Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches [Paperback]

Deno John Geanakoplos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1989

Deno John Geanakoplos demonstrates the fusion of Byzantine and Latin cultural and ecelsiastical relations in the Renaissance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Twelve essays dealing with many aspects of one of the most important periods in the history of contacts between Eastern and Western Christianity.”—The Journal of Religion

About the Author

Deno John Geanakoplos, and internationaly renowned scholar, is the Bradford Durfee Professor Emeritus of Byzantine, Italian Renaissance, and Orthodox Church History at Yale University. He is a fellow fo the Medieval Academy of America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (September 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299118843
• ISBN-13: 978-0299118846
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the foundations of the modern world, July 3, 2005

By 

Demetrios Vakras (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches (Paperback)

European history, as I was taught it at school in Australia 25 years ago, was one in which Byzantium was written out. The standard historical text "Europe in Transition" by Ferguson stated:
"It is now recognised that the capture of Byzantine capital [by the Turks in 1453] did not alter the practical situation in any such drastic way. The Greek refugees came to Italy too late to do more than assist a classic revival already reaching its peak. As Voltaire remarked, the Greeks could teach the Italians nothing but Greek, and, one might add, even for that they were no longer essential." p. 407

Geanakoplos' book is indispensable in understanding the contribution of the Greeks to learning, both in their bringing manuscripts which would otherwise have been lost to Italy (& the west), and to helping the Italians understand the subtleties of Greek philosophy which had been corrupted by Arabist and mediaeval Catholic misunderstandings.

Geanakoplos explains it best in his own words:
"It was not until the Italian Renaissance that the complete range of Greek writings... came to the West... for the first time all the philosophical writings of Platonism, the remainder - much more than we realize - of Aristotle...Greek Stoicism and Epicurianism... the tragedians ... and the epic poems of Hesiod and especially Homer, as well as the great Greek historians... In rhetoric the entire Byzantine corpus was brought [to Italy]. p. 31

In his book "Leonardo da Vinci: flights of the mind" by Charles Nicholl we learn that Leonardo Da Vinci attended the lectures of John Argyropoulos. To understand who Argyropoulos was and his significance is impossible without Geanakoplos' book. Argyropoulos was the leading Byzantine expert on Greek philosophy and of Greek mechanical literature (eg the pseudo-Mechanica of Aristotle); the entire edifice of western engineering is based on the transmission of Greek manuscripts on engineering which entered Italy at this time.

It is only when it is realised that the Medici, and their sponsorship of the arts was a direct result of their encounter with the Greeks from Byzantium that the importance of this period is best appreciated. Again it is Argyropoulos who became friends with Cosimo de Medici. It was under Cosimo's patronage that Argyropoulos taught in Florence and it was Argyropoulos who Cosimo chose to be the tutor of his grandson Lorenzo de Medici, who has come to be known to us as "Lorenzo the Magnificent" and under whose reign the Renaissance bloomed in Florence.

It is only when it is realised that the Medici and their encouragement of intellect was founded on these Greek émigrés (Gemistos Plethon, Argyropoulos & others) that the contribution of Byzantine Greeks to the Italian Renaissance can ever be properly appreciated. The Greeks, rather than being irrelevant to the West were the foundation upon which was built the pursuit of knowledge which ended the closed mediaeval mindset of the west European dark ages that had prevailed until then.