This Thematic Session is devoted to the phenomenon of Byzantine intellectuals and their influence within and beyond Byzantium. During the 15th century, Byzantine scholars participated in the broader discussion about the fate of the declining Byzantine Empire, aiming to prevent the subjugation and extinction of their genos. Seeking solutions, they turned to the intellectual traditions of the Byzantine world, namely ancient Greek, Roman, and Christian. Some of them resorted to ancient Greek philosophy, believing that its revival would contribute to the strengthening of the Byzantine community. Key moments of their diplomatic and political activity in attempting to secure Western aid for Byzantium, which was threatened by the Ottoman Turks, will also be discussed. The participants in this Thematic Session will try to find out the reasons why the ideas and voice of Byzantine intellectuals were not perceived and properly heard in their time. Having received no support in Byzantium, many of them had a decisive influence on the minds of the countries of the Byzantine οἰκουμένη and in the West.
Scrutinizing and analyzing the philological evidence deriving from literary sources and diplomatic documents, one could reasonably argue that the Byzantine Latinophile intellectuals of the second half of the 14th and of the early 15th century devoted their lives, their literary production and their entire activity trying to secure Western help for Byzantium against the Ottoman…
The new ideological doctrine, approved at the Moscow Council of 1492, is considered by experts as the predecessor of the political theory “Moscow – the Third Rome,” which is usually associated with the name of the Elder of the Eleazar Hermitage, Philotheus. Meanwhile, it is obvious that the political concept “From Rome to the Third…
One group of late Byzantine scholars argued that the promotion of Hellenitas rather than Romanitas should be grounded in the intensive study of ancient Greek philosophy and intellectual culture. They aspired to revive the glory of ancient Greece through the appropriation of its philosophical heritage. According to another group of scholars, however, the solution lay…
The paper will deal with the use of the name Macedonia and Macedonians by the Byzantine authors from the 13th to the 15th century and how it reflected the Roman idea of translatio tradition. The analysis will encompass how these names incited the memory of Alexander the Great and Philip II and how those famous…
During Byzantium’s fifteenth-century decline, Nicephorus Gregoras was one of the most distinguished Byzantine intellectuals, known as an historian, scientist, philosopher, and theologian. When Gregoras was born around 1293, Byzantium seemed to have a promising future as the greatest power in the Eastern Mediterranean; but by the time Gregoras died around 1361, Byzantium was an almost…