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

Madison WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989 Book. Fine. Soft cover. First Pbk.Ed... " The glory of the Italian Renaissance came not only from Europe's Latin heritage, but also from the rich legacy of another renaissance - the Palaeologan of late Byzantium. This nexus of Byzantine and Latin cultural and ecclesiastical relations in the Renaissance and Medieval periods is the underlying theme of the diverse and far-ranging essays in ""Constantinople and the West"". Addressing the disputed, provocative question of Palaeologan influence on Italian Renaissance humanism, the author systematically demonstrates that Byzantine scholars were not merely transmitters of ancient Greek writings to the West. More significantly, the Byzantine emigre scholars in Italy, through their intimate knowledge of the Alexandrian and Byzantine traditions, alone were able to unlock and authentically interpret the more difficult texts of Aristotle, Plato, Hermogenes, and other Greek thinkers. Geanakoplos shows that the Byzantine refugee scholars and their Italian disciples were able to promote a fusion of elements of both the Italian and Palaeologan renaissances." A book of enormous range and penetrating insights, this volume on Byzantine-Latin cultural and ecclesiastical relations will be invaluable to those interested in the Byzantine and Italian Renaissances. Medieval history, church history, ecumenics, and the comparative history of East and West." 210p. illus. maps. bibliography.index..