The Bavarian State Library’s manuscripts 490 and 495 are among the most emblematic texts reflecting the intellectual debates that captivated the circle of disciples surrounding the eminent late Byzantine scholar George Gemistos, also known as Plethon during his final years in the Byzantine city of Mystras. Rather than being the work of a single author,…
The fall of Byzantium and the subsequent westward expansion of the Ottoman state caused a steady flow of Greek migration to the West, where Greeks soon established communities. At the same time, the revival of interest in the classical heritage, namely the Renaissance, created opportunities for those Greeks who possessed calligraphic skills and knowledge of…
In the aftermath of 1453, the post-Byzantine population of Ottoman Constantinople centered their hopes in the coming of a True Emperor at the end of time. Eschatological literature attributed to Leo the Wise was circulated in both the high registers of Greek as well as the vernacular and all surviving manuscripts of the so-called Leo…
When Andreas Darmarios gained access to the Escorial Royal Library in 1573/4, both his manuscript production and his impact on the book market expanded rapidly. Working at great speed, Darmarios and his collaborators tried to produce and then sell manuscript copies of new, unpublished texts before the printed ones (the editiones principes) overtook them. This…