Published | Parrésia - Ročenka pro východní křesťanství

The Light from the Byzantium

The Greek studies in the Renaissance period in Italy, 1360–1534

Marcel Martin

Outlining the patterns of ‘contact situation’ between Byzantine refugee savants and Italian scholars, which had a deep impact on the origins of Italian humanism, creates a core of the book. Teachers and students, translators, philosophers and theologians, grammarians, copyists, editors, collectors, book-hunters – all of them played their own part in the revival of the Greek studies in the Renaissance Italy. Work brings the description of the transmission of ancient Greek heritage in the Renaissance and tries to delineate the extent of Byzantine (and post-Byzantine with consideration to Greek enclave in Italy until 1535) culture legacy within Italian humanism. The great impulse given to the Greek studies was caused, beside the influx of Greek scholars in Italy and voyages of Italian scholars to European Greek East, by the broadening knowledge of classical languages, the foundation of libraries both public and private, and invention of the printing. All these important aspects of this cultural transmission are discussed in the present book.

Ancient Greek literature, philosophy, science, as well as a system of religious ideas, brought (post)-Byzantine intellectuals into close contact with Italian Renaissance scholars. They transmitted as well a large body of Eastern theological learning. Rich heritage of Hellenic learning together with specific, important elements of medieval contributions was bequeathed to the Westerners of early modern era. Inspiring relationship of the mingled ideas showed in relatively short span of time its fruitfulness not just for period of Renaissance, but for the whole next centuries up to our time.