteenth. Use terestingand ill-understoodproblems. It does
of the term is not intendedto evoke emotional notseemto me thata studyof Byzantineinfluences
prejudice eitherfor or against the moderncon- upon the Italian Renaissanceneed deal at length
cept of Renaissance. The writeracknowledges withantiquity.
himselfto be a medievalistby profession,but he
intendsno defenseof thecivilizationof the Middle
1. BYZANTIUM AND SOUTHERN ITALY
Ages as opposed to that of the early modern
period. Well-knownpersons and problemswill Every schoolboyknows, of course, or should
be avoided. Only passingreference, forexample, know,that in antiquitysouthernItaly and Sicily
will be made to Petrarchand Boccaccio, and we comprisedMagna Graecia,a "largerGreece,"and
shall not waste time in the usual expressionsof yet no schoolboyshould ventureto answer the
sympathyfor their unsuccessfuleffortsto learn
first book of the Odyssey in Hortis, 562-576. Pilatus'
Greek. Nor shall we pause to excoriateeitherthe translations were very literal, awkward, and here and
workor thecharacterof LeontiusPilatus,the un- theremeaningless,
as when in the Iliad, A. 39, 2:mLtOEi3
successfulteacher of Boccaccio.1 The sustained is simply rendered Smithef. When the historian has
finished heaping ridicule on poor Pilatus' effort,how-
1 Leontius Pilatus' translation of the firstbook of the ever, he may observe that a pretty fair knowledge of
Iliad is given in Attilio Hortis, Studj sulle opere latine Homeric Greek had in fact been employed in these
del Boccaccio, 543-561, Trieste, 1879, and that of the translations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, VOL. 100, NO. 1, FEBRUARY, 1956
1

2 KENNETH M. SETTON [PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
question of how long this South-Italian Greek For generations,of course, throughmost of
civilizationsurvived. Some scholarsbelieve that the Roman imperialperiod,individualsin aristo-
in southernItaly "for a good twentycenturies, cratic circles learned Greek as a "foreignlan-
fromPythagorasto Barlaam, the soft speech of guage"; thiscontinuedbothin Italyand elsewhere
Homer was kept alive."2 The most conspicuous in the West until the early fifthcentury. Then
defenseof this view today is to be found in the came a markeddecline. Generalizationis rather
learnedworksof ProfessorGerhardRohlfs. The perilous,but by the sixthcenturya knowledgeof
fact may well be true, but I think that Rohlfs the Greek language and directacquaintancewith
would acknowledgethatGreek civilizationin any Greek culturehad largelydisappearedin Africa
significantsense was firstdiminishedand then frangaises d'Athenes et de Rome, fasc. 159). In any
destroyedduringthe centuriesof Roman domina- event by the time of Cassiodorus we have reached the
tion and the successiveinvasionsthereafter.Ac- era of the Byzantine reconquest.
tually there are fewerprecise texts to guide us Greek inscriptionsare rare in Calabria, where inscrip-
tions are not numerous anyhow, although it should be
than we mighthave assumed,but already in the pointed out that more Latin than Greek inscriptionshave
firstcenturyA.D. Strabo bears witnessto the vir- been found here until the Byzantine period. In 1882,
tual disappearance of Greek culture except in for example, Frangois Lenormant collected, on his last
Taranto, Reggio, and Naples., This statement archaeological excursion, about 200 Latin inscriptionsto
about 30 in Greek (La Grande-Grece, 3 vols., Paris,
maywell be an exaggeration,and in any eventthe
1881-1884, 3: 410); although he does not indicate the
Greeklanguageundoubtedly continuedto exist in dates of the inscriptions,they were presumably largely
the hinterland. Roman imperial. Greek inscriptions are numerous for
the first two or three centuries A.D. in Naples, but are
2 Giannantonio Mandalari, Fra Barlaamo Calabrese, rare for the fourth (Rohlfs, Griechen it. Romianen,84-
maestro del Petrarca, 4, cf. 24, Rome, 1888. 85). If we may judge by the history of the church,
3 Strabo, Geographica, VI, 253, ed. Aug. Meineke, 3 conditions in southern Italy during the late empire were
vols., Leipzig, 1904-1909, 1: 348. in constant and often turbulentdisorder (op. cit.. 89).
4 Sixty years before Strabo, Cicero, De aiticitia, iv, In eastern Sicily, however, some 600 Greek inscrip-
13, refers to Magna Graecia, quae Snuc quidemtdeleta tions, chiefly from the Syracusan catacombs, to about
est, which is rather ambiguous, and may refer to the 60 in Latin, appear to show something of the extent to
loss of political independence. About the middle of the which those who spoke Greek outnumbered Latins in
second century,however, Apuleius, Metam., xi, 5, calls this area up to the beginning of the Byzantine period
the Sicilians "trilingual," which seems to indicate that (see Rohlfs, Scavi linguistics,129-131, and Byzantiniische
some knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Punic was not Zeitschrift,37, 43-44, 1937. and cf. Lynn T. White, Jr.,
uncommon among them. In the abridgment of Trogus Latin Alonasticismstiin Norniian Sicily, 14-15, Cambridge,
Pompeius' history which Justin prepared at the begin- Mass., 1938).
ning of the third century,referenceis made to the fact Gerhard Rohlfs is the chief authority for the history
that many Italian cities still retained, centuries after the and character of the Greek language in southern Italy
time of the tyrantDionysius I of Sicily, "traces of their although his view that Greek has survived from the
Greek way of life," vestigia Graeci Noris (xx, 1), but Magna Graecia of antiquity down to the present day in
since Trogus Pompeius wrote in the first century A.D., Calabria and the Terra d'Otranto has been subjected to
it is hard to be certain that the observation does not in much criticism. Besides the interestingstudy, which we
fact relate to this period rather than to Justin's own day. have already cited, on Grieclheniit. Roniianicnt is ( Jtter-
In the early third century the "elder" Philostratus italien (1924), summarized in La grecitai in Calabria,
makes passing referenceto the survival of Greek culture Archivio storico per la Calabria e la Lucania 2: 405-425,
among the Neapolitans (Iniagines, pref.,4, 11. 20-22, eds. 1932, and largely republishedin a revised edition as Scavi
0. Benndorf,K. Schenkl, and the Vienna Seminar, Leip- lintguisticinella Magna Grecia, trans. Bruno Tornasini
zig, Teubner, 1893). In the middle of the sixth century (1933), which is again summarized in the long review
a few of the monks whom Cassiodorus had assembled at by R. Giacomelli, in the Arch. stor. Cal. e Lucan. 4:
Squillace knew Greek (De isistitittionte diziniarniniilit- 253-266, 1934, Rohlfs has produced a number of other
terarnin,pref., in Patr-ologia latina, 70: 1107-1108, the studies, both books and articles, of which mention may
Latin Patrology being hereafter usually abbreviated as be made of the following: EtyniiologisclhesW1'orterbitch
PL and the Greek as PG). On the slender basis of this der itntteritlalietischen Grdzitdt, Halle, 1930; Vorbyzan-
single text Gerhard Rohlfs has claimed that Cassiodorus' tinische Elemente in der unteritalienischenGrazititRst .
monasteryof "Vivarium" at Squillace was a Greek mon- Zeitschr. 37: 42-65, 1937, and cf. Studi bizantini c neo-
astery: see his study on Griechen und Roinanen in Unter- ellenici 5: 405-407, 1939; Sprachgeographische Streifzige
italien, 81-82, Geneva, 1924 (in the Biblioteca dell' "Ar- dutrchItalicen,a monograph with illuminating maps in
chivum Romanicum," series iI, vol. 7), and the revised the S fitvzingsbr ichte der Ba-ycrisch en .s-kadewif der
Italian version of this work called Scazvi lingutisticincella t1issctschafteni,Philos.-hist. Klasse, 1944-1946, Heft 3;
Magna Grecia, 120-122, Halle and Rome, 1933; but (CriechischerSprachgeist in Siiditalien, ibid., 1944-1946,
Rohlfs' interpretationof this text has been demolished Heft 5; and the Historisehe (Grammiijiatik der uwtcritaiien-
by Pierre Courcelle, Les Lettres grecques en Occident, isctiwn Grdzitiit, ibid., 1949, Heft 4. Rohlfs' work is
318-321, Paris, 1943 (in the Bibliotheque des &coles extremelyvaluable.

VOL. 100, NO. 1, 1956] BYZANTIUM AND THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 3
and in Gaul. In Italy,however,therewas some Hellenization of Calabria. These immigrants

increasein Greek scholarshipduringthe reignof were largely ecclesiastics and monks. They
the OstrogothicKing Theodoric (493-526), and brought with them their portable possessions,
M. Pierre Courcelle has recentlyextolled "la reliquariesand icons, ivories,ecclesiasticalorna-
Renaissancede l'hellenismesous les Ostrogoths," ments,and the like, some of which are still pre-
in theage of Boethiusand Cassiodorus.5 But this servedin the museumsof Catanzaro,Reggio,and
was short-lived,and there was no survival of elsewhere. Francesco Russo has recentlyempha-
"Hellenism"fromantiquityto the Middle Ages in sized the Syrianand easternprovenienceof many
Italy. Greekculturewas reintroduced intosouth- of these memorials,as well as the eastern in-
ern Italy by the Byzantines. It was a long, slow fluenceswhich soon became discerniblein Cala-
process; it has neverbeen adequatelyinvestigated. brianart and architecture.7
In the sixth centurycame the reconquestof There was much popular response to these
Sicily and southernItaly by Justinian'sgenerals, artisticinnovations, perhapsbecausethe barbarian
Belisarius and Narses (534-554), and in the invasionshad sappedthestrength oftheantecedent
wake of theByzantinearmiescame Greekmilitary Romanclassicaltraditions.Despitethedangerous
and civil officialswith their families,and mer- expansion of the Lombards into Calabria in the
chants, ecclesiastics,and monks. Probably the late seventhcentury,the Byzantineinfluences con-
numbers of Greeks were not very large, but tinuedtheirpenetrationinto the very soul of the
undoubtedly therestillexistedin the South-Italian, people. The South-Italianliturgywas of eastern
and especially the East-Sicilian, countrysidea origin, as shown by the "Rotuli Liturgici Pa-
partlyGreekpopulationof peasantsand shepherds tiriensi,"preservedin theVaticanLibrary. Greek
lastingfromantiquity. Once more a knowledge refugeesfromSyria,Palestine,and Egyptbrought
of Greek became fairlywidespreadin the urban their own liturgical practices with them into
centers. Recoverywas slow, nevertheless,from Calabria,as the entiresouthernarea of Italy was
the twentyyears of warfarebetweenthe forces called fromthe seventhcentury. There were thus
of Justinianand the Ostrogoths. The Justinian- introducedinto Calabria the Syro-Palestinianrite
ean reconquestproducedno rebirthof Greek cul- of St. James (from Antioch) and the Graeco-
ture in Italy. The Lombard occupationalso had Egyptianriteof St. Mark (fromAlexandria), and
a deleteriouseffectupon learning. Despite the not the liturgiesof St. Basil or of St. John
Lombards, however, the Byzantine hold upon Chrysostom,which were employedin Constanti-
Ravenna and the southof Italy was maintained;a
7Fr. Russo, Relazioni culturali tra la Calabria e
knowledgeof Greek survived,and the Lombards lOriente bizantino nel medioevo, Bollettino della Badia
never secured a footholdin Sicily where there greca di Grottaferrata,new series, 7: 50-53, 1953, and
were always Greeks. In 598 Pope Gregory I see especially the rich study of Carlo Cecchelli, Sguardo
wrotethe bishopof Syracusethat"a man coming generate all' architetturabizantina in Italia, Studi bizan-
from Sicily told me that some friendsof his, tini e neoellenici 4: 21 ff., 1935. Many other articles
on the Byzantine influenceupon Calabrian art and archi-
whetherGreeks or Latins I do not know, . . . tecture may be found in the valuable series of the Ar-
were murmuringabout dispositionsI have made chivio storico per la Calabria e la Lucania, 1 (1931) ff.,
[in the ritual]": 6 Gregory defended himself which has maintainedits publication without interruption
against the charge of followingtoo closely the down to the present. That the "Hellenization" of Cala-
bria dates from the seventh century (as opposed to
ritualof Constantinople. Rohlfs' view of the survival of the Greek language and
Byzantine influencecertainlyincreased very popular traditions from antiquity) is emphasized by
muchin southernItaly duringthe seventhcentury Carlo Battisti, Ancora sulla grecita in Calabria, Arch.
with the permanentsettlementof Greeks, who stor. Cal. e Lucan. 3: 67-95, 1933, to which Rohlfs re-
firstcameto stayabout636-642. Melkiterefugees plied with considerable animation, ibid. 3: 231-258, and
cf. his Scavi linguistici,142-147, and Historische Gramn-
fromSyria, Palestine,and Egypt, fleeingbefore mnatikder unteritalienischenGrdzitiit,239-246. (Some-
the Moslems, appear to have begun the second times, however, Rohlfs and Battisti are talking about
slightlydifferentproblems.)
a Courcelle, Les Lettres grecques en Occident, 129- If the seventh-centuryGreek immigrantsinto Calabria
136, 257 ff., 389-400. (Courcelle traces the influence and Sicily were not very numerous,they were neverthe-
of Greek literature upon pagan and Christian thought less very important,especially in their influence upon
from Macrobius to Cassiodorus.) the ecclesiastical, i.e. the cultivated, society of the day,
6 Greg. I, Registrum epistularun, lib. ix, ep. 26, ed. on which cf. Silvano Borsari, Le migrazioni dal'Oriente
L. M. Hartrnann, in Monumenta Germaniae historica in Italia nel VII secolo, La Parola del passato, vol. 6,
(hereafter abbr. MGH), Epp. 2: 59, 1899. fasc. 17: 133-138, Naples, 1951.

4 KENNETH M. SETTON LPROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
nople. Although our eastern-liturgical codices translationprepared.1` Except for a few figures
are largelyof the eleventhand twelfthcenturies, like Boethius,of whomCourcellehas made much
as Russo notes,littledoubtcan be entertainedof in his vision of a Greek Renaissance under
the factthattheyare copies of older texts trans- Theodoric, the historianfindslittle evidence of
portedfromSyriaand Egyptfollowingthe Islamic Greekin the Roman community of the sixthcen-
occupationof thesecountries.8The biblicalman- tury. Neither Pope Vigilius (537-555 ) nor
uscriptsof the "Ferrar Group'" about a score of Gregorythe Great (590-604) knew any Greek,
themdatingfromthe tenthcenturyto the twelfth, although,before their elevation to the papacy,
also possess distinct characteristicsof Syrian both had spent several years as papal envoy
origin. They are of Calabrian provenience,but (apocrisiariius) at theimperialcourtin Constanti-
were copied from more ancient texts obviously nople.1' A knowledgeof Greek again became
importedfromSyria.9 commonin Rome as a colonyof Greek refugees
grew up in the city,fugitivesfromthe Toslem
II occupationof Syria, Palestine,and Egypt. Un-
doubtedly,too, the attacksof Avars, Slavs, and
In the historyof Italy Rome is always of Greeceand the Pelopon-
Bulgars uponcontinental
primaryimportance,and our curiosityis quickly
nesus drove some Greeks into Italy, of whom a
aroused as to the fate of the Greek language in fewat least musthave foundtheirwas intoRome.
the Roman community. The church in Rome
Althoughthe Byzantinizationof Italy was con-
had been Greekfromits foundationuntilthe early
finedto Calabria, there was, besides the Greek
thirdcentury. Hippolytuswas the last doctorof
colons in Rome, another importantcolony in
the Roman church to write in Greek. Except Ravenina,capital of the Byzantineexarch.
among intellectualsand the aristocracy,who Fair numbersof Greeksundoubtedlyremained
learnedit as a foreignlanguage,as we have noted,
behind in westernCalabria and Sicily afterthe
Greek largelydisappearedduringthe later third Italian expeditionof the ByzantineEmperorCon-
and fourthcenturies. In the fifthcenturythere
stansII, who spentthelast halfdozen yearsof his
was scant knowledgeof Greek in Rome, whether
life in the West, mostlyat Syracuse (663-668).
in the aristocracyor in the papal chancery. Pope
Constanstriedto rebuildthe militarydefenseof
CelestineI was obligedto delay his answerto the southernItaly against the Lombards as well as
doctrinallettersof the PatriarchNestoriusin the
that of Sicily against the Moslems. He appears
year430, because Nestoriushad writtenin Greek, to have organizedthe so-calledduchyof Calabria,
and Celestinehad to wait sometimeto get a Latin whichbecamesubjectto theByzantineprovinceor
8 Russo, Relazioni culturali, Boll. Badia greca di Grot- "theme" of Sicily. After some initial successes
taferrata 7: 52, 1953; Cirillo Korolevskij, Basiliens against the Lombards,Constansfailed in a siege
italo-grecs,in the Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographic of Beneventoand betookhimselfto Naples, after
ecclisiastiquies 6: 1188, 1932; cf. Alberto Vaccari, La whichhe paid a famoustwelvedays' visitto Rome.
Grecia nell' Italia meridionale: Studi letterari e biblio-
grafici,in Orientalia Christiana,3, no. 13: 287-303, Rome, C(onstans'work was to be undone by the Loin-
1925, and Paul L'Huillier, The Greek Church in Italy bards Soon afterhis death,12but he made an im-
in the Middle Ages, in The Christian East, 2, nos. 7-8:
206, 1953-1954. We are not concerned with the differ- 10 Caelestini papue ep. ad Nestorion, 3, ed. Eduard
ent formsof the several rites, on which cf. F. E. Bright- Schwartz. Acta concilioriuonoecumeniicorulm11,tom. I, vol.
man, Liturgies castcrn and zcwesterni,
1: Eastern liturgies, 2: 7, Berlin and Leipzig, 1925-1926: "dudum sumpsimus
Oxford, 1896. epistulas tuas, quibus in angusto nihil potuimus dare re-
9 Fr. Russo, I Manoscritti del Gruppo Ferrar, Boll. sponsi: erat enim in Latinum sermo vertenidus." Cf.
Badia greca di Grottaferrata,3, fasc. 2, 1949. Cf. the Berthold Altaner, Die Kenntnis des Griechischen in den
old lecture of J. Rendel Harris, On the origin of the Missionsorden wahrend des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts:
Ferrar-Grouip,London, 1893, and his rather rash mono- Ein Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte des Humanismus, in the
graph of Further researches into the history of the Zeitschrift fuirKirchengeschichte 53: 438, 1934, and P.
Ferrar-Group, London, 1900. The Ferrar Group is Courcelle, Les Lettres grecques en Occidenit,135.
named after W. H. Ferrar, who first noted the rela- It F. Homes Dudden, Gregory the Great, 2 vols., Lon-
tionship of certain MSS., later shown to be of Calabrian don, 1905, 1: 153-154; Max Manitius, Gesch. d. latein.
provenience; the problems they present have also been Lit. d. Aittelalters 1: 94, 96, 1911; A. A. Vasiliev, Hist.
studied by Kirsopp Lake, H. von Soden, B. H. Streeter, By-. Eomipire, 173, Madison, 1952.
and others; but I shall cite here only the brief synopsis 12 Constans II was assassinated at Syracuse in July of
of opinions given by B. Botte, Manuscrits du groupe 668, after which Romuald, the Lombard duke of Bene-
de Ferrar, in Louis Pirot, ed., Dictionn. de [a Bible, vento (671487), occupied both Brindisi and Taranto,
Suppl., 3: 272-274, 1938. and thereafter most of the Terra d'Otranto was lost

pressive appearance at Rome, where he was re- in honorof St. Benedictwhichthe famousCala-
ceived with great honor and obeisance by Pope brian monk, Nilo da Rossano, prepared at the
Vitalian and the Roman clergy.'3 Oriental beginningof the eleventhcentury.'5
refugeeshad alreadyfoundtheirway into Rome,
fleeing from Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. A III
Graeco-Orientalcolony was already growingup Greekwas knownelsewherein the West, to be
in the ancientForum Boarium,at the bend of the sure,thanin Rome,
Calabria,and Sicily,fromthe
Tiber betweenthe Capitolinehill and the Aven- seventhcenturyto the ninth.
We are in little
tine; this colony grew with the years, and the dangerof exaggeratingthe extentto whichGreek
memoryof it still survivesin the names of the was known. We have probably
underestimated it.
churchesof S. Maria Egiziaca and S. Maria in Theodore of Tarsus, the seventh
archbishopof
Cosmedin (Kocurtaot). Beginning shortlyafter Canterbury(668493), who
boundEngland more
the reign of Pope Theodore I (642-649), a
tightlyto Rome, was an Anatolian Greek, who
PalestinianGreek,thepapal thronewas repeatedly had once resided in
Athens. Theodore estab-
occupied by Hellenized Syrians and Byzantine lished a
school at Canterburyfor the study of
Greeks. Refugeesand exiles, especiallyafterthe
Greek.16 We must not, of course, go too far
beginningof the iconoclasticstruggle,filledthe
afield,but we may still note the interesting frag-
Syrian and Greek monasteriesin Rome. From mentof a Latin translationof
Hesychius' Greek
the papacy of the Sicilian Greek Agatho (678-
commentaryon Leviticus, which Santifallerhas
681) to that of the Calabrian Greek Zacharias recentlydescribedand
published. Two folios of
(741-752), almost every occupantof St. Peter's
the Latin text survive,done in beautifuluncials,
throne was a Sicilian, Syrian, Anatolian, or some
time beforethe early eighthcentury. Al-
Byzantine,a full dozen popes who were Greek thoughthe
manuscriptappears to be of French
by culture. Obviously the seventh and eighth
centuriessaw the Byzantinizationof Rome as well 15 Pierre Batiffol, Librairies byzantines a Rome, Me-
as that of Calabria, and a knowledgeof Greek langes d'archeologie et d'histoire 8: 297-308, 1888, and
cf. ibid. 7: 419-431, 1887; Silvano Borsari, Sulla cul-
became commonagain in the ecclesiasticalcom- tura letteraria nei monasteri bizantini del Mezzogiorno
munitywhichstood at the head of westernChris- d'Italia, Arch. stor. Cal. e Luccan. 18: 140-141, 1949.
tendom.'4 All this is more than a declamatory For Zacharias' translation of the Dialogues of Gregory
gestureto impose upon the reader. By the year the Great, see the Liber pontificalis,ed. Louis Duchesne
800 or so there were more than a dozen Greek 1: 435. For many detailed referencesto the Greek ec-
clesiastical colony in Rome, from the sixth and seventh
monasteriesin Rome,and almostseventyyearsago centuries to the middle of the eleventh, see the learned
the learned Pierre Batiffolpreparedan accurate article of Anton Michel, Die griechischen Klostersied-
and intriguinglittle study of Greek books and lungen zu Rom bis zur Mitte des 11. Jahrhunderts,in
librariesin the Greek colony which survivedin Ostkirchliche Studien 1: 32-45, Wuirzburg,Augustinus-
Rome fromthe seventhcenturyinto the tenth. Verlag, 1952.
16 On Theodore of Tarsus in Athens, see Acta Sanc-
Greek books were copied in Rome, and Latin toruin, Sept. tom. 6 (19 Sept.): 57F-58A, 1757. The
books were translatedinto Greek. Pope Zachar- Calabrian Greek Pope Zacharias described Theodore to
ias, himselfpossessorof a considerablelibraryof St. Boniface as "ex Graeco Latinus ante philosophus,
which he gave a part to St. Peter's, prepareda et Athenis eruditus, Romae ordinatus . . ." (S. Zacha-
riae papae epistolae, no. 11, in PL 89: 943C; Epp. Boni-
Greek translationof Gregory the Great's Dia- fatii, ed. Ph. Jaffe, 185). The Irish are commonly
logues, whichlong enjoyed a wide circulationin thought to have known a fair amount of Greek in the
the Greekworld,and was the sourceof the canon seventh century (cf. V. Gardthausen, Die griechische
Schrift des Mittelalters im Westen Europas, Byzan-
to the Byzantines(for details see the old but excellent tinisch-NeiugriechischeJahrbiicher 8: 116-118, 1931).
book of Jules Gay, L'Italie nzeridionaleet l'empire by.an- For Greek patristic and hagiographical texts known in
tin [Bibliothequedes ecoles frangaisesd'Ath'nes et de Latin translations in western, especially German, mon-
Rome,fasc. 90], 5-8, Paris, 1904). asteries in the early Middle Ages, see Albert Siegmund,
13 Cf. Georg Ostrogorsky, Geschichte des byzantin- Die Uberlieferutng der griechischenchristlichenLiteratur,
ischenStaates,99-100,Munich,1952,and forthe sources Munich, Bayerische Benediktiner-Akademie,1949, and for
see K. M. Setton,in Speculum25: 541, note 157, 1950. a brief synthesisof Greek studies in the West during the
14 By the timeAgathobecamepope (678), therewere same period, note AtienneDelaruelle, La Connaissance du
fourGreekmonasteries in Rome (FerdinandoAntonelli, grec en Occident du Ve au IXe siecle, Melanges de la
I primimonasteridi monaciorientaliin Roma, Rivista societe toulousaine d'etudes classiques 1: 207-226, Tou-
di archeologia cristiana 5: 105-121, 1928, and L. T. louse, 1946, where Italy is, however, omitted as "cas
White, Latin nionasticism in Norman Sicily, 21-23). evidemmentexceptionnel."

provenience,it is possiblethatthe translationwas to makenumerousdocumentsin thetwo languages

prepared in Italy.'7 In the ninthcenturyJohn quite intelligibleto both sides, and the learned
Scotus Erigena, friendof the CarolingianKing Anastasius, one-timeanti-pope (855-858) and
Charles the Bald, translatedthe works of the later papal librarian (after 867), was an ac-
Pseudo-DionysiustheAreopagitefromGreekinto complishedGreek scholar, translatorof Theo-
Latin, became a Neoplatonistin the process,and phanes' importantChronographia,and a good
got into difficulty with ecclesiastical authority friendof Cyriland Methodius,Byzantineapostles
whenhe soughtto reconcilethe Areopagite'span- to the Slays of GreaterMoravia. Anastasiuswas
theismwiththe Christianconceptof salvation. A the contemporaryof John Scotus Erigena, and
thousandyearslaterthepantheismof JohnScotus lestwe exaggeratetheextentof Greekscholarship
Erigena intriguedand inspiredtheyoungGerman in the west in the ninthcentury,we may recall
philosopher,WilhelmDilthey,whose later search Anastasius'observationson John'stranslationsof
for the evolutionarypantheisticprincipleswhich theAreopagite:"It is certainlya sourceof wonder
gave formand contentto the historyof mankind how thatbarbarian,placed on theveryconfinesof
was, curiously,to initiatea new epoch in his- the world,who mighthave been thoughtto be as
toricalstudiesrelatingto the Italian Renaissance. remotefromthe knowledgeof a second tongue
The ByzantineAreopagiticahelped to mould a as he was fromconversewith men, was able to
traditionwhich includes not only John Scotus understandsuch thingsand to translatetheminto
Erigena butalso MarsiglioFicino,one of thechief anotherlanguage!" 19
intellectualluminaries of the Renaissance, in IV
whom,actually,the medieval Neoplatonictradi-
tionculminatedin thefifteenth century. The Byzantinizationof Calabria is a fact of
We are not concernedto list all the names of cardinal importancein the medieval historyof
those who can be shown to have known Greek Italy. Afterthe firstimmigrationof Hellenized
during the period of the so-called Carolingian Syrians and Egyptians in the seventhcentury,
Renaissance. The historians of classical and therecame a second such influxin the following
medieval literaturehave done so for us. They century,thistimefromConstantinopleand Greece,
have suppliedus withthe names of a fairnumber refugeesfromthe iconoclasticoppressionof the
of westernerswho had a respectableknowledgeof ByzantineEmperors, Leo III the Isaurian and
Greek, which was always useful to ecclesiastics his son, ConstantineV Copronvmus(725-775).
duringthe Middle Ages. If Rome and Constanti- Some scholars have set the numbersof monks,
nople were sometimesled to misunderstand each ecclesiastics,and laymen who now found their
otherby the mistranslation, deliberateor other- Beschwerde erhoben." Cf. Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchlen-
wise,of Greekor Latin texts,duringthe Ignatian- gqschl. 53: 444-445.
Photian contestin the middle of the ninthcen- 19Cited by Thomas Galeus, in his preface to John
tury,8by and large translatorswere not lacking Scotus Erigena's De diz'isione natitrae, in PL 122: 93CD.
What Anastasius did not realize is that Erigena had had
17 Leo Santifaller, Das Altenburger Unzialfragment predecessors in Gaul where there was a vogue of Neo-
des Levitikuskommentarsvon Hesychius aus der ersten platonism in the late fifthcentury and the sixth (P.
Hailfte des 8. Jahrhunderts,Zentralblatt fuirBibliotheks- Courcelle, Les Lettrcs gstcCq(JCs cn Occident, 223-235,
wesen 60: 241-266, 1943. The MS. is in the Thurin- 242-246, 253). In translating the Pseudo-Dionysius
gisches Staatsarchiv in Altenburg, Miscellanea, Z 89 (about 867), Erigena had had a more recent predecessor
(= Patr. gracca 93: 1135-1136, 1138-1139). On early in the Abbot Hilduin of St. Denis, who had done his
Latin translations from Greek, see Berthold Altaner, work about 832 at the behest of Louis the Pious, even
Beitrage zur Geschichte der altlateinischen Ubersetz- as Erigena's own work of translationwas done by order
ungen von Vaterschriften,Historisches Jahrbuch61: 208- of Louis son Charles the Bald (and on the rather crude
226. 1941, and idei, on the early Latin translations of quality of both Hilduin's and Erigena's translations,note
Athanasius of Alexandria, in the Byzantinische Zeit- the i)ionvAsiaca 1: lxxiv-lxxv, Bruges, Desclke de
sc irift 41: 45-59, 1941, and cf. Franz Blatt, Remarques Brouwer, 1937). Dionysius the Areopagite was, of
sur l'histoire des traductions latines, in Classica et medi- course, identifiedwith St. Denis de Paris, the French
cz'alia 1: 217-242, 1938. patron saint (cf. R. J. Loenertz, La Legende parisienne
1 Cf. Jos. Hergenrother, Photiits, Patriarch von Con- de S. Denys 1'Areopagite,Analecta Bollandiana 69: 217-
stantinopcl 1: 429-430, Regensburg, 1867: "Die rom- 237, 1951). A fair amount of Greek was known in the
ischen Legaten verstanden entweder den griechischen abbey of St. Denis from the Carolingian period to the
Text [of the translationof a Latin letter of Pope Nicho- fifteenthcentury,and especially during the twelfthcen-
las I] nur sehr wenig oder sie hatten den Muth nicht, tury (see Robt. Weiss, Lo studio del greco all' abbazia
gegen diese Interpolationen [by Photius] ihre Stimme di San Dionigi durante il medioevo, Rivista di storia
zu erheben: keinesfalls ward von ihnen hierin eine della chiesa in Italia 6: 426-438, 1952).

way into southernItaly as high as 50,000.20 At ernmentwas verylow in thepeninsulathroughout
any rate a larger numbernow appears to have the eighthcentury. The Greekclergyand people
come than in the seventhcentury. Comingfrom in Calabria,althoughrelievedto see the Lombard
Constantinople and Greece,theystrengthened and power menaced even in the South, soon viewed
diversifiedthe Greek elementin Calabria. They the advent of the Carolingianwith some appre-
also broughtwiththemthe Basilian and Chrysos- hension. But in the course of the ninthcentury
tomineliturgiesof Constantinople.In the middle Carolingianpower disintegratedeverywhere;by
of theeighthcentury, the Isaurian em-
apparently, theclose ofthecenturytheempireof Charlemagne
perors, provokedby Roman oppositionto icon- had brokenup into some fiveseparatekingdoms
oclasm and by the papal alliance with the new and manypettyprincipalities.
Carolingianmonarchy, detachedeasternIllyricum, The representativeof Carolingian power in
Calabria,and Sicilyfromthe jurisdictionof Rome Italy, the Emperor Louis II, was unable to deal
and transferred themto thatof the patriarchateof effectively with the multiplicityof political,re-
Constantinople.2' ligious,and militaryproblemscreatedby the very
There is no evidenceof oppositionon the part success of Charlemagne,who had bequeathedto
of the inhabitantsof Calabria and Sicily to this Louis II a traditiontoo arduous to emulate,a
measure. The articulateelementswere perhaps daminosahereditas not easy to abandon. The
largelyGreek by this time,and may have shared ninthcenturywitnessedalso the coming of the
the Byzantinegovernment's resentment of Frank- Moslems to Italy, the Aghlabids of Kairwan in
ish interferenceand pretensionsin Italy. Events NorthAfrica. The Moslemspresentedthepapacy
remain unclear. The traditionaldate (733) of and the South-Italian Greeks with one of the
the transference of Illyricum,Calabria,and Sicily major problemsthey had to face in the ninth
appearsto be too early; theaccountin Theophanes century. The Moslems were a naval power,and
is suspect,and not consistentwith the evidence the land forces of Louis II, insufficient in any
in the Liber pontificalis. The papacy, however, event,could not furnishthe necessaryprotection
was not only exercisedover iconoclasm,but had to the Italian peninsula. In 846 the Moslemshad
long had to face the Lombard problem,to which launchedan attackupon Rome, whichled Leo IV
the Byzantinenavy offeredno solution. It was to fortify the Vatican hill,and the Romans could
look to some protectionwithinthe crowdedquar-
the armies of Pepin I and Charlemagnethat de-
ters of the "civitas Leonina."
stroyed the Lombard power in northernItaly
Despite the temporaryestrangement caused by
(754-774). The prestigeof the Byzantinegov-
the briefPhotian Schism, Rome and Constanti-
20 Cf. Russo, Relazioni
culturali, Boll. Badia greca di nople tended to draw closer to each other,and
Grottaferrata7: 53-54, 1953; A. A. Vasiliev, Hist. Byz. afterthe deathof Louis II (875), withwhomthe
Emp., 262-263, Madison, 1952; G. Rohlfs, Griechen 1X. ByzantineEmperor Basil I had foundit impos-
Ronzanen, 77-78; and cf. the old but still valuable work
of Chas. Gidel, Nouvelles Jttudes
sible to cooperate,the Byzantinenavytransported
sur la litteraturegrecque
moderne, 114-115, 150 if., Paris, 1878. troopsto opposetheMoslemsand to save southern
21 Theophanes, Chronographia,ed. C. de Boor, 1: 408- Italy fromthem. Despite vicissitudesof fortune
410, 1883, on which see, however,V. Grumel, L'Annexion which need not concern us here, the Byzantine
de l'Mllyricumoriental, de la Sicile et de la Calabre au governmentwas successful. SouthernItaly was
patriarcat de Constantinople,in the Melanges Jules Le-
breton, 2 vols., Paris, 1951-1952 (=Recherches de sci- retainedagainstMoslem efforts.22Basil I organ-
ence religieuse 39-40), 2: 191-200. Grumel sees the ized the regioncalled Longobardia in the south-
separation of Rome and Constantinople as coming only east more or less as a Byzantine province or
in the time of Pope Stephen II (752-757) when the "theme,"and, as partof his reassertionof Byzan-
papacy itself removed Rome and Ravenna from the
Byzantine empire, about which time presumably the
tine authority,sent some three thousand Greek
Byzantine Emperor Constantine V officially detached (and presumablySlavic) colonistsinto this area,
eastern Illyricum, Sicily, and Calabria from Roman, where they appear to have been settled in the
and assigned them to Constantinopolitan, ecclesiastical regionwest of Bari.2 Hellenism,however,was
jurisdiction. Later Byzantine sources see the rapproche-
ment between the papacy and the new Frankish king- 22 J. Gay, L'Italie xleridionale et lempire byzantin,
dom of the Carolingians as the reason for this develop- 75-76,82-83,89-101,109-124,132 ff.
ment (cf. P. L'Huillier, Greek Church, in The Christian 23 Theophanes
Continuatus,v, 77 (Bonn ed., 321).
East 2: 207-208, 1953-1954; Jules Gay, L'Italie miridi- The three thousand are said to have been slaves (&vbpac-
onale et 1'emipirebyzantin,11-13; and C. Korolevskij, in 7roba)of the fabulously rich widow Danielis, who made
the Dictionn. d'hist. et de geogr. eccles. 6: 1190). the Emperor Basil her heir when she died. Cf. Rohlfs,

not so fortunate in Sicily,whichwas largelycon- out southernItaly. Byzantinelaw obtained in

quered by the Moslems between 827 and 902. Calabria and the Terra d'Otranto,and some of
When the island was rewon for Christendom, our importantmanuscriptsof Byzantine legal
morethana centuryand a halflater,it was rewon textsare of South-Italianprovenience.25
by the Normans (1060-1091), who thus added
their own brighttesserae to the rich mosaic of V
twelfth-century Sicilian civilizationin which,as With the entryof the GermanEmperorOtto I
we shallsee, theGreekelementstillremainedcon- intothe affairsof Italy and the papacy,the Greek
spicuous. positionin southernItaly was threatened. In the
Christianswere not much persecutedby the extensive grant of jurisdiction and territories
Moslems in Sicily,but a good many Greeks mi- whichOtto made to Pope JohnXII on 13 Febru-
gratedfromSicily to Calabria in the later ninth ary, 962, there
were included the "patrimonia
and tenthcenturies. Althoughno personalities
Calabriae superioris et inferioris. . . nec non
stand out among the Greeks who migratedinto patrimoniumSiciliae si deus nostris illud
tra-
Calabria from Syria and Egypt in the seventh diderit manibus."26
The Byzantine Emperor
centuryor fromConstantinople and Greecein the
NicephorusII Phocas (963-969) and the Patri-
eighth,a numberofpersonscelebratedin Calabrian arch
Polyeuctus(956-970) respondedvigorously,
hagiographyof the tenthcenturywere of Sicilian
however,to Otto's South-Italianpretensions.Ac-
origin. The Greek cultureof Calabria was pre-
cordingto the indignantLiudprand of Cremona,
dominatelyecclesiastical.24From the beginning in fact,"Nicephorus,
since he manifestsimpiety
of the tenthcentury,afterthe Byzantinerestora-
toward all churches,. . . has orderedthe patri-
tion,ancienttownsin southernItaly were rebuilt. arch of Constantinopleto raise the
church of
others were founded, and the population in-
Otranto to the honor of an archiepiscopacyand
creased. These towns were always very inde-
not to allow the divinemysteriesto be celebrated
pendent. They protectedthemselvesagainst,or throughoutApulia
and Calabria any longer in
made pacts with,the Moslems and the Normans.
Latin, but onlyin Greek." ' All throughthe last
There were verymanyGreeksin Calabriantowns
threedecades of the Ottonianperiod (973-1002)
like Reggio and Rossano, but thetownsof Apulia
Greekprestigeremainedveryhighin Italy,despite
were largelyLatin; even Bari, centerof the later
the failureto protectCalabria and Apulia against
Byzantineadministration in southernItaly, had
Moslemattacks. Althoughtheyentertained much
onlya small Greekcolony. It was Basilian mon- suspicion and hostility,
the Germans were fas-
achismwhichcarriedGreek civilizationthrough-
cinated by the Byzantine imperial concept. A
Griechen it. Romanen, 77. The history of the themes year beforehis father'sdeath,the young Otto II
of Longobardia and Calabria is not without difficulty.
From the later seventh centurythe name Calabria, which marriedthe Greek princess,Theophano (972)
was applied in antiquity only to Iapygia or the Terra she becamethemotherof Otto III. whose lifewas
d'Otranto, was extended to the whole southern area of
the peninsula,includingthe toe of the Italian boot, known 22 Gay, L'Italie iinridiontale,563-568, 574-579. 592 ff..
as Bruttium in antiquity (Gay, L'Italie ineridionale, 6). and see the study by Giannino Ferrari dalle Spade, La
The name Bruttium passed out of use. According to legislazione dell'impero d'Oriente in Italia. in the vol-
Gay the region called Longobardia, which comprised the ume on Iftalia e Grecia. 225-253, publ. by the Istituto
Terra d'Otranto, southern Lucania, and Apulia, was not Nazionale per le Relazioni culturali con lEstero, Flor-
classified as a theme in Byzantine officialparlance until ence, 1939.
about 892, and a decade or so later ancient Bruttium Otto I. fur die rnmischie
26 Th. Sickel, Das Priv-ilegiuitii
was organized as the theme of Calabria (op. cit., 167- Kirclie voio Jahre 962, 180, Innsbruck, 1883, and cf. in
174, cf. 343 ff.). The term Calabria continued to be general Jakob Hirsch, Das sogenanuitte PctcturnOttos I.
used, however, to denote the general area of Greek ra0m11Jahre 962, diss., Munich, 1896. (Otto's grant was
southern Italy. modeled after one made by Louis the Pious to Pope
The relations of Byzantium with the West in the early Paschal in 817.)
Middle Ages form the subject of three recent articles by 27 Liudprand of Cremona, Legatio, 62, ed. Jos. Becker,
G. P. Bognetti, Franz Ddlger, and R. S. Lopez, in the Scriptores rerum Germanicaruin,209, Hanover and Leip-
Rela.2ioni of the tenth internationalcongress of historical zig, 1915, and cf. Gay, L'Italie meridionale,351-352. Ac-
studies, vol. 3: 3-163, Florence, Sansoni, 1955. tually the bishop of Otranto had possessed archiepiscopal
24 J. Gay, L'Italie msieridionale,
184, 255 ff.,282 ff.,and rank since the time of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI
on the movement of Sicilian Greeks into Calabria, see (886-912), but he had had no suffragansunder him; by
the introductionto Pierre Batiffol's L'Abbaye de Ros- Nicephorus' edict, however, Otranto acquired metropoliti-
sano, Paris, 1891, and L. T. White, Latin monasticism cal authorityover five sees, which Liudprand lists for us
itsNornian Sicily, 30-35. (ed. Becker, loc. cit.).

a neuroticvision of the gold and grandeur of classics is to be found in Italy also in the later
Byzantium. Both the Germanimperialand local tenth century. The Cluniac chronicler,Raoul
Roman factions,contendingfor the papacy and Glaber, reportswith some horrorthe case of a
controlof the Church,looked to the shores of grammarianat Ravenna named Wilgard (Vil-
the Bosporus for support. Basilian monachism gardus), who like otherItaliansof thisperiod,ac-
spread into Latin Apulia, and the Greek hier- cordingto Raoul, pursuedthe ars grammaticato
archywas strengthened and extended. There was the neglectof the otherarts. Wilgard's knowl-
naturallya Latin reaction. Effortswere made by edge of theclassicsluredhimintothe sin of pride,
Popes JohnXIII, BenedictVII, and GregoryV, a phenomenonnot uncommonin the historyof
in the latertenthcentury,to oppose thegrowthof scholarship. One nightsome evil spiritscame to
Byzantineecclesiasticaland politicalauthorityin him, apparentlyin a dream, assuming the like-
southernItaly,especiallywiththe organizationof nesses of the poets Vergil, Horace, and Juvenal.
the Latin provincesof Capua (967), Benevento They renderedhim theirfallaciousthanksforthe
(969), and Salerno (about 983), and with the devotionhe had lavishedupon theirworks,calling
elevationof Naples and Amalfito archiepiscopal himtheirfortunate heraldto posterity,and promis-
rank` but Byzantineecclesiasticalinfluencecon- ing that he would soon share in their glory.
tinued,and reachedits heightduringthe reignof Deceived by the evil spirits,poor Wilgard devi-
Basil II Bulgaroctonus(976-1025), afterwhich ated intoheresy,teachingmanythingscontraryto
the Byzantinechurchdeclinedunderthe Norman the faith,and claimingcredencefor the poets in
hegemony.28 all things. At length,however,Wilgard was ad-
Calabrian Greek culturedeveloped duringthe judged a heretic,and was condemned by the
tenthand eleventhcenturies,and produced such ArchbishopPeter [VI] of Ravenna (d; 971).
notable figures as S. Nilo, who founded the But there were others in Italy who were also
famousmonasteryof Grottaferrata, at the footof foundguiltyof this "pestiferous"cult of classi-
Monte Cavo on the ancientVia Latina, and his cism,forwhichtheypaid withtheirlives,eitherby
ancientbiographer,S. Bartolomeo,bothof whom the sword or at the stake.31 Such classical in-
were nativesof Rossano.29 The relationsbetween terests were even more diligentlypursued in
Italy and the Byzantineempirewere close in the southernItaly, where in the middle of the tenth
tenthcentury. This fact is of importancein the centuryDuke JohnIII of Naples collectedmanu-
culturalhistoryof Italy,forin the realmof letters scripts,and had textscopiedof Livy and Josephus.
the good taste of tenth-century Byzantiumis at- The archpriest,Leo of Naples, acquired a Greek
tested by the Palatine Anthology,its classical manuscriptof the Pseudo-Callisthenes'accountof
learningby thestudiesof Arethasof Caesarea and the deeds of Alexander,whichhe translatedinto
the lexiconof Suidas, and somethingof its secular Latin forDuke John,thussupplyingthe sourceof
spirit by the dialogue, once even attributedto the later French and Germanromancesof Alex-
Lucian, which is called the Philopatris. Of this ander.32
interestingwork Salomon Reinach wrote,a half VI
centuryago, "what has been taken for paganism
in the Philopatris is, in fact, only a Byzantine Ancienteducationhad been primarilyliterary,
form of humanism. . . a rebirthof the Greek and Byzantineeducationcontinuedin the same
spiritand of classical tastes."30 31 Rodulphus Glaber (d. ca 1050) Historiae sui tem-
A similar,almost pagan, predilectionfor the poris, ii, 12, in the Recueil des historiens des Gatules et
de la France 10: 23E, Paris, 1760.
28 J. Gay,L'Italie interidioitale,
299,353-359;L'Huillier, 32 Cf. G. Landgraf, Vita Alexandri Magni des Archi-
Greek Church, The Christian East 2: 210-212, 1953-1954. presbytersLeo, Erlangen, 1885; Otto Hartwig, Die tber-
29 Vita S. Nili
Junioris, in PG 120: 15-165; Acta SS., setzungsliteratur Unteritaliens, Centralblatt f. Biblio-
Sept. tom.7, 259-320. Cf. J. Gay, L'Italie iiieridionale, thekswesen 3: 165-166, 1886; Ferd. Gregorovius, Gesch.
268 if., 379 if.; Louis Brehier, Barthelemy, Dictionn. d. Stadt A then im Mittelalter 1: 285, 1889; F. Pfister,
d'hist. et de geogr. ecclis. 6: 1006-1007, with refs.; and Der Alexanderroman des Archipresbyters Leo, in the
C. Korolevskij, ibid., 1205, 1206-1207. (There is some SammIung mittellateinischerTexte, no. 6, Heidelberg,
doubt, which need not concern us here, whether S. 1913; J. de Ghellinck, L'Essor de la litteraturelatine au
Bartolomeo, third successor of S. Nilo, is in fact the xiie siecle 2: 29, 1946. Medieval French versions of the
author of his master's life.) Roman d'Alexandre have been edited,with notes and com-
30 S. Reinach, Le Christianisme'a Byzance et la ques- mentaries,by the late Edw. C. Armstrong,Alfred Foulet,
tion du Philopatris, in Cultes, mytheset religions 1: 391, et al., in the [Princeton University] Elliott Monographs,
Paris, 1905. vols. 3641, Princeton, 1937-1955.

10 KENNETH M1. SETTON [PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
tradition. The Bible, the pagan poets, orators, figureis doubtless a gross exaggeration. Fr.
and historians,the churchfathers,and finallythe Cirillo Korolevskij prepared lists, about twenty
philosophers,especiallyAristotleand Plato, were years ago, with documentaryreferencesto some
all studied; instructionwas rather formal,and 265 Basilian monasteries,of which 58 were in
the memorizationof set passages was common. Sicily: "c'est deja un chiffrerespectable."` Al-
If this educationwas designedto producea good though Fr. Korolevskij's lists were promptly
Christian,it was also intendedto producea culti- shownto be quite inaccuratein detail,his figures
vated person. A lack of literaryculture (apai- are some guide to the reader'sthinking, especially
deusia) was a grave social handicap. It is easy forsouthernItaly.35
to exaggerate the contemptof the Byzantine Byzantinechurchesand chapels became very
monksfor classical studiesand for humanismin numerousin Calabria. Constantinopolitan models
general. Naturallytheirorientationwas toward are discerniblein handwriting, in miniatures,and
the otherworld,and under the pressuresof the apparentlyeven in painting,fromthe later icono-
iconoclasticmovementsand the later contestof clastic period on. Beforethe eleventhcenturya
the Patriarch Ignatius with Photius and the Calabrian-Greekstyle had evolved, and native
Byzantine government,some of the monks in productionsbear the mark of their own indi-
Constantinople and elsewherewere drivento ex- vriduality.This is especiallynotablein the repro-
tremestatementsand actions. Monastic obscur- ductionof manuscripts;a numberof manuscripts
antismlong continued,to be sure, but the anti- today in Greek and eastern libraries are of
humaniststrainsof monachismin Constantinople Calabrian origin. From the eighth centuryon
are not so characteristicof the monksof southern therewas a steadyexchangeof personsand hooks
Italywhereclassicalstudieswerepursuedin some between Calabria and the Byzantine empire.
Basilian monasteries,as we shall see. There were small coloniesof Greek merchantsin
From the eighthcenturyto the eleventhsome Venice, Ancona, Bari, Lecce, Naples, and else-
two hundredor more Greek monasteriesare said where, and ideas and works of art inevitably
to have been establishedin southernItaly. Until traveledwiththemas well as merchandise.
we may rely,however,upon the resultsof more In the eleventhcenturythe Abbot Desiderius
detailedresearchintothe historyof Basilian mon- of Monte Cassino (near Naples), the mnother
achismin southernItaly,any such figuretendsto abbeyofBenedictinism1, importedByzantineartists
be merelyrhetorical. There were many Greek to do themosaicsforthenew abbeychurch:"The
monasteriesin Sicily also, but here the monks beautyof these works made such an impression
sufferedseverelyduringthe ninthand tenthcen- upon contemporaries that they saw in them the
turies,in the long contestbetweenMoslem and dawn of a new era," Jules Gay has written:"a
Christianover dominationof theisland. Properly renaissancehad been achieved,in a Latin land,
speaking,therewas no (Greek) Basilian "order" of arts whose secret,theybelieved,had been lost
even thoughcontemporary Latin sourcesdo refer for centuries."3'3 By the eleventhcentury,how-
to the "ordo S. Basilii." Each house tendedto be ever,theGreekcolonyin Rome had dwindledinto
independent althoughin thetwelfth centuryRoger insignificance althoughone could stilllearn Greek
II organized a sort of congregationof Basilian northof Calabria,at Beneventoforexample. Ac-
houses in Sicily, under the archimandrite of the cordingto the contemporary lifeof Pope Leo IX,
newly founded monasteryof S. Salvatore di prepared by his friendWibert, Leo learned to
Messina (1131-1134). Actually the heyday of
Basilian monachismin southernItaly (and Sicily) Messina, 1925, and Mario Scaduto, II nszonachism;iio Ba-
was not the Byzantine,but the Norman period, siliano nella Sicilia medievale, Rome, 1947.
34 Korolevskij, Basiliens italo-grecs, Dictionn. d'hist. et
whenin factthe Greekhierarchywas alreadybe-
de gMogr.eccles. 6: 1195-1204.
ginningto give way to the Latins. Rodota be- 35 L. T. White, Latin monasticism in Norman Sicily,
lievedthatat one timeor anothertherewere 1500 40-43, gives an improved list of 68 Basilian monasteries
Basilian monasteriesin Italy and Sicily.33 This in Sicily, correcting some of Korolevskij's errors of du-
plication, omission, and the like.
33 P. P. Rodoth, Deli'origine, progresso e stato presente 36 Gay, L'Italie nziridionale,596-597. Byzantine artists
del rito greco in Italia, 3 vols., Rome, 1758-1763, 2: 82, supplied bronze doors, altar pieces, reliquaries, silk tap-
and cf. G. Mandalari, Fra Barlaamo Calabrese, 17. estries, and the like for the Latin churches and mon-
The literature on Basilian monachism is too large and asteries of southern Italy (on which cf. Adolf Schaube,
varied to try to list, but see in general D. L. Raschell, Handelsgeschichte der ronmanischenV5lker, 34-36, Mu-
Saggio storico sidl wiioiachismiio italo-greco in Calabria, nich and Berlin, 1906).

read the Scripturesin Greek during the year scene, older contemporariesof Michael Psellus,
1053-1054 whilehe lived at Benevento.37 the firsttwo of thembeingMichael's teachersand
The eleventhcenturywas an era of greatsocialall of them his friends. In 1045 the so-called
vitalitynot only in Italy but throughoutmost of
"university"or higher school of Constantinople
western Europe. There was a mysteriousin- was reopened by the Emperor ConstantineIX
crease in population. We findnow, too, the be-Monomachus, apparentlyat the instigationof
ginnings of an agrarian revolution,a vigorous these men,and Ch. Zervos has gone so far as to
revivalof townlife,and the growthof a remark- declarethat"the humanismof the Renaissanceit-
able overseas commerce. Thousands of pilgrims self had, later on, its source in the eleventh-
made theirway to the Holy Land. We know of centuryschool of Constantinople." 9 If Zervos'
some six scorepilgrimagesto theEast; theyform affirmationis ratherlackingin the charmof un-
a preludeto the crusadeswhichbegan at the end derstatement, it is worth rememberingthrough
of the century. The Italians especially lookedour next few pages (and, it must be added, he
towardthe East, boththe townsmenin the north seeks to give some illustrationof it). The era
and the Normans in the south, but of course was certainlyalive to the creativenessof ancient
Europeans of all countrieswere drawn to the philosophic thought which it was anxious to
Holy Land on pilgrimages. Most of the pilgrimsreconcilewithChristiandogma. The gentleJohn
stoppedoffat Constantinople eitheron theirway
Mauropous addressed a prayer to Christ in be-
to or fromJerusalem;in factseventhousandGer- halfof Plato and Plutarch,thosealmostChristian
mans on the greatpilgrimageof 1064-1065 spent pagans, and Michael Psellus sought illustration
several days in Constantinople.It is not hard to
of thedoctrinaltruthsofChristianity in the"omni-
findaccountsof the personalexperiencesof non- farious thought"(t&-KaXKXt'aravTroali') of Plato
Italians in the Greek capital in the eleventhand
and Plotinus.40
twelfthcenturies. A monk of Christ Church, Our concern,however,is chieflywith the in-
Canterbury, forexample,paid a visitto Constanti-
tellectualand social intercourseof Italians with
nople on his returnfroma pilgrimageto Jeru- Byzantium. Of a dozen names of some impor-
salem about 1090. In Constantinoplehe found tance in the historyof the culturalrelationsof
"some Englishmen,friendsof his, membersof the southernItalywithByzantiumduringtheeleventh
imperialhousehold,"one of whom served as his centuryor so, themostsignificant is probablythat
interpreter.38There were many Englishmenin of JohnItalus, "the Italian," a nativeof northern
the Varangian guard of the Emperor Alexius I Calabria,"il quale con ragionee consideratecome
Comnenus,some of themrefugeesfromthe Nor- il primo rappresentantedell'Umanesimo."41 If
man conquestoftheirnativeland. humanismis the devoted study of classical au-
thors,Arethasof Caesarea (d. 932) was a human-
VII ist, and so were a numberof other Byzantine
Althoughit was doubtlessa matterof no con- writersof the period we have now reached,in-
cernto travelerslike thegood monkfromCanter- cluding Michael Psellus, the teacher of Theo-
bury or to his English friendsin the imperial phylactof Ochrida and of John Italus himself.
household,Byzantiumhad been an intellectually But Ivan Dujcev remindsus that it is necessary
excitingplace throughmuch of the eleventhcen- to go furtherthan this,that it is just as impor-
tury. The earlyand middleyears of the century tant to know what classical literaturemeantto a
had seen an increased interestin scholarship, man as it is to know how much he had read.
aftersome diminutionof such activityfollowing How, in fact,was the cult of classical literature
upon the death of the learnedEmperor Constan- to be reconciledwith the truthsof Christianity?
tine VII Porphyrogenitus.But now John Mau- It was an old question. Almost all the church
ropous and Nicetas of Byzantium,Constantine fathers who opposed the Greek (and Latin)
Leichudes and John Xiphilinusappeared on the classics and philosophydid so on the groundsof
the error,immorality, and frivolity theydisplay;
37Wibertus (archdeacon of Toul), Vita Leonis IX, ii,
12, in I. M. Watterich,Pontificumromnanorum . . . vitae, 39 Zervos, Un Philosophe neoplatoniciendu X1' sie'cle:
2 vols., Leipzig, 1862, 1: 166: ". . . tanto [Leo] fervebat Michel Psellos, 108, and cf. 59, 236-251, Paris, 1919.
studio ut divinarum lectionem scripturarum graeco ad- 40 Joan M. Hussey, Church and learning in the Byzan-
disceret eloquio." tine empire, 40, 77-80, Oxford and London, 1937.
38 Chas. H. Haskins, Studies in medieval culture, 162- 41 Russo, Relazioni culturali,Boll. Badia greca di Grot-
163, Oxford, 1929. taferrata7: 59, 1953.

12 KENNETH AM.SETTON [PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
thosewho favoredthe studyof the classics did so accession of the hostile Alexius I Comnenusto
because of theiralleged utilityas an intellectual the Byzantinethrone(1081).
and moral preparationfor the study of Holy Already in 1076-1077 nine articles of belief,
Scripture. The classicswerenot supportedon the spectacularin their implicationsfor the intel-
groundsof theirbeautyas literature. Clementof lectual historyof the later eleventhcentury,had
Alexandria and St. Basil of Caesarea defended been condemnedby the holy synodof Constanti-
pagan philosophyand literatureas a useful,even nople. JohnItalus was generallyassociatedwith
necessary,preparationfor the larger truthsof thesebeliefswhichgave rise to rumorand strife;
Christianity. The fatherswere much read in and it is no longereasy for us to reconstruct the
Byzantium. Was this the spirit of Byzantine successionof events. On the Sunday of Ortho-
humanism? Were classicalphilosophyand litera- doxy in the year 1082 (13 March), John Italus
ture only a "propaedeutic"? Had they no in- was rathersuddenlycondemned,at the insistence
ternal,substantivevalue? If we are to regarda of the Emperor Alexitus,on the basis of ten or
Byzantinewriteras trulya humanist,according eleven articles,nine of which he acknowledged
to Dujeev, he must manifestin his interpretationthat he held. The relationof the nine articles
of the classics somethingof the "spirito dlel condemnedin 1076 to the nine which John ad-
Rinascimento"-and in this test JohnItalus does mittedholding in 1082 is not clear. re have
not fail, "un uomo in cui si possono scoprirele onlythelistof 1076,whichcontainssome opinions
traccedel Rinascimentodi puro stampo." that Johnis knownto have denied,44but in any
42
Be all this as it may, John Italus is perhaps event the theses he was prepared to defendin
themostintriguing figurein thehistoryof Byzan- 1082 were regarded by the Emperor Alexius
tine philosophyin the eleventhcentury. John as "fullof pagan impietv" (TrlS EXX17TLKSa&OTOS
went to Constantinopleto study under Michael -yegovra). Furthermore, whenon 13 March,1082,
Psellus, whomhe eventuallysucceededas profes- the congregationheard the doctrinesof John
sor of philosophy riv txoao~cowv).This Italtusanathematizedfromthe amboti of Hagia
(vr7roars
was probablyabout 1073-1074afterJohn'sformer Sophia, the firstnine of the eleven articles of
studentMichael [VII] Ducas had ascended the condemnation wverethe familiarlistof 1076 which
now passed into the Synodikonof Orthodoxy,
imperialthrone. AlthoughJohnlacked the culti-
whereinare collectedsome Byzantinehereticsand
vationand subtletyof Psellus, he appears to have
theirdoctrines,still read aloud and declare(1 ana-
become the chief authorityof his generationon themain
the EasternOrthodoxChurch(luringthe
both Aristotelianand Neoplatonicthought. He firstweek of Lent. John Italtis was accused of
was a philosophicalhumanist,and spokewithawe havingsoughtto explain,by reason,the doctrine
of the intellectualglory of ancientHellas.43 Of of the hypostaticunion; of havingreturnedto the
a rigorouslylogical frameof mind,a dialectician, viewsoftheancientGreekphilosophers concerning
almosta scholastic,JohnItalus was too muchof a the hulman soul as xvell as the earth and its
rationalistto keep his head above water in the creatures;of havingtaughtthe transmigration of
theologicalcross-currents of his time. Although souls (nizetempsvchosis), thus denyingthe possi-
he was protectedformorethana decade bypower- bilityof personalimmortality and the futurelife;
ful friendsat court,John Italus' opinions,long of having adopted the Platonic doctrine of the
a subjectofpopularspeculation,were subjectedto 44 See the Synodikon of Orthodoxy in the TptcLt4ov,
canonicalinquiryand to disciplinesoon afterthe 215-216, Athens, 1915. Cf. Th. I. Uspenskii, Official
Report on the Accusation of John Italus for Heresy
42 Ivan Duj ev, L'Umanesimo di Giovanni Italo, Sthdi [in Russian], in the Izv. russk. Arkh. Instit. v Kpole.
bizantini e nteoellenici5: 432, 434, 1939. Cf. in general [I-zestiia of the Russ. Arch. Institute in Constantinople]
the lively essay of Jean Verpeaux, Byzance et l'hu- 2: 30-66, 1897; Louis Petit, Jean Italos, Dictioinaire de
manisme: Position du probleme,Bulletin de 1'Association theologie catholique 8: 826828, Paris, 1924; Franz
Guillaume Bude, 3 ser., 25-38, Oct. 1952, who poses, Ddlger, Regesten der Kaiserurklundent des ostri-fiischeut
rather rapidly, some questions concerning the relation Reiches, pt. 2: nos. 1078-1079, pp. 26-27, Munich and
of certain aspects of the intellectual and social life of Berlin, 1925; and cf. Bernard Leib, Les Patriarches de
Byzantium to the developmentof Italian humanism,but Byzance et la politique religieuse d'Alexis 1er Comnene,
fails to note the close proximity of Byzantine culture AMlanges Jules Lebreton 2: 207-209, 1952. Uspenskii,
in southern Italy. Petit, and other writers have assumed that the nine
43 Cf. P. E. Stephanou, Jean Italos: philosophe et hu- articles which John Italus admitted in 1082 are the nine
maniste (Orientalia Christiana Analecta, no. 134), 40-41, which had been held anathema in 1076. but Stephanou
50-51, 61-62, 73, Rome, 1949. has shown that this is not so (JeantItalos, 46-49, 70-80).

eternityof matterand of ideas; of having denied eleventh-century Byzantiumwe seem to be in the

the possibilityof the miraclesof Christ and the Italian Quattrocento,in the world of Pomponius
saints; and finally,among other beliefs which Laetus and the passionate antiquarianismof the
arousedthe ire of theassembledfathers,of having Roman Academy. But it is more serious than
given currencyto ancienterrorson the pre-ex- this,for JohnItalus was a more substantialper-
istenceof souls, the non-eternalcharacterof the son thanPomponius.
pains of hell, the formationof a new world,and We can realizetheperilto whichhis philosophi-
the denial of the creation.45 cal humanismexposed the spirituallifeof his time
JohnItalus had detachedphilosophyfromthe- when we notethathe was believedby some of his
ology. He had pointedup the cleavage between contemporaries to have won overto his views even
profanelearningand the Christianconscience. A the PatriarchEustratius Garidas, who had had
ByzantineAbelard, he had sought a rationalist forinvestigating
theinitialresponsibility his ortho-
solutionfor such Christianmysteriesas the in- doxy.49 John Italus was primarilya Platonist,
carnationand the trinity.46Actuallysome of the like his friendand teacher,the energeticMichael
beliefs with which John Italus stands charged Psellus, and John's condemnationproved to be
todayin the Synodikonof Orthodoxyare notcon- merelythe prelude to the Platonic vogue of the
sistentwithone another,and Stephanouhas shown so-called ComnenianRenaissance of the twelfth
thatJohndid notentertainsomeof them. But the century,the classical age of Eustathiusof Thes-
animus of the monksand the anxietyof the em- salonica and the good Michael Choniates of
peror make clear that what Johndid not believe, Athens.
othersdid, and the holy synod did not so much VIII
condemn John as the growing cult of pagan
philosophy. John's views show traces of that The Greek civilizationof Calabria did not pro-
Neoplatonic pantheismand panpsychismwhich duce manyhereticslike JohnItalus, for Calabria
became popular in the Italian thoughtof the was fullof monks,and orthodoxyhas alwaysbeen
Renaissance.4 The depth or abandon of his the core of Basilian monachism. If the monks
thoughthad reachedthe substratumof paganism were nothumanists,some of themtraveleda good
in the Byzantineheritage. There were no few deal, and no few were interestedin books. In
cultivatedpeopleat courtwho had fallenunderthe theearlytwelfth centuryS. Bartolomeoof Simeri,
influenceof his disquietingmind. There were in southernCalabria, founderof the monasteries
strangerepercussions. On one occasion,for ex- of S. Maria del Patire (-roiHuarpo's),a few hours
ample,a certainSerblias,a followerof JohnItalus, fromRossano, and of S. Salvatore di Messina, a
went out in the dead of night to the end of a favoritehouse of Roger II of Sicily, returned
promontory overlookingthe sea. Standingthere froma visit to Constantinopleand a sojourn on
fora while,like thedevoteeof some ancientpagan Mount Athos with many Greek icons, sacred
cult, he suddenlythrewhimselfinto the water, utensils,and liturgicalbooks. The priest,Scolario
screaming as loud as he could, "Receive me, Saba, a Calabrian,probablyof Reggio, is said to
Poseidon!" (3SEat,uE,IIo6EL3OP). 4 Ratherthanin have collectedin Greece and Calabria some three
hundredmanuscriptswhichhe gave to the mon-
45Synodikon of Orthodoxy, in the TptL6tov, 215-216, asterywhichhe foundednear Messina, thatof S.
Athens, 1915 (cited above).
46 Stephanou gives the best synopsis of John's thought,
Salvatore di Bordonaro,beginningin this way
which was not a connected system,but strongly eclectic what more than one scholarhas regardedas the
(Jean Italos, 81 ff.,and esp. 113-116). firsthumanistlibraryin the West.50
47 Cf. Kenneth M. Setton, Recent views of the Italian
Renaissance, Report of the Canadian Historical Associa- Petersburg,1891 [1892]; N. Giakoumakis,in Nfa 2:tw'p
tion, 21-22, 1947. 11: 321, 1911,cited by Basile Tatakis, La Philosophie
48Nicetas Choniates, er-qfavpos 'OpOobo~tas, in T. L. F. byzantine,in Amile Brehier, Hist. de la philosophie,fasc.
Tafel, Annae Coinnenae supplementa historian ecclesias- suppl.11: 215, Paris, 1949.
ticant Graecormn saeculi XI. et XII. spectantia, 1-2, Tu- 49 Anna Comnena,Alexiad,v, 8, but on this note the
bingen, 1832: ".. . WoXMOts6EOfOELpE[6 ITraX6s] rcov aKpoarcov doubts of Stephanou, Jean Italos, 66-67.
KaL TrtS EV abToLs XbU1I7S LETE&'UKEKV- Eva 8f TLva, ZEpfXav 50 Louis Brehier,Barthelemy[of Simeri], Dictionn.
Vov7rc'v uov, Kcd Xas7rpCisfXX?1vifttVE6'afV. 'AIs'XEf Kac cTTas d'hist. et de geogr. eccle's. 6: 968-970; Adrian Fortescue,
7rl OKO~rEXOv VvKToS aecpi, Kal OEyta'/AEVOS ES oaov ELXE, 6EOaL The Uniate Eastern Churches, 127-128, London, 1923;
O 7Efl7raorKE r XactruaTr.' Cf. Th. I Uspen-
,Uf, Hllo-EfSov, favurv Francesco Lo Parco, Scolario-Saba, bibliofiloitaliota,
skii, Ocherki po istornivizantiiskoi obrazovannosti [Es- etc., in the Atti della R. Accademia di archeologia, let-
says on the history of Byzantine culture], 156, St. tere e belle arti di Napoli, new series, 1: 207-286, 1910,

In the BibliotecaLaurenziana in Florenceis a minded classical scholar, who composed very

Greek manuscript(V, 10), containingamong statelyversein theclose confinement of theiambic
otherthingsan anthologyof Italo-Greekpoetry, trimeters so muchemployedby Byzantinepoets in
thepublicationand elucidationof which,as Krum- this era. He wroteon bothpagan and Christian
bacher said almost sixty years ago, would be a themes,and his language contains many remi-
greatserviceto Byzantineand Italian literaryhis- niscencesof Homer, the Greek tragedians,and
tory.51 Now two Italian scholarshave just ren- even Aristophanes. His editor,MarcelloGigante,
dered this great service.52 The poems in this has well statedthat"JohnGrassus is, among the
anthologycome fromthe Terra d'Otranto,from Italo-Greekpoets of this epoch, one of the very
aboutthemiddleof thethirteenth century,
thegood modelsof thateffective combination of ancientcul-
old days of the Emperor Frederick II, when tureand Christiansensibilitywhichit is certainly
Nectariuswas the abbot or igoumenof the great wrongto representas beginningin thefourteenth
monasteryof Casole near Otranto (1220-1235). century.53 A vigorous Greek poem on a con-
Beforehe became abbot of Casole, Nectariushad temporarythemewas writtenby John "Idrunti-
bornethe name of Niccol6. A learnedtheologian nus" (of Otranto), an ardentGhibellineand im-
and an accomplishedlinguist,Niccol6 of Otranto perial notary,who directedhis abusive iambics
had served as interpreter to the cardinal legates against the city of Parma for its defectionfrom
Benedictof S. Susanna (1205-1207) and Pelagius his beloved master,FrederickII (1247). John
(1214) when they made their unsuccessfulat- Idruntinuswas apparentlythe good friendof the
temptsto effectthe union of the churchesafter learnedGeorge Bardanes, metropolitan of Corfu,
the FourthCrusade. Wreshall returnto Niccol6 who was a guest at his home in Otrantofor six
in this importantcontextlater on in this study. monthsin 1232.54 John must have been pretty
From his long sojourns in Constantinopleand muchbilingual!fornotonlydid he writein Greek,
elsewhere in the Byzantine empire, Niccol6 as we have seen, but he composedmany of the
broughtback to Italy many Greek manuscripts Latin documentsin FrederickII's registersfor
which entered the monastic library at Casole. the years 1239-1240,and the suggestionhas been
Niccol6,or Nectariusas we shouldcall him after made thatit was probablyhe who draftedFred-
he was put at the head of his monastery, was the erick's Greek letters to the Despot Michael
teacher of the imperial notary, John Grassus Angelusof Epirus and the Nicene EmperorJohn
(Ppaaaos), a memberof that engaginggroup of Ducas V7atatzes.55John'sson, Nicholas Idrunti-
Italo-Greekpoets whose workis preservedin the nus, wrote littlepoems in Greek (iambic tetra-
Laurentian anthology. The others are John of stichs) to Christ,the Virgin,and the saints,skill-
Otranto and his son Niccol6, and George "the fulbut stiffproductions, as a wholeratherlacking
Chartophylax," or archivistof thechurchof Galli- in poeticspiritand insight.56
poli, also in the regionof Otranto.
John Grassus was a learned and religiously XGigante, Poeti hizantini, La Parola del Passato 6:
del secolo XIII. 11-
291-292, and cf. Poeti italobiaianttini
on which cf. Giov. Gentile, Sttldi sul Rinascimento (in 12, 18 ff. That John Grassus was an "imperial notary"
Opere complete 10), 83-85, Florence, 1936, who doubts (,6ac)tXLK65 voTrpLos) of FrederickII is statedin the lemma
that all Scolario's 300 MSS. were Greek; Raffaele Can- or descriptive rubric to his third poem, and that he
tarella, Poeti bizantini, 2 vols., 2: 232, Milan, 1948; had been the pupil of the Abbot Nectarius (,uajrLsrr TOV
Russo, Relazioni culturali, Boll. Badia greca di Grotta- NEKrapLov) is stated in the lemma to his tenth
TOow7-T6LrOv
ferrata 7: 60-61, 1953. L. T. White has emphasized the poem. Nectarius wrote poems, iambic tetrastichs, on
intellectual superiorityof Greek monks over Latins in all the abbots (ni-yoiiuEvoL)of S. Niccolo di Casole (pub-
Sicily in the twelfthcentury (Latin mnonasticism in Nor- lished by H. Omont, Revtuedes itudes grecques 3: 387-
m;anb Sicily, 70-71). 389, 1890).
51 Karl Krumbacher, Gesch. d. bvzant. Litt., 768-770, i George Bardanes was ordained by the now famous
Munich, 1897. (This MS. also contains the twenty-four John Apocaucus, to whom the Russian scholar E. A.
poems of Eugene of Palermo.) Chernousov pointed, more than forty years ago, as a
2 Silvano Borsari and Marcello Gigante. Poeti bizan- prototype of the Italian humanist (cf. A. A. Vasiliev,
tini di Terra d'Otranto nel Secolo XIII, La Parola del Hist. BIz. Emnpire,560, Madison, 1952).
Passato 6: 287-315, 367-390, Naples, 1951. The Greek 55 Giov. Mercati, Giovanni d'Otranto, in Opere iiinori
texts were set up by Gigante. See also his short mono- (Studi e Testi, 77) 2: 53-54, Citta del Vaticano, 1937;
graph, based on the preceding articles, Poeti italobizan- R. Cantarella, Poeti bizantini 1: no. 89, pp. 208-209, and
tini del secolo XIII, in the Collana di studi greci, 22: cf. vol. 2: 237-239, Milan, 1948; Borsari and Gigante,
Naples, 1953. S. G. Mercati has corrected some of in La Parola del Passato 6: 302-305; Gigante, Poeti
Gigante's readings and some other errors (Byz. Zeitschr. italobizantinidel secolo XIII, 26-28.
47: 41-48, 1954). Cf. Robt. Weiss, Greek culture of south 56 Gigante, in La Parola del Passato 6: 309-315; Poeti
Italy, Proc. British Academy 37: 40-43, 1951. italobizantinidel secolo XIII, 28-32, 64-70.

Anotherpoet of this group,who also lived his Italianhumanism. They give us someinsightinto
life under the cultural influenceof the great theintellectual activityof Otrantoin thethirteenth
monasteryof S. Niccol6 di Casole, was George century,and always in the backgroundlies the
the "Chartophylax"of Gallipoli. A devotedGhi- monasticlibraryat Casole and cultivatedmonks
belline,like JohnIdruntinus,George was a mem- like the Abbot Nectarius.
ber of the literarycircle of the cultivatedPietro
della Vigna, but he was far less learnedthanhis IX
fellows. George's verse is ratherrough,his style It would be easy to compilea list of learned
more biblicalthanclassical. Like the otherpoets Italo-Greekmonks. The librariesof the Basilian
of thisgrouphe employsonlythe iambictrimeter, monasterieswere very good, and we findamong
or "Byzantinedodecasyllables,"withwhichin his theirbooks classicalmanuscriptslike the Aristotle
thirteenpoemshe belaborsa heavyMuse. Under and the Aristophanesin the libraryat Casole, but
few of the illusionsof life,practicaland realistic, more than this the poets of Otranto,especially
witha superficialsmear of poeticculture,George John Grassus, reveal many classical allusions in
was no humanist. But he was a warm, robust theirworks. The great monasteryof S. Niccolo
fellow,sprawlingat the footof Mount Parnassus di Casole remainedthe chiefcenterfor the dif-
and fancyinghimselfa poet. He looked with fusionof Greek culturein southernItaly forcen-
livelyprejudiceupon the politicalwayfarersof his turies,untilits destructionby the Turks in 1480.
day. He wroteof saints long dead and contem- It was builton the easternmostspur of thatpro-
porariesverymuchalive,directinghis chiefpraise montoryby which,says Chas. Diehl, "Italy seems
to FrederickII; of the griefof the choir-master to hold out her hand to Greece," and its abbots
(0opa-rtKoS) at Gallipoli,who had losthis littleson; playeda conspicuouspart in papal diplomaticand
of those thieving rogues, those blasphemous other relations with the Byzantine court and
priests, whom the Latin bishop had moved to church. The cultural relations of the Terra
assault his church; and of the miscreantcitizens d'Otrantowiththe courtof the despotsof Epirus
of Parma, whose "apostasy" fromFrederickhad wereveryclose throughout the thirteenth century,
won them,as it were,the palm of infamy.57 and one of the chiefEpirote writersof the early
The Italo-Greekpoets of the schoolof Otranto, part of this century,George Bardanes, metro-
nurturedin the monasticlibraryat Casole, reveal politanof Corfu,one-timestudentof the Byzan-
that peculiarlyByzantineamalgam of classicism tinehumanist,Michael Choniatesof Athens,lived
and Christianity. The imperial concept, too, forsome timeat Otranto,as we have noted,and
sacred in the politicalthinkingof Byzantium,in- also at the monasteryof S. Niccolo. In the later
formsthe work of George of Gallipoli; but the fifteenth centurythe Italian humanist,Galateo,re-
imperialhouse is that of the Hohenstaufenand ported that anyone who wished to learn Greek
the Autokratoris Frederick II, restorerof the would find a hospitablereceptionand free in-
gloryof the Roman empire,stupormundi,or as structionat S. Niccol6.59 It was in factfromthe
Georgecalls him, ro Oaivua TV/S OLKOVIEPV7/S.58 These monastic library at Casole that the Cardinal
poets belongequallyto Byzantiumand Italy; two Bessarion,Greekprinceof theItalianRenaissance,
worldshave coalesced,two culturescombined;and acquired some of his most importantmanuscripts
some of the ancientpagan backgroundcommon whichfounda home firstin Rome and thereafter
to each is made evidentin theirpoetry. We shall
59Antonius Galateus [Antonio de Ferrari, 1444-1517],
not delude ourselvesthat we are studyingsome
Liber de situ Iapygiae [ed. J. B. Bonifacius, marquis of
of the world's greatpoets,and we shall not com- Oria], 45, Basel, 1558, and cf. Borsari, La Parola del
pare the OtrantineAnthologyto the Palatine. Passato 6: 288-289, 1951, and George Stadtmuiller,Mi-
These South-Italianpoetshave a large importance, chael Choniates, Metropolit zsonAthen (Orientalia Chris-
33, no. 91), 199 ff.,Rome, 1934. In 1443 King Al-
however,for what they reveal of the so-called tiana, fonso V the Magnanimous of Naples appealed to Pope
"thoughtworld" in which they lived. They are Eugenius IV for assistance in restoring the study of
true forerunners,especially John Grassus, of Greek literature in his domain by requiring the mainte-
nance of professors of Greek in the South-Italian and
57Gigante, La Parola del Passato 6: 367-390; Poeti Sicilian monasteries "ubi quondam celebratissimieas [lit-
italobizantinidel secolo XIII, 32 ff.,70-83. teras grecas] preceptores docere solebant" (Const. Ma-
58 Gigante, La Parola del Passato 6: 374-375, 386 rinesco, L'Enseignement du grec dans l'Italie meridionale
avant 1453, d' apres un document inedit, Academie des
(verse 21) ; Poeti italobizantini del secolo XIII, 10-11,
79; Cantarella,Poeti bizantini1: no. 88, pp. 206-208, inscriptions et belles-lettres, Comptes rendus, 304-312,
and cf. vol. 2: 236-238. 1948, and cf. the old work of Rodota, op. cit. 2: 135).

16 KENNETH XI. SETTON [PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC.
in Venice. The treasures of Casole are today easy access to Greek culturein the southof Italy
scatteredover Europe, some of thembeingidenti- is most important. If we choose to follow the
fied in libraries in Paris and Madrid, Rome, poet Horace in his dictum of nil admirari,we
Florence, and Venice.6' Giovanni Mercati has mighteven ask why it took the Italians so long
studied the sixteenth-and seventeenth-century fullyto recognizetheimportance of Greekclassical
historyand holdingsof various Basilian monastic literature. It was partlythe factthatthe Italians
librariesin Calabria and in Sicily.6' In the six- did take so long that theirinstructorsin Greek
teenth centurythese monasteriesstill had fair came chieflyfromByzantium,the Morea, and the
numbersof manuscripts, some of themmutilated, Aegean ratherthan fromsouthernItaly, for by
but they had obviously sold (and had lost by the fifteenth centurythe great days of South-
theft)duringthefifteenth centurywhateverclassi- Italian Greek culturelay in the recedingpast.
cal works they had formerlypossessed, and so The Greekshad actuallybecomea minorityin
were left mostlywith tedious and unnegotiable southernItaly during the Norman period, and
catalogueof the theirlanguagehad slowlyyieldedto Latin. Greek
titles. In a late sixteenth-century
monastic library of Patmos, however,we find bishops were replaced by Latins.,who oftenor-
listed,amongthesixty-two'notable manuscripts." laine(lGreekpriests,ratheruincanonically. accord-
a Xenophon,a Plato (xvritten by Arethasin 895!), ing to the Latin rite. Variloussees thus acquired
some Aristotelianmaterial,the ancienthistoryof Latin bishops in the later eleventhand twelfth
JohnZonaras (books x-xviii), and Hippocrates.62 centuries; Cotrone did so about 1300, Rossano
Patmos in the Aegean was not so easilyaccessible in 1364, Santa Ciriaca in 1497, and finallyBova
to the humanists,the cardinals,papal librarians in 1573. The Greek clergyand monkscame to
and agents,dealers,the Spanish kings and their lack instructionin many places; their learning
viceroys,and other lovers and collectorsof fine declined,especiallyfromthe early fifteenth cen-
manuscripts. tur-y;their librarieshad less meaning to them,
By the timeof Bessarion,even in such a center and the recruitment of able men became difficult.
as S. Niccolo di Casole, the Greek language and Latin CatholicsregardedwithsuspiciontheirItalo-
especiallyGreek culturehad, of course, suffered Greekneighbors;thelatterfoundtheirpeculiarity
severedeclinein the southof Italy. But a whole of riteand languageinconvenient and evenb)uirden-
generationof Italian scholars,taughtby Byzantine some. Italo-Greek priests, however, and the By-
professors,had masteredthe language and were zantine rite long survived Bova's receptionof a
studyingthe literature,philosophy,and science Latin bishop (1573). The rite proved to be
oftheancientGreeks. If thereis something which almost as persistent as the language, and, owing
at firstappears astonishingabout this masteryof to increasing ignorance, almost as corrupt,but fair
Greekin the earlydecadesof thefifteenth century, numbers of churches still retained the Byzantine
it must be rememberedthat there had actually rite into the seventeenth century.63
been generationsof preparationfor it. Here the The Greek language, although very corrupt,
survive(l mulch longer in Calabria and the Terra
60 Chas. Diehi, Le Monastere de S. Nicolas di Casole dWOtranto,and. with incredible pertinacity, still
pres d'Otrante d'apres un manuscrit inedit, Melantges
survives. In the later thirteenth
centuryRoger
d'archeologie et d'histoire 6: 173-188, 1886, and cf. ibid.
8: 309 ff., 1888; H. Omont, Le Typicon de St.-Nicolas advocateda journeyto southern
Bacon constantly
di Casole, Revue des etudes grcqites 3: 389-391, 1890. Italy if one wished to learn Greek,64and in the
On classical MSS. at S. Niccolo di Casole, cf. Ermanno
Aar [pseudonym of L. G. de Simone], Gli studi storici 63 C. Korolevskij, Basiliens italo-grecs,Dictionni.d'ltist.
in Terra dOtranto, Archivio storico italiano, ser. 4, 6: et de geogr. 6: 1192-1193; Adrian Fortescue, The UT)iate
104-105, 1880; Silvano Borsari, Sulla cultura letteraria Eastern Chutrches,97-98, 102-115, London. 1923. On
nei monasteri bizantini del Mezzogiorno d'Italia, Arch. the later fortunes of the Byzantine rite in southern
stor. Cal. e Lutcan. 18: 142-143, 1949; and, in general, Italy, during the sixteenthand seventeenthcenturies;.see
Alberto Vaccari, La Grecia nell' Italia wteridionale(Ori- C. Korolewski [sic], Le vicende ecclesiastiche dei paesi
entalia Christiana, 3, no. 13), Rome, 1925, where many italo-albanesi della Basilicata e della Calabria, etc.. Arch.
individual MSS. are listed and their copyists or owners stor. Cal. e Lucan. 1: 43 ff.,1931; 4: 205 ff.,1934.
identifiedif possible. 64 See, infra, pp. 62-63. Here we need cite only the
61 Giov. Mercati, Per la storia dei manoscritti greci following text (Edmond Nolan and S. A. Hirsch, eds.,
di Genova, di varie Badie Basiliane d'Italia e di Patmo The Greek grammar of Roger Bacon, 31, Cambridge,
(Studi e Testi, 68), 3 ff.,31-60, 85 ff.,et alibi, Citta del 1902) : ". . . et adhuc vestigia restant [in illa parte
Vaticano, 1935. Ytalie, que antiquitus dicebatur Magna Grecia, quia
62 Mercati, op. cit., 128-133. magna multitudogrecorum ibi confugerat],nam in regno

followingcenturyPetrarchadvised a young man AnotherGreek-speaking remnantof the distant

who wished to learn Greek to go to Calabria past is to be found,however,in the isolatedheel
ratherthanto Constantinople.65 One versionof a of the Italian peninsula, the Terra d'Otranto.
prose roman de Troie, currentin France in the Here, about eightkilometerssouthof Lecce, is a
late thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies,records clusterof some nine towns where Greek is still
thecontemporary factsthatin Calabriaand Apulia preservedas the"linguadi casa" (Calimera,Cori-
the peasants spoke only Greek and the divine gliano, Martignano, Sternatia, Soleto, Zollino,
service was conducted"a la maniere de Grece Castrignanodei Greci,Martano,and Melpignano).
et en grizois lengage."66 The persistenceof the Althoughtherewere a good many more Greek-
Greek language in southernItaly has been amaz- speakingareas in the Terra d'Otrantoa hundred
ing, evidence of the strengthof a once noble and fiftyyears ago than now, Greek has here
tradition. In 1820-1821 Karl Witte found a showna surprisingvitality,and is still spokenin
dozen Greek-speaking villagesin the southernde- the streetsand shopsof thesetownswithno sense
files of Mount Aspromonte,in the toe of Italy, of shame. In the last fourhundredyears, to be
littleplaces notfarfromReggio. A centurylater, sure, the numberof Greek-speakingtowns has
in the 1920's and '30's, GerhardRohlfsfoundthat declinedfromabout thirtyor so to eightor nine,68
fiveof these places had lost theirGreek dialects, but about 16,000 personsstillspeak Greekin this
but the shepherdsand peasantsin about seven of area. Greekwill thuslast forsome timeto come
themstillretainedtheirGreek (in Bova, the chief in southernItaly where its survivalfor so many
place; Roccaforteand Chorio; Condoftiriand centuriesis an astonishingmanifestation of the
Gallician6; Rochidi or Roghi'di and Chorio di persistentreflexof the humanmindand the con-
Rochu'di; and, finally,Amendolea). As a whole tinuityof culture.
theseplaces were bilingual,but familiesof better
social positionno longerlearnedany of the local 2. GREEK SCHOLARSHIP IN SICILY
Greek. So marked,moreover,has been the di- AND NORTHERN ITALY
minutionin the numberof those who still speak Contacts between Italy and Byzantiumwere
Greek in this area that the presentcenturywill veryclose throughout the entiremedievalperiod,
soon witnesstheirfinaldisappearance.67 as we have just seen,and theywere especiallyso
in the-twelfthcenturywhen a numberof learned
Scicilie multe ecclesie grecorum et populi multi sunt westernersfoundtheirway intothe Greekcapital.
qui vern greci sunt et grecas antiquitates observant."
65 Fr. Petrarca, Epp. rerurnsenilium, xi, 9 [writtenin There were many religious,political,and com-
1368], in Opera quae extant onmnia2: 887, Basel, 1581; mercialconnectionsbetweenItaly and Byzantium,
trans. Giuseppe Fracassetti, Lettere senili di Francesco not created but certainlyextended by the Cru-
Petrarca 2: 164, Florence, 1892. Petrarch, of course, sades. Alliances were made and numerousem-
maintained an unjustified prejudice against the Byzan-
tine culture of his day, notissim~ianuic Graecorum ig-
bassies exchangedbetweenthe Germanand By-
norantia . . . (ibid., v, 6 [7], in Opera 2: 805; trans. zantineempires,usuallydirectedagainstthe Nor-
Fracassetti, 1: 317). mans in southernItaly and Sicily; the related
66 See Paul Meyer, Les Premieres compilations fran- problemsof schismand of projectedunion con-
~aises dhistoire ancienne, Rornania 14: 70 and note 5, stantlyagitated the celestial minds of both the
Paris, 1885: "Et que ce soit voir que Secile et Calabre
fussent de Grece, ce appert, car encore parle l'en en Roman and ByzantineChurches. The commercial
celi pays en pluseurs leus gregois- [and from B. N. interestsof the Venetians,Pisans, and othersin
MS. 1612, fol. 2b, cited by Meyer:] Et par toute Calabre the Greekempireare veryimportantin the intel-
ii paisant ne parlent se grizois non. Encore en Puille, lectualhistoryof the twelfthcentury. Such inter-
en maint leuz, ont il le service Nostre Seigneur es
mostiers a la maniere de Grece et en grizois lengage, ests had builtup the Latin quartersin Byzantium,
por quoi il apert et voirs est sans faille qu'il furent and here North Italians like Moses of Bergamo
ancienementtous Grizois." Cf. Rohlfs, Scavi linguistici,
1-5. problem of studying and recording the Greek dialects
67Rohlfs, Griechen und Ronianen in Unteritalien,5-6, of southern Italy is not unlike that involved in dealing
164; Scavi linguistici,6 ff.; and Historische Gramnmatik with the Greek dialects of Asia Minor.
der iinteritalienischenGrdzitdt,13-14, Munich, 1949. Cf. 68 Rohlfs, Griechen u. Romnanen,49-50; Scavi linguis-
Giuseppe Gabrieli, Gl'italo-greci e le loro colonie, Sthdi tici, 66 ff.; and Historische Grammatik, 14-15; Fr. A.
bizantini 1: 97-121, 1925, with a good bibliography of Primaldo Coco, Vestigi di grecismnoin Terra d'Otranto,
older works. In February and March of 1783 this re- 1, Grottaferrata,1922; and C. Korolevskij, in Dictionn.
gion was devastated by a terrific earthquake (Lenor- d'hist. et de geogr. eccles. 6: 1193-1194. By this time
mant, La Grande-Grece 2: 288 ff.,and 3: 333 ff.). The Greek has presumably disappeared from Melpignano.

and Hugo EterianusboughtGreekbooksand read Greek, Jew and Saracen, were each judged ac-
them,and disputed with Byzantinetheologians. cording to his own law, and royal privileges,
They kept the papacy well informedconcerning deeds of sale, and otherdocumentswere prepared
the flowof eventsand ideas in the Greek capital, in Latin, Greek,and Arabic. Some legal docu-
and theywereencouragedby popes like Alexander mentswere preparedin Hebrew, especiallythose
III and Lucius III to translatethe works of the relatingto sales and exchanges of propertyin
Greek fathersof the great fourthand fifthcen- whichJews were involved. Toward the close of
turies,as well as to undertakeoriginalcomposi- the twelfthcenturyMaster Pietro d'Eboli hailed
tionsshowingthatin factthe Roman Churchhad the Norman capital as urbs felix,populo dotata
remained true to the Greek patristictradition trilingui,2 and one of the remarkableillustrations
while the Greeksthemselveshad strayedfromit. that accompanyPietro's poem in the (unique)
The westerninterestsand sympathiesof the Berne manuscriptshows the Sicilian chanceryin
ByzantineEmperor Manuel Comnenusare well the days of Roger II with "notariigreci, notarii
known. His politicalambitionsin Italy sought saraceni,notariilatini."3 Actuallythereseem to
the reconstruction,at Normanexpense,of the old have been two chanceriesto handle the crown's
themesof Longobardia and Calabria of the late polyglotcorrespondence,but this is a problem
ninthand tenthcenturies;he aroused, however, which need not detain us here.4 Roger II had
the suspicionsof the GermanEmperorFrederick tended to favor the Greek language, and even
I Barbarossa,whichbroughtto a finalclose the in the years followinghis coronationas king
"alliance of the two empires." None the less, (1131-1154) the Greek-Arabicdocumentsare
manyembassiescame to Constantinople fromthe almost as numerousas those writtenin Latin,
German emperorand the pope during the long butunderthetwoWilliams,who followedhim,the
reign of Manuel Comnenus,who sent his own use of Greek and Arabic declined. Constanceof
ambassadorsto the German imperialcourt and Sicily,themotherof FrederickII, appearsto have
to Rome. The representativesof the western issued no Greek documentsduringher three-year
missionswere likelyto be accompaniedby north reign (1195-1198). By the close of the century
Italians; in Constantinople theysoon foundtheir therewere onlya few churchesof the Greek rite
way intotheVenetianand Pisan quarters. Schol- leftin Sicily,like thatof S. Salvatoredi Messina
ars on such missions,so oftensent under papal and S. Filippo di Fragalh.5 But if a knowledge
auspicesor on businessaffecting the papacy,were of Greek was not growingin Sicily in the later
inevitablyinterestedin problemsof churchunion twelfthand thirteenth centuries,it probablyre-
and theology. In this connectionthe Pisans es- mained prettystrong; and we have unimpeach-
pecially distinguishedthemselves,in the twelfth able testimonyfrom the middle of the twelfth
century,by the translatorsand theologiansthey centuryof the richnessof both Sicilian libraries
produced;consideringthe natureof theirmissions and scholarships
and theirbackgrounds, it is not strangethatthese II
NorthItalianswereparticularly interested in Greek
patristictextsand in theologicaldisputation. Translationsfromboth Greek and Arabic in
The Sicilianssentfewerembassiesto Constanti- the twelfthcenturyreflectthe religious,scientific,
nople, for the Normans of southernItaly and and practicalinterestsof the centurywhich saw
Sicily had been traditionalenemiesof the Byzan- also the beginningsof the universities of Bologna,
tines since the restlessdays of Robert Guiscard Paris, and Oxford. Althoughthe twelfthcentury
and Bohemond. A coterieof scholarsdependent was more literarythan the thirteenth, its readers
upontheirroyalpatronsreflected thephilosophical and writers sought knowledge from their literature
and scientificinterestsof a cosmopolitancourt. 2 Petrus Ansolinus de Ebulo, De rebus siculis carmnen,
In the twelfthand early thirteenth centuriesthe 56: ed. Ettore Rota, in the new Muratori, Rer. ital.
island of Sicily was a rich amalgam of threeor scripp. 31: pt. 1, 15, Citta di Castello, 1904.
3G. B. Siragusa,Miniature del codice 120 della Biblio-
fourcultures. The Normankingshad to legislate, teca Civica di Berna, pl. 8, Rome, 1905,and Ett. Rota,
as Roger II himselfput it, "pro varietatepopu- op. cit., 26.
lorum nostroregno subiectorum." 1 Italian and 4 Cf. K. A. Kehr, Urkuinden,66 ff.
5 Kehr, op. cit., 68, 239-240; cf. Rohlfs, Scavi linguis-
1 Johannes Merkel, Commentatio qua iuris Siculi sive tici, 82-97.
assisarumnregurn regni Siciliae fragmenta ex codicibus 6 Cf., e.g., HenricusAristippus, Epistula ad Roboratum,
manu scriptis proponuntur (1856), 16, cited by Karl eds. L. Minio-Paluelloand H. J. Drossaart Lulofs,
Andreas Kehr, Die Urkunden der normannisch-sicilischen "Phaedo" interprete Henrico Aristippo (for which see
[C5nige,239, Innsbruck,1902. below, note 9), 89, London, Warburg Institute, 1950.

ratherthanaestheticexperience. Translationsinto wherehe collectedmanuscriptswhichhe brought

Latin from both Arabic and Greek reflectthe back withhimto Sicily. Aristippustranslatedthe
utilitarianinterestsof the age. They include Meno and Phaedo of Plato, the so-called fourth
biblical commentariesand the writingsof the book of Aristotle'sMeteorology,and informsus
church fathers; historical,hagiographical,and himselfin the prologueto the Meno that he had
theologicalworks (from the Greek), treatiseson begun Latin versions of Gregoryof Nazianzus
medicine,philosophy,the physical and natural and Diogenes Laertius.9 The translatorof the
sciences, astrology, alchemy, and mathematics firstLatin versionof Ptolemy'sAlmagestinforms
(fromboth Greek and Arabic). A good deal of us in his prefacethatAristippusbroughtthe Greek
Greek philosophicaland scientificliteraturewas manuscriptof this work fromConstantinopleto
known to western Europe only throughLatin Palermo,as a giftfromthe ByzantineEmperor
translationsmade directlyfromthe Greek,as the Manuel Comnenus,when Aristippuswas sent to
Meno and Phaedo of Plato (to which we shall the imperialcourt,as one of the Sicilian-King
returnshortly),various works of Euclid, Hero William I's envoys,in 1158. This was the year
of Alexandria, Galen, and Proclus, the fourth- when peace was negotiatedbetweenManuel and
century fathers,John of Damascus, and the William I, bringingto an end the South-Italian
Pseudo-Dionysius.7 It is easy to underestimate war.10 Aristippus' interestin Plato which re-
the extentto whichEuropeans knew both Arabic
and Greek. Altanerhas identified, fromthe thir- 9 Valentin Rose, Die Luicke im Diogenes Laertius und
Hermies 1: 373 ff., 386-389, 1866,
teenthand fourteenth centuries,morethana score der alte Cbersetzer,
with prologues of the Meno and Phaedo; Otto Hartwig,
of missionariesand scholars,especiallyDomini- Die Ubersetzungsliteratur Unteritaliens in der nor-
cans, who had a good knowledgeof Arabic, and mannisch-staufischenEpoche, Centralblatt fur Biblio-
a half dozen others who may have had some thekswzeesen 3: 176-177, 1886, and idem, Re Guglielmo I
knowledge of the language.8 Greek was, of e il suo grande ammiraglio Majone di Bari, Archivio
storico le province napoletane 8: 430-438, 461-464,
course,widelyknownamong Europeans although 1883; K.PerA. Kehr, Urkunden d. normannisch-sicilischen
only in southernItaly and Sicily was it a living Konige, 82-83; C. H. Haskins, Stud. hist. meed.science,
and widelyspokenlanguage. The Greek scholar- 143, 165 ff.; Lynn Thorndike, Magic and experimental
ship of Sicily was largelyconfinedto translations science 2: 249. 313; Maria T. Mandalari, Enrico Aristippo
Catania nella vita culturale e politica del
in the twelfthcentury,but certainof the trans- arcidiacono di
secolo XII, Bollettino storico catanese 4: 87-123, 1939;
lators, like Henricus Aristippusand Eugene of and L. Minio-Paluello, Henri Aristippe, Guillaume de
Palermo, who were both scholars and adminis- Moerbeke et les traductionslatines medievales des "Me-
trators,were distinguishedpeople in their day. teorologiques" et du "De generatione et corruptione"
They have aroused the curiosityof manymodern d'Aristote, Revue philosophique de Louvain 45: 206-235,
1947-also Raymond Klibansky, The continuity of the
historians,who have made it unnecessaryfor us Platonic tradition during the Middle Ages, 27-31, 51,
to deal with themat length. London, Warburg Institute,1939, and Klibansky's Corputs
Henricus Aristippuswas, conceivably,a South- Platonicumt Medii Aevi: Plato Latinus 1: "Meito" in-
Italian Greek,a nativeof S. Severinain Calabria; terprete Henrico Aristippo, eds. Victor Kordeuter and
Carlotta Labowsky, London, Warburg Institute, 1940;
thiswas at any rate the opinionof ValentinRose, ibid. 2: "Phaedo" interpreteHenrico Aristippo, eds. L.
who saw in him the Grecusinterpres, a studentof Minio-Paluello and H. J. Drossaart Lulofs, 1950; and
Aristotle,to whom John of Salisburyhas made cf., ibid. 3: "Parinienides" . . . necnon "Procli Cowmten-
reference(Metalogicon,inI, 5). In 1156 Aristip- tarium in Parmiienidem". . . interpreteGuillelmno de
pus became the archdeaconof Catania in Sicily, Moerbeka, eds. R. Klibansky and C. Labowsky,is1953. the
V. Rose's conjecture that Henricus Aristippus
and was for some time the friendand counselor Grecus interpres mentioned by John of Salisbury (Her-
of King WilliamI theBad of Sicily. He traveled mes 1: 379) was doubted by Hartwig, who "could not
and probably studied in the Byzantine empire decide" (Arch. stor. nap. 8: 432), and is now questioned
by Carlotta Labowsky, in Kordeuter and Labowsky, eds.,
7 Cf. Chas. Homer Haskins, Studies in the history of "Meno" interpreteHenrico Aristippo, p. x. L. Minio-
medieval science, 152-153, Cambridge, Mass., 1924, and Paluello also believes that Aristippus was "certainly not
Jos. de Ghellinck,L'Essor de la litteraturelatine au XII1 a Greek" (Traditio 8: 294-295, 1952).
siecle, 2 vols., Paris, 1946, 2: 15 ff. Minio-Paluello has shown that Aristippus is probably
8 B. Altaner, Zur Kenntnis des Arabischen im 13. und not responsible for the twelfth-century Latin version of
14. Jahrhundert,Orient. Christ. periodica 2: 437-452, Aristotle's De generatione et corruptione (Revute philo-
1936. We are not here concerned with Arabic, but an sophique de Louvain 45: 210-223).
immense work of translation from Arabic into Latin 10Haskins, Stud. hist. med. science, 157 ff., and the
was done by Gerard of Cremona and his students in preface to the Sicilian version of the Almagest, ed.
the twelfth century (cf. George Sarton, Introd. to his- Haskins, ibid., 191: "Hos [libros] autem cum Salerni
tory of science 2: 338-344). medicine [ego auctor] insudassem audiens quendam ex

suited in his influentialtranslationsof the Meno replacedby the printededitionsof Ficino's trans-
and Phaedo reflectsthe Platonicvogue in Byzan- lations. It must be acknowledged,however,that
tium whichwe have alreadynoted in connection scholarsof theso-calledRenaissanceof the twelfth
withMichael Psellus and JohnItalus. centuryhad littledirectknowledgeof Plato beyond
There is no need to recall here all the writers these twvodialogues (plus the Chalcidianversion
of thethirteenth and fourteenthcenturieswho give of Timaeus) and almost none of Plotinuis. But
evidence of knowingAristippus'translationsof twelfth-century translatorssought their material
the Meno and Phaedo. We may note,however, in Spain and Sicily,Byzantium,Syria, Egypt,and
the citationsof boththesedialogues,as well as of even farther was possibly
east; theirconcentration
Chalcidius'versionof the TiimaetUs,by the learned even greaterupon Arabic than upon Greektexts.
and classicallymindedPaduan jurist,Geremiada Italian scholars of the fourteenthand fifteenth
Montagnone(ca. 1255-ca. 1320), in a workwrit- centuriesconfinedtheirstudymore strictlyto the
or the beginning Byzantinetraditionand theirtranslationto works
ten at the close of the thirteenth
of the fourteenthcentury.11.A manuscriptof of Greek philosophyand literature. For genera-
Aristippus'translationof the Phaedo, now in the tions after the twelfthcenturyPlatonism is a
BibliothequeNationale in Paris (cod. lat. 6567 second-handproductin Europe-a factthatPlato
A), containsannotationsin the hand of Petrarch, wouldhave lamented-and we mustwait untilthe
writtenshortlybeforehis deathy and thereis a (lays of Bessarion,Marsiglio Ficino, and others
manuscriptof the same dialogue in the Vatican bothfora directknowledgeof thewholecorpusof
(cod. lat. 2063) whichwas preparedabout 1402 Plato's workand for a full understanding of the
for Coluccio Salutati,who mentionsit more than implications of his thought.15
once in his correspondence." It is very likely The connectionbetweenthe Sicilian translators
and theroyalcourtwvasveryclose. Roger II and
that, when in the fifteenthcentury Leonardo
W\illianiIv Henrv VI and finallyFrederick II
Bruni translatedthe Phaedo and MarsiglioFicino
wvereall patrons of the translators,whom they
the Meno, theyhad beforethemthe versionsof sometimesemployedin their chanceries. Thtus
Aristippus,"w which were used by scholars until the chronicler,Hugo Falcandus, states under the
the sixteenthcentury when they were finally year 1160: . . . Rex [William I1 Henricum
nunciis regis Sicilie quos ipse Constantinopolimmiserat Aristippum archidiaconuim Cataniensem, mansue-
agnomine Aristipum largitione susceptos imperatoria tissiniivirumingenii.et tam latinisquamigraecis
Panormum transvexisse...." This translation of the familiaremn
litteriserutdlitumn. sibi (lelegit,titvicem
Alniagest was made about 1160-1162. et officitininterimgereretadmiratip)raeessetcque
11Roberto Weiss, Ii primo secolo dell' umianesinio,33,
Rome, 1949; Klibansky, Continuityof the Platonic tra-
notariis. 'i Quite properlyJosephcle Ghel-
dition, 27-28; R. Sabbadini, Le scoperte dei codici latini linck has spoken of the Norman kings as thlus
e greci n2e' secoli XIV e XV, 218-219, Florence, 1905. anticipating the role of "les princesmnecenies de la
(Chalcidius' Latin version of part of the Tinzaeus, end- Renaissance." ' Another learned andi (listin-
ing with 53c, was done in the middle of the fourthcen-
officialof the Sicilian court.in the mnid-
gu1islhed
tury.)
12 Minio-Paluello and Drossaart Lulofs, "Phaedo" in- twelfthcenturyor slightlylater. wvasEuigeneof
terprete Henrico Aristippo (Plato Latinus, 2). xii and Palerino, knownas the 'Emir" and also as the
pl. II; Minio-Paluello, Il "Fedone" latino con note 'Philo, sopher." Euigene translated Ptolemy's 0/-
autografe del Petrarca , Atti della Accademiia Navionale tila froman Arabic versionwhichhas been lost
dei Lincei: Rendiconti della classe di scienze niorali,
storiche e filologiche,8th ser., 4: 107-113, Rome, 1949. Jos. de Ghellinck,L'Essor de la litteratntrelatine 2:
13 Klibansky, Continuity of the Platoniic tradition, 17. A fair knowledge of Plato's thought could always
29-30; Minio-Paluello, "Phacdo," xiii. be gleaned in the Latin West from Cicero, Seneca, Aulus
14 F. P. Luiso, Commento a una lettera di L. Bruni Gellius. Valerius Maximus, Apuleius, Macrobiuis, St.
e cronologia di alcune sue opere, in Raccolta di studii Augustine. Boethius, and other Latin writers, as R.
critici dedicata ad Alessandro d'Ancona, 87-88, Florence, Klibanskv has emphasized in The Conttinuiiity, of the
1901; Haskins, Stud. hist. med. science, 167-168; Kli- Platonic tradition,21-29, and cf. ideni, Ein Proklos-Fund
bansky, Continuity of the Platonic tradition, 31-32. und seine Bedeutung, in the Sit-vunqlsberichltcder Ifeidel-
Bruni translated five Platonic dialogues: Phaedo berger -.lkadcoziiedcr W1 issenschaftnz, Philos-hist. KI.,
(1404-5), Gorgias (1409), Phaedruis (1423-4), Apology Jahrgang 1928-1929, 5. Abhandlung, 18 ff.
(1423-4), and the Crito (not precisely dated). Bruni 16l Hugo Falcandus, De reyno Sicilie, in L. A. Mura-
speaks very slightinglyof the translation of Aristippus, tori, Rercon italicarniil scriptores 7: col. 281, Milan,
qiii bene atquc graziter nonzen situni suppressit (Luiso, 1725; ed. G. B. Siragusa, in Fonti per la storia d'Italia
op. cit., 88). It was certainly not in the humanistic 22: 44, Rome, 1897.
17 Jos. de Ghellinck, op. cit. 2: 30.
tradition to suppress one's name.

VOL. 100, NO. 1, 19561 BYZANTIUM AND THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 21
alongwiththeGreekoriginal,and thusunwittingly learned Greek contemporary,the South-Italian

preservedthe work for posterity. Eugene also poet,Roger of Otranto,and now takesan honored
had knowledge of Euclid's Data (or "Dedo- place in Cantarella'srecentanthologyof Byzan-
mena"), Optica,and Catoptrica,as wellas Proclus' tinepoets.22 To the Sicilianschoolhave also been
tractDe motu(or 2;roLXEMwc7Ls '1 lrEpl KlW' EWS),
OVWfLK7 attributedcertain anonymoustranslationsfrom
and was thus able to assist the learnedtranslator the Greek, most notably Hero of Alexandria's
of the Sicilianversionof Ptolemy'sAlmctgest, who Pneutmatica and the work of Proclus De Motu.23
describesEugene in his prefaceas "vir tam grece
quam arabice lingue peritissimus,latine quoque III
non ignarus." Eugene is apparentlytheauthorof The historyof Byzantine and North-Italian
some two dozen Greekpoemson varioussubjects, relationsin the twelfthcenturyis full,fromone
comprisingalmost 1,400 lines of fluentverse, end to the other, of theological disputations.
whichhave made him one of the moreprominent Theologyis tediousonly to those who are bored
Italo-Byzantinepoets of the twelfthcentury.'8 with the concept of God, and there were none
His name is also attached,as that of the alleged such in the twelfthcentury. In 1112 Peter
translator,to the so-called prophecyof the Ery- Chrysolanusor Grossolanus,the archbishopof
thraeanSibyl,on thedeeds of kingsand emperors, Milan, apparentlya Greekby birth,disputedwith
preparedaccordingto a mystictradition"at the the monk,JohnPhournes,in the presenceof the
behestof Priam,kingof theGreeks." Eugene the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus,the Holy Synod
Emir is also connected,by the prefatorylines in of Constantinople, and the ByzantineSenate, as
some manuscripts,with the Greek renderingof wellas withtheMetropolitan Eustratiusof Nicaea,
the Sanskrittale of Kalila and Dinna, although concerninga problemof unceasinginterestin that
the work was first translated into Greek by era, the procession of the Holy Spirit. Some
the Byzantine official,Symeon Seth, about the Greek texts and a Latin fragmenthave survived
year 1080.19 The work is known in Greek as to preservethememoryof thatevent.24 According
and theprefacesof cer- to the secretarywhose reportis containedin the
2ErE4aPlTrS Kcal'IxP?7XaLrTs,
tain manuscripts it as "thatmythicalbook extant Latin versionof Peter's speech the Em-
identify
of Indian wisdom,added to Persian lore,recount- peror Alexius complainedat the end of the dis-
ing men's deeds in dark riddles,recountingtheir putation(to whichthe Greekshad come readyto
deeds in the tone of commonlife,whichhas been make seven speechesapparentlyto answerPeter's
translatedinto the language of the Greeks,from one!): "Once wisdomwas carriedfromthe East
Arabic and barbariannonsense,by the wise, glor- to theWest,by theGreeksto theLatins. Now on
ious, and great emir of the king of Sicily and the contrary,comingfromthe West to the East,
prince of Calabrian Italy-he has given us this a Latin descends to the Greeks. . .." The Em-
book . . . the noble Eugene of Palermo!" 20 perorthencontrastedthe accuracyand artistryof
Since SymeonSeth is obviouslythe translatorof Peter'sspeechwiththeobscurity, impropriety, and
this work, however,Haskins has suggestedthat prolixityof thoseof his Greekopponents.25
Eugene must have revisedit, "no great achieve- 22 Leo Sternbach, Eugenios von Palermo, Byz. Zeitschr.
ment in itself,but interestingto us as a further 11: 408-409, 1902, and R. Cantarella, Poeti bizantini 1:
203-206, and 2: 234-236.
illustration of therangeof theadmiral'slaborsand 23 Haskins, op. cit., 179-183.
interests."21 Eugene was also praised by his 24 The speeches of John Phournes and Eustratius are
printedin A. K. Demetrakopoulos,'EKKXn-LacUTrLK' B43XLOOnKn
18All the poems of Eugene are writtenin the so-called 1: 36-47, 47-71, 71-84, 84-99, 100-127, Leipzig, 1866 (the
"Byzantine dodecasyllabic" verse (iambic trimeter). pagination denotes the differentspeeches, the first by
They were published from the Codex Laurentianus, plut. Phournes, the rest by Eustratius, the last being "against
V, n. 10, by Leo Sternbach, "Eugenios von Palermo," the Latins" on the use of unleavened bread in the mass).
in Byz. Zeitschr. 11, 406-451, 1902. The Greek text of Peter Chrysolanus is in the Patrologia
19Karl Krumbacher, Gesch. d. byzant. Litteratur,615, graeca 127: 911-920, and a Latin fragment(from a MS.
895-897, 2 ed., Munich, 1897. The Greek text was edited at Monte Cassino, no. 220, fol. 149 ff.) in the Bibliotheca
by Vittorio Puntoni,2:rEoa4vL in the Pub-
rnsKcaLIx'nXeArns, Casinensis seu codicum manuscriptorum4: 351-358, 1880.
blicazioni della Societa Asiatica Italiana 2: Florence, Cf. Hergenrdther, Photius 3: 799-803; Krumbacher,
1889; cf. Geo. Sarton, Introd. hist. science 1: 771, cf. Gesch. d. byzant. Litteratur, 85, 1897; Haskins, Stud.
449, 540, and 2: 346. hist. maed.science, 195, and Studies in medieval culture,
20 V. Puntoni, op. cit., p. VI, cited by Haskins, Stud. 163-165, Oxford, 1929; Jos. de Ghellinck,op. cit. 2: 30.
hist. med. science, 171-176, with Greek text on p. 175. 25 Bibliotheca Casinensis 4: 358. Cf., in general, V.
21 Stud. hist. med. science, 176. Grumel, Autour du voyage de Pierre Grossolanus, ar-

The best known of many such polemical en- turnhome,in April of 1155,he disputedat Thes-
countersare those in which Anselm, bishop of salonica with the astute MetropolitanBasil of
Havelberg (1129-1155), later archbishop of Achrida.30 Althoughwe need not concernour-
Ravenna (1155-1158), engaged with the Greek selves withthe biblicaltextsand manyarguments
theologian,Nicetas, archbishopof Nicomedia,in wherewithAnselm presentedand supportedthe
the Pisan quarterand in the Basilica of Hagia Latin side in his firstdebatewithNicetas in 1136,
Sophia, in Constantinople about 10 and 17 April, we shouldnotehis instructive and picturesquede-
1136. The chiefmattersof contentionwere the scriptonof the settingin which the debate took
westerndoctrineof the processionof the Holy place, for it introducesus to three of the chief
Spirit from both the Father and the Son, the westernscholars of the Greek language and of
claims to papal supremacy,the formsof baptism, Greek thoughtin the twelfthcentury-Jamesof
and the Latin use of unleavenedbread in the Venice, Burgundioof Pisa, and Mlosesof Berg-
eucharist. Anselm had gone to Constantinople amo, the last of whom was chosen by all those
in the previousyear as an envoyof the German presentto serve Anselm and Nicetas as inter-
Emperor Lothair III to help arrange, against preter:
Roger II of Sicily,the firstententeor "allianceof
the two Empires." 246
Therefore, whenI had got established in the im-
perial city,and was engagedin receivingvarious
It was not,however,untilfourteenyears after questionsfromGreeks,and as
oftenproposingother
his disputationwith Nicetas that Anselm wrote questionsto them,boththemostpiousEmperorJohn
up his accountof it (1150), at thebehestof Pope [Comnenus]andtheworthy Patriarch[Leo Styppes]
Eugenius III, whomn he visited at Tusculum in decidedthata publicmeetingshouldbe held,and a
Mf arch, 1149, where he found the pope much day was set, so that the argumentson both sides
troubledby the learnedargumentsand confident mightbe presented in the hearingof all. A large
bearingof a Greek bishop who had come to the numberof learnedmenassembledin thePisan quar
Curia as an envoy of the Byzantine Emperor ter,neartheChurchof Hagia Eirene,whichin Latin
Manuel.2 Even if his accounthas therefore lost meansthe churchof Holy Peace. This wncas On 10
some of its freshnessand detail,it remainsnever- April F1136],if I remember correctly.

Usherswereplaced [at thedoors],as is the cus-
thelessone of the betterapologetictreatisesthat tornthere;judgeswere
appointed;and notariestook
have come down to us fromthe Middle Ages.28 theirseats,whowereto recordfaithfully and prepare
Anselm was sent on anotherembassy to the texts of everything said on each side. The great
Greekcapital in 1154-1155,29and on his finalre- crowdwhichhad come,avid to hear,becamequiet.
cheveque de Milan, a Constantinople, en 1112, JAchos
Therewerealso presentno fewLatins,amongwhom
d'Orient 32: 22-33, 1933, who erroneously believes him- were threelearnedmen,skilledin bothGreekand
self to have been the firstto discover the Latin text in Latinand wellversedin literature:Jamesof Venice,
the Bibl. Cas., 4. Burgundioof Pisa, and a third,who surpassedthe
26 See in general V. [G.] Vasilievskii, From the His- others,illustrious
amongbothpeoplesforhis knowl-
tory of Byzantium in the Twelfth Century: the Alliance edge of Greek and Latin letters,Mloses by name, an
of the Two Empires (in Russian), Slavianskii Sbornik Italianfromthecityof Bergamno.Mloseswas chosen
2: 212 ff.,1877; W. Norden, Das Papstthun md IBvzanz, byall to be theimpartial forbothsi(les.'
interpreter
97-98, Berlin, 1903; Chalandon, Les Coknimwnc 2: 163,
168, 1912; A. A. Vasiliev, Hist. BY2. Enmp.,415, 417- 183; Chalandon, Les Comlnint'11e 2: 344-345, note, and 346
418, 475-476, Madison, 1952. ff.; and V. G. Vasilievskii, in V'izanttiiskiiVrewjienniiik
1:
27 Anselm of Havelberg, Dialogorurn libri III, prolog., 63-64, 1894 (for which see next note).
in Luc d'Achery, Spicilegiumnsive collectio veteruw ali- :', See especially V. G. Vasilievskii. The Funeral Ora-
quzot scriptorum, 1: 161-162, Paris, 1723; Johannes tion given by Basil of Ochrida, archbishop (metropoli-
Draseke, Bischof Anselm von Havelberg und seine tan) of Thessalonica, on the death of Irene, first wife
Gesandtschaftsreisennach Byzanz, Zeitschr. f. Kirchen- of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus (in Russian), V'iZan-
geschiclhte21: 163-168, 1901. Anselm informs us that tiiskii Vremennik1: 61 ff.,1894. (The Empress "Irene"
"conservavi autem quantum memoria subministrabat was Bertha of Sulzbach, whom Manuel had married in
tenorem Dialogi quem cum venerabili ac doctissimo January 1146; she was the sister-in-law of the German
Archiepiscopo Nicodemiae [sic] Nechite [i.e. Nicetas] Emperor Conrad III.)
in publico conventu apud urbem Constantinopolitanam 1 Anselm Havelb., Dial. II, 1 (Spicilegiumni 1: 172).
habui, addens quaedam non minus fidei necessaria quam A week later Anselm and Nicetas met again in the
huic operi congrua" (Spicilegium, 1: 162). basilica of Hagia Sophia, "cum in praeterita hebdomada
28 Cf. Draseke, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch.
21: 167, 172. in loco qui vocatur Pisanorum vicus convenissemus ...
29 For the date see Hans von Kap-Herr, Die
abend- ut in hac sancta Basilica Sanctae Sophiae iterumicon-
ldndischePolitik Kaiser Mllanitels,55-56, 148-151, Strass- veniremus . . ." (ibid., 192). (Leo Styppes was patri-
burg, 1881; Draseke, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 21: 180- arch of Constantinoplefrom 1134 to 1143.) Fr. A. Don-

There were otherdisputationsin the years that personain a flattering dialogue,on the procession
followed. Henry of Benevento, who was in of the Holy Spirit,with some cardinalswho had
Constantinoplein 1161 and 1165-1166, also ap- come to Rome on a papal mission.34
pears to have engaged in dispute with Basil of The Byzantinescould never take much satis-
Achrida,the metropolitan of Thessalonica; in any factionor enjoy much success in their dealings
eventthe text of Basil's disputewitha papal en- with these papal missions. Further examples
voy sentto the Byzantinecourthas survived,and could easily be given of theologicaldisputations
was analyzedyears ago by Hergenr6ther withhis betweenLatins and Greeksin the twelfth century.
usual insight.32 One would have to go no furtherthan the third
The Greeks were, of course, of no less con- volume of Hergenrdther'sPhotius to findthem,
tentious spirit, especially since they regarded but enough has been said to illustratefor our
themselvesand theirorthodoxyas being attacked presentpurpose the livelinessof these contests,
in theirown homes. The bold PatriarchMichael nmost of whose participantsreveal throughouta
III Anchialusof Constantinople, who was intransi- large capacity for dealing with abstract ideas.
gently opposed to the Emperor Manuel's pro- Sometimes,too, one can read betweenthe lines
posals fortheunionof the churches,presentedthe what the disputantshave been carefulnot to say.
emperor with a very lively work against the If theologicaldifficultiesseemed irreconcilable,
Latins about 1170. This workis describedin the the positionof the papacy posed insolubleprob-
manuscripts as the "dialogue whichthe mostholy lems forthe Byzantinegovernment.The Byzan-
and wise Patriarch of Constantinople,the lord tines insisted upon dealing with the pope as a
Michael Anchialus, addressed to the porphyro- religiousauthority,as the bishop of Rome, and
geniteEmperor,the lord Manuel Comnenus,con- theyeven talked of a unificationof the Empire,
cerningthe design [VirdOEo-ts] of the Latins when which would include Italy, as when in 1166 the
manyof the archbishops,bishops,and friarssub- EmperorManuel Comnenusproposed,as theprice
ject to the pope suddenlydescendedon Constanti- of churchunion and financialsubsidies sufficient
nople,seekingthe union of the churchesand de- to establishPope AlexanderIII's positionin Italy
mandingof the Greeks nothingelse than to con- against the German Emperor FrederickBarbar-
cede to the pope supremacyand jurisdictionand ossa, thatthepope granthimthe westernimperial
to give him [patriarchal]commemoration [in the crown and help effectthe reestablishment of the
dyptichs]." 3 It was about this timethata high Roman EmpireA35 But self-interest and concern
Byzantine functionary,Andronicus Camaterus, fortheirown securityalways led thepopes to op-
made the emperor himselfthe chief dramatis pose Byzantine,Norman,and Germanaspirations
daine is rather critical of Anselm (Archivurn Fratrum and ambitionsin Italy. The patrimonyof St.
Praedicatorum 21: 396-397, Rome, 1951). Peter was to be convertedinto a papal state,but
32 Joseph Hergenr6ther, Photius, Patriarch von Con- thisplan was not easily reconciledwithByzantine
stantinopel 3: 807-808, Regensburg, 1869; cf. V. G. views of episcopal functionsor with Manuel's
Vasilievskii, in Vizantiiskii Vremnennik1: 73-76, 1894;
Jos. Schmidt, Des Basilius aus Achrida, Erzbischofs von
own pretensions in Italy. The veryprecariousness
Thessaloniich, bisher unedierte Dialoge, 27 ff., Munich, of the papal position,caughtas the pope was in a
1901; Chalandon, Les Comne'ne 2: 230, 559-560, note; triangle composed of Germans, Normans, and
563-564.
33 This dialogue was published by Chr. Loparev, in a 34Camaterus' work was later refutedat length by the
study of the unionist efforts of the Emperor Manuel learned Patriarch John Veccus (Bekkos) of Constanti-
Comnenus,in the Vizantiskii Vremennik14: 334 ff.,1907, nople, In Camtaterianimadversiones,in PG 141, 395-614;
the text of the dialogue occupying pp. 344-357. The it is analyzed and discussed (from Cod. graec. Monacen-
Greek patriarch insists (sec. 21, p. 350) that "[Rome] sis 229) by Hergenr6ther, Photius 3: 810-814. Cama-
held no primacy because of Peter or Paul, as the Latins terus' dialogue was apparently also produced in conse-
vaunt in their conceit, for Peter was no more the teacher quence of the Latin mission of 1167-1168, being written
of Rome than of the world, and indeed first gave the shortlyafter this date, on which cf. Chalandon, Les Coin-
gift of his love to the city of the Antiochenes even be- nene 2: 564-566.
fore Rome." After many questions having been put to 35 Cardinal Boson (papal chamberlain from 1154 to
Michael and having been answered by him, the Emperor 1178), Vita Alexandri III, in Louis Duchesne, ed., Liber
Manuel, hithertoa partisan of union with Rome, finally pontificalis2: 415, Paris, 1892: ". . . imperatorecclesiam
declares himself completely convinced (sec. 29, p. 354): suam grecam unire volebat, sicut melius antiquitus fuit,
'Aparwxs AcyOpE6ELS Kal btbaarK6IEvos 7rEOoLcat, Kal olsMEI ObK ETL cum matre omnium ecclesiarum, sacrosancta Romana ec-
awrEtOeLet roZsX6oyotSaov. patriarch made it clear
(The clesia. . . Nichilominus quoque petebat ut . . . Romani
that he preferredthe domination of the Moslems to that corona imperii a sede apostolica sibi redderetur..
of the Latins.) Cf. Chalandon, Les Comine'ne2: 564-565, 1912.

Byzantines,was whatproducedpapal policy. The translationof John Damascenus' De fide ortho-

pope's spiritualauthorityhad to be buttressedby doxa (or "EKWontsapKLf3'7sT7jS 'p o&ov rotarEws)was
secular strengthand independence. If the mod- used by Peter Lombard, whose Sententiaewas
ern historiancan exaggeratethe dangers which the most popular theological textbook of the
thepapacyfacedfromeitherByzantineor German twelfthand thirteenthcenturies,and thus did
caesaropapism,few popes from the sixth cen- Burgundio make his contributionto the heroic
turyto thethirteenth were likelyto underestimate period of Latin scholasticism.3"The work of
the peril of theirposition. Burgundioof Pisa is not the discoveryof modern
The pope had to be strong; he had two em- scholarship;the modernhistorianof Italian theol-
perors to watch. It was as Peter the Deacon ogy and literaturehas neverlost sightof him.40
representsa Greek envoyof JohnComnenusre- Older historiansof RenaissanceHellenism,how-
markingin a disputationat the courtof the Ger- ever,Vossius, Boechler,Inghevald,Reinhard,and
man EmperorLothair III in 1137: the bishopof Hody, could not or would not push the serious
Rome was an emperor;he was no merebishop.38 studyof Greek back beyondthe time of Manuel
This factwas clear to everycontemporary; Rome Chrysolorasor,at theearliest,thatof Petrarchand
and Constantinopleunderstoodeach other very Boccaccio. But our problem,as we
have seen, is
well; and that is why churchunion was such a not
one of origins,but ratherof continuity The
difficult,indeed impossible,matter. Linguistic
knowledge of Greek has sufferedmany vicis-
barriers caused little misunderstanding.There
were many learned Latins who knew Greek, to situdesin the historyof Europe, but the twelfth
some of whomwe now turn. centurywas a strongperiod,witha numberof dis-
First coming into the light of historyin the tinguishedItalian Hellenists.
theologicaldisputationheld in Constantinoplein James of Venice, who is also mentionedas
April, 1136, Burgundioof Pisa achieved,through having been presentat the disputationof 1136, is
a long career (fromabout 1110 to 1193), distinc- muchless well knownthanBurgundio. Jamesis
tionas a jurist,diplomat,and physician,a person- said. however,to have translatedfromGreek into
age thus of great consequencein twelfth-centuryv Coi 7Tuirchi,
no. xvi, p. 18, and pp. 416-417, Florence, 1879;
Pisa. Besides translationsof a treatiseon viticul- and cf. [Aug. Fabroni], Memorie storiche di piu' uomini
ture (fromthe Geoponica), of the Greek quota- illustri Pisani 1: 71-104, Pisa, 1790, of which section
tions in the Digest, and possiblyof a work on Savigny says, "eiiies der besten Stuickeder ganzen Samm-
lung." Francesco Buonamici, Burgundio Pisano, A4nnali
meteorology, Burgundio,who made at least two delle u.ntiz~ersita' toscane 28: 3-51. 1908, has published a
or threevisits to Constantinople,preparedLatin good article on Burgundio, together with two texts of
versionsof some of the worksof Basil the Great, Burgundio's Latin version of the Liber de vindemiis,from
Bibl. Nationale, cod. lat. 7131, and Bibl. Laurenziana,
Gregoryof Nazianzus, John Chrysostom,John cod. Ashburn. 1011. There is an excellent study by P.
Damascenus, Nemesius (H1EpL0V/TEowSav'Ppwrov, H. Dausend, Zur Uebersetzungsweise Burgundios von
whichBurgundiobelievedto be a workof Gregory Pisa, WVienier Sthdien: Zeitschr. f. klass. Philologie 35:
of Nyssa),3 the Aphorismsof Hippocrates,and 353-369, 1913, and on Burgundio's translations from
Chrysostom,cf. ChrysostomusBaur, S. Jeai Chrysosfomne
more than ten works of Galen.38 Burgundio's et ses oeuvres dans 1'histoirc litteraire (-Recueil de
travaux de l'Universite de Louvain, fasc. 18), 62-63,
36 Petrus Diaconus, Chronica monasterii Casinensis, Louvain. 1907. For more recent summaries of Bur-
iv, 115, in Monuunenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores gundio's work, see Jos. de Ghellinck, Le M'Jouvzemcent
7: 833, 1846: ". . . dicens Romanum pontificemimpera- thleologiquedt. XIIeseicle: Studes, recherches et docu-
torem, non episcopum esse...." Cf. Walter Norden, inents, 245-248, Paris, 1914; Haskins, Stud. hist. med.
Das Papsttrnt und Byzanz, 99-100; Chalandon, Les Coin- science, 145-146, 206-209; Sarton, Introd. hist. science
itehe 2: 163-164, 569, note 1, 1912. 2: 348; and cf. L. Minio-Paluello, in the Re7uiiephilo-
37 Gregory of Nyssa (Nemesius of Emesa, also of the sophiquiede Louzvain45: 206-207, 1947.
later fourthcentury), IRept4uroEws ivopcb7rou: Liber a Bur- 39 Jos. de Ghellinck, L'Entree de Jean de Damas dans
gindione in Latinumttranslatus, nunc primum ex MSS. le monde litteraire occidental, By2. Zeitschr. 21: 448-
ed. Carolus Immanuel Burkhard, Progr. des Carl Lud- 457, 1912.
wig-Staatsgymtn.im XII Bezirke v. Wien [Untermeid- 40 Cf. the notices in Gian Girolamo Gradenigo, Lettera
ling], Vienna, 1891-1892, 1896, 1901-1902, which I have intorno agli Italiani che seppero di greco (abbr. title),
not yet seen. Venice, 1743, and Ragionanento istorico-criticointorno
38 In addition to the documents and contemporaryre- alla letteraturagreco-italiana, Brescia, 1759; also Petrus
ports cited by F. C. Savigny, Gesch. d. rom. Rechts imn Cannetus and Laurentius Mehus, AnmbrosiiTraversarii
Mittelalter 4: 394-410, 2 ed., Heidelberg, 1850, see the . . .latinae epistolae, 1: ccxvII-xvII, Florence, 1759,
documents published by Giuseppe Muller, Documenti and Chas. Gidel, Nouvelles Jtudes sur la litteirature
sulle relazioni delle cittd toscane coll' Oriente cristiano e grecque vioderne. 234-235, Paris, 1878.

Latin, and to have written commentarieson, controversies,if this can be done in any way by [the
Aristotle'sTopics, Prior and PosteriorAnalytics, presentationof] irrefragableauthorities.. . . [At this
and the Elenchi,"althoughan older translationof pointour authorpraises the work of Hugo Eterianus,
thesebooks was available"41 (presumablythatof whom he had met in Constantinopleand encouraged
Boethius). Althoughwe know very littleabout in the productionof his theologicaltreatises,]against
the opinion of modernGreeks concerningthe proces-
James of Venice, Haskins has noted,with good sion
of the Holy Spirit fromthe Father and the Son.
reason,"thatJamescan be singledout as the first ... ThereforeI shall not cease to give as great thanks
scholar of the twelfthcenturywho broughtthe as I can to the goodness of God for having deigned
New Logic of Aristotleafreshto the attentionof to bring thus to an end my long anxieties and appre-
Latin Europe." 42 The thirdItalian scholarpres- hension, so that I must now agree with Cyril of
entat thedisputationof1136was thelearnedMoses Alexandria and John of Damascus that person and
of Bergamo concerningwhom we now have a natureare not the same, and with Basil the Great and
fairknowledge. Besides thetranslation of a Greek Gregory [of Nazianzus] the Theologian that the
theologicalwork and a small treatiseon Greek propertiesof persons [in hypostaticunion], the per-
nouns in -up (as xapaKr'p), Moses of Bergamo sons, and essence are also not the same. . . . Finally,
wrote a poem on his native city. The poem is since it has escaped the Latins with how much clarity
the wisdom of the Greeks speaks upon these matters,
called Pergaminus,and maintainssome literary I have thoughtit worthwhileto call to public atten-
skill through 372 rhymingLatin hexameters. tion that I have learned,with God's help, fromtheir
Moses appears also to be the author of an Ex- Orthodox doctorshow manifesttheymake it that he
positioof the Greekwordsin St. Jerome'sbiblical has not strayedfromthe pathwayof truth-indeed it
prefaces. A Latin poet,a Greekgrammarianand is his rivals who have wandered off in clouds of
translator,Moses of Bergamowas also a collector ignorance and have labored in vain to refutehim-
of Greek manuscripts.43 whom we can see to have been buttressedby the lofty
An envoywho was sentby theGermanEmperor and unshakeablecolumnsof Greece....44
Frederick Barbarossa on two missions to Con- 44 Univ. of Cambridge, MS. Ii. IV. 27, ff. 129-130v:
stantinople,one before 1177 and the other in see A catalogue of the manuscriptspreserved in the li-
1179, expressedthehope in a workDe diversitate brary of the University of Cainbridge 3: no. 1824, pp.
natureet persone,"on the difference betweenna- 464-465, 1858 (where the work is wrongly attributedto
Anselm of Havelberg); Latin text in Haskins, Stud.
tureand person,"thattheremightbe foundin the hist. med. science, 210-211: "Et quoniam ex Grecorum
corpus of Greek patristictheologyitselfsupport fontibusomnes Latinorum discipline profluxerunt,preci-
forcertainwesterndoctrineson the Trinity: bus meis adieci ut eius opitulante gratia, si quo modo
fieri posset, per auctoritates irrefragabiles sapientiam
And since fromGreeksourcesall the Latin dis- Grecie nostrarumdissensionumdecisionem aliquando con-
ciplineshave been derived,I have soughtby my sequi mererer...... . contra modernorum Grecorum
prayersthat,withGod'sgraceassisting,
I mightmerit opinionem de Spiritus Sancti processione de Patre et
thewisdomof Greeceto achievetheresolutionofour Filio. . . . Gratias ergo quantas potero pietati divine
agere non cessabo que longis suspiriis et sollicitudinimee
41 According to the later recensions of Robert de finemhunc facere dignata est, ut iam cum Cirillo Alex-
Torigni's chronicle, prepared by the author himself andrino sentire debeam et Johanne Damasceno non idem
(Cronica, ad ann. 1128, in MGH., SS., 6: 489, Hanover, esse personam et naturam, cumque magno Basilio et
1849; ed. Leopold Delisle, Chronique de Robt. de Torigni Gregorio theologo non idem esse personales proprietates,
1: 177, Rouen, 1872) : "Iacobus clericus de Venecia personas et essentiam." Concerning the personales pro-
transtulitde greco in latinum quosdam libros Aristotilis prietates sive hypostaticae,see Hugo Eterianus, De hae-
et commentatus est: scilicet Topica, Analyticos Priores resibiis Graecorumin [De sancto et iiinmiortali
Deo], passim,
et Posteriores, et Elencos, quamvis antiquior translatio esp. i, 12 (PL 201: 251-252), II, 3 (ibid., 281-282), and
super eosdem libros haberetur." iii, 2 (ibid., 341-342). The theological background is
42 Haskins, Stud. hist. med. science, 144-145, 227-232. sufficiently importantto justify a note. Diodorus, bishop
James was a canonist; he may have been of Greek extrac- of Tarsus (378-394), following to some extent the ideas
tion; see L. Minio-Paluello, Jacobus Veneticus Grecus, advanced by Paul of Samosata more than a centurybe-
Traditio 8: 265-304, 1952. fore him, believed that the divine and human natures of
43 Haskins, Stud. hist. med. science, 197-206. Moses Christ were in a moral rather than essential union: at
of Bergamo lost all his Greek MS S., collected by dint birth Jesus was human only, incarnation being the in-
of great effortand at a cost of three pounds of gold, in dwelling (EVOIKftiS) of the Logos ("Word") in the per-
an otherwise unrecorded fire in the Venetian quarter in fect man Jesus, but the being or essence (ov'ta) of the
Constantinople about 1129 (Mario Lupi and Giuseppe Son of God was not that of the Son of David although
Ronchetti, eds., Codex diplomaticus civitatis et ecclesiae the perfectionof the latter made the moral union pos-
Bergomatis 2: 951, Bergamo, 1799): "Combusti sunt sible (i.e. "God dwelt with Jesus"). This is all pretty
igitur omnes libri greci quos multo dudum labore con- much the old heresy of Adoptianism,that the man Jesus
quisiveram precii trium librarum auri . . ." (as Moses became divine by adoption into the Godhead. When the
wrote his brother Peter in Bergamo). famous Theodore of Mopsuestia followed Diodorus in

If our theologicaldebt to Greece has been ac- Haskins a little,because the text of Signoretto's
knowledgedin modern times with less turgid "epitaphtherecitedclearlygives 1176." I45 )luch
eloquence,it was not acknowledgedin the twelfth clearer, however,than the date of Signoretto's
centurywithmoresincerity. Our imperialenvoy epitaphis Hugo's reference to the EmperorMan-
expressesadmirationin his prefaceforthe Pisan uel Comnenus'Hungarianexpeditionof 1165 as a
Hugo Eterianus,litterisgrecis et latinis peritis- recent event (. . . ab ungrica imperatorpro-
simus, one of the chiefopponentsof the Greek fectionereversusest).46
thoughtand the Greek theologiansof his day. Althoughthe intellectualhistorianmay think
Hugo's brother,Leo Tuscus, whom we always of Hugo chieflyas a theologian,4his letterof
findin the closest associationwith him, was for 1166 showtshim to be a quick-wittedman.of af-
yearsan official Latin interpreter
at the Byzantine fairs,at least accordingto his own account. His
court. Their nephew,Fabricius,who aided Hugo letteris fullof theproblemof securingSignoretto's
in his literaryworks,livedwiththemin the Pisan considerableestate in Constantinople, against the
colony in Constantinople. Hugo arrived in the insistentdemands of the imperial tax collector
Greek capital some timebefore1166 (but doubt- (exactor) for the Pisan churchesand charities
!
less later than his brother). This is made clear for which Signorettohad intendedhis property.
by a letterwhichHugo wroteafterthe death,on The dispositionof Signoretto'spropertyswasmuch
2 Decemberof thisyear,of a fellowPisan named complicatedby his status as a Latin "burgess,"
Signoretto,who had long been a residentof Con- granteda permanentlanding,in Constantinople. a
stantinople.In this letterHugo informsthe con- statuswhichtheEmperorManuelhad quiterightly
suls of Pisa thatSignoretto"has migratedto God," imposedupon long-resident membersof the large
and has been buriedin the churchof St. Johnthe Latin coloniesin his capitalwherebytheybecame
Baptistoutsidethewalls of Constantinople.Hugo subject to the commonlaw of the Empire.4S We
also sends the city fathers Signoretto's Latin mav also I)e sure that Hugo would have been a
epitaph writtenin atrocious elegiacs. Giuseppe
Miuller dates this letter 1166, which troubled Stud. hist. meed.science, p. 214, n. 127.
45Haskins,
Hugo Eterianus' letter of 1166 addressed to the
46
the view that Christ was a man who, by perfectionat Pisan consuls is given in Giuseppe Miiller, ed., f)oct-
birth, became God, the orthodox Athanasian view that menti sdlic relazioni delle citta toscane coll' Oriente
Christ was God who became man was in jeopardy. cristiano c coi Turchi, doc. x, pp. 11-13, Florence. 1879
Nestorius, the patriarch of Constantinople (428-431), (ref. to Manuel's Hungarian expedition on p. 12). For
followed to some extent the views of Theodore, and the expedition itself see John Cinnamus, Historiace, v,
was said by his contemporariesto separate Christ's hu- 16-17 (Bonn, 245-249), and Nicetas Choniates, Dc Ml1an-
man from his divine nature, thus producing the dy6- itele Comlelno, Iv, 1-2 ff. (Bonn, 167 ff.). Cf. Chalan-
physitic heresy called "Nestorianism." The reaction don, Les Contizhie'ie 2: 481-486; G. Ostrogorsky, Gesch.
against Nestorianism was the heresy of Monophysitism, d. bizant. Stoates, 274-275, Munich, 1940; and Chas.
that Christ had in effectone nature (moiv-q
flats) since his Diehl et al., f/'Eirope orientale do 1081 Al 1453. 62-63,
human was absorbed in his divine nature. Paris, 1945.
In the quoted text our author, undoubtedlyinstructed I think that the last two lines which troubled Haskins
by Hugo Eterianus, to whom we turn our attentionnext, in Signoretto's epitaph should be as follows (reading
alludes to the doctrineof "hypostaticunion"(EVv7roaTaorta), nieont for the decom which makes a mere jumble)
i.e. the essential, not merely moral, union of the divine
Annos post necem bene centum milleque signo,
and human natures in the one person or hypostasis of
Cum sex mox decies sex quoque connumeres annos.
Christ. This doctrine had been intendedto reconcile the
moderate Monophysiteswith the Orthodox in the earlier This does mean 1166, but since these lines are supposed
sixth century when it was apparently first proposed by to comprise an elegiac couplet (and the versificationof
Leontius of Byzantiun, a monk of the laura of St. Sabas the first half dozen couplets is almost tolerable), they
in Palestine. are so defective metricallyas to arouse suspicion of the
The bibliographyis too great for close documentation accuracy of Hugo Eterianus' transcription or of that
here, but on Leontius, see Karl Krumbacher, Gesch. d. of some scribe.
byzantt.Litteratur,54-56, 2 ed., Munich, 1897, and on his 47 Sometime before 1173 Hugo wrote, at the request
doctrine,cf. the brief notice in Geo. Every, The Byzan- of the clergy in Pisa, a 1iboer do royressulanim1iaii ab
tine Patriar-chate,62-63, London, 1947. The twelfth- inferis or Do aninia corpore iami exo.ta (Pl 201: cols.
century Latin theologians seem singularly well informed 167-226).
on Greek theological subtleties, but I should not wish 43 Mtiller, Docttmienti, 12: ". . . Signorectus itaque,
myself to have to vouch for the complete accuracy and clarissimus quondam [Pisa]nus civis, nunc vero bur-
orthodoxy of some of the statementsof Hugo Eterianus gensis invicti principis Manuel[is] factus. . .." On the
in his De haeresibus Graecorum, although the work won status of burgensis (Bovp-YEaLos),to which I shall return
the approval of both Pope Alexander III and Pope Lu- in my history of Athens in the Middle Ages, see John
cius III (on which see below). Cinnamus, Hist., vi, 10 (Bonn, 282).

more effective executorof Signoretto'sestatehad stantinoplein the preparationof this work,he in-
he notalreadybeenheldup to someopprobrium in forms us, seeking the testimoniesof the holy
Constantinople, as he indicates,forhis well-known fathersof the Church (sanctorumEcclesiae pas-
anti-Greek theological views. Hugo had op- torumtestimonia,Constantinopoli multo tempore
posed himselffor some time to the views of the quaesita. .) .52 His treatiseshows a very good
distinguishedGreek theologianand controversial- knowledgeof the Greek fathers,GregoryThau-
ist, Nicholas of Methone,with whom he held a maturgus, Athanasius, Basil the Great, John
disputationcontainedin an apparentlystill un- Chrysostom,Epiphanius of Cyprus, Cyril of
publishedmanuscriptin Brescia.49 Of Hugo's in- Alexandria,Johnof Damascus, and others,and
dustryand of theexcellenceof his Greektherecan also of the views of certaincontemporaries such
be no doubt.50 as his old adversaryNicholas of Methone,whom
In 1177 Hugo sent Pope AlexanderIII a copy he attacksthroughoutthis work, as well as the
of his bookDe haeresibusGraecorum,in whichhe famous Theophylactof Bulgaria.53 In Hugo's
refutedhereticalGreek opinionon the procession tractthereare frequentreferences to thelate ninth-
of the Holy Spirit, for which the Pope thanked centurywriter,Nicetasof Paphlagonia,theauthor
him on 13 November,and urged him "ut, sicut of that life of the PatriarchIgnatius,54which is
pro Deo et pro devotioneEcclesiae praescriptum thechiefsourceof the"anti-Photianlegend"which
librum composuisti,ita quoque carissimum in of late years Fr. Francis Dvornikhas labored so
Christofiliumnostrumillustremet gloriosumCon- hard to dispel. In fact Hugo is the firstperson
stantinopolitanum Imperatoremad devotionemet in the Latin traditionto show any knowledgeof
reverentiamsacrosanctaeRomanae Ecclesiae ex- Nicetas, and his De haeresibusGraecorumsur-
hibendamet ad unitatemipsius diligentiusprovo- vives in so manymanuscripts thatwe mayassume
ces. . .. 51 Hugo had spentlong years in Con- theworkwas widelyread and highlyinfluential,55
49For eight published works of Nicholas of Methone, Greek at the beginning of the thirteenthcentury (pub-
see A. Demetrakopoulos,'EKKX-qaLa7cTTLK7 199-380,
BLf3XLo6m/Ks7, lished by the ArchimandriteArsenii in 1892 from a Mos-
Leipzig, 1866, with Latin versions in Nicolai Methonae cow MS., no. 368, of the fourteenthcentury), wrongly
episcopi Orationes duae, Leipzig, 1865. For the still attributed by A. Demetrakopoulos (Leipzig, 1865) to
unpublished disputation of Nicholas in the Biblioteca Nicholas of Methone, who died about 1160 (from the
Comunale Queriniana in Brescia (cod. A IV 3, dated notice by Ed. Kurtz, in By>. Zeitschr. 4: 370, 1895).
1449), see E. Martini, Catalogo di manoscritti greci The name of Hugo's second Greek critic remains un-
esistenti nelle biblioteche italiane 1, pt. 2: 251, Milan, known.
1893, noted by Albert Ehrhard, Byz. Zeitschr. 6: 411- 52 Hugo Eterianus, De haeresibus Graecorumi,praef.,
412, 1897. Nicholas was an old controversialist of the in PL 202: 234AB.
Latins, having attacked Anselm of Havelberg as early 53 Cf. ibid., ii, 13 (PL 202: 309).
as 1136; he was a very important theologian; see the 54Nic. Paph., Vita Ignatii, in J. D. Mansi, Concilia
studies by Johannes Draseke, Zu Nikolaos von Methone, 16: cols. 209-292, 1771, and Migne, PG 105: cols. 487-
Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 9: 405-431, 1888; ibid. 21: 574.
174 ff.,1901; and Byz. Zeitschr. 1: 438-478, 1892. 55 For the number of MSS., cf. Haskins, Stud. hist.
50 The Pisan clergy wrote to their fellow citizen in med. science, 214, n. 121. Fr. Francis Dvornik, The
terms of high praise: "Carissimo, prudentissimoHugoni, Photian Schismn,349, Cambridge, 1948, seems to under-
tam graeca quam latina lingua eliminate instructo,uni- estimate the influence of Hugo and Leo Tuscus upon
versus clerus Pisanus salutem. Prudentiae tuae ac mirae their western contemporariesand successors. The Tus-
scientiae fama veluti solis iubar, universum prope orbem can brothers were rather puzzled and concerned about
terrarumin dies magis magisque spargitur,"etc. (quoted the problem of the oecumenicityof the fourth (Ignatian)
in Muller, Documenti, 384). Cf. the reference to "Ma- Council of Constantinople (869-870), which had coti
gister Hugo Etherianus . . . , vir utique sapiens, et demned Photius and had been itself rejected by Pope
peritus in utraque lingua" in the Extracta ex dictis Ma- John VIII in 880, when the Roman and Constantinopoli-
gistri Hugonis Aetheriani, in Maxima bibliotheca vete- tan sees became reconciled, after Photius' second eleva-
run patrum 27: 618D, Lyon, 1677. tion to the patriarchal throne (cf. the Extracta ex dictis
51 Phil. Jaffe,Regesta pontificumRomanorumni, eds. S. Magistri Hugonis Aetheriani, in Maxima bibliotheca
Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunneret al., 2: no. 12957, p. 315, veterum patrunm16: 613FG, 614DE). Fr. Dvornik has
Leipzig, 1888; text of papal letter in Cesare Baronio, unraveled the fascinating history of the anti-Photian
Annales ecclesiastici,ad ann. 1177, in vol. 19: 452, Lucca, council of 869-870 which was not recognized as oecu-
1746, and in J.-P. Migne, PL 200: col. 1154. The work menical in the West until the very close of the eleventh
thus sent to Pope Alexander III (also called the De century; by this time a renewed schism had long ob-
sancto et imnmnortali Deo and De processione Spiritus tained between Rome and Constantinople (in fact since
Sancti) is printed in PL 202: cols. 227-396; it begins the year 1009), and the council of 869-870 now became,
with a quotation from Plato's second epistle Ad Diony- almost accidentally, recognized as oecumenical in the
siumt,makes frequentreferenceto Aristotle, and was also West, owing to the incorporation,into the Latin canon-
prepared in a Greek version, which provoked a reply in law collections,of certain of its canons which were very

playingits part doubtlessin the long drama in widow,Maria of Antioch,her youngson, Alexius
which the PatriarchIgnatius was to emergethe II Comnenus,and possibly Andronicushimself,
hero and Photius the villain. Hugo mentions already planning his bloody usurpationof the
Photiusa numberof timesand attackshis memory throne. Leo Tuscus thus musthave survivedthe
vigorously. It was apparentlyHugo, or more massacreof the Latins in Constantinople in May,
likelyhis brotherLeo Tuscus, who put togethera 1182. Pope Lucius speaks of theseterribleevents
collectionof extractsfromhis workscontaining at- at some lengthin his letterto Leo, informinghim
tacks upon the Greeks for theirdoctrinalerrors, thathe plans to send Leo's nephewFabricius,who
evil and immoralpractices,blasphemies, failuresof had enteredthe papal serviceafterHugo's return
discipline,and general misunderstanding of the to Italy, to Constantinopleto prepare a report
Greek patristictraditionitself.56 forthe Curia on the increasinglytroubledaffairs
By the close of the decade of the seventies, of the Byzantineempire:
however,Hugo Eterianusappearsto have tiredof
Since moreoverwe are sendingto the imperial
the lifeand strifeof the Byzantinecapitaland re- courtourbelovedson,MasterFabricius,yournephew,
turnedto Italy, apparentlysummonedhome to [now] ofourhousehold, whomwe holdverydearand
receiveat the papal courtthe rewardswhichhis closeforhis knowledge, foran investigation of those
vigorousadvocacyof thefilioqueclausehad earned thingswhichare said to have happenedrecentlyin
him. At any rate, we have Pope Lucius III's theroyalcity-unlessit shouldseemsuperfluous and
own testimonythat he promotedHugo with un- vain to commendthe intestines to the stomach,we
heard of rapidity,throughminororders, to the shouldhave thought thathe was to be recommended
diaconate,and thenpromptlyappointedhim car- to youwith[thecustomary] in orderthe
solicitation
dinal deacon of St. Angelo. But Hugo did not morequicklyto fulfill his assignment; but he seems
long enjoy his new dignity,for on 7 December, to requireno extensiveintroduction whomnatural
affection andourownintercession commend [to you].
1182, Pope Lucius wrotesadly to Leo Tuscus in In any eventwe do ask and cautionyourexcellency
Constantinople of his brother'sdeath,and of his by apostolicletterthatyou take care to send us a
burial in St. Paul's in Rome. His Holiness truereport, in somedetail,bothof theuprisingwhich
lamentedthe conclusionof this career so distin- is said to haveoccurredin thatcity,as wellas of the
guishedby litteraltluraet honestas.7 state of the emperor,the empress,and the empire
Leo Tuscus, on the otherhand,seems neverto itself,togetherwithothermattersaboutwhichyou
have returnedto Italy. Leo had been a Latin in- mavfeelwe shouldbe informed.59
terpreterto the Emperor Manuel Comnenusat Leo Tuscus was a translator,like his brother
least from 1166; 58 Manuel died in September Hugo, whomhe had assistedand encourageddur-
1180,of course,but Pope Lucius' letterof Decem- ing the years of theirresidencetogetherin Con-
ber,1182,would seemto indicatethatLeo Tuscus stantinople.6"Leo renderedinto Latin the Greek
had stayedon in Constantinople, to serveManuel's liturgyof St. John Chrysostomand the Greek
useful to the Gregorian reformers. Once the council of (Ireambook(Oneirocriticon)of Ahmed ibn Sirin,
869-870 became the Eighth Oecumenical Council, the thelatterof whichHaskins has shownwas done in
way had been well prepared for the western "legend" of 1176.61
the second Photian schism (according to Dvornik, Pho-
tian Schism, passim, esp. 309-349). Undoubtedly Hugo 59 Ep. Lutcii Papae III ad Leonent Tuscum, in Muller,
Eterianus' use of Nicetas of Paphlagonia and his attack Documenti, doc. XXI, p. 25, dated at Velletri on 7 De-
upon Photius in his book De haeresibus Graecorumnt made cember, 1182. For the sources relating to the massacre
also some contributionto the spread of this legend in of the Latins in Constantinoplein 1182, see ibid., 418 ff.
the West. 60 Hugo Eterianus, De haeresi bus Graecorum, i, 20
56 Maxima bibliotheca zeterum (PL 202: 274) ". . . [Leo dilectus frater], qui est in-
patruimi17: 608-619.
Lyon, 1677; Migne, PG 140: 541 ff.; R. Lechat, La genii mei acumen, huiusque suscepti laboris incentivum.
Patristique grecque chez un theologien latin du xiie . . ." The full text is very interesting,as Miiller, Docu-
siecle, Hugues ]therien, in Melanges d'histoire offertsa menti,384, also felt.
Charles Moeller (= Recueil de travaux de l'Universite 61 See in general [Aug. Fabroni], AMeniorie storiche di
de Louvain, fasc. 40, 1914) 1: 492 ff.; Jos. Hergenrother, pig illustri Pisani 2: 159-163, and vol. 4: 151-153, cited
Photits 3: 175-176, 833 ff.,Regensburg, 1869; Dvornik, by Muller, Documenti, 385; Haskins, Stud. hist. med.
Photian Schism, 346-349. science, 215-218; Thorndike, Magic and experimental
57 Miller, Documenti, doc. xxi, pp. 24-25; Jaffe- science 2: 292-293, 300. Leo Tuscus also wrote an im-
Loewenfeld, Regesta 2: no. 14712, p. 444. portant work De haeresibus et praevaricationibus Grae-
58 Miiller, Documenti, doc. x, p. 13 (Hugo's letter to corimm,of which a complete copy exists in the Biblioteca
the Pisan consuls) : i'. . . invicti principis egregius in- Colombina in Seville (MS. 5. 1. 24, fols. 78-88); Fr.
terpres, magister Leo. Antoine Dondaine has given us some description of its

Mention may also be made of Paschalis Ro- 3. COMMERCIAL, CULTURAL, AND
manus, who is said to have composed a dream- ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS
book called the Liber thesauri occulti in Con- As Byzantiumhad faced,in the declineof the
stantinoplein 1165, and of a Latin oculistnamed eleventhcentury,new enemiesin both the West
Zacharias,who studiedmedicinein Constantinople and theEast, suchas theNormans,Patzinaks,Sel-
in the time of Manuel Comnenus,and who put juks, and others,the governmenthad inevitably
togetherfromGreek sources a manualon the af- sought alliances with the growing commercial
flictionsof the eye.62 On 27 September,1177, statesin Italy, especiallywith Venice. When in
Pope Alexander III appears to have sent his the year 992, however,still in the great era of
friendand physician,Master Philip, off on an Byzantine strengthand prestige,Basil II Bul-
arduous journey to deliver a letter to Prester garoctonus had granted the Venetians certain
John,illustriset magnificusIndorumrex; Master profitabletradingprivileges,the concessionhad
Philip was to instructPresterJohnin the details been made in the formof an imperial"precept,"
of theChristianfaithwhichthelegendarykingwas which also imposed heavy obligationsupon the
believed already to have embraced. The pope's Venetiansas Byzantinesubjects. The grantwas a
letter was written in Venice, whence Master "precept,"nota pact: theVenetianswere notcon-
Philip presumablymade his way intothe Levant, tractingparties to an agreement. Basil II had
and one can onlyhope thathe was suppliedwitha merelybestowed certain favors upon them and
morepreciseaddress for PresterJohnthan mod- demandedcertainduties, especiallyof naval as-
ernscholarshave been able to discover.63 sistance,fromthem. Althoughthegrantof 992 is
The historyof Sicilian and North-Italianre- the firstextantconcessionof tradingrightsmade
lations with Constantinopleduring the twelfth by the Byzantinegovernmentto the Venetians,
centuryis both interesting and important. Most the latterhad been frequenting Constantinoplefor
of the Latin scholarsand diplomatsof thisperiod morethana century, perhapsfromtheold days of
who went to the Greek capital were very serious Basil I the Macedonian,forthe textof the grant
and intense. If the Byzantinesexerciseda strong of 992 refersto the "antiquity"of the customs
influenceupon them, they also reacted against under which the Venetians had traded in the
many aspects of the civilizationof Byzantium, capital.' From theseearlydays therewere Vene-
whichwas both luxuriousand impoverished, gay tians who spoke Greekand doubtlessread it.
and somber. The great days of political and In May, 1082, hard pressed by the Normans,
militaryvitalitywere gone, and the Byzantines and withotherenemieson the horizon,Alexius I
were themselvesbeginningto live on dreams of Comnenushad rewardedhis Venetianallies with
theirpast grandeur. Social types now appeared a well-knowngrantof tradingprivilegesextended
in Constantinople strangelyreminiscent of Italian in omnes partes Romanie, with free access to a
society in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies. long list of specifiedByzantineportsand trading
The very model of the impoverishedsycophantic centers. The Venetians received similar con-
intellectual,unhappilycommon in the world of cessions,or ratherrenewalsof
the grantof 1082,
Italian humanism,is supplied in twelfth-century
in 1126, 1147, and 1148; the Pisans received
Byzantiumby those able, conceited,and pitiful
grantsin 1111, 1136,and 1155,thethriving period
figures,Theodore Prodromusand John Tzetzes.
As decades and generationspassed, the Italians of the great Pisan quarter,where the famous dis-
came to feelthoroughly at homein Byzantium,and putation of 1136 was held. The Genoese received
increasingnumbersof Greeksfoundtheirway into grantsin 1155 and 1169.2 Such in very briefis
Italy. the commercialbackgroundto the appearance in
Constantinopleof Peter Chrysolanus,Anselm of
contents in a recent study (Archivum Fratruzmn Praedi-
catorum 21: 352-353, note 10, and 364-369, Rome, 1951). 1 G. L. Fr. Tafel and G. M. Thomas, Urkuindenzuir
62 Haskins, Stud. hist. med. science, 218-222, and diteren Handels- und Staatsgeschichte der Repitblik
Stud. med. culture, 165-169. Venedig1: doc. XVII, p. 38, Vienna, 1856: ". . . secun-
63 Alex. Papae III epistulae, XLVIII, in J. D. Mansi, dum quod ab antiquo fuit consuetudo. ..." (This docu-
Concilia 21: cols. 907-908, Venice, 1776; PL 200: 1148; ment is wrongly dated 991 in Tafel and Thomas.)
Jaff&Loewenfeld, Regesta 2: no. 12942, pp. 314-315, 2 The texts of all these grants may be found in Tafel
with refs. The last historian of Prester John is also and Thomas, Urkuniden,and brief summaries or regesta,
sympathetictoward Master Philip's predicament (Chas. with some indication of the modern bibliography, in
E. Nowell, The historical Prester John, Speculum 28: Franz Ddlger, Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des ost-
444-445, 1953). rbiiiischen Reiches, pt. 2, Munich and Berlin, 1925.

Havelberg,James of Venice, Burgundioof Pisa, incendiaryvessels; but if theywere, it would ap-

Moses of Bergamo, and those learned Pisans, pear thatGreek fireremaineda Byzantinesecret
Hugo Eterianusand Leo Tuscus. forlittlemorethana centuryand a half.3 But it
All these imperialchrysobullsgrantingtrading was a secret well worthpreserving,and in any
rightsin Constantinople and in otherpartsof the eventincendiaryvessels did not becomestandard
empiretook the formof "precepts,"revocableat equipmentamong the Moslems. In the middle
the will of the emperor,down to the year 1187 of theninthcenturyLeo the Mathematician is said
when the Emperor Isaac II Angelus was finally, to have deviseda dozen different telegraphicmes-
forcedto makea pactor conventionwiththeVene- sages to warn of Moslem attack on the south-
tiansmoreor less as equals,and recognizedin this easternfrontier whichcould be flashedby hill-top
pact the manyprivilegestheyhad receivedfrom beacons fromthe heightof Loulon in northern
past emperors. In 1187 the Venetianswere con- Cilicia across the northwestdiagonal of Asia
tractingpartiesto the agreement,which was re- Minor to the Pharos in the imperialpalace in
newed in 1198 withAlexius III. The greatdays Constantinople.4Leo was an importantperson
were over for Byzantium;loftyconcessionsand in Constantinople. The Caliph Mamun is said
dictatedcontrolswere no longerpossible,as John by the Byzantinechroniclersto have offeredthe
Comnenushad alreadyfoundout when upon his Emperor Theophilus eternal peace and 2,000
accessionto thethronein 1118 he had vainlytried poundsof gold if he would allow Leo the Mathe-
not to renewthe Venetianprivileges. The Vene- maticianto residein Baghdad fora shortperiod:
tians harriedByzantineports and islands in the "But Theophilusreplied,"as we are informedin
easternMediterranean so mercilesslythateven the the Continuationof Theophanes,"that it was ir-
stalwartJohn was forcedto give way in 1126. rationalto give away one's own advantages to
The pacts of 1187 and 1198 were the finalsym- othersand thus to make available to the worldat
bols of Byzantineweakness,and onlya halfdozen large that knowledgeof science for which the
years afterthe latterpact the Fourth Crusaders Greekrace is bothadmiredand praisedbeyondall
enteredConstantinople(1203-1204). others,and so he withheldhis assent."5 Bury is
AlthoughtheByzantineshad beenbestoffin the thusquite rightin depictingTheophilusas "treat-
old days when Byzantiumwas what Jules Nicole ing scienceas ifit were a secretto be guardedlike
called a "paradise of monopoly.' it is of course the manufactureof Greek fire,deeming it bad
easily possible to exaggerate the extent of the policyto enlightenthe barbarians."6 The desire
controlexercised by the Byzantinegovernment to preventaccess,bypotentialenemies,to scientific
over agricultureand trade and industry. Un- secrets and personnelis a phenomenonnot en-
doubtedly,too, politicalconsiderationstook prece- tirelyunfamiliarto our own society.
dence over those of an economicnature. It re- The Byzantinesthus soughtto keep withinthe
mainstrue,nevertheless, thatindustrialtechniques empireboth intelligenceand industry. This was
were carefullyguarded for the most part,and it a wise policy,for,as theBritishhave learnedin the
is onlyreasonableto assume thatthiswas done to last two or threegenerations, industry, even mod-
preservean economic advantage. Silks, linens, ern heavv industry,has a tendencyto exportit-
cottons,and leathergoods,enamels,carvedivories, self,and industrycould exportitselfmuch more
jewelry,and otherproductsof Byzantinereligious easilv in ancientand medievaltimes. Under such
and secularart,dyesand drugs,glass,metalware, 3Cf. A. A. Vasiliev, Byzance et les Arabes, eds. H.
pottery,and furniture, and many otherproducts Gregoire and M. Canard, 1: 132-133, Brussels, 1935,
besides Greek fire,armaments,and naval equip- with references,and Michele Amari, Storia dei Musul-
di Sicilia, 2nd ed. by C. A. Nallino, 1: 434-436,
ment were manufacturedunder the closest sur- mani Catania, 1933.
veillance,oftenin imperialfactories. The Byzan- 4 Constantine Porphyrogenitus,De cerimoniis, i, ap-
tines were anxious not to exportvaluable indus- pend. (Bonn, 1: 492); Theophanes Continuatus, iv, 35
trial knowledgeand techniques,and duringtheir (Bonn, 197), repeated in George Cedrenus (Bonn, 2:
174) ; and cf. J. B. Bury, History of the Eastern Roman
strongperiodstheycould keep themat home and empire, 246-248, London, 1912.
keep themsecret. Some scholarsbelievethatthe 5 Theophanes Continuatus, iv, 27 (Bonn, 185-192):
Moslem North-Africancarraques, or harraqas, "aX' O6 0e6ftXos &vraWOKpL'Vcsa KatL acXoyov'TO OrK6OP 50Vouat
whichappearedin Sicilian watersin the year 835 WEVEot,St
TrPOLTS KaXOV Kac T) TCOV 0VTIwt yt'oLV eKbOTOV 7roLtqocat TOLT
qg T7 TrV 'PwaLOwv zy')40OSavgacL/ iTaL TE Kat T7-L/a7aL
were equipped with Greek fire; there is some rapa 7raLOV, [i.e. Mamun] gv OUK
iKEivc@ -E. f714VfEUE. .
reasonto doubtwhetherthe harraqaswere in fact 6 Bury, op. cit., 437-438.

conditions the original exporter finds that he of literature." The Pope wrotethe mastersand
creates his most serious competitorsin his best studentsof the Universitythat "it would be no
customers! The pottery-and lamp-makersand sourceof hardshipformanyof you to go to a land
wine-growers of second-century Italy exportednot aboundingin silverand gold and gems,well sup-
only their products,but also their workersand plied withgrain,wine,and oil, and rich in great
techniquesto Gaul, North Africa,and elsewhere, quantitiesofall good things."8 AlthoughthePope
findingthat their customershad become their assured them that their spiritualrewards would
pupils. The pupils finallybecame the masters even surpass theirtemporalgains-if theywould
when theytook over the markets. It requireda but serve in Greece "to the honor and glory of
long time for anythinglike this to happen in Him, fromWhom is the giftof all knowledge"-
Byzantium,and when it did, the formit took was themastersand scholarsof theUniversityof Paris
enormously important forthewholeMediterranean stillpreferredthe Seine to the Bosporus and the
area and forthelaterhistoryof Europe. Ilissus.9
whichfinallytook
It was the Italian city-states The monthswhich followed the conquest of
over most of the industrialtechniquesand made Constantinople by the Fourth Crusadersheld out
themselvesmastersalso of the greatcommerceof thehope of a religiousunionof Greeksand Latins
Byzantium. Eustathiusof Thessalonica informs to matchthe new Graeco-Latinstate established
us thatin 1180 thereweremorethan60,000 Latins on the shoresof the Bosporus. If the Latins had
in Constantinople.7Despite the massacreof May, conqueredtheGreeksin thepoliticalsphere,could
1182, concerningwhich we have noted Pope theynot do so in religionalso? Pope Innocent
Lucius III's inquiryto Leo Tuscus, the Latin pre- III's legate was the wise and diplomaticCardinal
dominance could not be broken. The Latins Benedict of Santa Susanna, whose effortswere
merelyprotectedthemselvesthereafter, and took intelligently supportedboth by the great Latin
their revengein the Fourth Crusade. The rise Emperor Henry of Hainaut (1206-1216) and
to wealthand powerof the Italian city-states from by the Venetian podesta, Marino Zeno in Con-
the eleventhcenturyto the fourteenth is inextric- stantinople.The CardinalBenedicttried,by per-
ablyboundup withtheseusurpationsof knowledge suasionratherthanby force,to prevailover Greek
and wealth fromByzantium. The Italians were scruples relatingto the processionof the Holy
thus the economicas well as the culturalheirs of Spirit fromthe Son as well as the Father, the
Byzantium,and if theyassimilatedtheircultural doctrineof papal supremacy, theuse of unleavened
legacyratherslowly,theydid so surely. bread (azymta) in the mass, and the marriageof
priests. Alreadyin 1205, on his way to the East,
II Benedicthad stoppedat Athens,wherethefamous
In 1203-1204 the Fourth Crusadersestablished metropolitan, Michael Choniates, had discussed
five importantLatin states in what had been these problems withhim,and indeedhad followed
Byzantineimperialterritory:(1) the Latin em- him to Thessalonica to continuethe discussions.
pireof Constantinople (1204-1261) ; (2) the Latin The talks had failed, of course, for the Greek
kingdomof Thessalonica (1204-1224); (3) the 8 Innocent III, Epp., viii, 70-71 (PL 215: 636-638);
principality of Achaea (1204-1432); (4) thelord- Aug. Potthast, Regesta pontificumromanorum, 2 vols.,
ship and duchy of Athens (1204-1456); and Berlin, 1875-1879, nos. 2512-2513 (vol. 1: 215).
(5) the Venetianduchyof Naxos (1205-1566). 9 Cf. Friedrich Fuchs, Die hoheren Schulen von Kon-
im Mittelalter, 53, Leipzig, 1926; B. Altaner,
Many lesser margraviates,counties,and baronies stantinopel
Die Heranbildung eines einheimischen Klerus in der
were dependentupon thesemajor establishments, Mission des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts,Zeitschr. f. Mis-
and Latin lords survivedin certainof the Aegean sionswissenschaftu. Religionszissenschaft, 194, Minster,
islands untilthe seventeenth century. At the be- 1928; Jean Longnon, L'Emnpire latin de Constantinople
ginningof the year 1205 the firstLatin emperor et la principaute de Moree, 139, Paris, 1949. At the
University of Paris the Greek College de Constantinople
of Constantinople, Baldwin,asked Pope Innocent is said to have been established shortly after 1204, near
III to tryto persuade mastersof the University the Place Maubert in the neighborhood of the Seine:
of Paris "to go to Greece,thereto reformthestudy "on voulait apparemment, en y instruisant de jeunes
bizantins, preparer la reconciliation des deux Aglises"
7 Eustathius Thessalon., De Thessalonica a Latinis (Histoire litteraire de la France 16: 53, 1824) ; little
capta, 28, ed. G. L. Fr. Tafel, Eustathii Thessalon. is known of its history, however, and the sources give
opuscula,275, 1832; ed. Imm. Bekker (after Tafel), us confused reports although it appears to have sur-
394, Bonn,1842; J.-P. Migne,PG 136, 33D. vived into the fifteenthcentury (ibid. 24: 528, 1896).

metropolitan would make no concessions. In fact, patristictraditionmet head on the assaults of the
all membersof theGreekhierarchy, exceptBishop Latin theologians. Much animus was reflected,
Theodore of Negroponte(Euboea), preferredto and relationsbetweenthe two peoples littleim-
relinquishtheirsees ratherthan submitto Rome. proved,at a meetingwhichtookplace in thepatri-
Duringtheseefforts at churchunion (1205-1207), archal palace on 30 August 1206, when the new
as alwayswhentheneed arose,a competent trans- Latin patriarchof Constantinople,the Venetian
lator was on hand. The Cardinal Benedicthad Tommaso Morosini,who had just prohibitedthe
taken with him the Greek-speakingNiccolo of celebrationof Greek rites in the city,led some
Otranto,who later on became abbot, under the of his clergyin heatedtheologicaldisputationwvith
name of Nectarius (1220-1235), of the famous a large group of Greek ecclesiasticsheaded by
South-Italianmonasteryof Casole, near Otranto. Nicholas Mesarites, former deacon of Hagia
Although,as a Greek,Niccolo rejectedthe Latin Sophia,and JohnContotheodorou, a formermaster
doctrineof theprocessionof the Holy Spiritfrom of the Byzantinechancery.12 A littlelater,on 29
boththeFatherand the Son, theuse of theazyma, Septemberand 2 October 1206, otherand more
and sacerdotalcelibacy,he also, as a southItalian, importantconferenceswere held, the Cardinal
recognizedthe supremacyof the pope and favored BenedictbeingthistimetheLatin spokesman,and
theunionofthechurches.10Niccol6,or Nectarius, Nicholas Mesarites' elder brother,John,uphold-
who became the seventhabbot (igoumen) of S. ing the Greek position. Niccolo of Otrantoas-
Niccolo di Casole, spent some years,all told, in sistedthe disputantsas interpreter. Some years
Constantinopleand elsewhere in the Byzantine later,in 1213,whentheproudMorosiniwas dead,
empire,gettingto know many Byzantineintel- and the patriarchalthroneMwasvacant in Con-
lectualsof his day and bringingback to Italymany stantinople,there seemed to be good reason for
Greek manuscriptsupon his returnhome. Nic- renewingthese effortsto achieve church union.
colo was the friendand correspondent of George InnocentIII, however,unwiselychoseas his legate
Bardanes,who becamemetropolitan of Corfu,and the arrogantCardinal Pelagius, who xore the red
he was themaster,as we have seen,of the South- boots(EpvOpoo3aoi4 irE'&Xa)whichconnotedimperial
Italian Greekpoet,JohnGrassus.11 rank in Constantinople.The arrival of Pelagius
We need trace in no detail these effortsat in the capital city was quicklyfollowedby such
churchunionin whichthe defendersof the Greek harshnessthat the good effectsof the Emperor
Henry's just and kindly rule over the Greeks
10 August Heisenberg, Neite Quellen ztir Geschichte
seemed likelyto be lost. To achieve the union
des lateinischen Kaisertfmis iindl der Kirchenunion 1:
Der Epitaphios des Nikolaos Mesarites auf seinen Brider
of the churches,Pelagius closed Greek churches,
Johannes, in the Sitzungsberichteder Bayerischen Aka- imprisonedpriests,and expelledmonksfromtheir
demie der Wissenschaften,Philos.-philol.u. hist. Ki., 1922, monasteries. A deputationof some of the most
5. Abh., pp. 7-14. On the Cardinal Benedict and Niccolo importantGreek residentsof the city informed
of Otranto, see Walter Norden, Das Papsttun and By- the Emperor (in 1214): "Wbeare a people of
zanZ, 182-187, Berlin, 1903; Ernst Gerland, Gesch. d.
lateinischenKaiserreiches von Konstantinopel,131, Hom- anotherrace and have anotherhead to our Church
burg v. d. Hohe, 1905; R. Janin, Au lendemain de la [archiereuis]; we have submittedto your power,
conquete de Constantinople: Les tentatives d'union des so you may lord it over our bodies, but not our
eglises (1204-1208), ]Pchos d'Orient 32: 12-13, 1933; hearts and souls; while we must fightin your
Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 53: 450; Francis
Dvornik, The Photian Scchisn, 349, Cambridge, 1948; behalfin war, we findit impossible,nevertheless,
Jean Longnon, L'Empire latin, 93-94. We know of the to abandonour religiousritesand practices." The
Athenian Metropolitan Michael Choniates' voyage to EmperorHenryaccededto theirpetition.renoved
Thessalonica to continue his discussions with the Car-
dinal Benedict from one of his letters (in Sp. P. Lam- 12 Heisenberg, Neite Quellen 2: Die L,'iolosz7erhand-
pros, ed., MLxaiX 'AKO/I1LVrTOV ra o'v6ouEva
roV XCoVL1rTOv lungen vomnO30 August 1206, etc., ibid., 1923, 2 Abh., pp.
2: 312, Athens, 1880). Although stunned by the fall 4-5, 15-25; cf. R. Janin, in J-chosd'Oriekit32: 14-15; J.
of "the City," the Greeks proved very intractable when Longnon, L'Emipire latin, 94-95. Mesarites makes much
it came to basic issues. Already in December 1204 of the differenceof language and culture which separates
John Mesarites had boldly resisted the demands of the the Greek Orthodox and Latin Catholic (Heisenberg, 2:
Cardinal Pietro Capuano that the Greeks recognize the 18-20) : "ov -yatpoL&E TL XaXEL o aXX6-yXwooos. ...
religious supremacy of the pope (Heisenberg, Neiie 13 Heisenberg, Nezie Qtuellent1: Epitaphios, 12-13,
Quellen 1: Epitaphios, ibid., 7, 48 ff.). 52-63; Janin, Fchios d'Orient 32: 15-16; Longnon,
11 See Silvano Borsari and Marcello Gigante, Poeti L'E;npire latin, 95. (Not much was accomplished al-
bizantini di Terra d'Otranto, in La Parola del Passato though the Cardinal Benedict was willing to allow the
6: 288, 301, 305-309, Naples, 1951. use of leavened bread in the mass.)

thegrievousrestrictions whichPelagius had placed We do expect,of course,to have the [Latin] lord,
upon the Greek clergy and their churches,and Sir Henry,as ourEmperor, and underhis shadowto
made life tolerableagain for the Greek popula- live,and do servilethings, and workour fields,and
tion.14
pastureour and
flocks, sail thesea; butwithoutus the
will
threshing-floor notbe filledwithgrain,nor the
In 1214 therewere more conferencesallegedly
wine-vatwithgrapes; bread will not be eaten,nor
aimed at churchunion. The Cardinal Pelagius meat,norfish,norvegetables;humanlifeand society
had been accompaniedto Constantinopleby Nic- will not survive. At thesetasksdo we toil forour
colo of Otranto,who had served in 1206 as in- Latin brothers, and we gatherthe fruitsof our toil
terpreter forthe CardinalBenedict. The haughty for them,but this is the poorerhalf of our lives,
Pelagius appearsto have methis matchin Nicholas mortaland frangible;we wish,however,thebetter
Mesarites,one of the chiefGreek protagonistsof halfto enjoythe same thoughts as theyenjoy,both
1206,at leastaccordingto Mesarites'own account. as longas we live and afterdeath,as we [and they]
In 1214 Nicholas Mesaritesreturnedto Constanti- are partsofa singleimmortal body.10
nople as metropolitanof the ancient see of There are few more eloquent texts in the long
Ephesus; he twice dealt with the Latins on both historyof remonstrance againstreligiouspersecu-
politicaland religiousquestions,but littlehad been tion.
accomplishedwhenhe tookhis leave of Pelagius on
25 November. Shortlyafterwardsthe Metropoli- III
tan Nicholas again discussed those time-honored The missionaryactivitiesof theFranciscansand
problems,theprimacyof Rome and theprocession DominicanscarriedthemintoGreecein largenum-
of the Holy Spirit, with an unnamed Spanish bers in the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies.
priestof Pelagius' entourage;the priesthad been The early volumes of Girolamo Golubovich's
sent, with Niccolo of Otranto as interpreter, to Biblioteca bio-bibliografica supplymuch informa-
the Nicene Emperor Theodore I Lascaris, who tion about the Franciscans,who had established
was finallyreached at Heraclea on the Pontus. a conventin Constantinople by the year 1220 at
We know of the conferencesof 1214, both those least.17 The Dominicanshad organizeda province
at Constantinople and at Heraclea, almostentirely of theirorder in Greece by 1228, to whichseven
from Nicholas Mesarites' account,in which the conventsbelongedin the year 1277, not to speak
Greek- and Latin-speakingNiccolo of Otranto of three additional conventsin Greek-speaking
plays an importantif subordinaterole.15 When Cyprus,subjectto the Dominicanprovinceof the
these sessions of Greeks and Latins were con- Holy Land.18 In all, some twentyFranciscan
vened, there were always sharp exchanges of conventshad been foundedon Greek soil, either
views; each side understoodwell enoughthe po- in the provinceof Terra Sancta or in that of
sition of the other,and always refusedto accept Romania,by the close of the fourteenth century.19
it. The chasm between the Greek and Latin In 1234 Pope GregoryIX sent an embassyof
halves of Christendom had been wideningforcen- two Franciscansand two Dominicansto discuss
turies. It was now an unbridgeablegulf. When a projectedunionof the Churchesat the courtof
in 1214 the Greeks in Constantinople prepareda
16 J. B. Cotelerius[Cotelier], ed., Ecclesiae graecae
detailedsyllabusof errorsof the Latin Church,to
be sent to InnocentIII throughthe Cardinal le- ionliienta 3: 516-517, Paris, 1686 (Criminationes ad-
versus ecclesiarn latinam), and cf. Gerland, Latein.
gate, Pelagius, they included,toward the end of Kaiserreich, 239, 240-241, and W. Norden, Papstturn
theirstatement, an eloquentreminderof the ulti- u. By-anz, 228-229.
mate strengthof theirsocial position: 17 Golubovich, Biblioteca bio-bibliograficadella Terra
Santa e dell'Oriente francescano 1: 128-129; 2: 551-552,
14 Geo. Akropolita,Hist., 17 (Bonn, 32-33, and ed. et alibi, Quaracchi,1906,1913 ff.
Aug. Heisenberg,1: 29-30); cf. Ephraem,Imperatores, 18 Berthold Altaner, Die Dominikanermissionen des
vv. 7429-7457(Bonn,301-302); Gerland,Latein.Kaiser- 13. Jahrhunderts,Habelschwerdt, 1924, and Zeitschr. f.
reich, 238-239; and Longnon, L'Empire latin, 145. Kirchengesch. 53: 448-449. For Dominican activity in
15 Heisenberg, Neue Quellen 3: Der Bericht des the Near East, in the Societas fratrumperegrinantium
Nikolaos Mesarites iiber die politischen it. kirchlichen propterChristum, see R. J. Loenertz,Les Missionsdo-
Ereignisse des Jahres 1214, ibid., 1923, 3. Abh., pp. minicainesen Orientau XIV" siecle et la Socie'tedes
19-28, 33-46; R. Janin,Les Tentativesd'union,rchos Freres Pe're'grinants pour le Christ,ArchivumFratrum
d'Orient 32: 196-202, 1933; Longnon, L'Empire latin, Praedicatorum 2: 1-83, 1932; 3: 5-55, 1933; 4: 1-47,
145-147; and cf. the old studyof J. Pargoire,Nicolas 1934 (and Institutum historicum0. FF. Praedicatorum,
Mesarites,me'tropolited']Rphese,
rchos d'Orient7: 219- Dissertationeshistoricae,7: Rome, 1937).
226, 1904. 19 Golubovich,op. cit. 2: 264-265,268-269,271,et alibi.

the Nicene Emperor John Ducas Vatatzes. On work was preparedto renderit a more effective
theirway to Bithyniathe papal envoys secured, instrument of religiouspropaganda. The Domini-
presumablyfromtheirconventsin Constantinople, cans producedmanyactivedisputantsin the thir-
a large numberof Greek books which would be teenthand fourteenth centuries.Amongthemwere
useful to them in theirforthcoming conferences. Bonacursiusof Bologna,who preparedan anthol-
At least one of the four friars,apparentlyan ogy of patristictexts bothin Latin and in Greek
Englishman named Radulfus, read Greek very (ca. 1275), and AndreasDoto, who made a Latin
easily and signed the Latins' final statementof versionof the Greekeditionof Bonacursius'work
theirfaithin Greek as well as in Latin."0 The whichhe had foundin the libraryof the Domi-
friarswere linguistsas well as theologians. It can conventat Negroponte(ca. 1326). Simon,
would be tedious and pointless,for me at least, who called himself 2L'coV o Kwva-cravtpvouiroXktrs,
to attempta collationof all the evidenceof their wrotemuchcontraGraecos untilhis death at the
knowledgeof Greek. BertholdAltaner has de- age of ninety(in 1325). William Bernardi de
voted some learnedstudiesto the intellectualand Gaillac reorganizedtheDominicanconventin Con-
missionaryactivitiesof the mendicantorders in stantinople(1299), establishedanotherhouse in
the East, includingtheirstudyof bothGreek and the suburb of Pera to the northof the Golden
orientallanguages.21 A few of the friarsshould Horn, and is said to have translatedsome of St.
be noted,however,who employedtheirknowledge Thomas into Greek. Philip of Pera and Johnde
of Greek to defend the filioqlteclause and the Fontibus were also authorsof tractsagainst the
doctrineof papal supremacyagainst the untiring
Greeks. Philip is thoughtby some scholars to
denials of theirOrthodox opponents. Although
have been the Latin teacherof the famousByzan-
we knowthe names of manyof thesegood friars,
we mustbeginwithmentionof an anonymousbut tine humanist,Demetrius Cydones (in 1351-
mostimportant work,the Tractatuscontraerrores 1352).23 To Cydoneswe shall come shortly.The
Graecoruin,writtenin 1252 by a Dominicanwith Franciscans,of course,sharedfullyin theselabors
the aid of his fellowsin the Preachers'conventin to convert the Greek. L ike the Donminicans',
Constantinople,apparentlythe oldest anti-Greek
had participated in the legation of 1234, being in
tractcomposedby Greek-speaking Latin mission- who
fact the uinits de fratribifsizostris who could read St.
aries in the East.22 A Greek version of this Cyril in Greek. His argument is very good, and with
some misgivings I have followed Golubovich in identi-
20 Hieronymus [Girolamo] Golubovich, Disputatio lati- fying the friar as Radulfus.
norum et graecorum seu relatio apocrisiariorum Gregorii 23 For the facts and bibliography concerning these
IX de gestis Nicaeae in Bithynia et Nymphaeae in Lydia Dominicans, see Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 53:
(1234), in ArchizvusizFranciscamnulIhistoricitmn 11: 434, 469-477. On Bonacursius (Buonaccorsi) of Bologna
443, Quaracchi, 1919; also in Mansi, Contcilia23: 283D, and Andreas Doto's version of his work, called the
289C, 1779: ". . . et copiosam multitudinem librorum Tliesaurussvteritatis fidei, see Dondaine, Archivutm FF.
grecorum, quam nobiscum de Constantinopoli detulera- Pracdd. 21: 406-418. On the Dominican Simon Con-
mus. . . . Et continuo unus de fratribus nostris, cui stantinopolitanus,not to be confused with Simon Atu-
Dominus dederat gratiam in litteratura grecorum, re- mano with whom we shall deal below, see Jacques Quetif
volvit librum beati Kyrilli de nono anathematismo et and Jacques IRchard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatoriusn
incepit grece legere." The Franciscan Radulfus signed, 1: 558-559. Paris, 1719; Giovanni Mercati, Siimione
in calce Definitionis, 'Pa3oiXoos . . . ouTrJsV'z7ro-yp6w
'E-yw' AtlzuiakLto, Arcivescovo di Tebe (Studi e Testi, 30),
Ka oVTCOS 7rLrTEvw: Ego Rodiulphus . . . sic subscribo et 44-45, Rome. 1916; and A. Dondaine. Archivumi1z FF.
ita credo (Golubovich, op. cit., 435-436, 458, and cf. Praedd. 21: 405-406, 421-424, with references. (Simon
Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchlengesch.53: 450-451). Since of Constantinoplehad relations with the famous Byzan-
the other Franciscan was Aymo (Haimo) of Faversham, tine humanist Manuel Holobolus and with the Emperor
a friend of Bishop Robert Grosseteste of Lincoln, it is Andronicus II Palaeologus, to both of whom lhe ad-
tempting to see in Frater Radulfus another of Grosse- dressed theological treatises.) On Philip de Bindo In-
teste's Greek-studying friends (Altaner, op. cit., 452, contri of Pera, possibly a Sienese, who figures in the
with refs.). correspondence of Demetrius Cydones, see the discern-
21 For the titles, see Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengcsch. ing studies of R. J. Loenertz. Fr. Philippe de Bindo
53: 436. Incontri, O.P., du couvent de Pera, inquisiteuren Orient,
22 For the text see PG 140: 487-540, and Mlaximna ArtchiZ1 FF. Praedd. 18: 265-280, and of Thomas
bibliotheca veterumnpatruiin 27 : 590-608, 619; also Kaeppeli, Deux nouveaux ouvrages de Fr. Philippe In-
the very valuable study of Antoine Dondaine, Contra contri de Pera, O.P., ibid. 23: 163-183; cf. Quetif and
Graecos: Premiers ecrits polemiques des Dominicains ISchard, 1: 646-647, and Mercati, Notizie di Procoro e
d'Orient, Archivum Frstrium Praedicatoruw 21: 320- DempetrioCidone, etc. (Studi e Testi, 56), 514, Citta
446, Rome, 1951. Dondaine, op. cit., 339-345, suggests del Vaticano, 1931. On John de Fontibus, cf. Mercati,
that the treatise of 1252 was written by a Dominican op. cit.. 67, note 1, and 166.

theirknowledgeof Greek made themalso useful down almost into moderntimes. The Norman
on diplomaticmissionswhichhad littleor nothing conquestsof southernItaly and Sicilyand the ex-
to do withthe faith. In 1293,forexample,Count tinctionof the last embersof Byzantineauthority
Riccardo Orsini of Cephalonia sent two Greek- in southernItaly, with the fall of Bari in 1071,
speakingFranciscans to take up certainmatters began the gradual victoryof the Latin rite. In
withthe Despot NicephorusI Angelus Comnenus the course of the eleventhcenturyCosenza and
of Epirus.24 Bisignano, and thereafterMileto, Tropea, and
The Dominican chaptergeneral of 1310, held Nicastroreturnedto theLatin rite. In thetwelfth
at Piacenza, requestedthe establishment of three centuryTarantoand Brindisidid likewise,but the
language schools to teach Greek, Hebrew, and Greek populationsof S. Severina, Rossano, and
Arabic to beginningmissionaries,and the chapter Cotroneclungto theirtraditionalritedespitetheir
generalof 1333 directedthatlanguageschools,ob- long recognition of papal supremacyand jurisdic-
viouslyforGreek,be establishedin the Dominican tion.27
conventsof Pera in Constantinopleand of Kaffa The papal Curia was thoroughly at home in the
in the Crimea.25 The eleventhcanon of the Coun- affairs not only of southernItaly but also of
cil of Vienne (1312) is famousfor its provision Greece. Until the Turkishconquestof Constanti-
of two chairs of Greek and oriental languages nople and Greece in the fifteenth centurythere
thoseof Paris,
in each of fivewesternuniversities, were few barriersbetweenItaly and Greece. It
Bologna,Oxford,Salamanca,and the "curial uni- was not difficultto findecclesiasticsin Italy who
versity"of Avignon. Althoughthe resultsof this spoke Greekas a nativelanguage. In 1217 Pope
action were rather disappointing,scholars, like Honorius III grantedBishop John of Cotrone,
Georg Voigt, anxious to show that the serious "in whose diocese dwell people of both Latin
studyof Greek dates fromthe so-called Renais- and Greek speech, that he may celebrate the
sance, have blindlyunderestimated the extentto divineofficesin bothlanguages."28
whichan attemptwas made to carryout thecanon In theearlysummerof 1217 the Greek despot,
of Vienne. In 1317 Pope JohnXXII includedthe Theodore Angelus of Epirus, captured,near Du-
canonin his promulgation of the Clementinae(lib. razzo, the violentPeter of Courtenay,new Latin
v, tit. i, 1), and made particulareffortsto see emperor of Constantinople,and with him the
that instructionin Greek and orientallanguages Cardinal legate, Giovanni Colonna. The chan-
shouldbe furnishedin Avignonand Paris. On 7 ceriesof Europe were soon resoundingwithnews
September,1434, the Council of Basel reiterated of the event which seemed to imperilthe Latin
the canon in much the same form.26 empire which the Fourth Crusaders had estab-
lished only a dozen or so years before.29About
IV eightmonthslatertheGreek-speaking Bishop John
The Greekritesurvivedin southernItaly from of Cotronewas sent as papal envoyto the Greek
its establishment in thesixthand seventhcenturies despot in the effortto secure at least the release
24 Jean Longnon, ed., Chronique de More'e, pars. 653- of the cardinallegatewhomthe despotdid in fact
654, pp. 260-261, Paris, 1911: ". . . si ordina ii. freres set free.30
meneurs qui bien savoient la langue grejoise, car il estoi-
ent nourri a Galathas" [they had lived in Galata, suburb
The see of Cotroneis importantin the history
of Constantinople,where they had learned Greek]. For of the diplomaticrelationsof Italy and Greece in
Riccardo and Nicephorus I, cf. Chas. Hopf, Chroniqiies the thirteenth century. On 2 September,1254,
greco-romanes, geneal. tables, 529, Berlin, 1873.
25 Altaner, Fremdsprachliche Ausbildung d. Domini- 27 Cf. Rohlfs, Griechen und Romianen in Unteritalien,
kanermissionare, in Zeitschr. f. Missionszeissenschaftu. 90, and Scazi linguistici,145.
Religionswissenschaft,240-241, 1933, cited in idem, Zeit- 28 Hon. III, an. I, ep. 371, in P. Pressutti, Regesti di
schr. f. Kirchengesch. 53: 449; Loenertz, Archivum FF. Onorio III 1: no. 455, p. 128, 1884; Regesta Hon. III
Praedicatorum 2: 11, 1932. 1: no. 487, p. 86, 1888, doc. dated 9 April, 1217: "Iohanni
26 Altaner, Die Durchfiuhrungdes Vienner Konzils- episcopo Crotonensi: Ipsi utriusque linguae, graecae
beschlusses uber die Errichtung von Lehrstiihlen fur videlicet et latinae, peritiam habenti, et in cuius dioecesi
orientalische Sprachen, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 52: utriusque linguae populus commoratur, concedit [papa]
226-236, 1933. Behind the canon of the Council of Vienne ut in utraque lingua divina possit celebrare,nullum exinde
lay the enlightened effortsof, among others, Raymond ecclesiae suae praeiudicium generando."
Lull and Lorenzo of Aquileia (cf. Robt. Weiss, Per una 29 Jean Longnon, L'Ewpire latin, 154-156.
lettera di Lorenzo d'Aquileia sullo studio del greco. . . 30 Pressutti, Regesta Hon. III 1: no. 1024, p. 174,
a Parigi . . ., Rivista di storia della chiesa in Italia 5: dated 25 January, 1218, and ibid. no. 1029, dated 26
266-268, 1951). January.

when Pope Innocent IV appointed Niccol6 of But time passed and nothinghappened. The
Durazzo, a born Greek, to the bishopricof Co- Emperor Michael became increasinglyinterested
trone,he extolledthe learningand the knowledge in churchunion as fortunesmiledbenignlyupon
of Greek and Latin which Niccolo had for some the aggressive designs of Charles of Anjou in
time employedas a clerk in the service of the southernItaly and Sicily. In Januaryor Febru-
ApostolicCamera.31 A decade later,earlyin the ary of 1267, 1\lichaelrecalled to the new pope,
year 1264, the ByzantineEmperorMichael VIII Clement IV, his earlier effortsto achieve the
Palaeologus wrotePope Urban IV thateffortsat union of the churchesby coming to an agree-
churchunionhad long been abortedby the failure ment with Alexander IV and Urban IN-. He
of legates and envoys to know both Greek and especiallyrecalledhis hopefulreceptionof Urban's
Latin as well as by the linguisticand intellectual lettersat the hands of the accomplishedNiccol6o
inadequacyof theirinterpreters, a complaintnot of Cotrone,who was so distinguished forhis piety
uncommonin European diplomatichistory. The and clemency, learning and understanding, Lta
precedingChristmas,however,therehad arrived TOr) LEpWTaCTOJV E7rtOKO7rOV KorpTvr1s KJVpOV)NKOXaXOU,
in ConstantinoplePope Urban's Greek-speaking avSpos 7raco-?7sEVu~aLELaSKal E7riLELKEaS /EUrTOl KaL
nuncio, Bishop Niccolo of Cotrone,and so the iroXXtV aUXOUPTOS E'XXO-yt/ont7Ta TE Kal TVOEotlV.33
Emperorexpectednow to be enlightened concern- If therewere not manymen of the personalca-
it
ing both Latin doctrineand the Latin patristic pacityof Niccol6 of Cotronein southernItaly,
was merely because men of capacity who can
traditionin its relationto the Greekfathers.32
carryout difficult and delicatediplomaticassign-
31 Bitllarizi
ii Franciscanuni Rokiianioruiii ed. mentsare always hard to find. But therewere
pontificumn,
J. H. Sbaralea, 1: doc. 587, pp. 764-765, Rome, 1759; plenty of Greeks in southernItaly, a land of
Girolamo Golubovich, Biblioteca bio-bibliografica 1: Basilian monachism,where,as we have seen, the
257-258, Quaracchi, 1906: ". . . mandamus . . . dilectum
filium magistrum Nicolaum de Durachio Camerae nos- sees of Oppido and Gerace
retainedthe Greek
trae clericum, in latina et graeca lingua peritum,virum rite until 1473 and Bova until 1573.
utique litteratum. . . ." See also N. Festa, Ancora la Undoubtedlya trainedLatin personnelwhich
lettera di Michele Paleologo a Clemente IV, Bessarione knew Greek was badly needed by the Roman
6: 531-532, 1899, who notes Niccolo's appointment to
the see of Cotrone, and observes that the Nicene Em-
Curia in its relationswiththe Greeks,and prop-
peror Theodore II Lascaris addressed to Niccol6 his erlyeducatedpersonswereas hard to findas they
tract on the procession of the Holy Spirit, which by were necessary. Humbert de Romanis, general
its "tone of inflexibleOrthodoxy must have helped make oftheDominicanorder(1254-1263), forexample,
fruitless the attempts at conciliation during the pontifi- complained in his Opusculutmittripartituwk1t
that
cate of Alexander IV [15 Dec. 1254-1261], with whom
Theodore was also in direct correspondence." Altaner, Greek, mnich needed for missionary was
activitv,
Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 53: 445, n. 15, is mistaken hardlyto be foundeven at the Curia wherethe
when he states "ob Nikolaus . . . ein geborener Grieche Greek correspondencewas a bafflingproblem.
war, ist nirgends direkt bezeugt:" that Niccol6 of Du- Legates had to dependupon the uncertainknowl-
razzo was in fact a Greek is expressly stated in Pope
Urban IV's letter to the Byzantine Emperor MIichael
edge and capacityof translators. Humbert,how-
VIII in 1264: ". . . tuaeque gentis origine . . ." (Luke ever, stressesthe importanceof the Latins' pos-
Wadding, Annales MIinioriiiii 2: 259, 1628; Bid arium sessingand readingthe whole rangeof significant
7raitciscanumiiii 2: 565, 1761). Greektheology, togetherwiththeacts of theGreek
32 For the Latin version of the Emperor Michael
councils,the textsof the canon law (stafuta), the
VIII's letter to Pope Urban, see Luke Wadding, Annales
AfIinorumz,ad ann. 1264, in vol. 2: 264-268, Lyon, 1628; lari-il ]Iraniciscanitniii 2: 564-568. Cf. Odorico Rinaldi
new edition, vol. 4: 250-252, Quaracchi, 1931; and Jean [Raynaldus], Annales ecclesiastici, ad ann. 1264, in vol.
Guiraud, ed., Les Registres d'Urbain IV (1261-1264) 2: 13: secc. 58 ff.,pp. 122 ff., 1692. Altaner, Zeitschlr.f.
no. 748, pp. 356-357, Paris, 1901: ". . . et predicti nuntii Kirclhenigesclh.53: 445-446, quotes the contemporary
immediate loqui ad invicem ignorabant, sed eorum col- Byzantine historian, George Pachymeres. in furtherat-
loquium per illos, qui in medio stabant interpretes,non testation of Niccolo of Cotrone's learning and facility
existentes sufficientesin scientia nec potentes amborum in both languages (De Michaele Palaeologo, v, 8, in PG
capere intellectus,cum recte ac vere non potuissent ex- 143: 812A): "aivpa 6yLov o6vra KaL 3Lry-VcTovvrTa KarT e2rLa-
ponere, et in palam reducere ambarum Ecclesiarum dog- Tr'nv m4vOeLav (cited also by Golubovich, 1: 258).
mata ad centrumveritatis et normam vere fideipervenire 33 N. Festa, Lettera inedita dell' Imperatore Michele
minime potuerunt." Cf. Franz Dolger, Regesten. d. VIII Paleologo al Pontefice Clemente IV, in Bessarione
Kaiserurkunden d. ostrbiiiischenReiches, pt. 3, no. 1923, 6: 48, July-December, 1899; Golubovich, 1: 258, who
p. 45 (Munich, 1932), and note also no. 1905, p. 41. The appears to have mis-read the letter; D6lger, Regesten,
pope's reply to Michael is given in Wadding, Annales 2: pt. 3, no. 1942, p. 50; Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Iirclhcigcsch.
268-271, 1628; new edition, 2: 252-257, 1931, and Bul- 53: 454.

liturgy,and the Greekecclesiasticalhistories.34It cationof MichaelVIII, to clearthewayforCharles

was a loftyideal,beyondthereachof thethirteenth of Anjou's projectedattack upon the Byzantine
century. empire. Charles was awakened fromhis dream
There were probablyfew westernersbetterin- of conquestby the Sicilian Vespers in March of
formedon Greek affairsin the later thirteenth 1282, but the unionof the churcheswas soon de-
centurythan the generalof the Dominicanorder, nounced by the young Emperor AndronicusII
whose friarswere to be foundalmosteverywhere Palaeologuswhenhe succeededhis father,Michael,
in the Byzantineempire. Humbertde Romanis the following December. John Veccus was
was well aware of opportunities being missed in promptly removedfromthepatriarchalthrone,and
the Levant for want of enoughmissionarieswho sentintoexile, but he always defendedhis Catho-
spoke Greek. In July of 1274, however, the lic views againstboth his successorsand the em-
union of the churcheswas proclaimedat Lyon, peroruntilhis deathin 1297.36
wherethe Byzantinehistorian,GeorgeAcropolita, Amongthefriendsand followersof JohnVeccus
was among the representatives of the Emperor wereConstantineMeliteniotes, a memberof a fam-
Michael VIII, and in the followingJanuarythe ily distinguished in Byzantineintellectualhistory,
act of unionwas ratifiedin the imperialpresence and GeorgeMetochites,fatherof TheodoreMeto-
in Constantinople.UndoubtedlyMichael's fearof chites,who became the firstministerof the Em-
Charles of Anjou's eastern ambitions,added to perorAndronicusII and the chiefscholarof his
Pope GregoryX's own suspicionof Charles,had generation. ConstantineMeliteniotesadhered to
removedthe big stones ratherquickly fromthe his Latin views, despite the depositionof John
path to union. In the late springof 1275 John Veccus, whom he followed into exile; anxious
Veccus (BEKKOS) was elected patriarchof Con- always to achieve the intercommunion of the
stantinople,for by this time he had become the churches,Constantine wrotetwo long tractson the
firmpartisanof churchunionwhichhe was to re- processionof the Holy Spirit ex patre fifioque,
main throughouthis troubledlife. In April of in whichreligiousfervorgot ratherthe betterof
1277 JohnVeccus sent Pope JohnXXI a profes- his judgment,for he sought to show that the
sion of what was in facthis Catholicfaith,with chieffathersof the fourthand fifthcenturieshad
recognitionboth of the double processionof the also taughtthedoubleprocession.37This doctrine
Holy Spirit and the primacyof the Roman see.35 was also maintainedby George Metochites,who
The historyof the Councilof Lyon and its con-
sharedboththeunionistviewsand themisfortunes
sequences are well known. Its brilliantsuccess
of JohnVeccus and ConstantineMeliteniotes, and
was short-lived,however,for its work was de-
assailed in harsh tones the contraryopinionsof
stroyedby the French Pope Martin IV in No-
Maximus Planudes, Manuel Moschopoulos,and
vemberof 1281, withtheunprovokedexcommuni-
George of Cyprus.38 George Metochites died
34Hum. de Rom., Opusculum tripart.,ii, 17, ed. Ed- about 1328, aftermany years of confinement in
ward Brown, Appendix ad fasciculumnrerum expetenda- prison,"thelast championof theunionof Lyon." 39
ritmn2: 220-221, London, 1690, cited and discussed by
Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 53: 446-447: "Nunc 36 George Pachymeres,De AndronicoPalaeologo, I,
autem proh dolor! ita pauci sunt inter Latinos qui sci- 4, and iiI, 29 (PG 144: 23-24, 298); Louis Petit, Jean
ant [Graecorum] linguam, quod vix in curia etiam Beccos, Dictionn.de theologiecatholique8: cols. 656-
Romana invenitur quandoque, qui literas, quas Graeci 660, Paris, 1924; V. Laurent, echos d'Orient 25: 316-
mittuntinterdum, sciant [read sciat] legere. Et quan- 319, 1926.
docunque mittunturaliqui ad eos, oportet habere inter- 37 Const. Meliten., Orationes duae de ecclesiastica
pretes de quibus nescitur utrum plene intelligant illam unione Latinorum et Graecorum et de processione Spiri-
linguam vel, si sciant eam, utrum fideliter interpreten- tus Sancti per Filium, ed. Leone Allacci, in PG 141, cols.
tur. . . . 1032-1137, 1140-1273.
35Aug. Theiner and Fr. Miklosich, Monumenta spec- 38 For the works of George Metochites against Pla-
tantia ad unionernecclesiarum graecae et romancre,21-28, nudes and Moschopoulos, see Allacci, ed., in PG 141,
Vienna, 1872; with Latin translation in Mansi, Conc. cols. 1276-1305, 1308-1405; cf. S. Salaville, Georges le
24: cols. 183-190, and Migne, PG 141, 943-950. Al- Mtochite, Dictionn. de theologiecatholique6: cols.
though Greek writers and others have often regarded 1238-1239, Paris, 1920.
John Veccus as particularly sympathetic toward the 39 Cf. Thomas Kaeppeli, Deux nouveaux ouvrages de
Latin language and culture, Fr. G. Hofmann has re- Fr. Philippe Incontri de Pera, Archivum FratrurnPrae-
cently shown that Veccus knew little or no Latin and dicatorum 23: 174-175, Rome, 1953, with references. R.
had no knowledge of Latin patristic literature beyond J. Loenertz, Theodore Metochite et son pere, ibid. 23:
a few texts available to him in translation (Patriarch 184-194, makes some corrections in the chronology of
Johann Bekkos und die lateinische Kultur, Orientalia H. G. Beck's recent study of Theodoros Metochites: Die
Christiana Periodica 11: 141-164, 1945). Weltbildesim 14. Jahrhundert,
Krise des byzantinischen

4. THE FRANCO-GREEK ROMANCES More's Roman de la guerre de Troie was

The Latins made a profoundand enduringim- translated,as the HOlEgos ris Tpwa'bos,intojog-
pression upon the Greeks. Latin theologyand trot Greek "political verse," and thus, says M.
canon law were naturallynot widely acceptable Longnon, "par un piquant retour, les croises
in Greekintellectual and ecclesiasticalcircleswhich ramenent aux rives troyennesles herosd'Homere,
had themselveslong been nourishedon a powerful travestisen chevaliers courtois."3
patristicand legaltradition.However,at thecourt The knights ofthe Round Table,rpairE'71s
ri1sorpoy-
of Bonifaceof Montferrat, Latin king of Thessa- 'yvAns, became Greek heroes; the name of Queen
lonica,as at thatof his successor,the troubadours, Guineverewas difficult to sayandtowriteinGreek;
Raimbautde Vacqueyras,Elias Cairel, and Gau- butLancelotdu Lac,AacvEXc~ros 'EKALgVS, was easy,
celm Faidit, wrote their lyrics in praise of the and he soon took his place in popular Greeklegend
chivalrywhich had conquered Greece. Already beside such worthies as Achilles, Hector and
duringthe long reignof the LatinophilEmperor Theseus. Floire et Blanchefleur and the Vieux
Manuel Comnenuswesternways and feudalcus- Chevalier(4 irpEofovs tr7rorrqs)were both put into
toms had become fashionablein the Byzantine Greekpoliticalverse,as were the long epics, true
capital. Now at thefeudalcourtsof theCourtenay Greek romnans d'aventures,on the hardyloves of
in Constantinople,of the Villehardouinin the Lvbistros and Rhodamne and the betterknown
Morea, and especiallyof the Lusignan in Cyprus Belthandros and Chrysantza.4 If the French
the ronans courtoiswere sung. It was the cru- models of the two latterworks still remainun-
saders who broughtthe French epopce into the known,their chivalricquality is apparent upon
Greek worldwhereit long outlivedtheirown po- even a hasty perusal,and the name Belthandros
litical domination.' We must look briefly,even couldwell be theFrenchBertrand. The romances
if very superficially, at this development. thus proved well adapted to the soil of Greece
Althoughtheoriginalredactionof a fewof these wheretheyeven came to know somethingof the
Franco-Greekromancesgoes back to thethirteenth popularitywhich they enjoyed in the western
world. A littlemoreshouldbe said of the Greek
century(or even the twelfth),mostof our extant
versionof the old Provengalromance,Floire et
texts date from the fourteenth,fifteenth, and Blanche
fleur,which appeared in its Greek dress
sometimesthe sixteenthcenturies. There is no
about the end of the fourteenthcenturvor so
need forus eitherto date or to describeeach one.2 (4)XcopLoS Kal q llaXr~ta bXcopE). This is thestory
Greek poets translatedinto their own language of the Saracen prince,Floire, and the Christian
theFrenchand Italiannarrativesof love and com- maiden, Blanchefleur,who was held captive by
bat,and also, to an evengreaterextent,wrotetheir the emir of "Babylon" (Cairo). The Byzantine
own. In the fourteenth centuryBenoit de Saint- poet has used the Tuscan version,the Cantaredi
Fiorio e Biancofiore, whichBoccacciohad followed
Munich, 1952, who has wrongly denied that Theodore
was the son of George Metochites. On the works of
in writing theFilocolo at thebehestofhis mistress,
Theodore and the wide range of his studies, see H. Fiammetta (about 1336). Texts of these ro-
Hunger, Theodoros Metochites als Vorlaufer des Hu- mances went back and forthbetween Italv and
manismus in Byzanz, B3yantinisclheZeitschrift45: 4-19, Greecelike travelers.
1952.
1Histoire litte'rairede la France 24: 528-532, 1896;
The historyof the Fourth Crusade,and of the
Dirk Chr. Hesseling, Essai sur la civilisation byzantine, states establishedas a resultof it, takes on the
351 if., Paris, 1907. Hesseling knew well the Byzantine same qualityof romanceand legendin the French
romance put in a setting of the chivalric customs of the and Greek redactionsof the Chr-onicl of the
French feudality: he edited Le Roman de Phlorios et
Platzia Phiore, in the Verhandelingender K. Akadeniie Longnon, L'Empire latin, p. 140; for a few hundred
van lletenschappen te Amiisterdam;z, Afdeeling Letter- verses, see [Antoine] Charles Gidel, Atudes sur 1a lit-
kunde, new series, 17: no. 4, 1917, as well as L'.4chilleide teraturL grecque inderne: Imitations en grec de nos
byzantine,ibid., 19: no. 3, 1919. The latter work, de- romktanis
de clhezaleriedeputisle XH' siecle, 197 ff.,Paris,
spite the poet's assurance that he had read Homer, has 1866.
nothingto do with the Iliad, Achilles being in fact mod- 4 J. A. Lambert [nee van der Kolf], ed., Le Roman
eled after that great hero of the Byzantine epic, Digenis de Liistros et Rhodamni, in the Verhandelingender K.
Akritas. Akadenie van Wetenschappen te Amisterdam,Afdeeling
2 The reader will find brief selections from a half Letterkunde,new series, 35, Amsterdam, 1935; the text
dozen or more of these romances in R. Cantarella, of Belthandros anid Chrysantza is given in P-mile Le-
Poeti bizantini 1: nos. 95, 101-107, pp. 215-217, 222-241, grand, Ribliothequiegrecque vulgaire 1: 125-168, Paris,
with notes on them in 2: 244-246, 252-269. 1880.

Morea, of whichlater Aragoneseand Italian ver- ate rounds of sightseeing. Their admirationfor
sions also exist. The Greekversionof the Chron- the world's greatestcity was unbounded; Ville-
icle of the Morea is in politicalverse, as is the hardouinand Robertde Clari bear ample witness
romance of Imberios and Margarona, which is to this effect. The Latins, commonpriestsand
takenfromPierre de Provenceet la belleMague- soldiers,tried also to learn Greek; they wanted
lonne, 'Io-roptarovi'HlirEpLov[Imberios, i.e. En to read theinscriptionson reliquaries,mosaics,and
Peire], vLovi Tc3v fBacnopv r's HpoOEf3rvas.5 The monuments.Some of theirearlyeffortsmake de-
Alexanderromance,whichfirstcame fromGreece lightfulstoriesof naiveteand ignorance,but they
whenit was put intoLatin by the ArchpriestLeo are storiesof persistence,too, and thispersistence
in Naples in the middleof the tenthcentury,was soon bore fruit.7 Guillaume le Breton, for ex-
now retranslatedinto Greek from a western ample,informs us thattheGreektextof Aristotle's
vernacular version, and thus strangelytrans- Metaphysics,brought from Constantinopleim-
formed,foundits way back home again, both in mediatelyafterthe conquest,and translatedfrom
verseand in prose. In Cyprus,towardthe end of Greek into Latin, proved to be so conduciveto
the Byzantineperiod,some of Petrarch'ssonnets heresy in the Universityof Paris that in 1210
were translatedinto Greek in the originalmeter, it was orderedto be burned,and under pain of
and the Teseide of Boccaccio was translated,with excommunicationits reproduction,study, and
some changes, into Greek political verse as the possessionwere absolutelyforbidden.8Everyone
Marriage of Theseus and Emilia ( EsO-Ers Kal knows, however,that Aristotlewas to have his
'ErXLcas yaugot). The listof suchtranslations from day in theUniversityof Paris.
French or Italian into Greek could be expanded, Curiouslyinterestingand pertinenthere is a
but it is not necessaryto do so. It is sometimes Greek manuscript,with some handsome minia-
difficult,however,to discoverthe westernmodel tures, of the popular romance of Barlaam and
upon which a given Greek romancewas based; Josaphat,in themarginsof whichthereis written,
the reason is by and large the originalityof the in a very early thirteenth-century hand, a literal
Greek work,whichis more likelyto be an imita- French translation. This manuscript,unfortun-
tionthana translationof the westernmodel. The ately mutilated,is in the Athonitemonasteryof
view of lifeand love portrayedalways remainsin- Iveron (formerly MS. no. 69), theonlymonastery
wardly Greek whateverexternal conventionsof on the Holy Mountainto submitdirectlyto the
westernfeudalsocietyand literaturemay be em- authorityof Pope InnocentIII afterthe Fourth
ployed to carry the narrativeor to provide the Crusade.9 JeanLongnonhas paused to speculate
setting.6
7 Cf. Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 53: 447 ff.;
When Constantinoplehad been occupiedby the Longnon, L'Empire latin, 138-139, with some indication
Fourth Crusadersin April of 1204, Latin clerics of sources.
and knightsimmediatelybegan the most passion- 8 [Guillelmus Armoricus,] Gesta Philippi Augusti, 155,
ed. H. F. Delaborde, 1: 233, 1882: "In diebus illis lege-
Cf. in general Sp. P. Lampros [Lambros], Collection bantur Parisius libelli quidam ab Aristotele, ut dicebatur,.
de romans grecs en langue vulgaire et en vers, xxvi-xl, compositi qui docebant metaphysicam,delati de novo a
Paris, 1880. Among other texts (Callimachus and Constantinopoli,et a greco in latinum translati,qui, quo-
Chrysorrhoe',the seventeenth-century version of Digenis niam non solum predicte heresi sententiis subtilibus oc-
Akritas, and a poem on Bad Fortune and Good), Lam- casionem prebebant,imo et aliis nondum inventisprebere
pros has republished the Imberios and Margarona (op. poterant, iussi sunt omnes comburi, et sub pena excom-
cit., 239-288), which was also republishedthe same year municationis cautum est in codem concilio, ne quis cos
by tmile Legrand, Bibliotheque grecque vulgaire 1: 283- de cetero scribere,legere presumeretvel quocumque modo
320. See the learned but rather disorganized monograph habere." Cf. also Robert d'Auxerre, Chron., ed. M. J.
by N. A. Bees [Bevs], Der franzisisch-mittelgriechische J. Brial, in Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la
Ritterroman "Imberios u. Margarona" und die Grfind- France 18: 278-279,1822.
ungssage des Daphniklosters bei Athen, Berlin, 1924, and 9 See Paul Meyer, Fragments d'une ancienne traduction
H. Schreiner, Der geschichtliche Hintergrund zu Im- frangaise de Barlaam et Joasaph faite sur le texte grec
berios (Pierre de Province) und Margarona (La Belle au commencementdu XIIIe siecle, Bibliotheque de l'ecole
Maguelonne), in By-. Zeitschr. 44, 524-533, 1951: Im- des chartes 27: 313-330, 1866; Longnon, L'Empire latin,
berios is said to be Pedro II of Aragon. 137; Sp. P. Lambros, Catalogue of the Greek manuscripts
6 The late Professor J. B. Bury seems to me, never- on MlountAthos 2: 149, Cambridge, 1900, identifiesthis
theless, to have overemphasized the Greek independence MS. as no. *4583 (formerly 463). He wrongly assigns
of western models in his Romanes Lecture (1911), on it to the fourteenthcentury. (There are seventeen other
the Romances of chivalry on Greek soil, published in Athonite MSS. containing the Greek version of the
the decennial issue of the Ronzanes Lectures, 1911-1920, legend of Barlaam and Josaphat.) Cf. Sirarpie der
Oxford. 1920. Nersessian, L'Illustration du Roman de Barlaam et

on thefact,"thata Frenchmanof theLatin empire amongtheLatin conquistadores bythesecondgen-

[of Constantinople]could interesthimselfin this eration. The Chronicleof the Morea thus repre-
workand knewenoughliteraryGreekto translate, sentsPrinceGuillaumede VillehardouinofAchaea
withsome mistakesto be sure,thisverylong text, as speakingGreekto his captors,JohnPalaeologus
and also . . . that this man, who was without and the Emperor Michael VIII, duringhis im-
doubt a cleric, ratherthan renderthe work in prisonment, afterthedisastrousbattleof Pelagonia
Latin, preferredto make a French translation, (1259). Guillaumehad been bornin Kalamata in
undoubtedly to make it accessibleto a largernum- the southernPeloponnesus. He had spokenboth
ber of his compatriots." 10 Actually this trans- Greek and French all his life. In 1258 he had
latorworkedforhis own pleasureand instruction married the Epirote Greek princess, Helena
or, at most,witha small audiencein mind; if he Angela Comnena,who was said to be "as beauti-
had entertained the ambitionof popularityforhis ful as anotherHelen of Troy": doubtlessthey
translation,he would probably have put into spoke Greek together,for it is unlikelythat this
Frenchthe Latin text whichenjoyedan immense second Helen could speak French.14 It is not
vogue in Europe at this time." The legend of difficult to findsuch examples,but one moremust
Barlaam and Josaphatwas to become extremely suffice.In the late springof the year 1275 when
popularin France,in variousvernacularversions, Duke Jean de la Roche of Athens,with a few
during the thirteenthand fourteenthcenturies. hundredchosen knightsat his command,looked
Some of these versionswere based upon an old down froma heightnear Neopatras upon an op-
Latin translationmade directlyfromthe Greek posing Byzantinearmyof, it was alleged,30,000
which was printedduring the late Renaissance mounted men, he observed in Greek, with a
under the name of George of Trebizond, but phrasefromHerodotus,that"therewere a lot of
which is actually found in manuscriptsof the people there, but few men" (lroX&'s Xabs, oXtyoL
twelfthcentury-." In any event it has recently avapOprot).15 Here is a complete amalgam of
been shown that the firstdirect translationof Greekand Frenchcultures.
Barlaam and JosaphatfromGreek intoLatin was
done in Constantinople, in theyear 1048-1049. by 5. THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
a South-Italianclericin the suite of Argyrus,the A. BARLAAM AND PAULUS
so-calledduke of southernItaly,son of the Lom-
bard MAeles of Barnl" Greek-speakingmembersof the mendicantor-
A knowledgeof demoticGreek was common ders were oftenemployed,as we have seen, by
both the popes and the Byzantineemperorson
Joasaph, Paris, 1937, and see especially the study of Fr. mattersrelatingto churchunion in the thirteenth
Jean Sonet, Le Roman de Barlaum et Josaphat: Re- and fourteenth centuries.' They were prominent
cherches stir la tradition manuscrite latine et fran-aise
(= Recueil de travaux d'histoire et de philologie de
in Rome and Avignon in theactivitiesof the Curia
l'Universite de Louvain, 3rd ser., fasc. 33), 165-168, 194, and the chancery,and renderedthe papacy many
Louvain, 1949. services in the troubled affairs of the Levant
10 Longnon, L'Ernpire latin, 139.
11P. Meyer, in Bibl. de l'ecole des chartes 27: 316,
where theyhad wide connections. WVemay omit
1866, believes the translator worked for himself, "et de many importantfigures already discussed by
fait, son oeuvre, loin de se repandre, parait etre restee Altaner.who has collectedmuchbibliography con-
renfermeedans le seul manuscrit du couvent d'Iveron."
J. Sonet, Le Roman de Barlaam et Josaphat, 166, holds 11 For Guillaume de Villehardouin's command of
the same view. Greek, note the Chronique de Moree, ed. Jean Longnon,
12 Hermann Zotenberg and Paul Meyer, Barlaam und par. 308, p. 112, Paris, 1911: ". . . li princes Guillermes,
Josaphat: Franzosisches Gedicht des dreizehnten Jahr- qui sages estoit et parloit auques bien le grec . . "
hunderts von Gui de Cambrai (Bibliothek des litterar- and the XpOVLK6V ToV Mop'cos, ed. John Schmitt, v. 4130,
ischen Vereins in Stuttgart,75), 317-318, Stuttgart,1864, p. 274, London, 1904: "6 irp'yKuras, c&scpo'vtuos, pcowuaitKa
and cf. Meyer, Bibl. de l'ecole des chartes 27: 314, 1866; roi l7rEKplq," and cf. Schmitt, introd., xxxix.
see chiefly Fr. Jean Sonet, Le Roman de Barlaam et 15 Marino Sanudo Torsello, Istoria del regno di Ro-
Josaphat, 54, 74-75. mania, ed. Chas. Hopf, Chroniques grico-roiktanesin-

13 Paul Peeters, La Premiere traductionlatine de Bar- edites ou1peu connues, 121, Berlin, 1873: "Il Duca veduto
laam et Joasaph et son original grec, Analecta Bollandi- senza mirar ben detto essercito, disse in greco: 'Poli
ana 49: 276-312, 1931; J. Sonet, Le Roman de Barlaam laos, oligo atropi,' cioe grande essercito e pochi Vuomini."
et Josaphat, 63-65. On Argyrus, see Louis Brehier, in Cf. Herodotus, VII, 210, and Diogenes Laertius, vi, 40.
the Dictionn. d'hist. et de geogr. eccles. 4: 93-95, Paris, 1 Cf. Altaner, Domtinikanermissionen des 13. Jahrhun-
1930. derts, 15-19.

cerningthem.2 Only a few very importantand logical disputation. Challenge and opportunity
notablepersonswho were thoroughlyat home in could not be overlooked. The champion was
both Latin and Greek can be dealt with at any foundin the Calabrian monk,Barlaam, who had
length. With foursuch personsI wish especially firstcome to Constantinople a half dozen or more
to deal, the south Italians, Barlaam and Paulus, years beforethis, where he was much honored
and the convertedGreeks, Simon Atumano and and had been made abbot of the monasteryof St.
Demetrius Cydones. Barlaam and Cydones are Salvator some time before 1331. In that year
far fromunknowntoday, but they will be even Barlaam had withdrawnto Thessalonica after
betterknown,I trust,whenthepresentgeneration being defeatedby Gregoras,accordingto the lat-
of Byzantinescholars have finishedtheir work. ter's own accountat least,in a contestof learning
Paulus and Simon Atumano are quite obscure held in Constantinople.5Both Gregorasand the
figures,entirelyunknownto somehistoriansof the imperialhistorian,John Cantacuzenus,are very
Greek scholarshipof the Trecento,but there is prejudiced against Barlaam, although Cantacu-
somethingof importanceto be said concerning zenus is at least once moved to praise him as a
them. man "of sharp intelligence,perspicacious,and a
Barlaam firstcomes into prominenceat the masterat impartinghis ideas, learned in Euclid,
beginningof the fourthdecade of the century. Aristotle,and Plato, and thereforeof widespread
In 1333-1334 two Dominicans,the Italian Fran- fame."6 Barlaam was now broughtback from
cesco da Camerinoand the EnglishmanRichard, Thessalonica. He defendedthe Greekdoctrineof
whom Pope JohnXXII had recentlyconsecrated the processionof the Holy Spirit in a discussion
missionarybishopsof Kertchand Chersonin the withBishop Francescoof Kertch,witha willing-
Crimea,weredirectedto stopoffat Constantinople ness to find a solution that aroused suspicion
on theirway to the East to take up the perennial in thehostileatmosphere of Constantinople.After
questionof churchunion with the EmperorAn- this Barlaam returnedto Thessalonica where he
dronicusIII, who showed some dispositionto re- began writing,on the procession of the Holy
turnto thepro-unionpolicyof old Michael VIII.3 Spirit, some of those works of Graeco-Latin
Nicephorus Gregoras informsus that the new scholastictheologywhichsoon came to the atten-
PatriarchJohnCalecas, fearingto undertakethe tion and evoked the ire of the younghesychastic
defenseof Greek Orthodoxyhimself,and lacking monk, Gregory Palamas. Gregory promptly
confidencein the learning and capacity of his
bishops, appealed to Gregoras to representthe 5 Cf. R. Guilland, Essai sur Nicephore Grigoras, 16-17,
20-22, 165 ff.,274-275, Paris, 1926, which account, how-
Byzantine church, "although we were not en-
ever, reflectssome of the hostilityof Gregoras and John
rolled in the list of priests" (Etw S' ro tEpoiV Cantacuzenus for Barlaam, and repeats some of their
KaraXo'yovTvyxavovras). NicephorusGregoras,how- inaccurate statementsconcerning him.
ever,declinedto do so, on the groundsthata long 6 John Cant., Hist., ii, 39 (PG 153: 661C).
experienceof such dialecticalencountersshowed 7Barlaam was born about 1290 at Seminara, in the
ecclesiastical province of Reggio, which was, together
clearlythat no constructiveresultscould be ex- with Santa Severina, still retained in the Byzantine tak-
pected therefrom.4 tika of the beginning of the fourteenthcentury as sub-
A Greek championhad to be found,however, ject to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople (cf.
for the populace of Constantinopleenjoyed theo- Gustav Parthey, Hieroclis Syntecdemius et notitiae graecae
episcopatuumtii,216, 228, 239, 258, Berlin, 1866, and C.
2 Altaner, Kenntnis des Griechischen,Zeitschr. f. Korolevskij, in Dictionn. d'hist. et de geogr. eccles. 6:
Kirchengesch.53: 449-450,453-460,and cf. his other 1191-1193, Paris, 1932). Although the taktika are un-
studies listed on p. 436; note also GiovanniMercati, realistic, the Greek rite long survived in Calabria (cf.
Notizie di Procoro e DemetrioCidone (Studi e Testi, Paul L'Huillier, The Greek Church in Italy in the Mid-
56), 101 ff. The mendicantorderswere active also in dle Ages, The Christian East 2: nos. 7-8, 206-215, 1953-
Greek-speakingCalabria in the thirteenthand four- 1954). Barlaam, qui italica natus esset in Graecia, as
teenthcenturies(cf. Fr. A. PrimaldoCoco's Saggio di Petrarch notes (Epp. fain., XVIII, 2), was undoubtedly
storia Francescana di Calabria dalle origini at sec. born in Greek Orthodoxy, spent his first years in a
XVIII, Taranto,1931). Calabrian Greek monastery,and remained an Orthodox
3 Aug. Theiner,Veteramonumenta Poloniae et Lithua- Greek until 1341 (cf. Giannantonio Mandalari, Fra Bar-
niae 1: doc. 462,pp. 350-351,Rome,1860; R.-J.Loenertz, laamo Calabrese, maestro del Petrarca, 31-35, 71-73,
Les Missionsdominicaines en Orient,ArchivumFratrum Rome, 1888, and esp. M. Jugie, Barlaam est-il ne
Praedicatorumn 2: 10, 31-32, 1932; Altaner,Zeitschr.f. Catholique? Achos d'Orient 39: 100-125, 1940): in fact
Kirchengesch. 53: 458. it appears to be devotion to Greek Orthodoxy that led
4 Nic. Greg.,Hist. byzant.,x, 8 (PG 148: cols. 701, Barlaam about 1326-1327 to go to Constantinople,and
704A and ff.). he was much honored in the Greek world until 1338-

42 KENNETH M. SETTON [PROC. AMER. P-HIL. SOC.
challengedBarlaam, who took the position that XII in Avignon (1339). Here he seems to have
therecould be no proofof that which relatedto met Petrarch,who has been identified by Manda-
God, whichbroughtforthanotherantagonisticre- lari and othersas theFrancescoto whomBarlaam
sponse fromGregory,1rposrovBapXaa&M ypa4ovtraaddressed his attack upon the papal claim to
rWv
Ot OVK Eortv airoOELsEr Oi~EVOs OELWV.8 the primacyof jurisdictionover all Christendom
Barlaam was thus led to go back to Constanti- (W'xpo-rE 4payKLuKE). 11
nople,determinedto investigatehesychasm. Un- At the Curia itself, however, Barlaam dis-
doubtedlythere were too narrow limits to his played understanding of, and tolerancefor,both
patienceand his sympathy.All Barlaam saw was the Greek and Latin pointsof view, althoughhe
the practisian in the quietist or "hesychastic" insistedthatin his opinionchurchunionwas to be
mood, his chin on his chest,holdinghis breath achievedonly if the Latins were capable of great
as longas he could,his head filledwithrepetitious wisdomand greatgenerosity. The second Coun-
prayer,hiseyesfixeduponhis navel(0,.u?$aXbVtXos),'cil of Lvon had failed from lowness of motive
untilhe should be rewardedwith the contempla- (1274). The Latins must help the Greeks,not
tion of that divine lightwhich had made Christ merelyseek to takeadvantageof theirmisfortunes.
resplendent on MountTabor, The timewas at hand,the necessityurgent,fora
at thetransfiguration
an anticipationof heavenitself.10We are not di- Latin expeditionor crusade whichshould remove
rectlyconcernedwithhesychasm, however,or with fromConstantinople the ever lengthening shadow
the burningquestion of whetherthis light was of the Ottoman Turkish advance. If the Latins
corporeal or incorporeal,created or uncreated. would undertakean expeditionagainstthe lurks,
Sufficeto say thatBarlaam ridiculedthis feverish theGreeks wvould be morewillingto participatein
mysticismboth in Constantinopleand in Thes- a generalcouncilthatmightrestorethe seamless
salonica upon his returnthere. The hesychasts garmentof an undivided church (utiags cruent
soughttheaid and leadershipof GregoryPalamas, [Gracci| parati rcciPcr 7Crbavestrorti lega-
The greatobstacleto churchunionhad
who now leftMount Athos to go to Thessalonica tortorun).
1
to defend,both by the writtenand the spoken 11 Barlaam, C-onitraprimtatninipapae, 1 (PG 151

1255D); cf. Giannant. Mandalari, Foa Barlaa;nio Cala-
word, the doctrinewhichwas to bear his name, l)rcse, 50-55. Both Fr. Lo Parco, Petrarca c Rarlaam,
againstthe publicand privateattacksof Barlaam etc., 12-17, Reggio Calabria, 1905, and Ciro Giannelli,
(1338). At thispointBarlaam was employedby Un progetto di Barlaam per l'unione delle Chiese, Mlis-
the ByzantineEmperorAndronicusIII on an im- cellanea (Giovzanni A[ercati 3 (= Studi e Testi, 123)
176-177. n. 33, identifythe Francesco as Flranicesco da
portantdiplomaticmission to Robert the Wise Camerino, with whom Barlaam debated in Colnstanti-
in Naples, to Philip VI in Paris, and to Benedict nople in 1334, but the direct use of the Christian namne
in addressing a bishop seems rather odd and even lack-
1339 (cf. Jugie, EO 39: 103), when he became involved ing in respect. On the Greek Orthodox faith of Bar-
in the hesychastic controversy with Gregory Palamas. laam, in which he was born and to which he long re-
For a synopsis of Barlaam's work, see Jugie, Barlaam, mained true, note Giuseppe Schir6, Un documentoinedito
in the Dictiowm.d'hist. et de getogr.eccles. 6: 826-832, sulla fede di Barlaam Calabro, Arch. stor. Cal. c Litc.
and also the valuable work of Giuseppe Schiro, I rap- 8: 155-166, 1938. Guilland is unduly anti-Barlaam (Kws-
porti di Barlaam Calabro con le due Chiese di Roma e sai, 23-26).
di Bisanzio, Archizio storico per la Calabria e la Lucania 12 Leone Allacci, De ecclesiae occident. atqne orient.
1: 325-357, 1931, with eight new letters of Barlaam, perpetntaconsensione, cols. 791-792, Cologne, 1648, re-
ibid. 2: 71-89, 426-437, 1932; 5: 59-77, 1935; 6: 80-99, printedin PG, 151: 1331-1332,and Barlaam's firstOra'io
302-325, 1936; 8: 47-71, 1938. pro tnionC habita, ibid., cols. 1332C-1337A, and ff. TIhe
8 Gregory Palamas, Argumnenta ex codicibus Coislini- view long persisted that military aid against the Turks
anis (Cod. Paris. Coisl. 100, fol. 90), in PG 150: 834- would soon dispose the Greeks to church union; the im-
835, cited by M. Jugie, Dictionn. d'hist. et de guiogr. portant negotiations of 1355 employed Barlaam's ideas
ecclesiastiques 6: 820. as a point de depart, but the papacy rejected the pro-
9 Cf. John Cantacuzenus, Hist., ii, 39 (PG 153: 664C). posal of a general council (cf. 0. Halecki. Un Emiperetnr
10 Cf. the hesychastic posture prescribed and explained de Byzance a Ronie, 12, 32-35, 173, et alibi). It is not
by the early thirteenth-century Athonite monk, Nicepho- clear whether Barlaam actually pronounced these Latin
rus (who was part of Gregory Palamas' own inspira- discourses before the pope and the Curia; it is possible
tion), in his work De sobrietate et cordis custodiia,in that he did so, but his spoken Latin was rather poor (cf.
PG 147: 963-966, cited by Jugie, ibid., 821; see, in gen- Petrarch, Epp. fain., xVIII, 2) : in any event lhe pre-
eral, Jean Gouillard, Autour du Palamisme, Achos sented them in written form. C. Giannelli has pub-
d'Orient 37: 424-460, 1938, and Manuel Candal, Inno- lished, with a learned commentary,two Greek discourses
vaciones palamiticas en la doctrina de la gracia, in Mis- of similar content to the two Latin ones, but with dif-
cellanea Giovanni Alercati 3 (= Studi e Testi, 123) ferenttexts (Un progetto di Barlaam, Misc. Giov. 211cr-
65-103. Citta del Vaticano, 1946. cati 3: 154-208).

neverbeen dogma. It was, as Barlaam now told The missionwhichBarlaam had undertakenin
the pope and the Curia, the bittermemoryof past 1339 failedof its purpose,forthepope wantedre-
injusticeand mistreatment: unionbeforemakinga seriouseffortto send mili-
taryaid to the Byzantinecapital. Besides this,a
Know thisforthefact,thata difference of dogma
does not so muchremovethe heartsof the Greeks sizable militaryforcewould have been almost as
fromyou as thehatredwhichhas enteredintotheir difficult to recruitin this decade as churchunion
spiritagainst the Latins, as a consequenceof the was to achieve,forpoliticalconditionsin theWest
many great evils which the Greekshave suffered were tense and a source of grave anxietyin the
fromtheLatinsat diversetimes,and are stillsuffer- Curia. Philip VI of France had indeedtakenthe
ing day by day. Unlessthishatredis firstremoved, crossat Paris in October,1333 (under Pope John
unionwill notbe possible.. . . Know thisalso, that XXII), but in March, 1336, Pope Benedicthad
the commonpeopleof Greecehave not sent me to releasedhim fromhis crusadingvow because of
seek aid fromyou and union,but onlythe emperor, his worseningrelationswith the ambitiousyoung
and he has done so in secret,and unlessaid is first King Edward III of England."5 Barlaamreported
sentto thoseregions,he will notbe able to showhis
hand to his people,to the effectthathe does want to theimperialgovernment, and tookup again the
unionwithyou....13 controversy with Gregory Palamas, who had
turnedBarlaam's absenceto advantageby attack-
Barlaam did not exaggerate. The estrangement ing his views and advancinghis own hesychastic
of Greeksand Latins was of long standing. Time doctrinewith its tenuous distinctionbetweenthe
had takenits toll of bitterness. The causes were essence(ovo-La)ofGodandan operation (evep'yELa)
manybut may be summarized-centuriesof theo- or manifestation thereof. Barlaam chargedPala-
logical rancorand rival claimsto jurisdiction;the mas with heresy,and the reluctantpatriarchof
ill feelingand distrustengenderedby theFirst and Constantinople, John Calecas (1334-1347), was
Second Crusades; the massacre of the Latins in obligedto summonPalamas fromThessalonicato
Constantinople(1182); the retaliatorysack of submithis noveldoctrineto conciliaradjudication.
Thessalonicaby theNormans(1185) ; and, finally, Palamas wentfirstto Mount Athos (1340-1341),
the Fourth Crusade,withits establishment of the where he held long discussionswith the monks,
Latin empirein the capital city on the Bosporus and wherea declarationof thehesychasts'mystical
(1204-1261). If many Greeks thus entertained faithwas draftedto receive the signaturesof a
in their spiritsthe hatred against the Latins of score of the most importantmonkson the Holy
which Barlaam warned the Pope, there were Mountain.16 Thus fortifiedby the Athonite
Latins who returnedtheiranimus in full. The monks,with the supportof the patriarchateand
crusadingplans put forthby the GermanDomini- most of the government, anxious to preservere-
can, William Adam, about 1333 includednot only ligious peace in the midstof seriouspoliticaland
the overthrowof the restoredByzantineempire militaryproblems,Palamas easily triumphedover
and the reconstruction of the Latin state in Con- Barlaam at the Council of Santa Sophia on 10
stantinoplebut almost the culturaldissolutionof
the Greek East: "except for the fact that Greek knew Latin in the "Byzantine Renaissance" which fol-
lowed the reign of Michael VIII (see R. Guilland, Es-
is one of the threefirstlanguages in which the sai, 57-90), and Constantinople swarmed with Italians
titleof our crucifiedLord was inscribed[upon the and Franks, the Greeks bore the Latins small love, "a
cross], I would advise properly,as I think,and cette epoque oui le nationalismebyzantin etait si intransi-
prudently,that the language be entirelyblotted geant et l'hostilite contre Rome si vive" (ibid., 78).
While Maximus Planudes knew Latin and translated
out." 14
pagan classics (Cicero, Caesar, Ovid, Boethius) as well
as St. Augustine, and Demetrius Cydones learned Latin,
13 Barlaam, Oratio, ibid., col. 1336B. as we shall see, and translated St. Thomas, neither the
14 "Brocardus" [William Adam], Directorium ad pas- great Theodore Metochites nor his protege, Nicephorus
sagium faciendumn,viii, in Recueil des historiens des Gregoras, knew any Latin, and the latter, like a good
croisades, Documents armeniens 2: 471, Paris, 1906, and Byzantine,nurturedstronglyanti-Latin sentiments(ibid.,
cf. Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 53: 441, n. 10: 78, and R. Guilland, ed. and tr., Correspondance de
nisi quod littera graeca una de principibus tribus Nictphore Gregoras, ep. 156, p. 257, and cf. pp. 276-277,
extat, quibus tripliciter crucifixi Domini nostri titulus Paris, 1927).
est inscriptus, consulerem salubriter, prout aestimo, et 15 Jules Viard, Les Projets de croisade de Philippe VI
prudenter, ut omnino illa littera deleretur." On the de Valois, Bibliotheque de l'cole des chartes 97: 305-
Dominican missionary William Adam, see Louis Bre- 316, 1936.
hier, Dictionn. d'hist. et de geogr. eccles. 10: 792-793, 16 Greg. Palanzae Hagioriticus tomus,ad fin. (PG 150:
Paris, 1938. Although fair numbers of Greek scholars 1236).

June, 1341, and when on 15 June the Emperor early fourteenth century,not only in Greek,but
AndronicusIII died, and his power was taken also in the orientallanguages.'9 Barlaam had by
over by the hesychast,John [VI] Cantacuzenus, now acceptedthe Latin faith;he receiveda pen-
Barlaam had no futurein Constantinople
or Thes- sion, and was soon appointedto the bishopricof
salonica. The atmosphereof both cities was Geracein Calabria (2 October,1342), a churchof
charged with a sort of proto-nationalism.Bar- the Byzantinerite,of course,close to Seminara,
laam was a foreigner,a westerner,a pro-Latin; the town of his birth. Most of the bishops of
the peril and frustration
of the Greek populace Gerace were Basilian monks, like Barlaarn; in
were expressed in the Palamite victory. Bar- fact Gerace retainednot only its Greek rite but
laam went back home to Calabria in July or also a Greekbishop until 1473.20 Barlaam's last
August,and soon foundhis way to Naples where years,as bishopof Gerace,were rendereddifficult
he assistedthehumanistPaolo de Perugia to finish by strifewith the metropolitancuria of Reggio,
his work on pagan mythology(Collectiones) and which threatened"to devour the goods of his
arrangethe Greek works in the rapidlygrowing bishopric."21
Angevinlibrary.17 In 1346 Barlaam was once moreemployedon a
II diplomatic mission. He was sent by the papal
Curia to Constantinople, probablyto explore the
The springof 1342 foundBarlaam back at the possibilitiesof churchunionat thepro-Latincourt
Curia in Avignon where he was befriendedby of the dowagerEmpress Anne of Savoy and her
Petrarchto whomhe gave lessons in Greek. On young son, John V Palaeologus. After a few
7 August, 1342, Pope ClementVI referredBar- years' eclipse,however,whichhad followedtheir
laam, "abbot of St. Salvator in Constantinople, victoryover Barlaam in 1341, the Palamiteshad
[now] lecturingin Greek in the Curia," to the suddenlyregainedtheirpowerand positionin the
papal camerarius,providingthat Barlaam should capital,beingvigorouslysupportedby theimperial
receive,in the moneyof Avignon,53 florinsand claimant,John [VI] Cantacuzenus,who now en-
20 shillingsfor eighty-onedays' service.18 In- tered Constantinople, winningout over Anne of
struction was givenin theAvignoneseCuria in the Savoy. who w-asforcedto let him sharethethrone
17 Giov. Boccaccio,
Genealogie deorumngentilium,x, 6,
as co-emperorand actual ruler (3-11 February,
ed. Vincenzo Romano, 2 vols., 2: 761-762, Bari, 1951, 1347).
22 The Palamites,religiousnationalistsas
and cf. Mandalari, Fra Barlaamo Calabrese, 47, 60; Fran- wellas mystics, wereimplacablyopposedto church
cesco lo Parco, Petrarca e Barlaam, 23-25; idern,Niccolo union; thecondemnation of Barlaam was renewed
da Reggio, in Atti delta R. Accadernia di archeologia, j ust beforeCantacuzenus'entranceinto the city,
lettere e belle arti di Napoli 2: 265-266, 1910; and Rob-
ert Weiss, Translators from the Greek of the Angevin and it wvas all too clear thatBarlaam's missionhad
Court of Naples, Rinascimnento1: 208-209, 1950. How- been doomed to failurefromthe start. Barlaam
ever, as reported by Cornelia C. Coulter, The library returned to Avignon,wherePetrarchresumedthe
of the Angevin kings at Naples, Transactions of the studyof Greek underhim,and shortlythereafter
American Philological Association 75: 141-155, 1944,
the treasury accounts of the early years of Angevin rule 19 Heinrich Denifle, Die Universitdtendes Mittelalters
(1280-1342) reveal many acquisitions of books, but only bis 1400 1: 306-308, Berlin, 1885; and B. Altaner, Lehr-
two or three classical Latin authors (Livy and Seneca) stuihlef. orient. Sprachen, Zeitschr. f. Kirchengesch. 52:
and apparentlyno Greek works at all. The reader should 227-231, 1933, where both Barlaam and earlier magistri
also consult the handsomely printed work of Tammaro lingzuaruniare listed, including teachers of oriental lan-
de Marinis, La biblioteca napoletana dei re d'Aragona, guages, at the "Kurienuniversitat"in Avignon.
4 vols., Milan, Hoepli, 1947, to the firstvolume of which 20 Giannant. Mandalari, Fra Barlaamno Calabrese, 14;
I have unfortunatelynot had access. Lenormant, La Grande-Gretce2: 428-429. Oppido aban-
18 K. H. Schafer, ed., Die Ausgaben der apostolischen doned the Greek for the Latin rite at the same time as
Kamminer unter Benedikt XII, Klemens VI, und Innocenz Gerace (Lenormant, op. cit. 3: 362). Cf. J. Gay, Con-
VI (1335-1362) (Vatikanische Quellen zur Gesch. d. servation du rite grec dans la Calabre et dans la terre
papstl. Hof- und Finanzverwaltung, 3), 198, and cf. 91, dOtrante au XIVe siecle, ByZ. Zeitschr. 4: 61-62, 1895,
138, 157, Paderborn, 1914. On the provisions made for and Adrian Fortescue, The Uniate Eastern Churches,
Barlaam and his friend George of Thessalonica by the 98, 108.
papal treasury during this period, see Mercati, Simone 21 Francesco Lo Parco, Gli ultirnianni di Barlaam e
Atumano, 28-29, note 3. We need not take very seriously la zerita' storica sullo studio del greco di Francesco
the strictures of the hostile and prejudiced Nicephorus Petrarca, Naples, 1910, on which cf. Giov. Gentile, Studi
Gregoras on the poverty of Barlaam's Greek (Hist. sul Rinascimento (in Opere c-omplete10), 80-83, Flor-
byzant., xi, 10, ed. Bonn, 1: 555, and cf. Attilio Hortis, ence, 1936.
Studj sulle opere latine del Boccaccio, 500, n. 2, Trieste, 22 Giovanni Mercati, Notizie di Procoro e Demetrio
1879). Cidone, 149-152.

he returnedto his churchat Gerace,wherehe died Curia as a teacherof Greek,and even his diplo-
in thespringof 1348.23 matic missionsin the interestsof churchunion,
Both Italianand Byzantinescholarshave tended were incidental to a distinguishedintellectual
to see in Barlaam chieflythe Greek teacherof career.
Petrarchand the bibliographicalguide of Paolo III
Perugino. Actually, however, Barlaam has a
larger importancein Byzantineintellectualthan Anothernativeof southernItaly,like Barlaam,
in Italian literaryhistory. He was a mathema- and one of the mostlearnedand honestdiplomats
tician and astronomer,a philosopherand theo- of his day,was theArchbishopPaulus of Smyrna.
logian,and as Giuseppe Schiro remindsus, "one When towardtheclose of theyear 1354 theyoung
of themostversatilemindsof his age." He is said JohnV Palaeologus had finallywon out over the
to have been,forexample,one of the firstmathe- ambitiousclaims of John [VI] Cantacuzenusto
maticiansof the Renaissanceperiod to substitute empire,a new government in Constantinople and
lettersfor numeralsin algebra, and his work il- the illusive hope of peace produced new efforts
lustratesthe mannerin whichancientand Byzan- at church union. The Archbishop Paulus of
tineGreeksdealtwithnumericalfractions.24Bar- Smyrnawas one of the chiefnegotiators, perhaps
laam was a close studentof Ptolemy,and pre- largelyinstrumental, in securingfromthe young
pared a treatiseon eclipses of the sun. In the ByzantineEmperorJohnV the almostincredible
realmof philosophyhe wrotea Christianmanual chrysobullof 15 December,1355, whichpromised
of ethics,in two books,"accordingto the Stoics," the papacy the union of the churchesin return
Ethica secundunStoicos,as wellas another,in six for militaryaid against the Turks. It also pro-
books,on logic. Barlaam was virtuallya scholas- videdforthepromotion of Latin culture,especially
the Latin language,in the Greek empire by the
tic,25 the spiritualheir of John Italus, another
establishment of threegreat Latin collegeswhere
Calabrian,who had aroused the ire of Byzantine
the emperorwas to encouragethe sons of Greek
Orthodoxy160 years before. In his own right,
then,Barlaam deservesto be studiedand remem- magnatesto study.26 All our contemporary re-
bered. His servicesto Petrarchand to the papal portsspeak veryhighlyof the ArchbishopPaulus.
In 1355-1356 he enteredthe hesychasticcontro-
23 Mj. Jugie, Date de la mort de Barlaam, lAchos versyin Constantinople, and earned the praise of
d'Orient 39: 124-125, 1940, places the death of Bar-
laam in 1350, following Francesco Lo Parco, Petrarca evenso exactinga criticas theByzantinehistorian
e Barlaarn, 62-65, Reggio-Calabria, 1905, having failed, NicephorusGregoras.27On 15 May, 1357,Paulus
however, to observe that, later on, Lo Parco, Gli ultimi was transferred fromthe see of Smyrnato thatof
oscuri anni di Barlaam, 33-34, Naples, 1910, himself Thebes in Greece.28 In 1363-1364 Paulus was the
published the appointment of Simon Atumano on 23
June, 1348, as bishop of Gerace "per obitum bone me- 26 Aug. Theiner and Fr. Miklosich, Monumientaspec-
morie Barlae episcopi Giracen.," on which see also tantia ad unionem ecclesiarumtgraecae et romanae, 29-37,
Mercati, Sinione A tumano, 26; 27, note 6. Vienna, 1872; also Odorico Rinaldi [Raynaldus], An-
24 Cf. Jean IAtienneMontucla, Hist. des mathe'Lmatiqiies nales ecclesiastici, ad ann. 1355, nos. 33-37, in vol. 6:
1: 344, Paris, 1799; Moritz Cantor, Vorlesungen iiber 630-632, Lucca, 1750. Oskar Halecki, Un Empereur de
Geschichte der Mathematik 2: 262, Leipzig, 1913; G. Byzance a Rome, 1355-1375, 31-38, Warsaw, 1930. Joa-
Schir6, Arch. stor. per la Cal. e la Lucan. 1: 326, 1931; chim Smet, The Life of St. Peter Thomas by Philippe
G. Sarton, Introd., 3, pt. 1: 586; Gino Loria, Storia de Aezieres (Textus et studia historica Carmelitana,
delle matematiche, 117, 252, Milan, 1950. Barlaam's vol. 2), 202, Rome, 1954. Innocent VI, although he re-
AO-yU7TLK', sive arithmneticae,algebraicae libri vi was joiced in John Palaeologus' expressed willingness to try
printed at Strassburg in 1572, in Paris in 1594, et alibi. to effect the union of the churches, does not seem to
25 See G. Schiro, Arch. stor. per la Cal. e la Lucan. have taken his elaborate pledges very seriously (cf.
1: 326, 1931, who goes too far in asserting of Bar- Halecki, op. cit., 54-57).
laam, however, that "per primo egli introduce l'uso del 27 Nicephorus Gregoras, Hist. byzant., xxix, 55 ff.
razionalismo nella scolastica orientale, innovazione evi- (Bonn, 3: 262 ff.; PG 149: 229, 232); Giovanni Mer-
dente in altri scritti di carattere filosofico-teologico"[as cati, Simone Atumano, 30-31, note, Rome, 1916; Ant.
in his two long letters to Gregory Palamas]. Searching Rubio y Lluch, Conquista de Tebas en 1379 por Juan
for the "firsts" in intellectual history is always an inde Urtubia: Epis6dio de la historia de los Navarros en
triguing but dangerous game: the credit that Schiro Grecia, in the Homenaje a D. Carnielo de Echegaray,
would give to Barlaam seems rather to belong to John 370, 382, San Sebastian, 1928.
Italus, whose rationalist views were condemned by the 28 Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, Diplornatari de l'Orient catalh
holy synod of Constantinoplein March 1082 (see, supra, (1301-1409), doc. ccxxxii, p. 305, Barcelona, 1947
pp. 12-13). Barlaam's Ethica may be found in the PG [1948]; cf. ibid., doc. CCLIII, p. 336, dated 16 August
151: cols. 1341-1364, and cf. Fabricius' notice concerning [1363], and C. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi
his other works (ibid., 1247-1256). 1: 482, 1898.

chiefSicilian envoyto Queen JoannaI of Naples, perorJohn'schrysobullof churchunion of 1355.

in the vain effortto make peace between the A halfdozen personsare named,in the document
Angevins in southernItaly and the Catalans in of 1369, as knowingboth the Greek and Latin
Sicily. The then archbishopof Naples, Pierre languages,of whomthreewere Greeksrepresent-
d'Ameil, knew him well, and on 11 February, ing the Emperor John and three were Latins
1364,also wrotein highpraiseof himto Pope Ur- representingtheRomanchurch. The Greekswere
ban V.29 the famous Byzantine imperial chancellor and
On 17 April,1366, as a papal documentof that humanist,DemetriusCydones,who in cooperation
date informsus, Paulus was elevatedto the dig- withhis brother, Prochorus,translatedSt. Thomas
nity of Latin patriarchof Constantinople(to Aquinas into Greek; Michael Strongilo,a dis-
which officethe episcopal incomeof Negroponte tinguishedByzantinesoldier,who figurespromi-
was often attached), and on the same day the nentlyin the diplomatictexts of the time; and
learned Greek biblical scholar, Simon Atumano, Philip Tzykandiles,who helped Cydones as his
was appointedarchbishopof Thebes.30 One of secretaryin the Aquinatian translations. The
our last glimpsesof Paulus in the documentsof cardinalsdeputedby the pope to receivethe em-
his own time comes at the Emperor John V peror's Greek pronouncement of his now Latin
Palaeologus' declarationof Catholicfaithin Rome, faith were representedby three westerners,of
on 18 October, 1369, in the hospital of Santo whom two appear to have been Catalans. We
Spirito "di Sassia"; Paulus took an important findhere,of course,the Latin patriarch,Paulus of
part in these proceedings,and was one of that Constantinople. Acting with him were Bishop
groupofveryimportant interpreterswho translated Nicholas"Arenopolitanus"(or "Drenopolitanus"),
theemperor'ssolemnprofessionof Catholicism,in to whom we shall returnin a moment,and the
the presenceof the lord cardinals of Ostia, the Franciscan friar Antonio Ballester, who was
Twelve Apostles,S. Sabina, and S. Adriano.31 shortlyto be appointed archbishopof Catalan
The recordof theproceedingsof 1369 has been Athens,wherehe was to occupythecathedrain the
Parthenonforseventeenyears (1370-1387) .32 It
preservedboth in Greek and Latin, the original
was these six personswho now handledthe deli-
text preparedin parallel columns,like the Em-
cate protocolof comparingthe bilingualtexts,and
29 Antonino Mango, ed., Relazioni tra Federico III di who were responsibleforachievingan identityof
Sicilia. e GiovanniaI di Napoli, Palermo, 1915, in Docut- meaningbetweenthe emperor'sGreek statement
imienti per serire alla Storia di Sicilia 22: fasc. 1, doe. and theofficial
Latin version.33In thisconnection
LXIX, p. 164: "[Thebanus arcliiepiscopus] est autem ut
mihi videtur vir industriosus,oculatus et prudens studi- 32 See, in general, 0. Halecki, Un Empereur de Itzance
oque literarumet ingenio multis nostri temporispreferen- d Rome, 188-200; G. Mercati, Notizie di Procoro e De-
dus, hoc solo inferiorquia cum nomine sit magnus pre- mnetrioCidone, 146-148, 168, 438; cf. 0. Rinaldi, Ann.
latus, re tamen est pauper et nichil habet sed non minus eccl., ad ann. 1369, nos. 1-3, in vol. 7: 171-172. Lucca,
constans ac pro veritate firmusut in aliquibus compro- 1752. The Emperor John was also accompanied to
bavi et spero quod pariter inveniat sanctitas vestra." Rome by his good friend (and brother-in-law) Fran-
Cf. in general Kenneth M. Setton, Archbishop Pierre cesco Gattilusio, Genoese lord of Lesbos, and by three
d'Ameil in Naples and the Affair of Aimon III of princes of the imperial house; note the names of the
Geneva (1363-1364), Specdlum 28: 643-691, passiw, witnesses to the emperor's five-year treaty wx ith the
1953; and for the reasons why Paulus had to leave Venetians dated at Rome on 1 February, 1370 (Diplo-
Thebes, and was in Sicily and southern Italy at this matariuwmt Veneto-Levantinum.,eds. G. M. Thomas and
time, see Setton, Catalan Domination of Athens, 1311- R. Predelli, 2: doc. 89, p. 156).
1388, 58-60, Cambridge, Mass., 1948. 33 See above, note 31: Ioann. Pal. Imp. professio fidei,
30 Rubi6 y Lluch, Diplomatari, doc. CCLXIV, p. 347. in L. Allacci, Perpetua consensio, 844, 849; Theiner and
31 Ioannis Palaeologi Imperatoris professio fidei, in Miklosich, Monumenta spectantia ad unionem. . ., 38-39,
Leone Allacci [Allatius], De ecclesiae occidentalis atque 41-42; PG 154: 1299-1300C, 1305-1306D; Golubovich,
orientalis perpetua consensione, 843-852, Cologne, 1648; Bibl. bio-brilbi.
5: 137-138; Altaner, Zeitschr. f. Kirchen-
A. Theiner and F. MikIosich, A1'onitmenta spectantia ad qesch. 53: 463-464: ". . . scientes linguas et grammaticas
unionemtecclesiarumiigraecae et rom;ianae,37 ff.,Vienna, latinas et graecas. .." "c-oras ejKaripav -y>c('o-av Aarmvwv
1872; PG 154: cols. 1297 ff. Mercati, Notizie di Pro- Kat FpaLKCOV, r7v rTe KOLVYV KaL r?7v -ypa/ilaTaKJV. The
coro e Demetrio Cidone, 146-147; Altaner, Zeitschr. f. essential work of preparing the texts for the Emperor
Kirchengesch. 53: 462-464. John's entry into the Roman Catholic Church had al-
For the background of the events of 1369, in addition ready been done in 1366, in consequence of John's dis-
to Halecki's brilliant study, Un Emnpereurde Byzance cussions at Buda with King Louis d'Anjou of Hungary,
a Rome, see A. A. Vasiliev, II viaggio dell' imperatore from whom John sought aid against the Turks (see
bizantino Giovanni V Paleologo in Italia, etc., in Studi Halecki, Un Emperear de Bywance a Rooie. 118-119,
bieantini e nteocll1cnici
3: esp. 179 ff.,1931. 197).

VOL. 100, NO. 1,1956] BYZANTIUM AND THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 47
we maynotefurther thatPope Urban V welcomed ginningto end,thegreatage of Catalan enterprise

theEmperorJohnthreedays later,on 21 October, in the easternMediterranean,to which we shall
on thestepsof St. Peter's,at theVatican,received returnlater on in this study.
his obeisance,and embracedhim. Johnremained
withthepope forfivemonthsin Rome,afterwhich B. SIMON ATUMANO
he went on with his retinueto Venice, and the
AmongthechiefLatin ecclesiasticsto live under
pope returned,to Petrarch'sdespair,to Avignon.
Catalan dominionin Greece, besides the Arch-
Johnhad acceptedtheLatin faithforhimselfalone,
bishopPaulus, was Simon Atumano,a Greek ex-
however; no Greek clergyhad accompaniedhim;
patriate,who succeeded Paulus in the archiepis-
and the Greek people remained,as Barlaam had
copal see of Thebes on 17 April, 1366. One
represented themthirtyyearsbefore,hostileto the
scholar had succeeded another,and Simon Atu-
Latins and opposedto thefilioqueclause.
mano has bequeathedto historiansa name to be
We come now to the difficulty which has at-
reckonedwithin any seriousaccountof the Greek
tendedthe identification of the "Frater Nicolaus
and Hebrew scholarshipof the Renaissance. Be-
episcopus Arenopolitanus[Drenopolitanus],"al-
forehe receivedthe Theban appointment, Simon
thoughRubi6 y Lluch almostsolved thisproblem
had alreadybeen bishopof Gerace in Calabria for
a half centuryago. Eubel connectedNicholas
some seventeenyears (1348-1366). He was the
with the "episcopus Irenopolitanus"who appears
successorof Barlaam in Gerace,a diocese,as we
also in an act of the anti-popeClementVII dated
have seen, of the Greek rite. Mercatihas asked,
1384. This Nicholas was then the vicar of the
but been unable to answer,the interestingques-
ArchbishopAntonio of Colossi on the island of
tion of how and by whom Simon Atumanowas
Rhodes,and apparentlyoccupiedthe titularsee of
firstcalled to the attentionof Pope ClementVI,
Irenopolisin Isauria (Cilicia).34 Rubrics in the
who appointedhim to the see of Gerace. Simon
manuscriptsof a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century
had begun his ecclesiasticalcareer as a monk in
Italian translationof thirty-nine lives of Plutarch
themonastery of St. Johnof Studionin Constanti-
state that a "Greek philosophernamed Dimitri
nople. He is inevitablyassociatedwith Barlaam.
Talodiki" (philosopho greco chiamato Domitri
From Constantinople Simon appearsto have made
Talodiqui) translatedthese thirty-nine lives into
his way moreor less directlyto thepapal Curia in
contemporaryGreek, from which a Dominican
Avignon. Did he come with Barlaam in 1347?
bishop of "Ludernopoli" (which also appears as
Had he been a supporterof Barlaam duringthe
Andrinopoli,Tudernopoli),un freyrePredicatore,
latter'speriod of fame and influenceas abbot of
vispo di Ludernopoli. . . expertoin diverselin-
St. Salvator in the Byzantinecapital, beforehis
gue, translatedtheminto Aragonese at the com-
defeatby the hesychasts? Was Simon,then,one
mand of Juan Fernatndezde Heredia, grand
of the defeatedBarlaamites,whomthehesychastic
masterof the Knights of St. Johnof Jerusalem,
Emperor John VI Cantacuzenusexcluded from
whose chief commanderywas on the island of
the communionof the Byzantinechurch,and for
Rhodes.35 These noticesall seem to identify, as whom life in Constantinoplebecame increasingly
the Dominicantranslatorin question,the Nicholas
intolerable? This would seem to be the back-
Arenopolitanuswho served as one of the three
groundof Simon's departurefromConstantinople.
Latin translatorsof the EmperorJohnV's profes-
Upon the death of Barlaam, Simon's fortunate
sion of faithin 1369. Nicholas would seem to
presenceat the Curia, as well as his Greek birth
have been a Catalan,as was his confrere, Antonio and learning,immediatelysuggestedhis appoint-
Ballester. The fourteenth centurywas, frombe- mentas Barlaam'ssuccessorto thesee of Gerace.Y8
34C. Eubel, Hierarchia catholicamedii aevi 1: 286, In any eventSimon Atumanotook up his resi-
1898; Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, Documents per l'histbria de dence in the historiccity of Thebes in the mid-
la cultutracatalana wnig-eval,2 vols., Barcelona, 1908-
1921, 1: 326, note 2; 2: p. XLII; cf. Mercati, Notizie di 36 Giovanni Mercati, Se la versione dall' ebraico del
Procoro e Demetrio Cidone, 147, n. 1; Altaner, Zeitschr. codice veneto greco VII sia di Simone Atumano, ar-
f. Kirchengesch.
53: 464. civescovo di Tebe: Ricerca storica con notizie e docu-
35 A. Morel-Fatio, Libro de los fechos et conquistas menti sulla znta dell' Atumano (Studi e Testi, no. 30),
del principado de la Morea, pp. xviii-xxi, Geneva, 1885, 28-29, Rome, 1916. Simon was strongly opposed to
with refs., and cf. Mario Schiff, La Bibliotheque du hesychasm, and wrote a refutationof the Palamite dis-
Marquis de Santillane, 19-21, Paris, 1905 (Bibliotheque tinctionbetween the divine essence and its attributes (cf.
de l'eole des hautes etudes, 153). On Nicholas of Demetrius Cydones' letter to Simon, in Mercati, op. cit.,
Ludernopoli, see, infra,pp. 65, 66. 52 ff.).

summerof 1367. Thebes was then the capital would have been burned at the stake, had he not
of the so-calledduchyof Athens,a Catalan pos- secretlyremovedhimselfto other parts [to Italy?],
session ever since the famous Grand Company where parading himselfas a man of honor, as ex-
had defeatedand killed the last French duke of perienceof him now makes evident,he obtained the
aforesaid archbishopricfromthe lord Pope Gregory
Athens,GautierV de Brienne,in the swamps of XI. But, most clementFather, since it is repugnant
the riverCephissusin March of 1311. Afterthis to divine and human laws alike that such an evil
victoryof the "fortunatearmy of the Franks in man should be sustained in so great a dignity,we
Romania [Greece]," as the Companyis called on humblybeseech your Holiness that it may please you
documents,Catalanrulelong
its seal and in official to deprive the archbishop,if thus he deserves to be
enduredin Greece-in Thebes untilMay or June, called,of this high office.. ..39
1379; in Athens,or at least on theAcropolis,until
It is hard to know, in this importantdocument,
2 May, 1388; in Neopatras (the modernHypate)
which of the king's statementsare fact, and which
until1390; in Salona (the ancientAmphissa) until
fiction. There is no reason to believe that the ex-
1394; and, indeed,on the island of Aegina until
act truth is being told, for almost the only verifi-
1451.37 Simon Atumano was the archbishopof
able facts in the document are inaccurate. Simon
Thebes in the late springof 1379 when another
Atumano was not appointed archbishop of Thebes
mercenary band,theNavarreseCompanyunderits
by Pope Gregory XI, but by Pope Urban V
captain,Juan de Urtubia, attackedthe city and
(1362-1370). Moreover, he was apparentlynever
succeededin takingit. Contemporary documents
a Greek priest [calogerius grecus]. In fact, be-
make it clear thatThebes fellto Juan de Urtubia
fore his elevation to the see of Gerace on 23 June,
at least as much by the treacheryof some of its
1348, Simon had received only the primiatonsura,
inhabitantsas by the forceof his arms.38 King
but he had been a Basilian monk in the monastery
Pedro IV of Aragon, who bore the titleduke of
of St. John of Studion in Constantinople,as Pope
Athens,accused Simon Atumanoof complicityin
Clement ELI makes clear in his letter of appoint-
thebetrayalofthecityto Urtubia. On 11 Septem- ment of that date.40 The pope's letter also con-
ber, 1380, the king wrote Pope Urban VI from tains high praise of Simon's knowledge of letters,
Lerida: his integrityof life and character. spiritual devo-
Most holy Father: We are assuredthat,because tion, and many virtues.-'- The Curia had had, as
of theschemesand efforts of theArchbishop [Simon 39Rubi6 y Lluch, ed., Diplownatari, doc. CDVI, pp. 492-
Atumano]of Thebes. . ., thesaid city[of Thebes] 493: "tractatu et opere archiepiscopi civitatis dEstives
was capturedby our enemies,and evennow is being . . .eadem civitas ab hostibus fuit capta, et nunc eciam
held by themon the advice of the archbishophim- per eos [Navarrenses] ipsius archiepiscopi consilio de-
self,and,as a resultof this,evilsand scandalswith- tinetur, cuius occasione . .. infinita mala et scandala
outnumber haveoccurred.. ., and thereis no doubt devenerunt.. . Nam archiepiscopus ipse de Constan-
on thisaccountthatthearchbishop has sinned tinopoli ortus est paterque eius fuit turcus et mater eius
himself
against the churchof God and against our royal cismatica et dum foretcalogerius grecus ob grandia vicia,
majesty. And thisis notstrange,forthearchbishop in que propter eorum orribilitatemet offerre ommittimus,
quibus nunc perseverat, fuisset ignis incencio con-
was born in Constantinople, and his fatherwas a crematus nisi latenter ad partes se transtulisset alienas
Turk,andhis mother a schismatic [Greek],and while in quibus fingensse exterius honestum,cum falsis infor-
he was a Greekpriest,becauseof greatvices,which macionibus, ut nunc docet experiencia, archiepiscopa-
we forbear evento mention becauseoftheirenormity,turna domino papa Gregorio obtinuitsupradictum.
in whichvices [Simon Atumano]still persists,he (With reference to Pedro IV's statementthat Simon's
father was a Turk, it may be observed that Atumano
See in general Kenneth M. Setton, Catalan Dominiia-
3 appears to be Ottoman.)
tion of Athens, 1311-1388, Cambridge, Mass., Mediaeval 40 See the pertinentpart of the papal letter in Mer-
Academy of America, 1948. cati, ?Sniiioitoc 26-27, n. 6: ". . . ad te, mona-

A4titniano,
38 Cf. Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, Homtenaje a D. Carnielo de chum monasterii Sancti Johannis Studii Constantinopoli-
Echegaray, 277-279. San Sebastian, 1928; Los Catalanes tani, Ordinis Sancti Basilii, primam dumtaxat clericalem
en Grecia, 98-102, Madrid, 1927; Acadcmie Rountaine: tonsuram habenti....' Simon received minor orders
Bulletin de la section historique . . ., AMmoires11: 185- at Avignon on 13 July, was ordained on 6 December,
186, Bucharest, 1924. On the "treachery" which assisted and was consecrated bishop on the following day (Mer-
the Navarrese Company to take Thebes, probably for cati, loc. (it.).
Nerio Acciajuoli, Florentine lord of Corinth (who had 41 Mercati, loc. cit.: ". litterarumscientia preditum,
taken Megara from the Catalans in 1374), see Rubi6, vite ac morum honestate decorum, in spiritualibus pro-
ed., Diplomnatari,docs. cccxci, p. 476; cccxcvi, pp. 486- vidum et in temporalibus circumspectum,ac aliis multi-
487; CD=xxV, p. 502; et alibi. Cf. Setton, Catalan Dom- plicum virtutummeritis laudabiliter insignitumex testi-
ination of Athens, passini. moniis fide dignis accepimus.

VOL. 100, NO. 1,1956] BYZANTIUM AND THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 49
we have noted,manyyears' experienceof Simon Simon was to serve,presumably, as an interpreter

as bishopof GeracewhenUrban V appointedhim forthepapal envoysin Constantinople, whichwas,
to the archbishopricof Thebes "after due con- it maybe recalled,thecityof his birth.46Whether
sideration of his great integrity"(consideratis or not he assisted Urtubia and the Navarrese to
grandium virtuturnmeritis).42 Although such take.Thebes in thelate springof 1379, as charged
praise was a routineof the papal chancery,it was by Pedro IV in his letterto Pope Urban VI,
unlikelyto be employedin completedisregardof Simon foundlifeimpossibleunderthe Navarrese.
thefacts. Furthermore, on 10 March,1367,when He soon leftthe city,takingrefugein Italy some-
Simon Atumano seems to have been in Messina timeduring1380-1381. A yearor so later,during
makinghis preparationsforthe voyageto Greece, the fall and winterof 1381, Simon Atumanowas
King FrederickIII of Sicily (1355-1377), last to be found in Rome, where he was teaching
duke of Athensof the Catalan-Sicilianline (close Greek-or where, at least, he taught Greek to
kinsman and predecessor,as ruler of Athens, Raoul de Rivo, the illustriousdean of Tongres
of Pedro IV of Aragon), wrote lettersto the (d. 1403). In a work whichwas knownto the
municipalauthoritiesof Thebes and to the Vicar AugustinianJ. Latomus in the sixteenthcentury
General Roger de Lluria, last militarymarshal and to the Dominican M. Harney in the seven-
of the Catalan Companyin Greece: FrederickIII teenth,but whichhas not yet been rediscovered,
recommendedSimon Atumano in termsof high Raoul de Rivo recalled that "Simon of revered
praise, dwellingon his "innategoodness and his memory,archbishopofThebes in Boeotia,a native
laudable character"(innate sibi virtuteset mores of Constantinople, comparableto St. Jeromein
laudabiles).43 There is, then, much reason to
his knowledge of the three languages [Latin,
doubt at least some aspects of Pedro IV's harsh
Greek,and Hebrew], who arrivedin Rome and
descriptionof Simon Atumano. To Simon's ca-
reer two of the great scholarsof our time,Pro- remained there during the year 1380[-13811,
fessorAntonioRubio y Lluch of Barcelona and taughtwhatevercorrections I have made fromthe
CardinalGiovanniMercati,have been drawnwith Greek in my books on the errorsof the gram-
obviousfascination.In severalof his worksRubio marians. To the questionwhetherSimon was
v Lluch castigatesSimonas a traitorto theCatalan givingprivateor publicinstruction in Rome at this
cause in Greece. CardinalMercati,however,has time no certainanswer can be given, but I. am
emergedfromhis studyof Simon withadmiration myselfinclinedto agree with those scholarswho
for his great learning.
In anv event Simon Atumano had been the was in factof greatassistanceto thepapal embassywhen
it reachedConstantinople (op. cit.,ep. 23, p. 53).
archbishopof Thebes for some eightyears when, 46 Cf. Mercati,Simone Atumano, 26 ff.
on 25 July. 1374, Pope GregoryXI instructed 47 For the text,see Mercati,Simone Atumano, 16-17.
him to join a papal embassyon its way to Con- Altaner,Zeitschr.f. Kirchengesch.53: 461-462,states
"dass der sprachkundige Simon vor seinerBischofszeit
stantinopleto conferwith the Emperor JohnV in Gerace (1348-1366) in Rom Lehrerdes Griechischen
Palaeologus,to help bringabout thatunionof the war, stehtnichtsicherfest." In thisconnection he cites
churcheswhich was to effectthe spiritualand D. Rattinger, Der Liber Provisionitimi
praelatorurn Ur-
bani V, Historisches Jahrbuch der Gbrres-Gesellschaft
politicalreconstructionof Christendomin the Le- 15: no. 78, p. 81 (cf. no. 62, p. 74), 1894.who simply
-vant." This embassy was also recommendedto says, however,"[Simonj soll zu Rom griechischeLit-
the distinguishedByzantinehumanist,Demetrius eratur gelehrt haben, vgl. dazu Chorographia sacra Bra-
Cydones, Greek convert to Roman Catholicism bantiae, ii, 105." 0. Halecki, Un Enipereur de Byzance
d. Rome, 142, followingRattinger,loc. cit., refersto
and translatorof St. Thomas Aquinas intoGreek.45 Simon as "professeurde litteraturegrecque a Rome."
Neither Rattingernor Halecki is very specificabout
42Mercati, Op. cit., 29-30; cf. Setton,Catalan Domina- the time of Simon's teachingGreek in Rome. I do
tion of Athens, 140 ff. not know whetherRattinger,Halecki, or Altanercon-
43 Rubio, Diplomatari,doc. CCLXXXV, p. 369; Sp. P. sulted at firsthand the work of AntoniusSanderus,
Lampros, "Eyypata, pt. iv, docs. 45-46, pp. 281-282; Choroyr. sacra Brabantiae, Brussels, 1658 ff.,but I can-
cf. Mercati,Silione Atumano, p. 32. not findany such referencein the one-volumecopy of
44 Rubio y Lluch, ed., Diplomatari, 434, and Mercati, this work accessibleto
me in the ColumbiaUniv. Libr.
Simone Atumano, 32-33, 49-50. (949.3/Sa 56 F); in any eventSanderus'statement un-
45 . Halecki, Un Enipereur de Byzance,292 ff.; Go- doubtedlycomesfromRaoul de Rivo, the MS. of whose
lubovich,Bibl. bio-bibl.5: 200-202,1927; G. Cammelli, work was in the Dominicanhouse in Brussels in the
Correspondance de De'intritus Cydones, epp. 23-24, pp. seventeenth centurywhere Harney saw it (cf. Mercati,
52-57, and introd., pp. xxiv-xxv, Paris, 1930. Cydones Sintone Atumiano,16, n. 6).

findthe suggestionof a generalpracticein Raoul had not been transmitted to us but merelythrustupon
de Rivo's text concerningSimon Atumano.48 us by an uncultivatedstyle and with a depth of ob-
scurity,and I should have thoughtthat all this re-
II sulted from Plutarch's own style had T not got to
know of certain of his effortsbeautifullytranslated
In Simon Atumano,therefore, we finda Greek in the English Master John of Salisbury's work De
teacherearlier,and probablymore learned,than nugis cuirialiutni et i estigiis philosophorut11, which
the impressiveManuel Chrysoloras,who created book is called for some reason the Policraticius.5>0
such a stirin Florenceat the close of the century The dedicatoryletter which the translatorsent you
when Leonardo Bruni hailed his comingas the has furnishedadditionalevidencethat I mightrecog-
returnof Greek lettersto Italy afteran absence nize the faultas his; fromhis letterit is quite clear
skill in
of sevenhundredvears.9 The learnedworldhad that he (lid not possess the slightestliterary
Latin. A true Latin style is not, of course, to be
notbeen unawareof Simon Atumano;his ecclesi-
expectedafterhe has declared himselfto be a Greek,
astical advancementwould suggest that he was especiallyin this age wheneven we Latins hardlyget
not sociallydeficient;but he seems to have met above the simple grammar. We have nowadays no
no opportunity in Italy for the full employment Ciceros, Jeromes,Rufinuses,Ambroses,or Chalcidi-
of his knowledgeand abilities. No one as re- uses, no Cassiodoruses,no Evagriuses, and no Boethi-
sponsiveas Leonardo Bruni heard him in Rome uses, whose translationsare of such grace and deli-
in 1380-1381; perhaps,too, Simon did not have cacv that no refinementor claritycan be lacking in
thefacilityforinspiringothersthatManuel Chry- the things that they have done. Nevertheless,I am
soloras seems to have had. A decade or so after gratefulto that w~orthvman who has given us Plu-
had the rest of the
Simon's death the Florentinehumanist,Coluccio tarch aftera fashion. I wish we
same philosopher'sworkseven in such fashion Plu-
Salutati, onetimecorrespondent of Petrarchand tarch was a person of no small authorityin his time,
Boccaccio, wrote the Cardinal Pietro di Tom- and, as we can see from this little work, the most
maso Corsini,also a distinguishedFlorentine,a learned of philosophers. Taking it amiss, therefore.
letterdevotedentirelyto that "vir multevenera- that we should have even this bit of Plutarch in such
tionis, Simon, archiepiscopusThebanus." Salu- shape that he can neitherbe read with pleasure nor
tati's letteris most interesting,for he was con- his thoughtunderstoodwd ith ease, T decided to restore
cerned with a translation of Plutarch's Pc this littlework fromthe darknessof its translationto
cohibendaira which Simon had preparedfor the the light of understandingby a clearer mnethod of
Cardinal Pietro some twentyvears before. Salu- presentation, so that although we ma' not he able
tati writesas follows: thusto read PlutarchdirectlyFad litte'anil, neverthe-
less nothingshould escape us as to his meaning [quio
To themostreverend. . . lordPietrodei Corsini ad sen fentiaml. . . . And, now, for y'our half-Greek
of Florence. . . cardinalbishopof Portoand S. translationI returna Latin treatise which I think
Rufina. is clear, and by comparing it with the translator's
Your Excellency,has sentme Plutarch'slittlestudyi-wor(ls yon will make your reading of Plutarclhmore
De remediisirae,whichSinion.archbislhon
ofThebes. pleasant. . .
a man worthvof greatveneration.oncetranslatedat Simion had employed the old system of literal
YourrequestfrontGreekintoLatin. Eagerlygoing
throughthisessay,T feltmlyindignation de verbo ad zerbumt, following the
translation.
risethatthe
translationwas marredhy so much obscurityand was method of Henricus Aristippus and other trans-
composedin so rougha stylethatthereaderwas not lators of the twelfthand thirteenthcenturies, in
encouragedby its attractiveness
to continue,and so accord with the older scientific,as opposed to the
greata thinker'smessaueto us wuras
notmadereadlily newer humanistic, tradition.52 Salutati, of course,
clear. I perceived
thatloftxd ofsolidworth
sentiments
wForthe spurious Epistola Plutarchi instruentisIra-
On this point of view, note the remarks of Mercati.
48 see John of Salisbury, Policraticus sive De nugis
iantlC7i1,
Simione Atuniano. 40-41. curialium, v, prolog. and cap. 1; vI, prolog., et alibi, ed.
49 Leonardo Bruni Aretino, Rernimi sito ternporegesta- Clemens C. 1. Webh, 1: 280 ff.,and 2: 1, Oxford, Claren-
roni comjzmenttariiis,
in L. A. Muratori. Rer. ital. scripp. don, 1909.
19: col. 920. Milan, 1731: ed. Carmine di Pierro, in the ',l Coluccio Salutati, Epp.. viii, 23, in Francesco Novati,
new Muratori, 19, pt. 3: 431, Citta di Castello and Bo- ed., Epistolario di Coluccio Saluta-ti (Fonti per la storia
logna, 1926: "Septingentis iam annis nemo per Italiam d'Jtalia pubblicate dall' Istituto Storico Italiano, no. 16)
graecas litteras tenuit, et tamen doctrinas omnes ab illis 2: 480-483. The letter is dated at Florence on May 15
esse confitemur." Bruni's statement,like many another ('1390-1396?). Cf. Mercati, Sinione Atumano, addend.
in the works of his fellow humanists, shows what little after p. 64.
regard rhetoric has for the facts (some of which the -'
Cf. Francesco Lo Parco, Niccolo da Reggio, in the
present essay seeks to supply). .-itti R. .-4eadenziiaarch. left. belle arti di Napoli, new

knew no Greek,and althoughhis paraphraseof age of the celebratedCardinal Ximenes de Cis-

Simon's semigreca translatiowas more attuned neros.56 There survivesin the BibliotecaMarci-
to thehumanist'seye and ear, it was an unsuccess- ana in Venice a unique manuscriptof a Greek
ful effort,as his editor,Novati, rathersadly ac- translation,fromthe Hebrew, of the Old Testa-
knowledges.53Simon's translationstillexists in a ment (cod. greco vii), which Fr. Delitzsch was
manuscriptin theBibliotecadel Cabildo in Seville once inclinedto attributeto the Hebrew scholar,
(cod. lat. no. 85-5-36) ; it is precededby thededi- Eliseo Giudeo, who resided at the court of the
catoryletteraddressedby Simon to the Cardinal Sultan Murad I and was the teacherof George
Corsini; the letter is dated at Avignon on 20 GemistusPletho. Mercati has shown,however,
January,1373, when Simon was apparentlyon a thatthismanuscript almostcertainlycontainswhat
visit to the Curia.54 A few monthslater,on 11 is leftof Simon Atumano'sBiblia Triglotta,un-
April, 1373, Simon receivedfromthe Republicof doubtedlypreparedin partat least duringSimon's
Venice the covetedhonorof its citizenship.55 residencein the Catalan cityof Thebes. Interest-
Simon was also an accomplished Hebrew inglyenough,the manuscriptin questionis now
scholar. Working,it would appear, withlearned in the Libraryof St. Mark, because it was once
membersof the small Jewishcolony which still the propertyof the Cardinal Bessarion, whose
survivedin Thebes in thelaterfourteenth century, books went, as is well known,to the Venetian
Simon translatedat least part of the Old Testa- Republic at his death,and who was himselfap-
ment from Hebrew into Greek and Latin, and pointed archbishopof Thebes in 1440, a half
some of the New TestamentfromGreekinto He- centuryor more afterthe death of the learned
brew and Latin. He thus prepared a Biblia Simon Atumano.57 It is very appropriatethat
Triglotta,whichhe dedicatedto Pope Urban VI, Venice should today possess the manuscriptof
an unusualfeatof scholarship, accomplishedalmost what was to have been Simon's opus magnum
a centuryand a halfbeforethe appearanceof the since,as we have noted,the Serene Republichad
made him an honorarycitizen in the springof
great ComplutensianPolyglot under the patron-
1373 whenSimon musthave been at workon his
series, 2: 268 ff.,1910, where the two methods are con- Biblia Triglotta.
trasted. Despite the bitterdenunciationof Simon Atu-
53 Novati, Epistolario di Col. Salutati 2: 483, note 1:
mano in King Pedro IV's letterto Pope Urban
"Molti infatti sono gli equivoci e gli errori, in cui e
caduto il Salutati parafrasando il testo latino di Simone, VI (11 September,1380), the pope apparently
che a sua volta in pit e piiu casi non aveva capito punto employedSimon on anotherdiplomaticmissionto
l'originale." Constantinople, and authorizedthe compositionof
54 Simon Atumano's translation of Plutarch's De re- a diplomaof generalcommendation forSimon on
mnediisirae, more commonlycalled De cohibenda ira, i.e.
HIEpt aop'yrqauas, should be published. For the best text
29 May, 1383, on the eve of Simon's departure
of the original Greek, see W. R. Paton, M. Pohlenz, and for the Greek capital as head of the mission.58
WV.Sieveking, eds., Plutarchi AMoralia3: 157-186, Leip- Simon'susefulnessto thepapacyin any diplomatic
zig, Teubner, 1929; incipit: Ka~os Muot3OKOaLVULW 4?oVVbLVIE, undertaking aimed at the unionof the churchesis
rOLE7V OL ?&YypackOL bta xp6vov . . . and explicit: cOsavrots ofcourseimmediately apparent. Quite apartfrom
rois EXovatv. Gustav [Friedrich] Haenel, Catalogi libro-
rum manuscriptorum~il, etc., col. 981, Leipzig, Hinrichs, his knowledge of Greek, his biblical learning,
1830, lists Simon's translationas in the Biblioteca Colom- and his sincereattachment to Latin doctrine,Si-
bina in Seville (then identifiedas MS. Z.137.36) : "Plu- mon had doubtlessretainedmany influential and
tarchus de furorisabstinentia,interpr.Simone; saec. XV. well-informed friendsin Constantinople, such as
membr.fol." Some years ago D. P. Lockwood examined the famousDemetrius
this MS., and published a brief report on it; it is now
Cydones,chancellorof the
in the Bibl. del Cabildo, which is "housed with, but not 56 Setton, Catalan domination of Athens, 222-223, and
part of the Colombina." The MS. contains seventeen cf. pp. 85-86.
parchmentfolios, and was apparentlywrittenat the close 57 Mercati, SimnoneAtumano, 10, 17-19 ff.,and 43.
of the fourteenthcentury. The reader may compare its 58The text of Urban VI's letter is given in Mercati,
incipit and explicit with those of the Greek text above: Simtone Atumiano, 50-51. By the ninth decade of the
"Bene michi videntur, 0 Fundane, pictores facere post century Simon had had an experience of such diplo-
tempora . . . sicut ipsis habentibus." I take the refer- matic activityextending over twentyyears or more. As
ence to Haenel from Lockwood, who was the firstto call bishop of Gerace, Simon appears to have accompanied
attention to this manuscript (see the Proceedings of the Carmelite Pierre de Thomas, in 1359-1360, on the
the Ainerican Philological Association 64, no. 39, 1933). latter's second legation to Constantinople where Simon
Cf. Robt. Weiss, Proc. Brit. Acad. 37: 48, 1951. is still to be found two years later (cf. Raymond J.
55 Regesti dei Cominemoriali, lib. VII, no. 696, ed. R. Loenertz, Les Recueils de lettres de DenmetriusCydones,
Predelli, 3: 108, Venice, 1883. 110, Cittatdel Vaticano, 1947, in Studi e Testi, 131).

Byzantine Emperor John V. Mercati has pub- possibilitythat his familyhad come originally
lished, for example, two letters,one writtenin fromCydoniain northwestern Crete. His father
1376 and the other in 1381, by Cydones to his was for some years a trusteddiplomatto whom
friend,Simon Atumano.59 It is to Demetrius importantand difficultassignmentswere given
Cydonesthat we now turn. during the reign of AndronicusIII when John
Cantacuzenuswas the grand domestic. The fam-
C. DEMETRIUS CYDONES ily of Cydonessufferedseverelyin the civil war
There is perhaps no more intriguingfigure which finallyfollowedthe death of Andronicus
thanDemetriusCydonesin the intellectual (1341), and theirmisfortunes were increasedby
history
of Byzantiumduringthe wholesecondhalfof the the social revolution which the Zealots promoted
fourteenth century. The sources for this period in their native city of Thessalonica.62 Neverthe-
are unfortunately not as plentifulas the historian less, by the time of Cantacuzenus' victoriousentry
could wish, but the 450 or so lettersof Cydones into Constantinople, in early February, 1347, Cy-
are a mine of information for almost the entire dones was already, despite his youth,becoming
half century (1346-1391). Although many of verywell knownas a writer. He was a humanist,
theseletterswere written,as theircloseststudent but in the Byzantinetradition,whichmeans that
has recentlyremindedus, "avec l'arriere-pensee he was always infinitelymore Christian than
d'une publicationeventuelle," 60 theyare neverthe-
classical. If he studied Homer, Plato, and
less genuineletters,the studyof whichrichlyre- Demosthenes,and achieved a classical style,he
wards the arduous effortit entails. Although was also profoundly religious,read thefathersand
theyare invaluablefor the historyof Italo-Greek the theologians assiduously, and interested himself
relationson the eve of the Quattrocento, most of in the doctrinal and mystical controversiesof his
these lettersstill remainunpublished. In recent day. Like his younger brother,Prochorus, Deme-
years, however,their general contentshave be- trius became an anti-hesychast, which led early
come prettywell known. in the year 1347 to a sympathetic exchange of
letterswiththe convertedBarlaam concerningthe
DemetriusCydones was born in Thessalonica
latter'sacceptanceof theLatin view of theproces-
about 1324.61 The name Cydones suggests the
sion of the Holy Spirit.63
Mercati, Notivie di Procoro e Dernetrio Cidone, 355- It is well known, of course, that Demetrius
358, cf. 130-133 (letter of winter of 1375-1376); Siione Cydones,like Barlaam beforehim and Bessarion
Atuinkano,52-58, and cf. 39 (letter of 1381); Per 1'epis- afterhim,adoptedRomanCatholicism, and became
tolario di Demetrio Cidone, Studi bizantini e neoelleniici a
sincereand faithful protagonist of church union.
3: 210, 213-214, Rome, 1931; and cf. Giuseppe Cammelli,
Correspondance de Deiiietrius Cydones, ep. 117, p. 154, His letterto Barlaam, however,as well as other
and ep. 137, pp. 157-158, Paris, 1930. Fr. Loenertz dates evidence,makes clear thathis conversionhad not
Cydones' first letter to Simon Atumano (Mercati, No- come by the early monthsof 1347. and yet his
tizie, 130-133, 355-358) in the winter of 1367-1368,how- admiration forBarlaamis profound:in theabsence
ever, believing that it contains an allusion to John V
Palaeologus' projected voyage to Rome (Pchhos d'Orient,
of Barlaam, Cydones and his fellow Greeks led
36: 273-274, 1937). theirlives in a depresseddarknessof mind and
60Raymonld J. Loenertz, Les Recueils de lettres de spirit.6 Shortlyafterhis entryinto Constanti-
DenuiitriusCydones, pp. vi, 81, Citta del Vaticano, 1947 nople in earlyFebruary,1347, Cantacuzentus sent
(= Studi e Testi, 131). to Pope ClementVI, in Avignon, an embassy
61 Some scholars have believed that Cydones lived "an
entire century" (cf. A. A. Vasiliev, Hist. of Byz. Emipirc, publishes his projected new edition of Cydones' letters,
694, Madison, 1952, and refs. there given), which is not concerning which he writes me that "elles sont toutes
the case; Cydones' dates are important for an under- copi~es et 130 sont pretes pour l'impression" (letter of
standing of his various works, especially his letters, as 13 Nov. 1954), and in the meantime every scholar must
well as for establishing the chronology of much of the consult Fr. Loenertz' valuable monograph on Lcs R.-
literary history of Byzantium in the fourteenthcentury. 'Icis de lettres de Djijtjtriuis Cydon's.
Cydones was actually born about 1324 and died about G2Demetrius Cydones, Monodia occisortiimiThessa-
1398 (for the bibliographyand facts, see Giovanni Mer- lonticac,in PG 109: 64(}-652. Loenertz dates the ruin
cati, Notizie di Procoro e DcmictrioCidone, 112-124, and of Cvdones' family in the summer of 1345 (IRecictils dc
cf. Giuseppe Cammelli, Deiiijtrills CGdondes:Correspoli- lcttres dc l)DimntriinsCGdoems,108).
dance, pp. vIII-x, Paris, 1930, who, however, places Cy- '3 Barlaam, Epistulae, in PG 151: 1283-1314; cf. Mer-
dones' birth some years too early-in the chronology of cati, otizie, 149-156.
Cydones' life I have relied a good deal oln Fr. R. J. "` Den. Cydones, Ep. ad Barlaaniumti,in P(; 151
Loenertz' Reciieils, cited above). We shall be better 1283B; cf. Cammelli, Correspondance de DemcietriusC(i-
able to deal with Cydones' career when Fr. Loenertz dontes,epp. 1-2, 7, 9.

which included one Nicholas Sigerus, magnus of the man's wisdom." The world of Latin theo-
interpres,who knew Latin, and appears to have logy was suddenlyopened up to Cydones; he de-
met Petrarchduringthe course of his diplomatic siredto sharehis experiencewithhis friends;and
duties,possiblyat Verona in January,1348,as the so he translatedsome sectionsinto Greek. The
Greek embassy made its way from Venice to Emperor John Cantacuzenuslent a willing ear
Milan. Sigerusafterwards sentPetrarcha famous to St. Thomas,and encouragedCydonesto trans-
copy of Homer forwhichthe latterhas preserved late the entirebook. Cydones set himselfto the
his thanksin a well-knownletter.65 task, and finishedit in a year. The Emperor
During the years thatJohnCantacuzenusruled Johncopiedthebook,apparentlyin his own hand;
the Byzantine empire (1347-1354), Demetrius some of the more distinguishedmembersof the
Cydoneswas constantlywithhim. Cantacuzenus court did likewise. Cydones had produced,al-
tells us this himself. Cydones was his secretary most,a circleof Thornistsat the centerof Byzan-
and firstminister(robsrpa~yian ,tgcaucov); he lived tine government.The work whichCydones had
in the palace, and was withthe emperorday and thus translatedwas, as he tells us, St. Thomas'
nightbothas his secretaryand as his friend.66It Summa contragentiles (ro roU Owma KaO' 'EXX?1vwv
was in thisconnectionthatCydonesfoundhimself f3fXLov)67
constrainedto learn Latin, for he had general In the Vatican Library is a Greek manuscript
charge of the emperor'scorrespondenceand ar- (cod. gr. 616), which containsbooks iii and iv
ranged audiences for him (1352-1353). There of theSumma contragentiles,writtenin the hand
were many westernpetitionersat the court,am- of Philip Tzykandiles,Cydones'secretaryand one
bassadors, merchants,mercenaries. The trans- of the imperialrepresentatives at John Palaeolo-
lators on whom Cydoneshad to rely were never gus' professionof faithin 1369. Correctionsand
adequate,and he soon perceivedthattherewas no marginaladditions,however,are made throughout
solution to his problem except to learn Latin the volumein Cydones' own hand, as is the fas-
himself (. . . cd giq' rpos r's ErEpwv a'ro/3XE'ro4uL cinatingnoteat theend of thevolume(fol. 313v.):
aXX' a'ro's igavrc xpcxgqv uaOC'vXartvwtiv):
yXCdOaas "Finito libro sit laus et gloria Christo. Istum
"having decided upon this I looked for teachers librumtranstulit de latinoin grecumdemetriusde
and collectedbooks,and did everything else just thesalonicha,servus Jesu Christi;laboravitautem
likea boyon his way to school." He founda very transferendo per unum annum; et fuitcompletus
good teacher,apparentlya Greek-speaking Domin- MCCCLV, indictione octava,xxiiii mensisdece[m]-
ican fromthe conventat Pera, who came to live bris [according to our calendar, 24 December,
withhim in the imperialpalace. Cydoneshad to 1354], [hi ora post meridiemtertia. [A later
burnthe midnightoil, forhis days were occupied additionto the note reads:] Hoc autem dictum
withtheemperor'saffairs. In a littlewhile,how- est non solum pro istis duobus libris, tertio
ever,he reapedthefruitsof his efforts;he learned s[cilicet] et quarto,sed pro tota Sum[m]a contra
to read,to speak readily,as well in factas a west- gentiles:totafuittranslata."68 Cydoneshad thus
erner. His teacherwas pleased withhis progress finishedhis translationa monthafterJohnCanta-
(aLrEp bpc7v6 fl3-XrtrosEKEVOs bta'aKaXos iEro), and cuzenus'fallfrompower,and thatimperialbiblio-
gave him a book to workon, to increasehis pro-
ficiency, a tractof St. Thomas Aquinas: "thereis 67We know in detail the circumstances which led to
Demetrius Cydones' study of Latin and his program of
absolutelyno one who does not know Thomas, Aquinatian translations from the first so-called "apology
because of the multitudeof his writings,the lofti- for his faith," which Giovanni Mercati published from
ness of his thoughts, and theinevitablelogic of his Cydones' own manuscriptcopy (Vatic. gr. 1102, fols. 55
ff.), in Notizie di Procoro e Demetrio Cidone, 360-363
syllogisms." The book chosen was, moreover, and ff. Cf. M. Jugie, Demetrius Cydones et la theologie
'his mostperfectwork,theveryflower,as it were, a Byzance aux XIVe et XVe siecles, Pchos d'Orient 27:
389-392, 1928; Cammelli, Correspondance de Demiietriuis
65 Petrarch, Le faiiiiliari, XVIII, 2, ed. Vittorio Rossi Cydone's,pp. xv-xvIi; epp. 66-67, pp. 145-146, although
3: 275-278, Florence, 1937; cf. John Cantacuzenus, Hist. these letters may have been written much later in
isr,9 (Bonn, 3: 53; PG 154: 61C) ; and see the interest- Cydones' career than Cammelli appears to date them
ing article of Fr. Loenertz, Ambassadeurs grecs aupres ("apres 1354"). There is a very sympatheticGerman
du pape Clement VI (1348), Orientalia Christiana peri- translation of Cydones' Apology by H.-G. Beck, Die
odica 19: 178-196, 1953, from whom I take the suggested "Apologia pro vita sua" des Demetrios Kydones, in Ost-
time and place of Petrarch's meeting with Sigerus. kirchlicheStudien 1: 208-225, 264-282, Wiirzburg, Augus-
66 John Cantacuzenus, Hist., iv, 39 (Bonn, 3: 285; PG tinus-Verlag, 1952.
154: 296B). 68 Mercati, Notizie, 160.

phile now had much more leisure for Latin will dispel. The long experienceof mankindand
theologyand Greek speculation. the veryfactsof social organizationseem always
to producethe "in-groups"and the "out-groups,"
II with theircodes of amityand enmity. One may
look here to findthe causes of frictionbetween
As forCydones,he had tastedthelotus,he tells
politicalparties, races, nations. If in our own
us, Xwroi6&-yEuo-a/LEvoS;therewas no Odysseus to
day the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox
rescue him, and he now went on and on in his
Churchesare less ignorantof each otherthanthey
new pursuit. As soon as word had got around
werein thefourteenth century, theyare noton that
thathe was translating theSumma contragentiles,
account the more friendly. There had been in-
he had had manyvisitors,bothGreeksand Latins,
termediaries betweenthe Greek and Latin worlds
whohad filledhis houseas theybroughthimbooks
beforeCydones; Barlaam had been one, and he
in Latin whichtheywished translated. Material
had perceivedthatit was not ignorancebutenmity
to workon was thusnotlacking. The Dominicans
whichdividedtheGreeksfromthe Latins.
wereespeciallypleased,fortheycould bask in the
Be all this as it may,once Cydoneshad begun
reflectedgloryof St. Thomas, and take comfort
the labor of translationhe continuedit, and put
in the fact that the Greeks would now findout
intoGreeka numberof the worksof St. Thomas,
what the Latins could thinkand talk of besides
includingtheSumma theologica(1355-1358), the
sails,oars,and thelike. They also hopedforsome
thirdpart of whichwas translatedby his brother,
diminutionin the self-esteem of the Greeks,who,
Prochorus.70Where and fromwhomDemetrius'
as Cydonessays,stillnurturedtheancientillusion
youngerbrother,ProchorusCydones (ca. 1335-
that mankindwas divided into Greeks and bar-
ca. 1369), learnedLatin remainsunknown. M1an-
barians (fravraas avOpcirov5E "EXXAqvaSKal fapflacpovs
uscriptsof Prochorus' works are largelyincom-
btXoTo/.oV^ThS), the latterof whomwerenot suf- plete,
eitherbecauseof thepersecutionhe suffered
ficientlyremovedfromasses and cattle to take
in his last years or because of his earlydeath,for
seriously. The Latins,of course,were accounted
the hesychastssecuredhis condemnation in April,
barbariansalso, and theyshowed,in Greek opin-
1368, and made him anathemato Greek Ortho-
ion,a fitting concernwitharms,ignoblecommerce,
doxy.71 Prochorus translated some important
and pettyhuckstering, "and beforethistherewas
Latin texts into Greek, including the biblical
no one to persuade our people that thereis any
prefacesof St. Jerome,some of Boethius,various
intelligencein the Latins, and that theyare able
worksof St. Augustine,and the thirdpart,as we
to discuss anythingbesides these paltry and
have just stated,of the Summa theologica.72The
'banausic' arts,because the long separationof the
condemnationsof Prochorusand DemetriusCy-
two peoples has resultedin much ignoranceof
dones were stillbeingread in Thessalonicaduring
each other."69
the centurywhich followedtheir deaths.73 De-
By long separation (6tEora-vaL) Cydones means,
metrius,whovaliantlydefendedhis brotheragainst
of course,the estrangement of the schism,the en- the hesychasts,was convertedto RomlanCatholi-
mityengenderedby the Crusades,and so on. It cismsometimebetween1355 and 1361,
possiblyin
was naturalto attributethis to ignorance. The 1359-1360 duringPierrede
Thomas' secondlega-
internationalist oftenlamentsthe ignorancewhich tion to the East when both JohnLascaris
Calo-
is thoughtto cause the misunderstanding which pherusand DemetriusAngelus were also drawn
dividespeoples. This is a commoncliche,butthe withinthe Latin fold.74 Cydones' work on St.
facts of life seem otherwise; we entertainlittle Thomas broughthim into close contactwith the
hostilityforthose we do not know. In a deeper Dominicansat Pera and with the Latin colonies
sense than Cydoinesuses the word, it is indeed
ignorance(a&yvoLa) whichbegetsthe dislikewhich 70 For this and other translations of Cydones, and for
their influenceupon Byzantine theology during the later
can and oftendoes grow into hate. But it is not fourteenthand fifteenth
centuries, see M. Jugie, JPclos
theignorancewhichwe can be surethatknowledge d'Orient 27: 392-402, 1928.
71 Mercati, Notizie, 19, 49-61; cf. Dem. Cydones, ep.
(19 Dem. Cydones, Apol., lines 130-187, ed. Mercati, 15, ed. Cammelli, pp. 35-37, et alibi; and M. Jugie, La
Notizie,363-366:"ov6e Tts rV lrp6TEpOP O irEauWvTObS 7flIETEpoUs Controverse palamite, Achos d'Orienit30: 419-421, 1931.
US apa TL KaKEIvOLS JET-EaTL VOl KaL Tt irapa TaVTaus 62 TaS EbTEXE7S 72 Mercati, Notizie, 28-40, 160.
Kac ,a3avauaoua TeXVGs
67vavTaL XiyELv, To Yap 7roXuv Xp6vov 73 Mercati, Notizie, 60-61.
a4XX7Xv 6LecTcaIyat, Ta Wv2l 7roXX7v a'XX7Xco a'yPotav a'.4>o-rpots 4 Mercati, Notizie, 437-438; see also Joachim Smet,
EVOnKev" (11. 184-187, pp. 365-366). Saint Peter Thomas, 205, 208-212, Rome, 1954.

in Constantinople.In one letterhe recommends of him; he recalled his months in Rome with
the Dominicansto the Byzantineemperor.75We nostalgiaas theyearspassed. Oftenhe plannedto
are again remindedof Catalan activityin the returnto Italy,apparentlyto live, like Bessarion,
Byzantineempireand oftheCatalan domination of in the serviceof both the papacy and the Greek
Athens when we findCydones recommending to people. GregoryXI twiceinvitedhimto thepapal
theemperora "Spanish" monknamedGarcia who court,in dicta Curia moraturus,firstby the em-
had come to Greece to study (1382). 76 Cydones bassy whichhe sentto Constantinople in 1374 and
also recommendsa young Milanese named Paul, again by a letterof 18 March, 1375.82 Always in
who had come to Greece to learn the language, the correspondenceof Cydones is the hope ex-
both to the emperorand to a monk in the mon- pressed that the papacy will aid the belabored
asterywhere the young man proposed to live.77 Byzantinesagainst the Turks. France was, of
course,the traditionalhome of the Crusade, and
III although the French intrigued him, Cydones
despaired of gettinghelp from them, for they
Memoriesof theyear 1369 long remainedvivid
limitedtheirsuccorto words,letters,and promises,
in Cydones'mind. He had been depressedby his
so that even the Turks now asked in derision
stay in Rome, however,for he had seen clearly,
whether-anyone had news of the expedition.83
evenat thetime,thatthehopes he had entertained
But ifGod and thepapacywouldonlyturnto use-
for Latin aid against the Turks would come to
fulpurposetheresourcesnow beingsquanderedin
little. But if he was discouraged,he was also
the West, the Greeks would be saved fromim-
much honoredin Rome, soughtby the leaders of
pendingdoom at Turkish hands, and the Latins
society(ol /lEyLeYlTOLKal TwV ciXXOv *78 Cy-
n7?ovUIEVoL)
would also be saved fromtheirown ruinousmili-
dones in factattractedthe special attentionof the
taryand social upheavals(&raTEts)as well as from
nephewof thelate Pope ClementVI, the Cardinal
thatblind insolencewhich satietyhad introduced
Pierre Roger de Beaumont, himselfto become
intotheirlives (Kal 8l' ToVKOpOV pltOVclV) 84 The
pope withina year as GregoryXI.79 In March, lettersof Cydones show his friendstravelingto
1370, Cydones was appointed,or rathergranted
Italy and France, and Cydones more than once
reservation, to a canonryat Patras by Urban V al-
expresses the desire himselfto go to France in
thoughfive years later he had still received no
orderto discuss problemsof mutualinterestwith
stipendat all fromhis prebend,forwhichGregory
XI chidedthe cathedralchapterof Patras in No- French theologians(Kal TOLtsaV'60L btaXEK7LKOlS
vemberof 1375, and orderedthem to pay their ovveo9,evoos).85His relations with Italy and Ital-
fellowcanon his just claims.80 ians were always close and cordial,and in another
A sincereconvertto Catholicism,like Bessarion letter we findhim congratulating a Greek friend
and Isidore of Kiev seventyyears later,Cydones who had gone to Italy upon the fact that the
mightwell have become-who knows.?-a prince friendhad learned Latin which would be most
of the Latin church. Pope GregoryXI's attach- usefulto him.86
mentto him seems to have been genuine,bornof
appreciationof the man and of the services he
82 Dem. Cydones, epp. 18, 23-24,ed. Cammelli,pp. 44,
53-54, 56-57; ep. ad Sinionemtarchiep. Thebanunt, in
could render"comme agent de liaison entre ses Mercati, Sinwone Atumiano,p. 57 and note 2; and cf.
compatrioteset le Saint-Siege."81 Cydoneshim- .Voti.vie,131; Loenertz, Recueils de lettres de Deitzetriius
selfatteststhe pope's affectionforhim and need C(idones, 113-114.
83Dem. Cydones,ep. 13,ed. Cammelli, p. 31: ' Uar'j75ti
75 Dem. Cydones,ep. 446, ed. Cammelli,p. 201. Kat ol TOiPKOL/.ETa -yEXWTOSEp'WTaOLVEL T1S rL E'yeLv EXOL 7rEpt
76 Dem. Cydones,ep. 445, ed. Cammelli,p. 201, and rou 7raoTaaywov,"which Cammellitranslates"si l'on peut
cf. epp. 7 and 339, pp. 135 and 187; Loenertz,Recueils donner des nouvellesde Pasagios" ( !) : see Vitalien
de lettresde DemetritisCydones`115. Laurent, La Correspondancede Demetrius Cydones,
77 Dem. Cydones,epp. 98-99,ed. Cammelli, p. 151,and echos d'Orient30: 346, 1931. AlthoughCammelliren-
J. F. Boissonade,Anecdotanova, 259, Paris, 1844,cited deredyeomanserviceby his editionof fiftyof Cydones'
by Cammelli. letters,witha generalcatalogueof the contentsof most
78Dem. Cydones,ep. 16, ed. Cammelli,pp. 38-39,and of the others,he made manyerrors. Correctionshave
cf. pp. XXll-xxiv. beenlistedby Mercati,Notizie,493-518,and Studi bi-ait-
79 Dem. Cydones,epp. 23-24,ed. Cammelli,pp. 53-54, tini e neoellenici 3: 203-227; V. Laurent, Achos d'Orienit
56-57; Mercati,Notizie,414,438. 30: 339-354;and,of course,by Loenertzin his Recueils.
80 Halecki,Un Empereurde Byzancea Rome,206-207, 84 Dem. Cydones,ep. 26, ed. Cammelli,p. 63.
282,323 note4; Mercati,Notizie,438-441. 85 Cf. Dem. Cydones,ep. 18, ed. Cammelli,p. 44.
81 Halecki,op. cit.,311 86Dem. Cydones,ep. 101,citedby Cammelli,p. 151.

Cvdones' persistentdesire to returnto Italy home"fromthislongjourney"(tera' /aKpav ir-aX6vav),

was prolongeduntil after 1381, as his letterto he discoveredwith joy that Manuel Palaeologus
Simon Atumanomakes clear. Indeed, almost a had just succeededto the Byzantinethrone:Cv-
decade was to pass before he could make the dones,an old man, fatiguedby stormand travel,
journey. The war betweenVenice and Genoa had as he tells Manuel, could not come rightaway to
madetravelverydangerousforsomeyears (1373- salute in person that Platonic ideal now at long
1381). Cydones' reputationand experienceof lengthon the throne,o OLXoooos OaoL)Xevs.90
publicaffairs,his wisdomand learninghad made A fewyears later,in 1395, Cydonesappears to
him a trustedadviserand a culturalornamentat have made anotherjourneyto Italy, this time in
the Byzantine court. He had known how to companywith the famous Manuel Chrvsoloras.
weather political storms. Despite his service When news of their landing in Venice reached
underJohnCantacuzenus,thelatter'simperialop- Florence,two young Florentines,Roberto Rossi
ponent,JohnV Palaeologus,had gladly accepted and Jacopo Angeli (da Scarperia) anxious to
him as a friendand as ministerfor some thirty learn Greek,wentto Venice to receiveinstruction
years (ca. 1356- ca. 1386). When JohnPalaeo- fromthem. Cydonesand Chrvsolorashad come
logus' son, AndronicusIV, usurpedthethronefor to Italy in that perennialquest of militaryaid
a few years of uncertainpower (1376-1379), he against the now terriblemenace of the Turk.
invited the unwillingCydones to take his ac- Serbia had fallenwithK6ssovo in 1389, and Bul-
customedplace in courtcircles. Cydonestended garia had been added to the Turkishdominionin
to withdraw,however,fromactiveparticipation in 1393. Whateverthe precise natureof theirem-
affairsduringthe lateryearsof JohnPalaeologus' bassy, Cydonesand Chrysolorascould easilv see
reign; his friendshipwiththe emperor'sson and thatno aid was likelyto be forthcoming forsome
successorManuel II renderedhim suspectduring time; they quickly went back home, whither
the period of Manuel's estrangementfrom his JacopoAngeli followedthemin his determination
fatherand the imperialgovernment in the capital. to learn Greek (1395). Jacopo was soon busy,
When, finally,Manuel became emperorin 1391, as Chrysoloras'student,at the task of translation,
Cydonesagain became a familiarfigureat court, producingLatin versionsof fivelives of Plutarch
now the grandold man of Byzantinelearningand as well as Ptolemy'sQuadripartitumand Geog-
diplomacywhich so oftenwent togetherin the raphy.91In Constantinople, Jacopoattachedhim-
fourteenth century. self also to the pro-Latin MantuelCalecas, who
The chronology of Cydones'movements remains soon enteredthe Dominicanconventin Pera, and
obscure, although Cardinal Mercati and Fr. wroteon mostof thechiefdlogmasof OrtllodoXy.92
Loenertz' heroic effortshave recentlyintroduced
' Dern. Cydones, ep. 47, ed. Cammelli, p. 121.
much clarityinto the tangledevents of his long 91 Cf. Coluccio Salutati, Epp., ix, 16: xTi, 14, ed. No-
career.38In 1387-1388Cydones'lettersshowhim vati, 3: 129-132, 520-523.
still anxious to leave for Italv where he now 92 Cf. Mercati, Notizie, 70-117, et alibi. Calecas also
wished to join his friendJohn Lascaris Calo- transcribeda number of the works of his friendand co-
pherus,who was thenin Venice.Y' Cvdonesfinally religionist Cydones (ibid.. 86-87 and if.). Calecas is
known to have been in Milan in 1401-1402. His chief
departedforVenice late in 1389, it would appear, work is the Opiniones Graccoruow et Latinorumide pro-
and spent the year 1390-1391 on the lagoons, cessiwlc Spiritus Sancti, which was translated into Latin
receivingfromthe Doge AntonioVenierthepriv- by Ambrogio Traversari at the request of Pope Martin
ileges and immunitiesof honorarycitizenshipon Vt in 1423-1424, and circulated with some effect at the
20 January,1391.A When Cvdoneshad returned Council of Basel. Traversari's translation is printed in
P]G 152: cols. 11-258, but the Greek original still re-
, Cf.
Mercati, Notizie, 519-521; Loenertz, Manuel mains unpublished. Calecas left more than one hundred
TPalologue et Dlmetrius Cydones: Remarques sur leurs letters of which Fr. Loenertz has prepared an edition.
correspondances, 1chos d'Orient 36: 271-287, 474-487. Cf. J. Gouillard, Les Influences latines dans l'euvre
1937; and idem, Recucils de lcttrcs do D)inietrii1s Cv- theologique de Manuel Calecas, ischos d(Oiscut 37:
donems, 108-122. 36-52. 1938, and idem, in the Dictionn. d'hist. Ct deo jr.
88 Loenertz, -Pchos d'Orient 36: 280, 486: Recueils, al clls. 11: 380-384, 1949. A MS. in the Marciana inl
117. Calopherus made a brief journey to France at Venice ( graec. 159), probably one of the Ml'SS. given
this time, quickly returningto Venice. to the Serenissimnaby Bessarion in 1468, records in a
89 Loenertz,
Demetrius Cydones, citoyen de Velnise, contemporarynote, at the end of the MS.- the death of
echos d'Orient 37: 125-126, 1938, publishes the ducal Manuel Calecas at Mitylene. "in the chapel of St. John,"
grant which refers to Cydones as "nunc habitator Vene- in 1410. Calecas had been a rhetoricianin Constantinople
tiarum"; cf. Mercati, in Shtudibi-caitini c iieoellenici 3: for some time (1390-ca. 1396) before entering the con-
217-218, 1931. vent at Pera. He was the close friendand correspondent

RobertoRossi, however,had returnedto Florence A few weeks later,on 8 March, 1396, Salutati
to tell his friend,Coluccio Salutati, more about also wrote Manuel Chrysolorasa letterof affec-
the great men he had seen, whereuponearly in tionategreeting,informinghim that he had ar-
1396 Coluccio inditedlengthylettersboth to Cy- ranged for him to teach Greek in Florence on a
donesand to Chrysoloras,who had senthimgreet- public salary.96 The followingautumn Cydones
ings.93 and Chrysolorasmade the long returnvoyage to
Coluccio wrote Cydones a letter such as the Venice wheretheyspentthewinterof 1396-1397.
latterhimselfmighthave written, fullof the glory Cydones also spent some time at Milan, but old
of God. He wrotealmostin ecstasy,not so much, and in ill healthhe seems to have longedfor rest
he says, because of the honorof Cydones' greet- and retirement in a land of Greekspeech. During
ing,"as because I see and realizethatthe grace of theyearsthatfollowedtheill-fatedNicopolisCru-
God has shownforthin you to such an extentthat sade, however,the Sultan Bajazet keptConstanti-
I perceiveyou have appeared,like a lightin dark- nople under almost constantsiege (1396-1402),
ness,forthestudyof literature, almostlost among and Cydones seems to have found refugein the
the Greeks,because the mindsof all are takenup Venetianislandof Cretewherehe died at theclose
with ambition,pleasures, and avarice; and be- of thecentury, apparentlyin 1398. He died,as he
cause it is God who summoned you to Italy had lived throughmostof his adult life,a Roman
[Latium], when you and Manuel [Chrysoloras] Catholic. A strongGreektraditionlatergrew up
beheldVenice, whereas soon as you took on and that,in a ratherdementedstate,Cydonesrejected
began to teach Roberto [Rossi] in your friendly the Catholicfaithjust beforehis death although
fashion,you firedmanyheartswiththe desire to Mercatihas showngood reasonto doubtthewhole
learn the languageof the people of old Hellas, so storyas legend.97
thatalreadyI perceivetherewill be manyearnest IV
studentsof Greekliteraturewithina fewyears."94 Manuel Chrysolorasacceptedthe call to Flor-
For Coluccio,in fact,Cydoneshad come just in ence,and bothcontemporaries and laterhistorians
time,"for tomorrowI shall reach my sixty-fifthhave seen in his appearanceon the Arno the be-
year, but shall neverthelesssome day see the ginningof a new chapterin thehistoryof human-
originswhenceis believedto have come whatever ism. Chrysoloraswas in his laterfortieswhenhe
scholarshipand learningItalypossesses!" 95 lectured in Florence on Greek grammar and
literature(1397), and thus became the school-
not only of Demetrius Cydones, but also of Manuel
Chrysoloras, the Greek Dominican Maximus Chryso-
master of thecominggenerationof Italian human-
berges, and the Florentine humanist Jacopo Angeli da ists. From Florence he was called to Milan by
Scarperia. On Calecas and the importance of his links Giangaleazzo Visconti,but he never wavered in
with Italy, see R. J. Loenertz, Manuel Calecas, sa vie his devotionto the imperiledcapital on the Bos-
et ses ceuvres d'apres ses lettres et ses apologies inedites,
Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 17: 195-207, Rome, porus. Throughtheyearshe servedas the envoy
1947. of the ByzantineEmperorManuel II Palaeologus
93 Francesco Novati, ed., Epistolario di Coluccio Salt-
tati 3: epp. 13-14, pp. 105-125, Rome, 1896 [Fonti per Lascaris' review of a study by R. Cessi, in the Byzan-
la storia d'Italia, vol. 17]. It is of no account, but ac- tinisch-NeitgriechischeJahrbiicher 6: 319, 1928; Mer-
tually only Chrysoloras appears to have sent greetings cati, Notizie, 492-493). This probably indicates that
to Coluccio (cf. ep. 14, pp. 120-121). both Cydones and Chrysoloras were soon expected in
94 Coluccio Salutati, ep. 13, ed. Novati, 3: 108. Venice; Cydones, of course, actually came in 1390-1391,
95Ibid., 109. Fr. Loenertz does not believe that Cy- but there is no evidence that Chrysoloras did so (and
dones and Chrysoloras made the journey to Venice in Calopherus died in Cyprus in 1392). It is possible that
1394-1395 (cf. lPchos d'Orient 36: 486-487, note 10, and Loenertz is right, but as a whole the traditional date
Recuteils,121) when they were joined by Roberto Rossi 1395 still seems more acceptable to me, on which cf.
and Jacopo Angeli. Salutati's letters of 18 February Mercati, Notizie, 107-109, 117, and Giuseppe Cammelli,
and 8 March, 1396 (see above) show that Cydones and I dotti bizantini e le origini dell' umanesirno1: AManuele
Chrysoloras had been in Venice quite recently although Crisolora, 25-29, Florence, 1941.
they had returnedto Constantinoplebefore Salutati wrote 96 Salutati, ep. 14, ed. Novati, 3: 122 ff.: "Nunc autem
to them. Loenertz believes that the residence of Rossi scito me tibi quod in hac urbe regia grecas doceas lit-
in Venice (he doubts that of Angeli) should be placed teras salario publico procurasse... He had already
in the year 1390-1391 when Cydones is known to have written Cydones of the action taken in Chrysoloras' be-
been in the city. On 5 July, 1388, John Lascaris Calo- half (ep. 13, ibid., 119): "Post hec feci quod noster
pherus made a will at Venice, naming Cydones and Manuel hic honorabiliter est electus."
Chrysoloras as the executors of his estate, provided 97 Loenertz, Recueeitsde lettres de Demetrius Cydone's,
they were in Venice at the time of his death (see M. 122; Mercati, Notizie, 441-450.

to Genoa, Paris, London, Barcelona,98and Rome attributed by certainscholars,who had neverread

wherein 1408 he was made the bearerof a papal the manuscript,to Andreas of Caesarea in the
letterto the Greekpatriarch,MatthewI, concern- seventh centuryand even to the distinguished
ing churchunion. Arethasof Caesarea in the earlyninth.100Stadt-
A loyal partisanof Latin Catholicism,like his mullerhas shown,however,fromindisputablein-
old friend,Cydones,Chrysolorasenteredthe serv- ternalevidence,includingreferences to times,per-
ice of Pope JohnXXIII, who senthimin Septem- sons,and events,thatthisworkwas composedby
ber, 1413, withthe Cardinals,Antoinede Chalant a Roman Catholicof the late fourteenth century
and FrancescoZabarella,to the Holy Roman Em- (between1384 and about 1395). He has, in fact,
perorSigismundto helpmakepreparations forthe shownthatthe Greektextis onlya translationof
councilthatwas to meetat Constance. A yearor the Italian commentary on the Apocalypseby the
so later ChrysolorasaccompaniedJohnXXIII to DominicanFederigoda Venezia,who drewheavily
Constancewhere,a few days afterhis arrival,he upon the glosses of Nicholasde Lyra (died about
died on 15 April,1415. We need not be detained 1349). Federigo was a writerof littlenote and
by furtherbiographicaldetails. Modernscholars, smallability,whosechiefworkis in factthe com-
lost in the unrealworldof learnedfootnotes, have mentaryin question,which was publishedin an
sometimeslooked askance at Chrysoloras. His incunableedition,and was reprintedin 1515 and
literaryproductionswere neithernumerousnor 1519. The Greek text, done by an unknown
original,but he was obviouslyonly half a book- translator,is a rather literal renderingof the
worm; his Italian contemporariesfound him a Italian original; the translatorwas competent
most impressiveperson, and their enthusiastic neitherin Italian nor in literaryGreek. Although
recollections of his presenceamongthemattestthe the (unique) manuscript in theLaurenzianais not
vast importanceof his influenceupon them. The thetranslator'sholograph,the translationappears,
fathersat Constance,wheretheproblemof church like the manuscriptitself,to date fromthe begin-
union was much discussed,even appear to have ning of the fifteenth century.
regardedhimas a possiblecandidateforthepapal Stadtmfillerbelievesthe translatorto have been
throne.99 a convertedGreek,who lived in one of the Latin
states in the Levant, probablyin some Venetian
D. SOME CRETANS AND THE CHRYSOBERGAE colony overseas, most likely Crete. The trans-
lator could have been a bilingualGreek notaryin
It would certainlybe erroneousto suggestthat
Venetian service; he could also have been, con-
all workof translationdone in the timeof Simon
ceivably,a Catalan or French friar (hardly an
Atumanoand DemetriusCydones shows a com-
Italian), who could read ecclesiasticalGreek and
petentcommandofthelanguagesinvolved. It may
speak demoticwithease, afteryears of residence
be of some interest,in fact,to note a less than
amongtheGreeks. Speculationis idle,but Stadt-
mediocre performance,which reveals, neverthe-
muller'sassociationof the translationwith Crete
less, even at a low intellectuallevel the exchange
is veryreasonable.101\Ve need not repeathis evi-
of ideas betweenLatins and Greeks. An early
dencehere,but may notethatCretanscholarsde-
fifteenth-century manuscript in the Biblioteca
servemuchcreditin the generalhistoryof Greek
Laurenziana (cod. graec. 7, 9) containsa Greek
humanismin Italy.
commentaryon the JohannineApocalypse,once
Aboutthetimethatthecommentary of Federigo
98 On the presence of
Chrysoloras in Catalonia, see da Venezia was being translatedinto Greek,pos-
Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, Diploinatari de l'Orient catala siblyat Candia, anotherCretan,Petros Philarges
(1301-1409), doc. ncXCIV, pp. 716-717,Barcelona,1947: (4tXaeyp-s?),knownto Italians as Pietro Filargi,
"[Manuel II . . .1 mittimusnobilem et circumspectummi-
litem Manuelem Crysolora predilectum et fidelem am- became the archbishop of Milan (1402) and
bassatorem, cambellanum ac intimum consiliarium nos- cardinalpriestof the Twelve Apostles (1405). A
trum . . . ," etc. For Manuel II's embassies to the Spanish
kingdoms,see Cirac, Bizancio y Espaia: La uni6n, Man- 100 For the MS., see A. M. Bandini, Catalogus codi-
uel II Pale6logo y sits recuerdos en Espaiia, 54-68, Bar- c urnilanuscriptorurnBibliothecae Mediceae Lauirenitianae
celona, 1951; Cirac also publishes a few lettersof Manuel varia continensopera 1: 216, Florence, 1764.
II, especially one to the Avignonese Pope Benedict XIII 101Georg Stadtmiiller, Eine griechische Ubersetzung
and another to Charles III of Navarre (op. cit., 90-111). des italienischen Apokalypsenkommentarsvon Federigo
99 R. J. Loenertz, Theodore et Andre Chrysoberges, da Venezia, O.P. (Texte und Untersuchungen,48, 2).
ArchizuintFratrumnPraedicatorimi 9: 15-16, 1939 (for Federigo's commentary mentions the death of John
complete referencesee below, note 109). Wyclif (1384).

distinguished theologian, and masterof bothGreek 1469, but it must be admittedthat the Greek
and Latin, Filargi was the tutor of the young classics were more studied,and names of distinc-
Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan. He became a tion becomemorefrequentafterthis date. Greek
strongconciliarist, appears to have been an adroit natives of Crete are still prominent. Marcus
politician,and was electedpope, as AlexanderV, Musurus (ca. 1470-1517) was a Cretan,born at
in June,1409,at theCouncilofPisa.102 The island Retimo. Musuruswas a pupilof JohnLascaris in
of Creteoccupiesan almostunique positionin the Venice wherehe enteredthe circleof the printer,
historyof Italian classicalscholarshipas well as in Aldus Manutius,about 1494, and became a very
that of the Serene Republic of Venice. Young prominent memberof theNew Academydedicated
Cretans sought their fortunesin Venice whence to the studyof Greek. Musurus saw throughthe
theymovedintootherItalian citiesand also north press a numberof Greek editionesprincipes;he
of the Alps. also taughtGreek in Padua and Venice. Con-
Althoughtherewas muchliteraryproductionin ceivablya careerlike thatof his compatriotPietro
Venice fromthe twelfthcenturyon, especiallyin Filargilay beforehimwhenPope Leo X conferred
historicalwriting,some scholarshave insistedthat upon him the titleof archbishopof Monemvasia
the citybecamean intellectual centerof worldim- (in the Morea), the "Gilbraltarof Greece"; the
portanceonly afterthe establishment of its first titlewas probablymeantto be titular,but in any
printingpressin 1469. It is truethatwithinthree event Musurus died beforehe could assume of-
decadesof thisdate Venice becamethechiefcenter fice.104Zacharias Calliergeswas a fellowtowns-
of the Europeanbook businessas well as of Greek man of Musurus, being also born at Retimo in
humanism,printingmany Greek classical and Creteabout 1470. Calliergestoo receivedhis early
other texts.'03 This point of view may be best educationin Venice where,as later on in Rome,
maintainedby ignoringVenetian historybefore he workedas a printerand editorof Greekbooks,
102 Cf. Ludwig Pastor, Hist. of the popes, ed. and especially in collaborationwith another Cretan,
trans. F. I. Antrobus,1: 190-191,London, 1899; L. NicholasVlastos (1499-1500).105 Cretancopy-
Salembier, Alexandre V, Dictionn. de theologie catho- ists were highlyskilled in the fifteenthand six-
lique 1: cols. 722-724,Paris, 1903; A. Clerval,in Dic- teenthcenturies,beingemployedby kings,nobles,
tionn. d'hist. et de giographie ecclesiastiques 2: cols. 216-
218, Paris, 1914. The works of Pietro Filargi remain
the learned academies,printers,and membersof
unpublished;the chiefstudydevotedto himis by Franz the book trade.106
Ehrle, Der SentenzenkornmentarPeters von Candia, The listof Cretanswho made theircontribution
Franziskanische
Studien,Beiheft9, Miinsteri.W., 1925; to Italianhumanismcouldbe lengthened merelyby
R. J. Loenertz, Archivum FF. Praedicatorum 9: 15-16, consultingilmile Legrand's old but admirable
note42, 1939.
103 Cf. W. TheodorElwert,Venedigsliterarische
Be- but we may confineour-
Bibliographiehelle'nique,
deutung, Archiv fur Kulturgeschichte36: 261-300, 1954. selves to the mentionof only one or two more
Milan was the chiefcompetitor of Venice in the book names. To proceedno fartherin Crete than the
trade. It maybe notedthat,althoughFlorencewas the town of Retimo, we may recall that it was the
centerbothof humanism and of Hellenism,she was pre- birthplaceof the Greek classical scholar,Francis-
ceded in the printingof Greek books both by Milan
(1476) and Venice (1486). (Two Greek books were cus Portus (1511-1581), whose family,though
printedin Venice in 1486,both by Cretans.) Graeco- residentin Crete, was actuallyof Italian origin
Latin texts were producedmore or less by accidentin (fromVicenza). Educated at Monemvasiain the
Brescia and Vicenza (ca. 1475-1476),a numberof early Morea, as well as at Padua and Venice, Portus
Graeco-Latin incunabulabeing produced in Vicenza.
The firstGreek book to appear in Florence,however, 104 Rudolph Menge, De Marci Musuri Cretensis vita,
was extremelyimportant, the editioprincepsof Homer studiis, ingenio narratio, in M. Schmidt, ed., Hesychii
(9 December,1488), based upon the Greek text edited Alexandrini lexicon 5, Jena, 1868; cf. Kurt Latte, He-
by DemetriusChalcondylas. Cf. Robert Proctor,The sychii Alex. lexicon 1: pp. xxxiii-xxxiv, Copenhagen,
1953; Ambroise Firmin-Didot, Alde Manuce et l'helle-
printing of Greek in the fifteenthcentury,Oxford, 1900,
and Giuseppe Fumagalli, Dictionnaire giographique nisme d Venice, passim, Paris, 1875; Pmile Legrand,
d'Italie (Lexicon Typographicum Italiae), 139, 215, Bibliographie hellenique ou description raisonrnee des
476-478,Florence,1905. Proctor is ratherprejudiced ouvrages publies en grec par des grecs aux XV6 et
againstthe "monotonous" Greektypesdevisedby Aldus XVie si'cles 1: pp. cviii-xxiv, et alibi, Paris, 1885, and
Manutius,but see the interesting
noticeconcerningthem 2: 312-321, 394-404, 1885.
by Emanuela Quaranta,Osservazioniintornoai carat- 105 Didot, Alde Manuce et l'hellenisme a Venise, 544-
teri greci di Aldo Manuzio,La Bibliofilia55: 123-130, 578; Legrand, Bibliogr. hellen. 1: cxxv-cxxx; 2: 297-
1953. The bibliographyon Aldus is a large one, on 299; also see the works of Robert Proctor and G.
which see LambertoDonati, BibliografiaAldina, ibid. Fumagalli.
52: 188-204,1950. 579-586.
106 Didot, Alde Manuce et l'hellenismne,

taughtin Venice, Modena, and Ferrara. Becom- witnessedat Constancesome fifteen years before.
inga Protestant,
he soughtrefugein Genevawhere Andreaswas veryactiveat theCouncilof Ferrara-
he became a close friendof Theodore Beza, and Florence,and signedtheact of 6 July,1439,which
wherehe composedtreatiseson Pindar,Sophocles, on paperat least,thelong-sought
effected, unionof
Xenophon,Thucydides,and otherancientGreek the Greekand Latin churches. Upon Theodore's
authors. His son,Emilius (1550-1610), who was death in 1429 his Greek and Latin manuscripts
born in Ferrara, taught in various centers in passed into the possessionof Andreas, who was
Switzerlandand Germany,was a classicist and thenlivingin Rome; these manuscriptslater be-
lexicographerof note, and exerted a good deal came a part of the newlyorganizedpapal library
of influenceupon the laterperiodof the so-called and have been,onlynow in our own day,seriously
NorthernRenaissance.107 studiedby CardinalMercatiin theVaticana. This
remarkablecollectioncontainsthe works,includ-
II ing some autographs,of DemetriusCydones and
his brotherProchorus, Maximus Chrysoberges,
The namesof manyotherpersons,especiallyec-
and M\anuelCalecas. Andreas Chrysobergeswas
clesiastics,who knewbothGreekand Latin could
theyoungestof thethreebrothers. He lived until
easily be added to those we have already noted.
1456, masterof theology,sometimerectorof the
Some of themhave been studiedin theirhistorical
curialuniversityin Rome,Greekscholarand diplo-
contexts by Cardinal Mercati, Fr. Loenertz,
mat, worthysuccessorof Cydones and colleague
Altaner,and others. Merelyto list nameswould,
of Bessarion: Andreas served well the papacy
again, serve no usefulpurpose,but particularat-
whichhad trustedhimand promotedhim.1i9
tentionshouldbe paid to threelearnedand influen-
tial Greeks, the brothersChrysobergae,all of 6. ENGLAND AND CATALONIA
whom were convertedto Roman Catholicismand
enteredthe Dominicanorder. Maximus Chryso- We have not space enough to range over the
bergeswas the friendof Manuel Chrysolorasand wholeof Europe in searchof latermedievalGreek
probablyof DeinetriusCydonesalso. He was an scholarship, and my own limitations of knowledge
importantliteraryfigurein his day, a theologian, would make inadvisable any such attempt. So
but is less well knownto us thanhis two brothers, far,however,we have dealt chieflywiththe long-
Theodore and Andreas. Theodore, in graeca, continuedrelationsof Byzantiumand Italy and
iatina et ruthenicalinguis peritus, was elected withthe significance of theserelationsin the his-
bishopof Olena in the Morea in April,1418. He toryof the Greek language in theItalianpeninsula.
had been present at the Council of Constance By way of comparison withconditionsin Italy we
shortlybeforethis,and long served the cause of may nowolook verybrieflyat two countriesin the
Catholicismin Greece. On 26 January,1421, for moredistantWest,Englandand Catalonia,bothof
example, Pope Martin V charged Theodore to which live under the diligentprotectionof St.
proceed as inquisitoragainst the Fraticelli who George. England had many ties with southern
had for some time been seeking refugein the Italy and Sicily.and duringthethirteenth century
Florentineduchvof Athens.'"9 xve find the keenestinterestamong the English
Andreas Chrvsobergesplayed a part of some in theGreeklanguageand in Greektheologicaland
prominence at Constancewherehe servedas an in- scientific thought.
terpreter. In May, 1432, Andreas became arch- The Greek studiesof thosefamousFranciscans,
bishop of Colossi on the island of Rhodes and, Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon, are too well
lateron, of Nicosia in Cyprus. About the timeof knownforextendedconsideration here. We may
his appointment to Colossi,Andreasaddressedthe be permitted a glimpse,nevertheless, into Grosse-
assembled fathersat Basel, recallingthe efforts teste'searly career as bishop of Lincoln when we
expendedin behalfof churchunionwhichhe had findhim writingto theabbot and convent of Peter-
boroughthatonly"last week" he had been seeking
107 Legrand, Bibliogr. hellhn. 2: pp. vii-xx, 379-383, refugefromthe cares of office by readinga Greek
1885, and 4: 90, 127, et passim, Paris, 1906. The poet, treatiseon themonasticlife,the contentsof which
John Casimatis, was a nephew of Franciscus Portus
(Legrand, 2: pp. xxi-xxii). 109 R. J. Loenertz, Les Dominicains byzantins Theo-
108 Mercati, Notizie di Procoro e Demtetrio Cidone dore et Andre Chrysoberges et les negotiations pour
(Studi e Testi, 56), 480-481; Loenertz, Archivurn FF. lunion des 6glises grecque et latine de 1415 a 1430,
Praedd. 9: 46-47, 1939 (for full reference, see below, Archivumi Fratrum Praedicatorwmt9: 5-60, 1939, and
note 109). cf. ibid. 2: 13-14, 1939.

he proceededto summarizein his letterbecause quando studuit Athenis viderat et audierat ab
of his desireto sharethemwiththegood monksof peritisGraecorumdoctoribusquaedam Latinis in-
Peterborough.' Grossetestecollected a library cognita." In Athens,John founda Greek copy
of Greekmanuscripts, and finallylearnedthe lan- of the Testamentsof theTwelvePatriarchs,which
guage well enoughto embarkon an ambitiouspro- Grossetestelater sent for, and which has been
gram of Aristotelianand patristiccommentary identifiedas the tenth-century manuscript,con-
and translation. He assembled,apparentlyas his tainingnotes in Grosseteste'sown hand, now in
guestsin England,a groupof South-ItalianGreek the CambridgeUniversityLibrary(Ff. I. 24, fols.
scholars,and producedabout 1242 a notabletrans- 203r-262v),3and whichin 1242 the Sicilian Greek
lationof the De divinisnominibusof the Pseudo- Niccolo, who became a canon of Grosseteste's
Dionysiusthe Areopagite.2 churchat Lincoln,helpedthegood bishopto trans-
MatthewParis reportsthat Grosseteste'sgood late fromGreekintoLatin. MatthewParis states
friend,John of Basingstoke,archdeaconof Lei- that John of Basingstoke introduced"Greek"
cester,had actually studied in Athens. In fact numerals into England and translateda Greek
Johnis said to have informedGrosseteste,"quod grammar.4Johnis also said to have broughtback
other manuscriptswith him from Athens. So
1 H. R. Luard, ed., Roberti Grosseteste,episcopi quon-
much of Matthew Paris' account of John of
darn Lincolniensis, epistolae, Rolls Series, vol. 25, ep.
LVII, pp. 173-178,London,1861.
Basingstoke'sassociationwith Athens could well
2 Roger Bacon, Opus tertium, xxv, ed. J. S. Brewer, be true, but Matthew goes on with a very re-
Fr. Rogeri Bacon opera quaedam hactenus inedita, Rolls markable account, which he asserts that John
Series,15: 91, London,1859: "Sed non bene scivit[Ro- himselfhad oftentold, of how he had learned
bertusepiscopusLincolniensis]linguasut transferret nisi many marvelous things from one Constantina,
circa ultimumvitae suae, quando vocavit Graecos, et
fecitlibrosgrammaticae graecae de Graecia et aliis con- young daughter of the archbishop of Athens:
gregari. Sed isti pauca transtulerunt."Grosseteste's "quaedam puella, filia archiepiscopiAtheniensis,
translation of the De divinis nominibus owes much to nomineConstantina, nondumvicesimumagens an-
the earlyninth-century versionof the AbbotHilduin of num, virtutibuspraedita,omnem trivii et quad-
St. Denis (see the Dionysiaca1: p. cvi, Bruges,Desclee
de Brouwer,1937,and cf. the textsof Hilduin [denoted rivii noverat difficultatem . . . et quicquid boni
as "H"] and of Grosseteste["R"], ibid., 5-561). Al- scivitin scientia,ut saepe asseruit,licet Parisius
thoughGrossetesteknew some Greekbeforehis episco- diu studuisset et legisset, ab ea mendicaverat.
pal period (1235-1253),he appears not to have known Haec puellapestilentias, tonitrua,eclipsim,et quod
enoughfor translation(cf. S. Harrison Thomson,The
writings of Robert Grosseteste, 3, 49, 73, Cambridge, mirabiliusfuit,terrae motumpraedicens,omnes
1940). See chieflyEzio Franceschini, RobertoGrossa- suos auditoresinfallibiliter praemunivit." 5 Pro-
testa,vescovo di Lincoln,e le sue traduzionilatine,in
the Atti del R. Istititto Veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti 3 Cf. H. R. Luard, ed., Robt. Grosseteste,Epp., pref.,pp.
93, 2: 1-138,1933,and D. A. Callus,ed., RobertGrosse- xxvii-viii; Robt. Sinker,in the Ante-NiceneFathers8:
teste, scholar and bishop, 36-67, Oxford, 1955. On the 6-7, 1886; R. H. Charles, The Testaments of the Twelve
Greekbooks in Grosseteste'slibraryand his translations, Patriarchs,xviii, xix, London, 1908; J. E. Sandys,A
see also Thomson,op. cit.,pp. 29-30,36, and esp. 43-71; history of classical scholarship, 1 (1903), 554; 3 ed.,
cf. Samuel Pegge, Robt. Grosseteste, 289-291, London, 1 (1921), 576; S. H. Thomson, The writings of Robert
1793, and R. W. Hunt, in D. A. Callus, ed., Robert Grosseteste,13, 22, 29, 42; D. A. Callus, ed., Robert
Grosseteste,121 ff. There is, of course,a large litera- Grosseteste, 40, 55-56, 61-62, 66, 134. (Basingstokeis
ture on RobertGrosseteste,even on his Greek studies. in Hampshire.)
Among the chief works of the last dozen years are: 4 W. W. Greg, Johnof Basing's "Greek" Numerals,
U. Gamba, ed., II Commento di Roberto Grossatesta al The Library,4 ser.,4: 53-58, 1923-1924,emphasizesthe
"De mnysticatheologia" del Pseudo-Dionigi Areopagita, importance of John'sintroduction of an easternsystem
Milan, 1942; Fr. J. T. Muckle,RobertGrosseteste'suse of numerals, called figurae numneralessecundum Graecos,
of Greek sourcesin his Hexameron,Medievalia et hu- into England. On the Greek grammarwhich John
manistica3: 33-48, 1945; L. Minio-Paluello,Note sull' translated(or compiled),note R. Weiss, Rinascimento
Aristotele latino medioevale, Rivista di filosofia neo-sco- 2: 213-214. The Greek Niccolo may have translated
lastica42: 232-236,1950; D. J. Allan,MediaevalVersions the pseudo-Aristotelian De mundo, on which see L.
of Aristotle,De Caelo, and of the commentary of Sim- Minio-Paluello, in the Rivista di filosofia neo-scolastica
plicius, Medieval and Renaissance Studies 2: 82-120, Lon- 42: 232-236,and cf. R. Weiss, Rinascimento 2: 211, n.
don,1950; RobertWeiss,The Studyof Greekin England 1, and D. A. Callus, ed., Robert Grosseteste, 40, 229.
duringthe FourteenthCentury, Rintascimento 2: 211 ff., ("Nicholas Grecus" died 4 Dec. 1279; he is sometimes
1951; and Ezio Franceschini,Un inedito di Roberto confusedwith Nicholas of St. Albans, who died about
Grossatesta:La "Quaestiode accessu et recessumaris," 1252.)
Riv. di filos. neo-scolastica 44: 11-21, 1952, and cf. ibid., 5 MatthewParis, Chronicamaiora,ed. H. R. Luard
22-23. (Rolls Series,57), 5: 285-287,1880.

fessorWeiss believesthat"the accuracyof all this knowingGreek. He begins the interesting third
informationcannot be checked now,"6 and the partofhis Opus maius (writtenforPope Clement
chroniclerof St. Albans has told such a charming IV in 1266-1268) withthe flatstatementthatthe
storythat it is a pityto have to disagree. This Latins will never attain the necessarycompre-
extraordinary girlof twenty,however,wouldhave hensioneitherof the mysteriesof religionor the
to be the daughter,clearly, of the celebrated chiefproblemsof philosophywithouta knowledge
Michael Choniates (1182-1204), the last Greek of foreignlanguages. For an understandingof
archbishopof Athens whose daughterJohn of the Scripturesboth Greek and Hebrew are es-
Basingstokecould have known,forthe latterdied sential. and the proper study of philosophyen-
in 1252. But the amazing Constantinawas not tails the acquisitionof Arabic also."' Bacon is
the daughterof Michael Choniates,who expressly verycriticalof the Arabic and Greek translations
informsus that he had no children (Et 'yap Kat of his day. He holds up to opprobriumthe work
ira-r7p OVK E76EPO/LX7 aXX oLbae7Tai ErL TOtS 7rLLOL T(AW of Gerard of Cremona, Michael Scot. Alfred
7rarEpwzv-rXfazyxva. . .) Anglicus,HermannAlemannus,and William"the
Some thirty years ago the late Montague Fleming" (of Moerbeke), "especiallythe notori-
Rhodes James referredto that "very large sub- ous WilliamtheFleming,"whosegreatreputation
ject whichverymuch needs, whichis cryingout moves Bacon to vitrioliccomment,"since it is
for, an adequate historian,namely the story of commonknowledgeamong all men of lettersin
Greek learningin Western Europe from500 to Paris that he knows no Greek science in the
1500." 8 An adequate historianwould findmuch originallanguage,to which he makes such pre-
to occupyhis attention. To the names of Robert tense, and thereforehe translates everything
Grosseteste,John of Basingstoke, and Roger wrong and inhibits the understandingof the
Bacon, we can easily add those of otherEnglish- Latins."11 Bacon acknowledges,however,that
men who knew Greek in the thirteenth century,
such as Gregoryof Huntingdon,priorof Ramsey, 10 Roger Bacon, Oputs lnains, pars iii, ed. J. H.
who wvas also interested
in Hebrew studies. There Bridges, The "Opuis Majus" of Roger Bacon 1: 66, Ox-
ford, 1897 (and cf. Bridges' introd.,pp. xlviii if.): "Im-
were manyGreek manuscriptsin England in the possibile
enim est quod Latini perveniant ad ea quae
thirteenthand fourteenthcenturies,one of the necessaria sunt in divinis et humanis,nisi notitiamhabe-
most interestingand importantbeing a Graeco- ant aliarum linguarum. . . Nam totus textus sacer a
Latin lexiconcontainingsome 16,000 words,now Graeco et Hebraeo transfususest, et philosophia ab his
et Arabico deducta est...." The entire third part of
in the College of Arms in London (Arundel,ix), the Oputs mahinsis a plea for the study of Greek, He-
whichseems to have been writtenby an English- brew, and Arabic in behalf of which Bacon marshals
man in the late thirteenthcentury,but whichde- many arguments (op. cit. 1: 66-96), including the ne-
for biblical textual criticism; the interpretation
rivesultimately fromthatcoterieof South-Italian cessity
and translation of texts; the explanation of the liturgy,
GreekswhomRobertGrossetesteinvitedto Eng- sacraments, and consecrations; guidance of foreign
land, and some of whom he maintainedin his churches and missionary activity; understandingCatho-
household.9 lic doctrine; and even for foreign trade, comimneatio
uttilitatuio
neccssariarumki
et
cimercatis et negotiis sine glui-
Roger Bacon oftenemphasizesthe necessityof butsLatini esse non posstunt,quia mnedicinact oinnia
pretiosa recipiiutturab alius nationibus (p. 96). There
6 Robt. Weiss, The study of Greek in England, Riniasci- is no need to heap up references to the Opuis minus,
mento 2: 213, 1951. Oputstertiumki,and Cornpendihnstudii philosophiae,where
7Mich. Chon., Ep. 119, 2, ed. Sp. P. Lampros, Mtxa,)X Bacon makes similar statementsand gives long discourses
'AKOpV a'rov roi Xcwn'brovra 2;@wosEva,2 vols., Athens, 1879- on Greek and Hebrew grammar. Pro omn-iibuts stet
1880, 2: 244; cf.Lampros, At''AOvat7rEppt r& TWXqroi ME- utnumn!Cf., in general, smile Charles, Rogcr Bacon,
K tov ALWVos, 47-50, Athens,1878; cf. V. Gardthausen, 117 if., Paris, 1861; S. A. Hirsch, Roger Bacon and
Die griechische Schrift des Mittelalters im Westen Philology, in A. G. Little, ed., Roger Bacon Essays,
Europas, Byzantinisch-NeugriechischeJahrbiicher8: 133, esp. 118-135, Oxford, 1914, with referencesto the works
Athens, 1931. of Bacon, who often discusses problems of Greek gram-
8 M. R. James, Greek manuscripts in England before mar (cf. Hirsch. p. 123) ; Thorndike, Magic and experi-
the Renaissance, The Library, ser. 4, 7: 337, 1926-1927. iiental scicice 2: 178-179, 640, 641, 644-645.
9 M. R. James, A Graeco-Latin lexikon of the thir- 1l Bacon, Com;zpentdiumwistudii philosophiae, viii, ed.
teenth century, in the Melanges offerts a M. E?iiile Brewer, Opera hactenus inedita, pp. 471-472, and cf.
Chatelain, 396-411, Paris, 1910, and The Library, 4 ser., Opus tertium,xxv, ibid., p. 91, where, however, he spares
7: 340-349; S. H. Thomson, The writings of Robert poor William. Cf. J. S. Brewer, ibid., pref., 1 (1859),
Grosseteste, 251-252; and cf. R. Weiss, Rinascimento pp. Ivii-lxvii; J. H. Bridges, Opus majus, introd., 1
2: 218, 1951. (1897), pp. lii-liv; Edm. Nolan and S. A. Hirsch, The

therewere manypeople in his day, in both Eng- Italy forbooks and even forone or more persons
land and France,who werewellpreparedin Greek, who knew Greek,just as the lord RobertGrosse-
but if one wishedto learnthe language,a journey teste,thesaintlybishopof Lincoln,had been wont
to Italy would not be too great a price to pay, to do. Bacon says in factthatsome of the South-
for in Italy the clergyand people were entirely Italian Greeks whom Grossetestehad broughtto
Greek in manyplaces. Bishops and archbishops, England were stilllivingthere.'2
rich men and those in authoritymightsend to In thefamoustenthchapteroftheOpus tertium,
which Bacon wrote for Pope Clement IV in
Greek grammar of Roger Bacon, introd.,pp. li-liii, Cam- 1267-1268, he states that "all the doctorsof the
bridge, 1902; and Hirsch, in Roger Bacon essays, 112.
Some of Roger Bacon's dicta appear to have been
church,all the philosophersand poets,and all the
inspired by malice or jealousy, and he was certainly too wise men of antiquity,rightdown to our own
hard on William of Moerbeke, who translated into Latin times,have at least known the Greek language.
almost all the Aristotle not yet available in Latin up to Italy was Magna Graecia and remains thereof
his time, and also retranslatedor revised much that had
still survive,for in Calabria, Apulia, Sicily, and
been done previously. William did the only complete
medieval Latin translation of Aristotle's Meteorologica elsewherethereare many Greek churchesand a
(before 1267), together with Alexander of Aphrodisias' [Greek] populace subject to them. . . ." Bacon
commentary on the Meteorologica; the translation of regardedhis own generationas linguistically de-
this commentary,according to the subscription in cer- ficient,however,"for there are not four Latins
tain MSS., was finished at Nicaea on 24 April, 1260
(Geo. Lacombe [et al.], Aristoteles Latinus 1: 96, Rome, who knowHebrew,Greek,and Arabic grammar."
La Libreria dello Stato, 1939). William's translations Bacon's idea of grammarwas very exalted; it
of both the Meteorologica and the commentarythereon ratherapproachedour own conceptof compara-
were employed by Mahieu le Vilain in his Old-French tivephilology. Nevertheless, Bacon acknowledges
version of Les AMetheoresd'Aristote (about 1270 or so).
On 23 December, 1260, according to the manuscriptsub-
that"manylearnedpersonscan certainlybe found
scription, William finishedhis translation of Aristotle's amongthe Latins who knowhow to speak Greek,
De parties aninialium at Thebes (Lacombe, Aristoteles Arabic, and Hebrew . . . for just as common
Latints 1: 83 if.). See in general the fine studies of L. people speak the languages they learn without
Minio-Paluello, Guglielmo di Moerbeka, traduttoredella
"Poetica" di Aristotele (1278), Rivista di filosofia neo-
knowingthe rationaleof grammar,so it is with
scolastica 39: 1-19, 1947, and Henri Aristippe, Guillaume these fellows. . . ." 13 Finally, in urging the
de Moerbeke, etc., Revue philosophique de Louvain 45: studyof Greek and Hebrew, Bacon remindshis
206-235, 1947, together with the prefaces, notes, etc., of readers that we are the sons and successors of
Minio-Paluello's continuationof the Aristoteles Latinus.
In 1269 William translated from the Greek almost all thosewho have laboredat the tasks of scholarship
the surviving works of Archimedes (see Marshall Cla- in past generations, and we owe it to ourselvesto
gett, Use of the Moerbeke Translations of Archimedes learn theselanguagesas the sages of the past had
in the Works of Johannes de Muris, Isis 43: 236-242, to do in theirown pursuitof knowledge. Other-
1952); in addition he translated many other Greek sci-
entific texts (Eutocius, Galen, Hippocrates, etc.). wise we shall rightlybe chargedwithinfinite folly,
William of Moerbeke also translated from Greek into and be as emptyof wisdomand learningas jack-
Latin, between 1268 and 1280, Plato's Parmenides and asses.'4
Proclus' commentaryon the Parnmenides,as well as Pro-
clus' Elemnentatiotheologica and commentary on the
On this exalted note we may draw to a con-
Timsiaezisof Plato. William discovered, furthermore, clusion our rapid glance at England in the thir-
probably with the aid of some of his Greek connec- teenth century,the promise of which did not
tions, three works of Proclus, the originals of which continue,in the field of Greek scholarship,into
have since been lost-(1) De decent ditbitationibuscirca
providentiam; (2) De providentia et fato; and (3) De thenextcentury. The intellectual historyof Eng-
mnalortun suibsistentia(cf. L. J. Roshn, The philosophy land in the fourteenth century is disappointing,
at
of Proclus, 38-39, 224, New York, 1949): the contents leastas relatedto humanistic studies,and progress
of these three works are known today only in the Latin
was still ratherslow in the fifteenth.The visit
versions which William prepared for his contemporaries.
William's translations of Plato and Proclus exerted an of the ByzantineEmperorManuel II Palaeologus
immense influence not only upon Italian theological
thought but also upon that of the fourteenth-century 12 Cornp. stud. phil., vi, ed. Brewer,p. 434, and cf.
German mystics, Dietrich of Freiburg and Berthold of also The Greekgrammarof Roger Bacon, eds. Edmond
Moosburg, Meister Eckhart and Johann Tauler (cf. R. Nolan and S. A. Hirsch,31, Cambridge, 1902.
Klibansky, Ein Proklos-Fund und seine Bedeutung, 13 J. S. Brewer,ed., Fr. Rogeri Bacon opera quaedam
20-22). It would appear that William of Moerbeke's hactenusinedita,Rolls Series, 15: 33-34, London,1859.
contributionto European intellectual history in no way 14 Comp. stud. phil., vi, ed. Brewer,p. 435, and cf.
falls short of that of Roger Bacon himself. ibid.,viii, pp. 464-465.

to London fortwo monthsin the year 1400,15as joyed close contactswithGreece and withByzan-
well as the diplomaticmission of the famous tine civilization. The classical age of Catalan
Manuel Chrysolorasin 1409, had no apparent literaturebegan withBernatMetge (1350-1410),
effectupon the literaryinterestsand intellectual and the worksof Dante, Petrarch,and Boccaccio
life of England in this period when the Italians were muchstudiedin Cataloniain the laterfour-
were respondingto Byzantine instructionwith teenthand earlier fifteenth centuries,"the first
such remarkablematurity. The English lacked period of Catalan humanism."1 To Catalonia
the long associationwithByzantiumand the long we may now go fora furtherbriefillustrationof
preparationfor advanced classical learning,the that passion for classical learningand book col-
historyof whichhas beenthesubjectof thisessay. lectingwhich was beginningto illuminethe in-
Even Poggio Bracciolinimade little impression tellectuallifeof Europe at theturnof the fifteenth
duringthefouryearshe spentin England (1418- century.
1422) in the serviceof Henry Beaufort,cardinal II
bishopof Winchester. Humphrey,duke of Glou-
cester,and William Grey,bishop of Ely (1454- The Catalans were exceptionallyactive in the
1478), were enlightenedpatrons and rich book Levant duringthe thirteenth and fourteenth cen-
collectors,and both generousbenefactorsof Ox- turies. For some seventy-five or more years they
ford,but RobertFlemmyng,dean of Lincolnfrom possessed,as we have noted,the Greekduchiesof
1452, was apparentlythe firstEnglishmanof the Athens (1311-1388) and Neopatras,the modern
fifteenth centuryto learn Greek, the study of Hypate (1319-1394). Catalan connectionswith
which he began, however,not at home, but at Byzantium and Greece were thus very close
Ferrara in the school of Guarino da Verona. In throughoutthe later medievaland early Renais-
fact,English scholarsin the fifteenth centurywho sance periods,and Catalonia deservesan honored
learned Greek at all well tended to do so in place in the historyof the classical renascenceof
Italy. RobertFlemmyng,JohnFree, JohnGun- the fourteenth century. Illustrationmustbe con-
thorpe, apparently William Sellyng, William fined to a small numberof importanttexts. In a
Grocyn,Thomas Linacre,and JohnColet were all document of September. 1380, forexample,King
studentsin Italy. The classical spiritof Renais- Pedro IN of Aragon-Catalonia describes the
rance Italy, partly inspired by Byzantium,had Acropolisas "the richestjewel in all the world,
thus reached Ultima Thule where it has been the like of which no otherking in Christendom
nurturedwithlovingcare forsome fivecenturies. could match" (lo dit castell sia la. pits richa joya
No one will seek to denyto Italy primacyin the qiti al wont [sic] sia. c tal que entre tots los reys
cult of Graeco-Romanart,literature, and rational- de cristians enzides lo porion for semblant) 18
ist philosophyin the laterfourteenth and fifteenth AlthoughKing Pedro is presumablythinking
centuries. Althoughthe firsttheologicalfaculty of theAcropolischieflyas a fortress, he has given,
was actuallynotfoundedin Italy until1360-1364, nevertheless, a strong aesthetic tone to his de-
the scholastictraditionnaturallyremainedstrong scription. It is, in as
fact, Gregorovius and Rubio
in the home of the papacy, but the high bour- y Lluch have stated,the firstaestheticrecognition
employedthe of the Acropolis,afteralmosta thousandyears of
geoisie of the Italian citiesskillfully
cultof antiquityto furtherthe gradual social and silence,to appear on the lips of anyonein western
intellectualtransformation whichwas takingplace 17 Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, Joan I humanista i el primer
in the peninsula. Italian influencesmoved far periode de ihumanisme catala, Estudis Universitaris
afield,even intoEngland,as Guarinoda Verona's Catalans 10: 68 ff., Barcelona, 1917-1918.
18 Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, Documtents per l'historia de
son, Battista,boasted,even into England, "which
la cztltutracatalana mig-ezal 1: no. cccxi, pp. 286-287,
is out of the world" (quae extra orbemterrarum
Barcelona, 1908; Rubi6, Los Navarros en Grecia, 106-
positaest).16 These influences movedmoreeasily 107, and doc. xx, p. 233, Barcelona, 1886; Ferdinand
and directlyinto Catalonia, which had long en- Gregorovius, Geschichte der Stadt Athen im Mittelalter
2: 191, Stuttgart,1889; Gregorovius,Athens (in Greek),
15 trans. Sp. P. Lampros, 2: 194, Athens, 1906; William
Cf. Vasiliev, Hist. Byzantine Empire, 633-634, Madi-
son, 1952. Miller, The Latins in the Levant, 315, London, 1908;
16 Remigio Sabbadini, Epistolario di Guarino Veronese, Rubi6, Los Catalanes en Grecia, 133 ff., Madrid, 1927;
3: 500, Venice,1919,citedby RobertWeiss, Hutmanism K. M. Setton, Catalan domination of Athens, 187-188.
in England during the fifteenthcentury, 127, Oxford, (The document,dated at Lerida 11 September, 1380, is
Blackwell,1941. Weiss's book is both sound and at- in the Archives of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona,
tractive,and muchto be recommended. register 1268, fol. 126.)

Europe.19 The sources containmany otherevi- respondencewith Heredia began soon afterthe
dences of Catalan attachmentto Greece, but we latter'sreturnfromGreece and establishment in
in the limitedspace at
shall restrictour attention, Avignon in 1382, and had as its chief,its sole,
our disposal, to Catalan literaryinterestsin the purpose the acquisition of Latin and especially
later fourteenth century. There were few more Greek books.
avid readers and book collectorsin this period In the springof 1384 the InfanteJohnthanked
than King Pedro IV's son and successor,JohnI Heredia fora copy of Josephus'De bello iudaico,
of Aragon,aimadorde la gentilesa,the firstroyal whichhe believed,however,to be incomplete, and
philhellenistin thehistoryof medievalcultureand so he requestedin his insistentway the remainder
the firstwesternEuropean sovereignto expressa of the work.22 The followingNovember,John
desire to visit Athens. John I was a classical wrote Heredia, Maestro caro amigo, that "we
humanistin whom the great Catalan historian have heard thatyou have withyou a book called
Rubi6 y Lluch has takena justifiablepride. Trogus Pompeius and have also a philosopherof
The InfanteJohnhad been a reader fromhis Greece who translatedforyou books fromGreek
teens,but those strangedistortionsof the histori- into our own language: We ask you, with much
cal and literarypast of ancientGreece preserved affection, to send the said book of Trogus Pom-
in the French and otherromancesof the Trojan peius as well as those whichthe said philosopher
cyclewere notenoughto satisfyhis curiosity. He translatesfor you. .." 23 Less than a month
wanted somethingmore, as Rubio y Lluch has later, on 11 December, 1384, John again wrote
written,"volia coneixer les gestes immortalsdel Heredia that"we do ask you to send us the book
poble grech en les fontsautentiquesde la his- of Justin,abbreviatorof Trogus Pompeius,or the
toria."20 He carriedon a persistent and animated translationof it, and also, when the Greek phi-
correspondencewiththe illustriousJuan Fernan- losophercomes,that you take care to send us a
dez de Heredia, friendof six popes of Avignon translationof all thosebookswhichhe bringswith
and grand master of the Hospitallers. Heredia him from Greece. . 24 Rubio y Lluch be-
was one of the firstmagnatesin Europe trulyto lieves,withgood reason,thatthis "Greek philos-
interesthimselfin the historyand literatureof opher" is Nicholas "Drenopolitanus,"one of the
ancient and medieval Greece.2' John's cor- three Latin translators,as we have seen, of the
19Gregorovius,Stadt Athen 2: 192; Gregorovius- proceedingsof 1369.25
Lampros,Athens (in Greek), 2: 195; Rubio y Lluch, Thirteenmonthslater John informedHeredia
Joan I humanistai el primerperiode de 1'humanisme that "since we delightmore in historicalbooks
Catalans 10: 23-24, Barce- than in others,we are having Bishop [Arnald
catala, Estudis Universitaris
lona, 1917-1918,and Significaciode l'elogi de l'Acr6polis
d'Atenespel Rei Pere'l Ceremonios,Homenaje ofrecido Simon] of Ottana [in Sardinia,a Catalan county]
a D. Ramon MenendezPidal: Miscelanea de estudios turnfromLatin intothe vernacular[en romance]
lingilisticos,literarios,et histo'ricos3: 37-56, Madrid,
1925; and cf. K. M. Setton,Italian Renaissance,Report chieflywith an importantByzantinereliquaryin the
of theAnnal AMeeting of the CanadianHistoricalAsso- treasuryof the cathedralof Cuenca; the chronicleof
ciation,30-31,1947. Epirus (Epirotica), writtenabout the year 1400; and
20 Rubio,Documents2: p. XLI. the generalhistoryand institutions of Joanninato about
21 On Heredia as a patronof Greek,Latin, and ver- 1430. One of my students,Mrs. Patricia Pugh Reif-
nacularletters,see A. Morel-Fatio'sprefaceto his edi- snyder,has in progressa dissertation to be presentedto
tion of the Aragoneseversionof the Chronicleof the the GraduateSchool of the Universityof Pennsylvania,
Morea (Libro de los fechos),xi-xxviii,Geneva,1885; on Heredia and the Aragonese Chronicle of the Morea.
Karl Herquet,JuanFerrandezde Heredia, Grossmeister She has saved me frommorethanone errorconcerning
des Johanniterordens, 88-92, Muilhauseni. Th., 1878; J. Heredia.
Delaville Le Roulx, Les Hospitaliersd Rhodes,199 ff., 22 Rubi6 y Lluch, Documents1: no. CCCLIV, pp. 320-
242-247,Paris, 1913; Rubio y Lluch, Estudis Universi- 321, dated at Lerida, 16 April, 1384; and cf. J. Vives,
taris Catalans 10: esp. pp. 28 ff.,and Anuari de 1' In- Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia 3: no. 39, p. 183. John
stitutd' Estudis Catalans 6: 184-193,Barcelona,1915- had requestedthe book "many times" beforeHeredia
1920; and chiefly JoseVives,JuanFernandezde Heredia, finallysent it (Vives, nos. 35-38). Vives, 181 ff.,re-
Gran Maestrede Rodas, AnalectaSacra Tarraconensia: printeda fewof theliterarydocuments involvingHeredia
Anuari de la BibliotecaBalmes 3: 121-192,Barcelona, (which had alreadybeen publishedby Rubio y Lluch)
1927. Except foroccasionalreferences to Heredia there and added some new ones.
is littleor nothinggermaneto our subjectin Sebastian 23 Rubi6 y Lluch, Documents1: no. CCCLX, pp. 326-
Cirac Estopanlan,Bizancio y Espania: El legado de la 327,datedat Elna, 17 Nov. 1384.
24 Ibid. 1: no. CCCLXI, p. 327,datedat Perpignan.
basilissa Maria y de los despotas Thomas y Esau' de
Joannina, 2 vols.,Barcelona,1943; Cirac Estopanian deals 25 Ibid. 2: p. XLII. See, supra, p. 47.

the book of Justin,who was the abbreviatorof translationof Thucydidesupon a demoticversion

Trogus Pompeius, and we understandthat you preparedby DimitriTalodiqui, and we are per-
are havingtranslatedthe 'historiesof the Greeks.' haps justifiedin believingthat it was Nicholas
26 The work thus alluded to appears to who made available to Heredia and his collab-
be the compendiumof Byzantinehistoryfromthe oratorsthe contentsof the Greek Chronicleof the
reign of Irene and Constantineto Alexius I Morea in orderto preparethe Aragoneseversion.
Comnenus (780-1118), which is a translation, Catalan militaryand commercialenterprisein the
moreor less, of thelast fourbooks of the Epitome East clearlyhad rich culturalconsequences.
historiarum(xv, 10-xviII) of JohnZonaras, By- The InfanteJohn'shungerfor books was in-
zantine historianof the twelfthcentury. This satiable. The registersof his correspondencein
work was called, in Aragonese,El libro de los the Archives of the Crown of Aragon in Bar-
emperadoresque fueronen Grecia, and to it is celona contain many requests for books which
appended,in MS. 10131 in theBibliotecaNacional Rubio y Lluch has publishedin his illuminating
in Madrid, the Aragonese versionof the famous collectionofDocumentsper l'historiade la cultura
Chronicleof the Morea (Libro de los fechoset catalanamig-eval. Johnsought,as we shouldex-
conquistas del principado de la Morea).27 It pect of a fourteenth-century prince,copies of the
seemsverylikely,as Vives suggests,thatNicholas Bible; as well as of Guido delle Colonne's His-
Drenopolitanus,bishop of "Ludernopoli,"etc., is toria Trojana (a Latin translationof Benoit de
the "Greek philosopher"whom Heredia expected Ste. Maure's twelfth-century Roman de Troie);
in Avignon,and whose translationsthe Infante chroniclesof Aragon and Sicily, includingthe
John was anxious to acquire: he would thus be Llibre dels feytsof King JamesI, the founderof
the translatorof Plutarch,John Zonaras (xv- Catalan prose; books on Tartary and the Holy
xviii), and certain parts of Thucydides,which Land; French romances;books on astrologyand
survive today fromthe libraryof the dukes of astronomy; Alfragani and Avicenna; and St.
Osuna, MS. 10181, in the BibliotecaNacional in Augustine'sDe civitateDei. But he soughtthe
Madrid.28 Very likely,too, Nicholas based his classical historianswith most avidity.29 In 1386
26 Rubio y Lluch, ibid. 1: 110. CCCLXXII, pp. 334-335,
John wrote the Valencian humanist,Domingo
dated at Saragossa, 18 Jan. 1386; cf. 2: pp. xxvi; 148, Masco, to ask himfortheloan of his copyof Livy,
note 3: and Vives, op. cit., nos. 42-43, p. 184. in order to have it copied, "since we take much
27 J. Vives, Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia 3: 144; the more pleasure in readingthe celebratedhistories
reader may consult (but beware of mistakes) : Rubio y of the Romans and the Greeks than in the other
Lluch, Documents 1: p. 335, note; Morel-Fatio` ed., Li-
bro de los fechos, introd., pp. xxviii-xxxvii; and Set-
achievements of the ancients."30 The sincerityof
ton, Catalan domination of Athens, 119. We may ob- John'sstatementis well attestedby the years he
serve, because of the prevalence of error, that the Book spent and the lettershe wrote seeking a satis-
of the emperors and the Chronicle of the Morea are not factorycopy of Livy, as well as of Plutarchand
part of, and have nothingto do with, the so-called Grant Justin'sepitomeof Trogus Pompeius.31
cr6nica de los conqueridores, which is now known to
consist of the following two parts: (1) sixteen biogra- 4'catalanismos" even after revision by Heredia's collabo-
phies of ancient Greek and Roman worthies (this part rators (see J. Vives, Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia 3:
of the Conqueridores,formerlytaken for a MS. of Pom- 169).
peius Trogus, was first identifiedby J. Vives and D. 29 See, for a fuller account, Rubi6 y Lluch, Estftdis
Borbona) ; (2) an additional eighteen biographies of Universitaris Catalans 10: 24 ff.
Roman and medieval figuresfrom Antony and Augustus 30 Rubi6 y Lluch, Docunents 1: no. cccLxxviii, p. 339,
down to James I of Aragon (long known to scholars and cf. 2: p. XXXIX. John promises to return the book
and correctly identified). On the Cr6nica de los con- promptly (vobis illumnprotinus et infallibiliterremiiitte-
qucridores, see Vives, op. cit., 139-143. Older scholars mus), a rather unusual gesture in him.
have mistaken the Book of the emperors and the Chron- 31 John sought a Livy in France, writing to King
icl of the Morea as constituting,together,the firstpart Charles V in 1380 (Rubi6 y Lluch, ibid. 2: no. ccxxxiii,
of the Chronicle of the conquerors. p. 221) and to Duke John of Berry in 1383 (ibid. 1: nos.
28 Vives, op. cit., 134, 145, 169; Mario Schiff,La Bibli- cccxxxvi-vii, pp. 307-308), the latter of whom had al-
othcqzie dit Marquis de Santillane, 16-29, Paris, 1905. ready sent him some books. Having probably acquired
Cf. Rubi6 y Lluch, Estudis Universitaris Catalans 10: an unsatisfactoryvernacular translation of Livy, John
32-33, although Rubi6 here regards the "Greek philoso- wanted to possess the Latin original, and so wrote in
pher" (i.e. the bishop of Ludernopoli) as in fact a native 1386 to Giangaleazzo Visconti, lord of Milan, again
Greek whereas we have seen, in connection with the promising to return "infallibiliter"what he might bor-
events of 1369 (cf. pp. 47, 65, of the present essay), that row (ibid. 1: no. CCCLXXVII, pp. 338-339), asking also
he is almost surely a Catalan, whose translations into for a Trogus Pompeius and a Plutarch in latino vel sal-
Aragonese, interestinglyenough, bear a fair number of terniin ydio'mategallico. Some months later John ad-

Royal authority,as employedby Johnafterhe moralisat],foryou willmuchplease us thereby."3

became king,was a useful instrument for book- The text of the Ovide moralise referredto ap-
collecting. In November, 1387, he forciblyre- pears to be that once attributedto Philippe de
lieved one Fra Pedro Corts of a copy of Valerius Vitri (1291-1361), bishop of Meaux; it is an
Maximus, which was being held as pledge for a edifyingpoem in the French vernacular,a moral
debt of twenty-five gold florinswhicha nobleman and theologicalgloss on Ovid. Recent scholar-
named Pedro Boyl owed the good friar. King ship has dated this poem at the beginningof the
John paid the friar the twenty-five florins,and fourteenthcentury,from about the year 1305,
furnishedhim with a warrantof immunityfrom whichmakes it too earlyto have been writtenby
judicial actionwhichprotectedhim fromthe pos- Philippe,whom Petrarchregardedas almost the
sibilityof any actionforrecoveryby Pedro Boyl, only French poet of the century.36In any event
whose chances of gettinghis book back fromthe Johnseemsto have knownFrenchalmostas well
king by paymentof the debt would seem to have as Catalan. In the fourteenth centurythe vogue
been remote.32 of Frenchlettersand mannerswas prettymuchat
Letter afterletterthus shows King John'sal- its heightin Catalonia,but Johnmayhave wanted
most passionate search for books. When he thetextof the Ovide forhis Frenchwife,Violante
thoughtbetterof seizingthemor exactingthemas of Bar, who sharedher husband'slove of books.37
giftsfromreluctantdonors,he had themcopied at Upon learningof thedeathof theGrand Master
no small expense,as when on 6 March, 1389, he Heredia, King Johnwrotea letterof condolence,
authorizedthe drafton his treasuryfor one hun- on 24 March, 1396, to the priors of Aquitaine,
dred gold florinsof Aragon,to be paid to a clerk Auvergne,Toulouse, and St. Gilles. Alas, the
named MartinBrau, "for copyinga certainbook grand master of Rhodes had departedthis life;
called Plutarch."33 Nevertheless,documentsof the king would have been happier had God de-
Apriland September,1391,showbothJohnand his creed otherwise;but submissionto His will is the
devotedwife,Violante,takingforciblepossession wisdom of mankind. Now, while the grand
of books belongingto the Grand Master Heredia master had shared this miserable life with us,
himself,whose response,we may assume,was the "he had amongotherbooksin his possessionTitus
tired smile he used to wear in the stone effigy Livius, Plutarch,the Great Chronicleof Spain,
on his tombin thechurchof Caspe (until its com- and the Chronicleof Greece,and a certainother
pletedestruction in July,1936,duringthe Spanish book called the Book of the Emperors,whichour
civil war). In any event John carried off the heart's desire yearns to read and to possess." 38
copy of Vegetius' De re militari,which he had The "Book of the Emperors" (el fibredels Em-
foundin the libraryin Heredia's home (1 archivo peradors) is clearlythe selectionfromthe Byzan-
de vuestroslibros) in the castle at Caspe, as he tine historianJohn Zonaras; the "Chronicle of
calmly informedHeredia at the time of his ac- Greece," the Aragonese versionof the Chronicle
quisition.34 of theMorea, whichhad been preparedespecially
In an affectionate letterto his brother-in-law,forHeredia. Book collectingis one of thosepur-
Henry of Bar, dated 14 December,1393, JohnI
wrote: "Very dear brother,we ask you to send us 35 Rubi6y Lluch,Docs. 1: no. CDXXVII, p. 381,written
a copy of one book which Don Pedro de Berga from Tortosa.

36 Cf. Hist. litt. de Ia France 24: 371, 1896; see in
has told us that you have, that is, Ovid's Meta- generalthe editionof Cornelisde Boer, Ovide moralise,
morphoses 'moralized' [Ovidi methamorf oseos in the Verhandelingend. Konink. Akad. van Wetenschap-
pen te Amisterdamn,
Afdeel Letterk., new series, 15; 21;
dressedthe same requestto Antoniodella Scala, lord of 30, no. 3; 37; and 43, 1915-1920,1931-1938.On thedate
Verona (ibid. 1: p. 339, note). For furtherefforts,
see of theOvidemoralise(the authoris unknown),see C. de
Rubi6,ibid.1: p. 349,note1; 2: p. XL; and EstudisUni- Boer, ibid. 15: 9-11, 1915,and 30: 4, 1931-1932.
zersitaris Catalans 10: 51 ff. The textforwhichKing Johnasked couldalso be the
32 Rubio y Lluch, Docunments1: no. CCCLXXXIX, pp. Ovidiusmitoralizatus, done in Latin prose by the learned
348-349. BenedictinemonkPierre Bersuire,also a friendof Pe-
33 Rubio y Lluch, Docs. 1: no. cccxcix, p. 356, and trarch(cf. Epp. senil.,xvi, 7); forBersuire,see F. Ghi-
cf. nos. CCCLXXVII and CDXXXIII, also containing
requests salberti,L`"Ovidius Moralizatus" di Pierre Bersuire,
for Plutarch. Studj romanzi 23: 5-132, 1933.
34 Rubio y Lluch, Docs. 1: no. cDxiii, pp. 366-367, 37 Cf. Rubio y Lluch, Estudis Universitaris Catalans
dated 27 Apr., 1391; J. Vives, op. cit.,no. 53, p. 186, 10: 9-10.
and see Rubio, loc. cit., note 1, for the queen's enterprise 38Rubio y Lluch,Docs. 1: no. CDXxxII, p. 386,writ-
the followingSeptember. tenfromPerpignan;cf. Vives, op. cit.,no. 54, p. 187.

suits in which, like making money,acquisition he has his Greekand Latin classicstranslatedinto
merelyadds to the desireformore. In the spring Aragonese,not intothe moreimportant and more
of 1396,as acknowledgedbya documentof2 May, widelyread Catalan. He looks to us today like
King John detained and opened a shipmentof an Aragonesenationalist.
four loads of clothingand the like, because the There was no abatementof the Catalans' in-
accompanyinginvoices identifiedtres volums de terestin humanismas the fifteenth centurycame
fibresgrans de les istoriesde Grecia,"whichare on, and a numberof learned translatorsof the
to be deliveredin Barcelona to the house of Don ancient Latin classics appeared, notably Bernat
Macia Solzina, merchantof the said city."39 His Metge, Ferrer Sayol, and Guillem Nicolau in
Maj esty would seem finallyto have aquired a Barcelona,as well as the DominicanfriarAntoni
copy of the Aragonese Chronicleof the Morea; Canals, AntoniVilaragut,the FranciscanNicolau
his vigilanceand predatorylove of bookshad pro- Quils, Domingo Masco and Pere Moll~ain Valen-
ducedan enviablelibrarybeforehis deathin May, cia, and Ferran Valenti in Majorca. The list of
1396. Catalan humanistsis a long one, and theirwork
A number of the letters which King John distinguished. When the Catalan King Alfonso
wrote in his ceaseless quest for books were ad- V the MagnanimouscapturedNaples in 1443, an
dressed to the Grand Master Heredia, whose li- event still commemorated by the triumphalarch
brarymusthave been one of the best in Europe. of the Castel Nuovo, a new period began in the
Coluccio Salutati once wroteHeredia that it was historyof Catalan humanism,aftersome years of
commonlybelievedthatany book you mightwant recessionin Catalonia,but now the Catalans,like
was in his library(ut iam sit omnibuspersuasum otherEuropeans,tendedto look to theItaliansfor
frustralibrumqteri quemiapud te non contigerit literarvand intellectualleadership.43The names
reperiri).40 Coluccio was interestedin the Ara- of manvCatalanhumanistsof themiddleand later
gonese translationof the thirty-ninelives of Plu- fifteenth centuryare known, the imitatorsand
tarch,which the Dominican Bishop Nicholas of sometimesthe friendsof Poggio, Filelfo, Valla,
"Ludernopoli"had made, as we have seen, from Decemlnrio, Perotti,and theirsuccessors,but our
the modern Greek version prepared by Dimitri presentconcernwithCatalan humanismdoes not
Talodiqui at Rhodes. Coluccio contemplateda extendto so late a date. The Catalans' own direct
Latin translation oftheselivesfromtheAragonese association ws ith Greece, however, remained a
text: "Cupio, si fieripotest,hunc librumvidere: lasting memoryand a source of inspirationto
fortequidemtransferam in latinum."41 Coluccio theim. There are a numberof interestingref-
adds that he possessed a Latin version of the erencesto Athens,forexample,in Catalan litera-
Odyssey, undoubtedlythat of Leontius Pilatus, tureof the fifteenth century. In the novel Curial
whichhe had heardthatHeredia was seekingand i Giielfa.,fromthe firsthalf of the centaury. the
whichhe would be morethanhappyto send him. hero,aftermanyadventures,is finallyseized with
Heredia sponsored,in addition to the Plutarch a desire to see Athens. 'that city of old, noble
and Thucydidesalready noted,Aragonese trans- and far-famed, whichgave lawvsto Rome,and that
lationsof Orosius and of Paulus Diaconus' adap- famed place of study,in which was taught the
tationof Eutropius,and among othersuch trans- knowledgeofreachingGod" (aquclla ciutatantiga,
lations Heredia's fascinationwith the East, near noblee mnolt famnosa, qluidondhaysa Roma, ea
and far, is seen in the version of Marco Polo 43For Catalan humanismin the early fifteenth century,
which was preparedfor him in his native Ara- see Rubi6 y Lluch, Estudis Universitaris Catalans 10:
ff. It may be noted here that Lorenzo Valla prepared
gonese.4? Heredia was indeed, as Delaville Le 83 his prose translationof the Iliad for Alfonso V in whose
Roulx has dubbedhim,le grand seigneurc'riudit; service he spent many years (1435-1448). Juan Ruiz
his love of his nativelanguagewas immense,and Colonja, Alfonso el Magnanimo y la traducci6n de la
"Iliada" por Lorenzo Valla, Boletin de la Real Academia
39 Rubi6 y Lluch, Docs. 1: no. CDXXXIV, p. 387, dated de Buenas Letras de Barcelona 23: 109-115, 1950, has pub-
at Figueres on 2 May, 1396. lished two very interestingletters,dated 1 and 27 March,
40 Salutati, Epp., vii, 11, dated at Florence 16 January, 1441, sent by Alfonso V to his fiscal agent (magister
1392, in Francesco Novati, ed., Epistolario di Coluccio racionalis) in Messina, seeking a Greek dictionary (liber
Salutati 2: 290; cf. Morel-Fatio, ed., Libro de los fechos, de vocabulis grecis, codex grecarum dictionum), which
pref.,pp. xvii-xviii. was said to be in the monasteryof the Santa TrinitA or
41 Salutati, op. cit., ed. Novati, 2: 301. in S. Salvatore di Messina: Valla had done ten books of
42 Vives, op. cit., 147-150, and cf. Setton, Catalan dom- the Iliad by March, 1441, and required the dictionary to
ikoationof Athens, 119-120. finishhis work.

aquell estudi famo'sen el qual latciencia de con- wherein Italy.2 If theFlorentinebourgeoisloved

eixer Deu s'aprenia). Later on, in 1454, John money,so do most of us. Pierre de Nolhac has
Margarit,historian,humanist,and bishopof Elna, wiselynoted"thatit was not love of lettersalone
trainedin Italy and habitueof the court of Pope that decided the Florentine magistratesin the
Nicholas V, remindedKing John II of Aragon, creation[of a chair of Greek in 1360]: Boccaccio
beforethe Corts of Barcelona,of the exploitsof had to convincethem of the advantages which
that Catalan nation which had carried its native would resultfromthe use of Greek in many of
language to "that ancientand illustriousAthens, their commercialtransactionsand political re-
whencehas come all the elegance,eloquence,and lations."
3
learningof the Greeks" (aquella vetustissimae More than in business,however,a knowledge

famosissimaAtenesd'on es eixida totala elegancia, of Greek became indispensablein ecclesiastical
eloqiienciae doctrinedels Grechs). What these affairs. As the Turkish shadow was cast over
texts lack in accuracytheypossess in inspiration. more and more Byzantineterritory, the Greeks
became increasinglyinterested,as we have seen,
7. FERRARA-FLORENCE AND ITS in thepossiblereunionof thechurches. From the
AFTERMATH early fifteenthcenturythe Italian signorie em-
It was a clicheof the earlyQuattrocentro more ployedhumanistsas theirsecretaries,and the lat-
than once voiced, for example, by Giannozzo ter pursued Greek with a sometimesfuriousin-
Manetti, that until the appearance of Manuel tensity. Greek was not only becomingnecessary
Chrysolorasin Florence in 1397, the Greek lan- in the affairsof church and state, it was also
guage had been absentfromItaly for some seven becomingfashionable. The practicalneeds,how-
hundredyears.1 If the statementwas not meant ever, were very great. At the Council of Con-
with absolute literalness,it was regardedas vir- stancecelestialmindsof boththe Latin and Greek
tually true, the exceptionsbeing so rare as in churcheshad begun construction of the road that
effectto provethe rule. In the generationbefore led to Ferrara and Florence. The Great Schism
Chrysoloras' appearance in Italy, however, as (1378-1417), terminatedat Constance,had long
Petrarchstatesin his epistleto Homer, the latter interruptedserious effortat church union al-
had fivefriendsin Florence alone, "a city given thoughthe close diplomaticand otherintercourse
to makingmoney" (in patria lucro dedita), and betweenGreeksand Latins had continuedwithout
therewere four or five othersto be found else- abatement.
It was in the fall of 1437 that an important
44Citrial i Guielfa: Novela catalana del Seglo XVe,
ed. Ant. Rubi6 y Lluch, iii, chap. xxviii, p. 382, cited
Latin ecclesiasticaland diplomaticmissionarrived
by Rubi6, An. Instit. Cat. 5: 425, 1913-1914; Los Cata- in Constantinopleand was solemnlygreeted by
lanes en Grecia, 141; and cited elsewhere in Rubi6's the PatriarchJosephII and representatives of the
works; Curial i Guielfa,ed. Miquel i Planes, 342, Barce- imperialgovernment.This missionincludedthe
lona, 1932. (Catalan modernized.) famousCardinalNicholas of Cusa, who arrivedin
45 Margarit's address is one of the best known dis-
courses in Catalan literature,and has been often printed the Greek capital at the beginningof October,a
(e.g., Parlanients a les Corts catalanes, eds. Ricard Al- littlelater than most of the other members; he
bert and Joan Gassiot, 209, Barcelona, 1928, and for fur- was accompaniedby the South-Italianbishop of
ther references,see Setton, Catalan dominationof Athens, Taranto and by the emperor'sbrother,Constan-
258). In general cf. Robt. B. Tate, Joan Margarit i Pau,
Bishop of Gerona, Speculum 27: 28-42, 1952.
tine Palaeologus, who ruled parts of the Morea;
1 Cf. Petrus Cannetus and Laurentius Mehus, eds., Ant- the Cardinal Nicholas broughtwith him three
brosii Traversarii . . . latinae epistolae 1: p. CCCLIX, 2 hundredarchersrecruitedin Crete,as directedby
vols., Florence, 1759-1760; "Scriptum est enim apud Pope Eugenius IV, for the defenseof Constanti-
plerosque qui de Emmanuelis in Italiam demigratione nople. Final preparationswere made for the
memoriae prodidere, septingentisiam annis, vel per sep-
tingentos circiter annos, sive sutpra septingentos ferme great Greek embassyto Italy. In the emperor's
annos, aut annis iarn quingentis graecas litteras apud absence,his brother,Constantine, himselfdestined
nostros hoinines obsoletas, atque sepultas non conticuisse to be the last Byzantineemperor and the last
solum ac desiisse, sed etiam ex Italia abiisse. . . . Haec Constantine,was to undertakethe rule of the
vero dicendi ratio eo valet non quod graecae litterae
2 Petrarch, Fam., xxiv, 12, ed. Vittorio Rossi, Le Fa-
obrutae antea in Italia essent ac penitus excisae, sed
quod tenues indidem raraeque colerentur." (The italics miliari, Edizione nazionale delle opere di Francesco Pe-
are in the original.) Cf. ibid., pp. ccxix-xx, ccLxvIII- trarca, 13: 261, Florence, Sansoni, 1942.
LXXIV. Leonardo Bruni's assertion to the same effect 3 P. de Nolhac, Pitrarque et l'hunzanisrne2: 158, Paris,
is quoted above (p. 50, note 49). 1907.

troubledstate. On 8 February,1438, the Em- Cesarini,theconvertedGreekDominicanAndreas

perorJohnVIII Palaeologus,thePatriarchJoseph Chrysoberges, whomwe have alreadymet,and the
II of Constantinople,about twenty Byzantine latter'sfellowDominican,the later Cardinal John
bishops,togetherwithotherGreekprelates,monks Torquemada,who seldomspoke exceptabout the
and learnedlaymen,all told about seven hundred fires of purgatory. Among the Byzantines,to
Greeks, arrived in Venice. A group of Latin name onlythe best known,were the famousBes-
Catholics,-sentby the pope, arrivedon 13 Febru- sarionand Isidore of Kiev, bothof whomwere to
ary to welcomethem. This group includedAm- abide by the decreeof unionand to be appointed
brogio Traversari, learned humanist, patristic cardinalsof the Roman Churchby Eugenius IV;
translator,and superiorgeneral of the Camaldu- the intractableMarcus Eugenicus, a patristic
lensians. The emperorarrived in Ferrara on 4 scholar and theologian,whose books Traversari
March and the patriarchon the eighth. They also admired,and whose intransigenceenlivened
came well equipped with books. In March or more than one session of the council; and the
early April, 1438, Traversari wrote his friend, learned layman George Gemistus Pletho of
Filippo dei Pieruzzi, fromFerrara that he had Mistra, the most distinguishedPlatonic philos-
seen some of the EmperorJohn'sbooks,a beauti- opher of his day, who gave public lectures in
ful Plato, a Plutarch,Aristotle,Diodorus, Diony- Florence, and looked down serenely upon the
sius of Halicarnassus,and looked forwardpres- energeticefforts of thehumaniststo catchup with
entlyto seeingmanymore. Traversariwas much him. JohnArgyropoulos was theretoo,thetrans-
impressedwiththe youngBessarion,metropolitan latorofAristotle,and teacherin theyearsto come
of Nicaea, who told him that he had only a few of Lorenzo de' Medici, Politian, Donato Ac-
books withhim"but had lefta big pile at Modon" ciajuoli, and JohannReuchlin.5 Pope Eugenius
(sed magnan libroruimk mwiolem A
Mothone re- participatedin some of the sessions. The Patri-
liquisse): arch Josephhad littleto say at Ferrara, but was
I proceeded, however, more active later on at Florence where he died
to ask questions,and he stated
that he had lefttheretwo big volumesof Strabo. on 10 June, 1439, and is now buried in Santa
These are notaccessiblehere [peregrina],but there Maria Novella. The religious question always
are severalothersnot unknownto us. How ill I remained uppermost,but was complicated by
tookit thathe had not broughtthe volumesalong! manyotherconsiderations.To some Greeksand
But I had to conceal the fact. I am led to hope, Latins the social and culturalsalvationof Byzan-
nevertheless,thattheyare to be brought.... He has tium fromthe impendingTurkish doom was a
Cyril'sbigbookagainstJuliantheApostatewhichwe worthyend in itselfand wouldbe pleasingto God.
shalltakecare to copyif we can findtheparchment.The Greek and Latin halves of Christendom
. . . I cameacrossa numberof mathematical works should stand togetheror else they would fall
amonghis stuff, a Euclid and a Ptolemy, writtenin
his ownhandwiththeappropriate figures....4
separatelybeforethe Turk. But not all Latins
were muchconcernedabout the fateof Constanti-
The excitementof the humanistis unmistakable, nople,and popularGreekthoughtplacedan undue
but the main business was churchunion. confidencein the divine protectionwhich had
The Greek and Latin ecclesiasticsheld some maintainedthecityforcenturiesagainstbarbarian
sixteensessionsat Ferraraon the long and highly attack. The Emperor John,however,played a
controvertedquestion of church union (from decisive role throughoutthe entire proceedings,
April, 1438, to January,1439); thereafterthey both in Ferrara and in Florence,6where he pro-
transferred to FlorencewheretheymetfromFeb-
ruary,1439,to April,1442,althoughthe Emperor 5On Argyropoulos at the Council of Ferrara-Florence
John and the Greek delegation withdrew in and on his students, see Giuseppe Cammelli, I dotti bi-
zantini e le origins dell' umanesimo 2: Giovanni Argiro-
August, 1439, and returnedto Constantinople by pulo, chaps. I-vi, Florence, 1941.
way of Venice. The large Latin personnelat 6 On the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-1439),
Ferrara-Florenceincluded,besides the humanists see in general Georg Hofmann, Die Konzilsarbeit in
Leonardo Bruni,Guarinoda Verona,and Traver- 455, Ferrara, Orientalia Christiana periodica 3: 110-140, 403-
1937, and V. Chiaroni, Lo scisnia greco e il conicilio
sari, the classically educated Cardinal Giuliano di Firenze, Florence, 1938; for documents. letters, acts,
contemporarybrochures, etc., relative to the Council of
4Giovanni Mercati, Ultimi contributialla storia degli Florence, the reader should consult the Conciliuni Floren-
unmanisti,fasc. 1: Traversariana (Studi e Testi, 90), tinrnt: Docurnenta et Scriptores, 5 vols. in various parts,
24-26, CittAdel Vaticano, 1939. Rome, 1940-1953. See especially Hofmann's iDocurnenta

claimed his Catholic faith,as "the heavens re- reminds us, "when looked at, these turbaned,
joiced," on 6 July,1439,in thechurchof S. Maria beardedand long-robedPlatonistsappearedmore
del Fiore underthe dome whichBrunelleschihad likethe denizensof Susa thanof Athens."10 The
recentlyconstructed. Both Greeks and Latins Greeksmade no small impressionalso on Floren-
had broughttheirbooks to the preliminarycon- tine art of the fifteenthcentury,as everyone
ferencesand to the formalsessionsof the council, realizes who has seen Benozzo Gozzoli's majestic
and all proceedingswhich required ratification portrayalof the entryof the EmperorJohnVIII
were writtenup in the two languages.7 The de- and the PatriarchJoseph II into Florence (de-
creesand symbolsof the (first) sevenoecumenical pictedas Magi in thechapelofthePalazzo Medici-
councils,theworksof thefathers,the lettersof the Riccardiin Florence). Benozzo's workwas exe-
popes and patriarchs,and the like were all cited, cuted in 1459, at the time of the Congress of
and comparativetextualstudieswere everywhere Mantua,whenPope Pius II was seekingto organ-
found necessary and pursued. Here was the ize a crusade of the westernpowers against the
greatesthistoricalseminarof the Italian Renais- Turk, and Bessarion was makingespecial efforts
sance. A very importantmanuscript,for ex- in behalfof Greek recognitionof the Florentine
ample, the Codex ConventiSoppressi 603, today decreeof union. There was fora whilean eastern
in theLaurenziana,was compiledat thelaterFlor- vogue in art. Afterhe became a cardinal,Bes-
entinesessions,withthe aid of the florilegium of sarion always preservedhis greatbeard,a source
patristictextspreparedin the late thirteenth cen- of some astonishment to the Latins and Germans
turyby the pro-Latinpatriarchof Constantinople, who saw him,and contemporary paintersappear
JohnVeccus,on thethornyproblemof theproces- to have used Bessarion,withhis beard and Greek
sion of the Holy Spirit.8 dress,fortheirpaintingsof St. Jerome."1
Ambrogio Traversari was of much assistance As far as the religiousquestionwent,however,
to both sides in all these matters. He had many the decree of July, 1439, was indeed that of a
manuscripts,and knew well both the Latin and unio non vera inter Graecos et Latinos. Until
Greek fathers,havingtranslateda numberof the thetimeof theCrusadesthe unionof thechurches
latter. Curial officialslike the historian,Andrea had probably had much popular support, but
da Santacroce,and the humanist,Flavio Biondo, had often been obstructedby the hierarchies,
broughtboth competenceand eruditionto the sometimesbecause of political pride and pique.
solutionof practicalproblems. Culturalexchange But now, howevernecessaryunion mightbe in
was inevitable. Sylvester Syropoulos, for ex- themindsof certainGreekintellectuals, therewas
ample,notesin his so-calledVera historiaunionis a profoundpopular oppositiontheretoamong the
non verae (v, cap. 2: 113) how in April, 1438, Greeksbothfortheologicalreasons and forthose
the Cardinal Cesarini discussed philosophical whichwe have heard Barlaam express a century
questions at the dinner table with Bessarion, beforeFerrara-Florence.'2 Most of the Greeks
GeorgeGemistusPletho,and GeorgeAmiroutzes. who had signedthe decreeof 1439 regrettedtheir
The Council of Ferrara stimulatedan interestin standin the monthsand years thatfollowedtheir
Greek studies among Italians everywhere,even returnhome,and fell in behindthe anti-unionist
amongthoseresidingas farawayas England.9 The Marcus Eugenicus. George Amiroutzeswas one
classical learningof the Greek delegationmade a of these. Sometime between the death of the
greatimpressionupontheLatins,but,as Sevcenko EmperorJohnVIII (1448) and the fall of Con-
concilii Florentini de unione orientaliurn1: De unione stantinople(1453) he addressed a letter"to the
Graecorumn,6 Iul. 1439, in Textus et Docutmentaof the lord of Nauplia, Demetrius,on what happenedat
Pontifical Gregorian University, theol. ser., 18, Rome, the Council of Florence,"in whichhe denied the
1934-35, and Epistulae pontificiaead Concilium Floren-
tinurnspectantes 1, parts 1-3, in the Conciliun Floren-
validityof thefilioqueclause,thedoctrineof papal
tinum,series A, Rome, 1940-1946. There is a rich bibli- 10 See, infra,note 12.
ography on the Council of Florence given in A. Mercati, 11Immediately after the war the frescoes of Benozzo
Or. Christ. period. 11: 5 ff.,1945 (see next note). Gozzoli in the Medici-Riccardi chapel were photographed
7 See in general Angelo Mercati, II decreto d'unione in color for the first time and splendidly reproduced in
del 6 luglio 1439 nell' Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Orien- Life (24 December, 1945).
talia Christiana periodica 11: 5-44, 1945. 12 Cf. in general Ihor Sevcenko, Intellectual Reper-
8 Called the Epigraphae, and published in Migne, Patr. cussions of the Council of Florence, Church History
yr., vol. 141: cols. 613-724. 24: 291 ff.,1955, and the article by D. J. Geanakoplos,
9 Weiss, Humnanismn in England during the fifteenth ibid., 324-346. (Dr. Sevcenko very kindly allowed me
century,26. to read his article before its publication.)

supremacy, and theoecumenicity of the Councilof as certain of his (later) lettersreveal. In the
Florence. Amiroutzeswas particularlyvulner- Morea Bessarionheardthe Neoplatonic(and neo-
able to the slings of fortune,and a traditional- pagan) discoursesof thefamousGeorgeGemistus
ready currentin the fifteenth centuryis to the Pletho, for whom he conceivedan enduringad-
effectthat he became a Moslem afterthe fall of miration,becominga convincedPlatonisthimself.
Constantinople.13 Bessarion was employedby the ByzantineEm-
perorJohnVIII as an envoyto the Grand Com-
Beforeconcludingthis essay we may trace the neni of Trebizond (1426-1427?). He had al-
Greekinfluence upon theItalyof theQuattrocento readyprovedhis intellectual mettle,as an eloquent
just a bit further,in the career of the famous young monk, in the mid-twentiesin Constanti-
CardinalBessarion (ca. 1401-1472), to whichwe nople where he took, so to speak, the course in
mayadd a noticeconcerningGeorgeof Trebizond, literaturegiven by the Byzantine rhetorician,
his opponentin a typicalRenaissancecontroversy Manuel (or George?) Chrysococces,and first
over the relativemeritsof Plato and Aristotle. made the acquaintanceof a youngfellowstudent,
Bessarion stands out as one of the most distin- an energeticItalian named Francesco Filelfo (in
guishedand attractive figuresin a centurycrowded 1427-1428) 14
with great men. As a boy in Trebizond,where Filelfo had arrived in Constantinoplein 1420
he was born, on the Black Sea, Bessarion was whenhe boardedwithhis professor,JohnChryso-
pledgedby his parentsto the monasticserviceof loras,nephewof themorefamousManuel. Early
St. Basil. He beganhis earlyeducationunderhis in 1424 Filelfo marriedJohn's daughter,Theo-
patron,Dositheus,archbishopof Trebizond,who dora, to the distressof Guarino of Verona, him-
became in afteryears the archbishopof Monem- selfa studentof the Chrysoloraebut no friendof
vasia in the Morea (ca. 1436-1437). From his the egocentricFilelfo. John Chrysoloras'w-ife
nativecitytheyoungBessarion,whosegivenname was a Genoese,ManfredinaDoria, anotherindica-
would seem to have been Basil, had gone to tion of the closeness of Italo-Greekrelationsat
Constantinoplewhen Dositheus, leaving ever- the close of the fourteenthcenturyand the be-
menacedand God-forsakenTrebizond,had him- ginningof thefifteenth.Filelfo'smarriagecaused
self takenup residencein the capital. Bessarion comment(and aroused gossip) in Italian human-
assumed the firstmonastic habit of Byzantine ist circles. Ambrogio Traversari,for example,
customin January,1423, and the second in the wroteto Niccolo Niccoli (on 21 June,1424)
followingJuly; he became a deacon in 1426, a
priestin '31, and metropolitanof Nicaea in '37. RecentlyI receiveda letterfromGuarinoil which
The chronologyof his earlycareer presentsdiffi- lie inveighsagainstfortune withvehemence because
thatupstartFerterus] has got the daughterof the
culties. For some years he was a monk in the
famousJohnChrysoloras:althoughhe is a man of
Morea, whose resourceshe came to know well, considerable talent,he was certainly
unequalto that
13 M. Jugie, La Lettre de
Georges Amiroutzes au duc match. Guarinocomplainsin disgustthatthe wife
de Nauplie Demetrius sur le concile de Florence, in of Chrysoloras had a venalvirtue,and had possessed
Byzantion 14: 81-93, 1939; cf. Jugie, La Profession de a lover beforeshe acquired a son-inlaw'l
foi de Georges Amiroutzes au concile de Florence, Jchos
d'Orient36: 175-180,1937,and R. J. Loenertz,Cardinal 14For the youth and early works, especially letters,
Bessarion, Orient. Christ. periodica 10: 138, 1944. After of Bessarion, see R. J. Loenertz, Pour la biographie du
the fall of Amiroutzes' native city of Trebizond to the cardinal Bessarion, Orientalia Christiana periodica 10:
Turks (1461), he was held captive in Adrianople and 116-149, 1944; for the whole range of his career, see
Constantinople where he won favor at the court of the the fine study of L. Mohler, Kardinal Bessarioni als
conqueror Mohammed II, possibly embracing Islam, as Theologe, Hulmantist und Staatsmann, 3 vols., Paderborn,
charged for example by George of Trebizond (Mar- 1923-1927, 1942; and cf. Louis Brehier, Bessarion, Dic-
tyrium Andreae de Chio, 1, in PG 161: 883B). See tionn. d'hist. et de giogr. eccles. 8: 1181-1199, and A. A.
N. B. Tomadakis, 'EroupKevO-EV 6 FeCopyLos 'AuoLpo6T7ris; in Kyrou, BsqoeapLcwvo "EXX-q',2 vols., Athens, 1947. Nic-
the 'EirEr7pks 'Eratptas Bvuavrtv
c 2:7rovcojv18: 99-143, col6 Capranica's funeral oration on Bessarion is rich in
1948, with a full bibliography. In Constantinoplehe fell biographical detail (Mohler, op. cit. 3: 405-414).
in love with the widow of the last (Florentine) duke of 15 Lorenzo Mehus, ed.. Amstbrosii Trazersari epistolae,
Athens, Franco Acciajuoli; he married her although he vIII, 9, col. 372, Florence, 1759; cited by R. J. Loenertz,
had a wife and the patriarch refused to sanction an addi- Orient. Christ. period. 10: 128, 1944; J. A. Symonds,
tional union. He died of apoplexy about 1464 at a game Renaissance in Italy: Revival of learning, 269, London,
of backgammon,a forlornunpleasing figure (cf. R. Janin, 1877; also in Tiraboschi et al. Cf. R. Sabbadini, Episto-
in Dictionn. d'histoire et de geogr. eccles. 2: cols. 1381- lario di Guarino Veronese 1: 704, Venice, 1915 (= Mis-
1382). cellanea di Storia Veneta, ser. iII, vol. 8).

The humanistshad a great love of gossip, and florinson his library,18 havingGreekmanuscripts
through the years Filelfo supplied them with copied in monasteries in Constantinople,the
much material. When Bessarion met Filelfo in Morea, and southernItaly. As we have already
Constantinople,the latter was servingas secre- noted,he purchasedmanuscriptsfromthe famous
taryof theVenetianbailie. A friendship grew up monasteryof S. Niccolo di Casole in the Terra
betweenthemwhich was renewedin later years d' Otranto,wherehe himselfappears to have dis-
and lasted, more or less, until Bessarion's death coveredthe texts of Kolluthos ('EXE'ps 'Apwra-yr1)
(1472). and Quintus Smyrnaeus(Ta /uEO'"OgnpoV).19Nic-
At the Council of Ferrara-Florence,Bessarion colo Perotti collectedmanuscriptsfor Bessarion
labored in behalf of the church union with the and for Pope Nicholas V, even journeyingto
dignityof Cesarini and the conciliatoryspiritof Trebizondto make purchasesfor the librariesof
Traversari; withthe skillof the diplomatand the both cardinal and pope.20 Michael Apostolis
learningof the scholarhe immobilizedthe opposi- soughtbooks for Bessarion in Crete, and Theo-
tion of Marcus Eugenicus. When the union of dore Gaza in Rome. Bessarion was also inter-
the churcheswas declaredon 6 July,1439, Bes- ested in the Latin classics, and encouragedthe
sarion was honoredby being chosen to read the translationof GreekworksintoLatin; he himself
Greek text in behalf of his compatriotswhile translated Xenophon's Memorabilia, which he
Cesariniread the Latin statementfor the Roman dedicatedto the Cardinal Cesarini,and for King
Catholic Church. Eugenius IV rewarded Bes- Alfonso the Magnanimousof Naples and Pope
sarion'seffortswiththe cardinalpriesthoodof the Nicholas V he prepared Latin versions of the
Twelve Apostlesin theconsistoryof 18 December, Metaphysicsof Aristotle and the metaphysical
1439, afterBessarion had returnedto Constanti- essay of Theophrastus.21
nople followingthe council. It was a beautiful Bessarion's house in Rome was a center for
gesture and one pregnantwith immenseconse- Greekrefugeesand scholars,a salon whereByzan-
quences forthe futureof Italian humanisticscho- tineand Italian intellectuals met and mingled-an
larship. In 1440-1441 Bessarion was back in "academy"as Perottifinallycalled the group (in
FlorencewhereEugenius stillheld court.16Thus a letterof 1471). In Bessarion's home on the
began Bessarion's brilliantcareer as a prince of southern slope of the Quirinal, and in other
the churchin Italy. He was, in Brehier'swords, places, theregatheredas his guests fromtime to
the living symbolof churchunion, and now for timeTheodore Gaza of Thessalonica,JohnArgy-
more than thirtyyears he worked to make the ropoulos,and Georgeof Trebizond,Poggio Brac-
union a realityand to organizea crusade against ciolini,Lorenzo Valla, and Perotti;lateron, after
the Turk: he was, as Marcus Eugenicus put it, a the fall of Constantinople and afterthe Bolognese
TpacKoXacr-tos, a Graeco-Latin. An accomplished legation, the group came to include Giovanni
theologian,he was too busy to write much.17 Gatti, Flavio Biondo, Platina, Demetrius Chal-
Upon his returnto Italy in December, 1440, he condylas,John Lascaris, Michael Apostolis,and
began the studyof Latin and Italian: except for AndronicusCallistus.22 But all was not peace
Filelfoand Politianno ItaliansoftheQuattrocento and quiet in Bessarion's "academy" which was
learnedGreekas well as Bessariondid Latin,and disturbedby Poggio's controversieswith Filelfo
althoughhis masteryof the new language was and Valla;
they dragged on for years and form
nevercomplete,he seemedto his contemporaries,
as Lorenzo Valla called him,Latinorumgraecis- 18 B. Platina, Panegyricusin laudernBessarionis,in
sixlus, Graecorumlatinissimus. Migne, PG 161: col. cxvi: "Bibliothecam graecam tri-
The Cardinal Bessarion was oftencharged by ginta millibus nummorum aureorum emptam Venetiis
the papacy withimportantresponsibilities, exstruxit ne omnino litteraturagraeca deficeret."
includ- 19Al. Bandini, De Bessarionis vita commentarius
ing a fiveyears' legationat Bologna (1450-1455) (1777), in Migne, PG 161: cols. xII-xIII; Mohler, Kar-
and diplomaticmissionsto Germanyand, finally, dinal Bessarion1: 258, cf. 410.
20 Mohler, op. cit. 1: 266, 409. Perotti was Bessarion's
to France. He always remained,however, a
secretary.
scholarat heart. Accordingto thepapal historian, 21 Mohler,op. cit. 1: 253, 343-344,404; cf. PG 161:
BartolomeoPlatina, Bessarion spentsome 30,000 pp. CLIV-V. (These translationswere all done before
1450, and were to some extent exercises which Bessarion
16 But cf. Mohler, Kardinal Bessarion 1: 207-208. did as he studied Latin.) Cf. Mohler, 3: 453-454.
17 For Bessarion'stheologicalworks,see Mohler,op. 22 See Mohler,op cit. 1: 252,325-331,and cf.themany
cit. 1: 211-247. texts in vol. 3.

one of the liveliestchaptersin the long,degraded The wonder of Bessarion's libraryis that we
historyof personalinvective. stillhave most of the books; his faithin the sta-
Bessarion's intellectualinterestswere pursued bilityof the Serenissimawas fullyjustified. Bes-
as he carriedheavy burdensin behalfof Chris- sarion not only collectedbooks, but of course he
tendom. He was given serious consideration read them,and as he longedforthe union of the
for the papacy at two elections,and became car- two churches,so he soughtthe reconciliation of
dinal protectorof the Franciscans,who had many Plato with Aristotle,whose denial of the im-
missionsin Greece and the Aegean islands. In mortalityof the individualsoul was offensiveto
1459 he sharedthe centerof the stage with Pope the Christianconscience. Colo et venerorAris-
Pius II at the Congress of Mantua where the totelemr, amo Platonemn.Plato had been read in
crusade was preached. He went to Germanyto earlier generationsin medieval translationsand
recruitthe princesin 1460-1461,but the deathof had been made morepalatableto the refinedtaste
Pius II a few years later dashed his hopes of oftheQuattrocento bythetranslations of Leonardo
rescuingGreece fromthe Turk. As dean of the Bruni. Bessarionwas muchmoremoderatethan
sacred college,Bessarion presided over the con- his teacher,Pletho, who was inclinedto reject
clave whichelectedthe benightedPope Paul II 23 Christianity forwhat he believedto be the truths
(a nephewof Eugenius IV), with whose assump- of Neoplatonism.25 In his attachmentto the
tionof the tiara Bessarion'sinfluencewas quickly PlatonictraditionPletho held Aristotleup to op-
diminished. He was old and tired; the end was probrium, but Aristotlehad his own discipleswho
coming. Aftera futileand exhaustinglegationto dipped theirpens in vitriolwhen they defended
France, Bessariondied at Ravenna in November, himagainstPlato. Amongthesewas the learned
1472. But he had preparedfor the end, his li- Georgeof Trebizond,who was at firsta hanger-
brary,his most preciouspossession,having long on and thereafter the detractorof Bessarion.
been on his mind. In May, 1468, he pledged Although his family had come originallyfrom
some 800 books to the cathedralchurchof St. Trebizond,George (1396-1485 /6) was born in
Mark in Venice, wherehe had always been well Candia on the island of Crete wherehe received
received. Bessarion admired the political sta- his early education,appearing in Italy only in
he in his earlythirties. The facts
bility of the Serenissima, whose history now 1428 when was
of his lifeare prettywell known. His workis ex-
promisedto be longerthan thatof Byzantiumit-
tensive,well preservedin numerouspublications
self. The books were transportedearly in 1469
(especially of the sixteenthcentury), and little
to Venice where in the next generationAldus read today. George studied Latin under both
Manutiusprintedfromsome of them. Estimates Vittorinoda Feltre and Guarino da Verona; be-
of the size of Bessarion'slibraryhave variedfrom came professorof Greekat Vicenza and later on,
somethingover 600 volumesto about 980. Ac- as the successorof Filelfo, at Venice; and was
cording to the original catalogue, however,the appointeda secretaryof Popes Eugenius IV and
Venetiansappear to have received746 MSS., of Nicholas V. We need not discuss his bitter
which482 were in Greek,being thus one of the quarrel with Lorenzo Valla over the meritsof
largestprivatelibraries,and certainlythe largest Quintilian,but a few words shouldbe said of his
collectionof Greek books, in Europe.24 attack upon Pletho's preferencefor Plato over
23 Mohler,op. cit. 1: 317.
Aristotle. Some yearsafterPletho'sdeathGeorge
24 See Mohler,op. cit. 1: 408 ff.,wherethe figures an
are published important
tractcomparingPlato with
given and various MSS. are identifiedand discussed. Aristotle (1455) to the almost incredibledisad-
Federigoda Urbinohad 772 books; the CardinalGior- vantageof theformer. Hithertoconfined to Greek
dano Orsini (in theyear 1439), 254; the Estensi (1480), controversialists the questionPlato aut Aristoteles
about300; the Medici (1456), 158-the estimateof Nic-
colo Niccoli'slibraryas containingfrom600 to 800 vol- now entered the world of Italian theologians,
umes is probablytoo high (Mohler, loc. cit.). The philosophers,and humanists. George's work
chroniclerMalipiero states,"P: sta preso de tuor 900
volumide libri greci e latini,donai alla Signoria dal 25 See the statementwhich George of Trebizondat-
Cardinal Besarion Tusculano Niceno,per i quali e sta philo-
tributesto Pletho (Georg. Trapez.,Comparationes
fatto una libraria in palazzo nuovo . . ." (Annali veneti, sophorum Aristotelis et Platonis, iII, 20, cited by Mohler,
storicoitaliano,vol. 7, pt. 2: 655, Flor-
in the Archizvio Kardinal Bessarion 1: 357) to the effect that the reli-
ence,1844). Cf. Bessarion'sbeautifulletterto the Vene- gion destinedfor universalvictorywas to be "neither
tian doge and senate,dated 31 May, 1468 (Mohler, 3: thatof Christnor Mohammed, but one notunlikepagan-
541-543). inquit, sed non a gentilitatedifferentern).
isni" (netitrumt,

createdno smallimpression;Filelfowas unwilling the pietyof a good humanist,he neverforgotthe

to take a position,and the Universityof Paris polemics of a good humanist. The memoryof
laboredunder a like uncertainty.Bessarionpre- Pletho galled him; Bessarion and his fellowstu-
pared the answer to George, In calumniatorem dentsof Plato wereanathemato him. Georgethus
Platonis, adding a critique of George's faulty closed his martyryof S. Andreas with prayers
translationof Plato's Laws.26 The In calumnia- to the saint: "that you intercedewith our Lord
toremn is an impressivework,learned,stately,and JesusChristforthe universalChurchand its fur-
interesting,and may now be read in Mohler's therextension;for the supremepontiff,Pius II,
beautifuledition, in every way worthyof the whose timesyou have adornedwithyour martyr-
text.7 With the aid of his son, Andreas,George dom and renderedof everlastingmemory; and
continued his offense against both Plato and just as you have cast down perfidyin Greece,
Bessarion, but in Florence the young Marsiglio now suppressby your intercessionthese Platon-
Ficino read the In calumniatoremn, and pursued ists risinghere in Italy!" 28
more avidlyhis Platonicstudies. The chief Platonist now rising in Italy was
George of Trebizondwas a facileworker,and Marsiglio Ficino, protege of the Medici in
devotedmuchtimeto classicalstudies. Like their Florence,translatorof all the Platonic dialogues.
Italian contemporaries,however, the Byzantine Ficino was thentryingto convertPlato to Christi-
humanistsof the Quattrocentohad a medieval anity. He emphasized the necessityof man's
past,and theirinterestsreflecta concernwiththe seekingunion with God througha joyous love,
pressingproblemsof a bygoneera, such as church not throughinadequatereason, for the effortto
unionand therecoveryof the Holy Land. George understandGod was merelythe effortto reduce
preparedLatin translationsof some of the works Him to man's own plane of existence,29a fa-
of Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyrilof Jerusalem,Basil miliar but beautifultheme much elaborated by
the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John Italian poets and artistsin the sixteenthcentury.
Chrysostom.Georgealso wroteon theprocession In his chief original work Ficino developed a
of the Holy Spirit,a subjectthatneverseemedto "Platonic theology of immortality"(Theologia
wearyChristendom fromthe ninthcenturyto the Platonicade immortalitate animoruim),30 to which,
sixteenth,and in true Byzantinefashionhe wrote of course, exceptionwas taken by Pomponazzi,
the interestinghistoryof the recentmartyr,S. forwhomtheimmortality of the soul was logically
Andreasof Chios, who preferreddeathto serving undemonstrable, but justifiedby divinerevelation
in the Moslem army and submittingto Islam and necessarily believed by the Christian.31
(1464). George had firstlearned of the heroic Ficino's world was the Platonic Academy at
martyrdom of S. Andreas upon arrivingin Con- Careggi,Pomponazzi's thatof the universitiesof
stantinopleaftera voyage fromhis native Crete. Padua and Bologna. We are not concernedto
Runninginto a stormas he began the long and contrastthem,but the Academy was almost of
arduous returnto Italy, George sought the aid Byzantineorigin,owingmuchto the inspiration of
of S. Andreas,and promised to writethe storyof 28 Georgeof Trebizond, Martyri~ur beatissiniimartyris
his martyrdomin Latin, if the new saint would Andreaede Chio,12 (PG 161: 890BC); Acta sanctorum,
providehim a safe passage back to Rome. Two Maii tom.7: 188,1688.
29 Marsilius Ficinus, Opera omnia,663, Basel, 1561
years afterhis returnGeorge fulfilledhis vow,
(and 1576), cited by P. 0. Kristeller,Ii pensierofilo-
givingus our sole accountof S. Andreas' devo- soficodi Marsilio Ficino,293, Florence,Sansoni, 1953;
tion to the Blessed Virgin. But if George had Engl. ed., trans.VirginiaConant,273, New York, 1943:
"cum vis cognitionis . . . in quadam discretionecon-
26 Accordingto Mohler,op. cit. 1: 360, Bessarion'sIn sistat,vis autem amoris in unione.. . Proinde cog-
calitmnniatoremPlatoniswas composedearlyin 1458,more noscendoDeum eius amplitudinem ad men-
contrahimus
thantenyearsearlierthanmosthistorianshave placedit. tis nostrae capacitatematque conceptum,amando vero
Filelfo firstheard of the work in 1468,and the corre- mentemamplificamusad latitudinemdivinae bonitatis
spondenceof BessarionwithGuillaumeFichet,professor immensam.Illic in nos Deum quasi deicimus,hic vero
in the Universityof Paris, does not beginuntil13 Dec. atollimus nos ad Deum...." Cf. Mohler, op. cit., 3:
1470 (Mohler,3: 554, 574, cf. 594, et alibi) ; a letterof 543-545.
Bessarionto TheodoreGaza, however,showstheaccuracy 30 Cf. Kristeller,Supplementum Ficinianum 1: pp.
of Mohler'sdate (3: 488-489). LXXIX-XXXI, Florence, Olschki, 1937; Philosophy of
27 The secondvolumeof Mohler'sKardinal Bessarion Marsilio Ficino,324 ff.
is givenover entirelyto the Greekand Latin versions, 31 Cf. Kristeller,Two unpublished Questions,on the
printedon oppositepages, of the In calumniatorem Pla- Soul, of Pietro Pomponazzi,Medievalia et humanistica,
tonis. fasc. 8: 76-101,esp. 90-93,1955.

George GemistusPletho, and Ficino would have of aggregationwhich failed to form a vital
been at home in the companyof Michael Psellus fusion."32 The Byzantinesmaintainedtradition
and John Italus in eleventh-century Byzantium. and resistedinnovation;theywere custodians,not
The Greekshad exercisedan enormousinfluence experimenters.They possessed an unparalleled
upon the Italians forgenerations. literature receivedfromthebeautifulpast,butthey
If we have not exaggeratedthe influenceof had small confidencein their abilityto surpass
Petrarchand Boccaccio upon theirown times,we Plato and Aristotle,and thus little incentiveto
have stillnot given fullcreditto Barlaam,people trulycreativeeffortexcept of course in politics
like Paulus, Simon Atumano, and the great and in theology. But theywere the teachersof
Demetrius Cydones. To acknowledgethe Ital- the Italians,who became the teachersof the rest
ians' debt to Byzantiumis not to deny that the of us.
Italians contributedmore than any other people The historianof Byzantinecivilizationrightly
to the construction of new modes of thoughtand resentsits description as sterile,an abusiveepithet,
a more secular way of life although excessive but undoubtedlythe Byzantineera was contem-
claims have been made in theirbehalfby Burck- plative rather than actively original. A huge
hardt and Symonds,neitherof whom knew or task was performedby the preservationand dis-
cared anythingabout Byzantinecivilization. Un- seminationof ancientknowledge,and it is diffi-
doubtedlythe Byzantineshad their own limita- cult to say what the futuremighthave been,had
tions,and the qualityof theirintellectualefforts not the OttomanconquestextinguishedGreek vi-
was not universallyhigh in the fourteenth and talityin thelaterfifteenth century. Carl Neumann
fifteenth centuries. Palaeographersand philolo- and August Heisenbergwere right. There were
gistsare makingtheepistolaryand otherworksof Byzantinehumanistsin the fourteenthand fif-
various latter-dayByzantines increasinglywell teenthcenturies,but there was no true Renais-
knownto us, but I am notcertainthattheirlearned sance in Byzantium. There are most interesting
effortswill increase our general esteem (much evidences,to be sure,of a beginningRenaissance
higherthanit used to be) forByzantineliterature under the Comneni,as we have seen, but they
duringthis period. were obliteratedby the Fourth Crusade. There-
If the Byzantineswere, and they were, heirs aftertheByzantineswereoppressedby the weight
of the great classical traditionof antiquity,they of theirown history;the continuity of theircul-
were also the successorsof the Alexandrinesand ture was too strongfor alteration.33 Having re-
the Theodosians. The greatworkhad been done centlyacceptedsome responsibility for the direc-
beforethem; it was theirfunction to preserveand tion of the Universityof PennsylvaniaLibraries,
cherishit. They feltvery stronglytheir actual I have foundparticularlystrikingthe dictumof
historicalcontinuitywith the past of Augustus ProfessorBayneson thesometimesallegedsterility
and the great Constantine. They possessed,as a of the Byzantines:"theywere but continuingthe
way of life, what the Italians wanted fromthe taskofthescholarsofAlexandria,"he has written;
beginningof theQuattrocento, but theByzantines' "in Europe's Middle Age theywere the world's
close associationwithclassicismsomehowdebarred librarians."3
them fromtaking the elementsapart and con- 32 Neumann, Byzantinische Kultur und Renaissance-
structingnew patterns from them. This the kultur,Historische Zeitschrift91: 227, 1903.
Italians succeededin doing,and were stimulated 33 Neumann, op. cit., and August Heisenberg, Das
to an immensedisplayof strengthin the process. Problem der Renaissance in Byzanz, Hist. Zeitschr. 133:
393-412, 1925-1926.
In Byzantinecivilization,however,as Carl Neu- 34 Norman H. Baynes, Byzantine studies anid other
mannhas said, theseelements"remainedin a state essays, 71-72, London, 1955.


Setton, 1956

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Setton, 1956

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance

Author(s): Kenneth M. Setton

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

CONTENTS effortof this essay is carried only to the early

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

and in Gaul. In Italy,however,therewas some Hellenization of Calabria. These immigrants

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

provenience,it is possiblethatthe translationwas to makenumerousdocumentsin thetwo languages

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

not so fortunate in Sicily,whichwas largelycon- out southernItaly. Byzantinelaw obtained in

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

eternityof matterand of ideas; of having denied eleventh-century Byzantiumwe seem to be in the

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

In the BibliotecaLaurenziana in Florenceis a minded classical scholar, who composed very

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

followingcenturyPetrarchadvised a young man AnotherGreek-speaking remnantof the distant

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

ratherthanaestheticexperience. Translationsinto wherehe collectedmanuscriptswhichhe brought

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

alongwiththeGreekoriginal,and thusunwittingly learned Greek contemporary,the South-Italian

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

some of its freshnessand detail,it remainsnever- April F1136],if I remember correctly.

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

Byzantines,was whatproducedpapal policy. The translationof John Damascenus' De fide ortho-

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

Havelberg,James of Venice, Burgundioof Pisa, incendiaryvessels; but if theywere, it would ap-

reasonto doubtwhetherthe harraqaswere in fact 6 Bury, op. cit., 437-438.

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

liturgy,and the Greekecclesiasticalhistories.34It cationof MichaelVIII, to clearthewayforCharles

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

4. THE FRANCO-GREEK ROMANCES More's Roman de la guerre de Troie was

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

on thefact,"thata Frenchmanof theLatin empire amongtheLatin conquistadores bythesecondgen-

Josaphat, 54, 74-75. mania, ed. Chas. Hopf, Chroniques grico-roiktanesin-

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM

to defend,both by the writtenand the spoken 11 Barlaam, C-onitraprimtatninipapae, 1 (PG 151

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Mon, 6 Jan 2014 06:46:37 AM