Higher Education in Constantinople in the Fifteenth Century

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-76013-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 400 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Research in Byzantine Studies

Higher Education in Byzantine Constantinople in the Fifteenth Century explores the intellectual life and educational institutions of 15th-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.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Petrou, Elias

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Mittelalterliche, neuzeitliche Archäologie (Europa)
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Byzantinische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Geschichte der Pädagogik, Richtungen in der Pädagogik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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

Über Autor(innen)

Elias Petrou is Assistant Professor and Librarian for Classical, Medieval, and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A historian and paleographer, his research focuses on the history and literature of the late medieval and early modern Greek world, with particular emphasis on Byzantine intellectual traditions. He holds a PhD from the University of Ioannina, Greece, and has held academic and research appointments at UCLA, UC Irvine, and the University of Vienna. His work explores the intersections of history, literature, and manuscript culture in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods.