Full Description
Higher Education in Constantinople in the Fifteenth Century explores the intellectual life and educational institutions of fifteenth-century Constantinople, a period often overlooked in the history of Byzantine scholarship. While the twilight of the empire is frequently associated with decline, this book demonstrates that it was, in fact, a time of vibrant intellectual activity, laying crucial groundwork for the Renaissance in the West.
Drawing on a wide array of primary sources—including manuscripts, codices, letters, and treatises—this book reconstructs the networks of teachers and students, the transmission of Classical Greek texts, and the methods of instruction that defined higher education in late Byzantium. It presents the cultural landscape of the final Byzantine century as a dynamic space of learning where Classical heritage was not merely preserved but reinterpreted and reactivated in a world on the brink of transformation.
This volume will appeal to scholars of Byzantine, Medieval, and Classical Studies, as well as historians of education and intellectual history. Its interdisciplinary approach offers fresh insights to paleographers, codicologists, and special collections professionals, while its broader narrative speaks to anyone interested in the pivotal cultural exchanges between East and West that helped shape modern Europe. This is the first comprehensive account of Byzantine higher education during this era, illuminating a missing link in the story of the Renaissance and the survival of Hellenic knowledge.
Contents
Introduction
Part I
Chapter 1
Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and His Intellectual Circle
The Philosopher King
The Intellectual Circle at the Imperial Court prior to 1402 (Phase I)
The Intellectual Circle at the Imperial Court after 1402 (Phase II)
Chapter 2
The Schools in Constantinople
The School at the Xenon of the Kral
The "Patriarchal School" of Hagia Sophia
The School at the Monastery of St. John of Stoudios
The School at the Monastery of St. George of Mangana
Private Schools
Chapter 3
The Arrival of the Italian Humanists
Manuel Chrysoloras and the First Contact
The Arrival of the Italian Humanists in Constantinople
Chapter 4
The "Patriarchal School"
The Situation before the Fifteenth Century
The "Patriarchal School" during Manuel II Palaiologos's Reign (1391-1425)
The Period before the Fall of 1453
The Reinstitution of the Patriarchal School in Ottoman Constantinople: The Library and the Scriptorium of Sultan Mehmed II
Part II
Chapter 5
The Teaching of Trivium and Quadrivium
Grammar
Poetry
Rhetoric
Philosophy
Quadrivium
Algebra
Geometry
Music/Harmony
Astronomy
Chapter 6
The Libraries and Manuscript Collections
The Imperial Library
The Patriarchal Library
Monastic Libraries
Private Collections
Conclusions
Bibliography
