Manuel Chrysoloras
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| - | :''[[Greek scholars in the Renaissance]] | ||
| - | In stark contrast to the [[High Middle Ages]], when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics, Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, [[historical]], and [[oratorical]] texts. Broadly speaking, this began in the fourteenth century with a Latin phase, when Renaissance scholars such as [[Petrarch]], [[Coluccio Salutati]] (1331 – 1406), [[Niccolò de' Niccoli]] (1364 – 1437) and [[Poggio Bracciolini]] (1380 – 1459 AD) scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such Latin authors as [[Cicero]], [[Livy]] and [[Seneca]]. By the early fifteenth century, the bulk of such Latin literature had been recovered; the Greek phase of Renaissance humanism was now under way, as Western European scholars turned to recovering ancient Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts. | ||
| - | Unlike the case of Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. Ancient Greek works on science, math and philosophy had been studied since the [[High Middle Ages]] in Western Europe and in the medieval Islamic world, but Greek literary, oratorical and historical works, (such as [[Homer]], the [[Greek dramatists]], [[Demosthenes]] and [[Thucydides]] and so forth), were not studied in either the Latin or medieval Islamic worlds; in the Middle Ages these sorts of texts were only studied by [[Byzantine]] scholars. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity. This movement to reintegrate the regular study of Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts back into the Western European curriculum is usually dated to [[Coluccio Salutati]]'s invitation to the Byzantine diplomat and scholar [[Manuel Chrysoloras]] (c.1355 – 1415) to Florence to teach Greek, his knowledge of the Greek language was of significant importance. Another [[Greeks|Greek]] [[Byzantine]] scholar of importance was [[Demetrius Chalcondyles]] ([[1424]] – [[1511]]) who taught Platonic philosophy and the [[Greek language]] in Italy for a period of over forty years; at [[Padua]], [[Milan]] and [[Florence]]. Among his pupils were [[Johann Reuchlin]], [[Janus Lascaris]], [[Poliziano]], [[Leo X]], [[Castiglione]], [[Giglio Gregorio Giraldi]], Stefano Negri, and [[Cattaneo|Giovanni Maria Cattaneo]]. | + | '''Manuel''' (or '''Emmanuel''') '''Chrysoloras''' (c. 1355 – [[April 15]], [[1415]]) was a pioneer in the introduction of [[Greek language|Greek]] literature to [[Western Europe]] during the [[late middle ages]]. |
| - | The fall of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1453, accompanied by the closure of its schools of higher learning by the [[Ottoman Turks]], brought many other Greek scholars to Italy and beyond, who brought with them Greek manuscripts, and knowledge of the classical [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] literature, some of which had been lost for centuries in the West. | + | He was born in [[Constantinople]] to a distinguished family. In 1390, he led an embassy sent to Venice by the emperor [[Manuel II Palaeologus]] to implore the aid of the Christian princes against the Muslim [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]. [[Roberto de' Rossi]] of [[Florence]] met him in [[Venice]], and, in 1395, Rossi's acquaintance [[Giacomo da Scarperia]] set off for Constantinople to study Greek with Chrysoloras. In 1396, [[Coluccio Salutati]], the chancellor of the University of Florence, invited him to come and teach Greek [[grammar]] and literature, quoting [[Cicero]]: |
| + | :"The verdict of our own Cicero confirms that we Romans either made wiser innovations than theirs by ourselves or improved on what we took from them, but of course, as he himself says elsewhere with reference to his own day: "Italy is invincible in war, Greece in culture." For our part, and we mean no offence, we firmly believe that both Greeks and Latins have always taken learning to a higher level by extending it to each other's literature." | ||
| - | ===Social and political structures in Italy=== | + | Chrysoloras arrived in the winter of 1397, an event remembered by one his most famous pupils, the humanist scholar [[Leonardo Bruni]], as a great new opportunity: there were many teachers of law, but no one had studied Greek in [[Italy]] for 700 years. Another very famous pupil of Chrysoloras was [[Ambrogio Traversari]], who became general of the [[Camaldolese|Camaldolese order]]. Chrysoloras remained only a few years in Florence, from 1397 to 1400, teaching Greek, starting with the rudiments. He moved on to teach in Bologna and later in Venice and Rome. Though he taught widely, a handful of his chosen students remained a close-knit group, among the first humanists of the [[Renaissance]]. Among his pupils were numbered some of the foremost figures of the revival of Greek studies in Renaissance Italy. Aside from Bruni and [[Ambrose the Camaldulian|Ambrogio Traversari]], they included [[Guarino da Verona]] and [[Pallas Strozzi]]. |
| - | The unique political structures of late [[Middle Ages]] [[Italy]] have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as a [[Nation-state|political entity]] in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller [[Italian city-states|city states]] and territories: the [[Kingdom of Naples]] controlled the south, the [[Republic of Florence]] and the [[Papal States]] at the center, the [[Genoa|Genoese]] and the [[Milan]]ese to the north and west respectively, and the [[Venice|Venetians]] to the east. Fifteenth-century Italy was one of the most [[urbanization|urbanised]] areas in Europe. Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartland. | + | Having visited [[Milan]] and [[Pavia]], and having resided for several years at [[Venice]], he went to [[Rome]] on the invitation of Bruni, who was then secretary to [[Pope Gregory XII]]. In 1408, he was sent to Paris on an important mission from the emperor [[Manuel II Palaiologos|Manuel Palaeologus]]. In 1413, he went to Germany on an embassy to the emperor [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], the object of which was to fix a place for the church council that later assembled at [[Council of Constance|Constance]]. Chrysoloras was on his way there, having been chosen to represent the Greek Church, when he died suddenly. His death gave rise to commemorative essays of which [[Guarino da Verona]] made a collection in ''Chrysolorina''. |
| - | Historian and political philosopher [[Quentin Skinner]] points out that [[Otto of Freising]] (c. 1114 - 1158) , a German bishop visiting north Italy during the 12th century, noticed a widespread new form of political and social organisation, observing that Italy appeared to have exited from Feudalism so that its society was based on merchants and commerce. Linked to this was anti-monarchical thinking, represented in the famous early Renaissance fresco cycle Allegory of Good and Bad Government in Siena by [[Ambrogio Lorenzetti]] (painted 1338–1340) whose strong message is about the virtues of fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. Holding both Church and Empire at bay, these city republics were devoted to notions of liberty. Skinner reports that there were many defences of liberty such as [[Matteo Palmieri]]’s (1406–1475) celebration of Florentine genius not only in art, sculpture and architecture, but “the remarkable efflorescence of moral, social and political philosophy that occurred in Florence at the same time”. | + | Chrysoloras translated the works of [[Homer]] and [[Plato]]'s ''[[The Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' into Latin. His own works, which circulated in manuscript in his lifetime, include brief works on the Procession of the Holy Ghost, and letters to his brothers, to L. Bruni, Guauni, Traversari, and to [[Pallas Strozzi]], as well as two which were eventually printed, his ''[[Erotemata Civas Questiones]]'' which was the first basic Greek grammar in use in Western Europe, first published in 1484 and widely reprinted, and which enjoyed considerable success not only among his pupils in Florence, but also among later leading humanists, being immediately studied by [[Thomas Linacre]] at [[Oxford]] and by [[Desiderius Erasmus]] at [[Cambridge]]; and ''Epistolæ tres de comparatione veteris et novæ Romæ'' (''Three Letters Comparing Ancient and Modern Rome''). Many of his treatises on morals and ethics and other philosophical subjects came into print in the 17th and 18th centuries, because of their antiquarian interest. He was chiefly influential through his teaching in familiarizing men such as [[Leonardo Bruni]], [[Coluccio Salutati]], [[Giacomo da Scarperia]], [[Roberto de' Rossi]], [[Carlo Marsuppini]], [[Pietro Candido Decembrio]], [[Guarino da Verona]], [[Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini|Poggio Bracciolini]], with the masterpieces of Greek literature. |
| - | Even cities and states beyond central Italy, such as the [[Republic of Florence]] at this time, were also notable for their merchant [[Republics]], especially the [[Republic of Venice]]. Although in practice these were [[oligarchy|oligarchical]], and bore little resemblance to a modern [[democracy]], they did have democratic features and were responsive states, with forms of participation in governance and belief in liberty. The relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic advancement. Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made them intellectual crossroads. [[Merchants]] brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe, particularly [[the Levant]]. Venice was Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine [[Venetian glass|glass]], while Florence was a capital of silk. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for study. | + | ==Literature== |
| + | * Émile Legrand: ''Notice biographique sur Manuel Chrysoloras'', Paris 1894. | ||
| + | * ''Manuelis Chrysolarae epistolae'' : (Greek and Latin ; ed. [[J.P. Migne|J.-P. Migne]], ''[[Patrologia Graeca]]'' v. 156)., Paris 1866. | ||
| - | ===Black Death=== | + | ==See also== |
| - | One theory that has been advanced is that the devastation caused by the [[Black Death]] in [[Florence]], which hit [[Europe]] between 1348 and 1350, resulted in a shift in the world view of people in 14th-century Italy. Italy was particularly badly hit by the plague, and it has been speculated that the familiarity with death that this brought caused thinkers to dwell more on their lives on Earth, rather than on [[spirituality]] and the [[afterlife]]. It has also been argued that the Black Death prompted a new wave of piety, manifested in the [[Patron#The arts|sponsorship]] of religious works of art. However, this does not fully explain why the Renaissance occurred specifically in Italy in the 14th century. The Black Death was a pandemic that affected all of Europe in the ways described, not only Italy. The Renaissance's emergence in Italy was most likely the result of the complex interaction of the above factors. | + | *[[Byzantine scholars in Renaissance]] |
| - | + | ||
| - | In the wake of the black death, reduced population left work-forces depleted: this tended, throughout Europe, to give workers more bargaining power, particularly skilled workers. This led to a shift of power away from rulers and towards workers and merchants, particularly in smaller states (such as composed Italy at the time). Thus, regardless of its spiritual and psychic impact, the plague's economic (and consequent political) legacy may have helped set the scene for the Renaissance. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Cultural conditions in Florence=== | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in [[Florence]], and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars have noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life which may have caused such a cultural movement. Many have emphasized the role played by the [[Medici]], a [[banking|banking family]] and later [[royal house|ducal house]]family, in patronizing and stimulating the arts. [[Lorenzo de' Medici]] (1449 – 1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countryman to commission works from Florence's leading artists, including [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Sandro Botticelli]], and [[Michelangelo Buonarroti]]. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The Renaissance was certainly underway before Lorenzo came to power; indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society. Some historians have postulated that Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance as a result of luck, i.e. because "[[Great man theory|Great Men]]" were born there by chance. | + | |
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Revision as of 00:09, 25 October 2009
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Manuel (or Emmanuel) Chrysoloras (c. 1355 – April 15, 1415) was a pioneer in the introduction of Greek literature to Western Europe during the late middle ages.
He was born in Constantinople to a distinguished family. In 1390, he led an embassy sent to Venice by the emperor Manuel II Palaeologus to implore the aid of the Christian princes against the Muslim Turks. Roberto de' Rossi of Florence met him in Venice, and, in 1395, Rossi's acquaintance Giacomo da Scarperia set off for Constantinople to study Greek with Chrysoloras. In 1396, Coluccio Salutati, the chancellor of the University of Florence, invited him to come and teach Greek grammar and literature, quoting Cicero:
- "The verdict of our own Cicero confirms that we Romans either made wiser innovations than theirs by ourselves or improved on what we took from them, but of course, as he himself says elsewhere with reference to his own day: "Italy is invincible in war, Greece in culture." For our part, and we mean no offence, we firmly believe that both Greeks and Latins have always taken learning to a higher level by extending it to each other's literature."
Chrysoloras arrived in the winter of 1397, an event remembered by one his most famous pupils, the humanist scholar Leonardo Bruni, as a great new opportunity: there were many teachers of law, but no one had studied Greek in Italy for 700 years. Another very famous pupil of Chrysoloras was Ambrogio Traversari, who became general of the Camaldolese order. Chrysoloras remained only a few years in Florence, from 1397 to 1400, teaching Greek, starting with the rudiments. He moved on to teach in Bologna and later in Venice and Rome. Though he taught widely, a handful of his chosen students remained a close-knit group, among the first humanists of the Renaissance. Among his pupils were numbered some of the foremost figures of the revival of Greek studies in Renaissance Italy. Aside from Bruni and Ambrogio Traversari, they included Guarino da Verona and Pallas Strozzi.
Having visited Milan and Pavia, and having resided for several years at Venice, he went to Rome on the invitation of Bruni, who was then secretary to Pope Gregory XII. In 1408, he was sent to Paris on an important mission from the emperor Manuel Palaeologus. In 1413, he went to Germany on an embassy to the emperor Sigismund, the object of which was to fix a place for the church council that later assembled at Constance. Chrysoloras was on his way there, having been chosen to represent the Greek Church, when he died suddenly. His death gave rise to commemorative essays of which Guarino da Verona made a collection in Chrysolorina.
Chrysoloras translated the works of Homer and Plato's Republic into Latin. His own works, which circulated in manuscript in his lifetime, include brief works on the Procession of the Holy Ghost, and letters to his brothers, to L. Bruni, Guauni, Traversari, and to Pallas Strozzi, as well as two which were eventually printed, his Erotemata Civas Questiones which was the first basic Greek grammar in use in Western Europe, first published in 1484 and widely reprinted, and which enjoyed considerable success not only among his pupils in Florence, but also among later leading humanists, being immediately studied by Thomas Linacre at Oxford and by Desiderius Erasmus at Cambridge; and Epistolæ tres de comparatione veteris et novæ Romæ (Three Letters Comparing Ancient and Modern Rome). Many of his treatises on morals and ethics and other philosophical subjects came into print in the 17th and 18th centuries, because of their antiquarian interest. He was chiefly influential through his teaching in familiarizing men such as Leonardo Bruni, Coluccio Salutati, Giacomo da Scarperia, Roberto de' Rossi, Carlo Marsuppini, Pietro Candido Decembrio, Guarino da Verona, Poggio Bracciolini, with the masterpieces of Greek literature.
Literature
- Émile Legrand: Notice biographique sur Manuel Chrysoloras, Paris 1894.
- Manuelis Chrysolarae epistolae : (Greek and Latin ; ed. J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca v. 156)., Paris 1866.
See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Manuel Chrysoloras" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
