Manuel Kalekas (died 1410) was a monk and theologian of the Byzantine Empire.
Kalekas was a disciple of
Demetrios Kydones
Demetrios Kydones, Latinized as Demetrius Cydones or Demetrius Cydonius ( el, Δημήτριος Κυδώνης; 1324, Thessalonica – 1398, Crete), was a Byzantine Greek theologian, translator, author and influential statesman, who served an ...
. He lived in Italy, Crete and Lesbos where he translated the works of
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...
and
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of th ...
into Greek, and several Latin liturgical Texts such as the Missa Ambrosiana in Nativitate Domini.
Kalekas translated the ''
Comma Johanneum
The Johannine Comma ( la, Comma Johanneum) is an interpolated phrase ( comma) in verses of the First Epistle of John.
The text (with the comma in italics and enclosed by square brackets) in the King James Bible reads:
It became a touchpoint f ...
'' into Greek from the Vulgate.
Kalekas was a
unionist who sought to reconcile the Eastern and Western Churches. In 1390, he wrote a work castigating the Byzantines for their separation from the Western Church.
When he was summoned to subscribe to the Tome of Palamas (the official statement of orthodoxy issued in 1351 at the Council of Blachernae), as a result of his anti-Palamite writings, he refused to do and was sanctioned. He fled to
Pera, the Genoese quarter of Constantinople, in order to avoid prosecution. In 1396 he wrote a letter reproaching Manuel II, which the Emperor answered with bitterness.
Kalekas returned to Constantinople in 1403 with the emperor
Manuel II Palaiologos
Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Μανουὴλ Παλαιολόγος, Manouēl Palaiológos; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the n ...
, but to his surprise, was not given a warm reception by his old friends. As a result, he was forced to seek refuge with the
Dominicans at
Mytilene
Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of ...
, where he died in 1410.
References
External links
Martin A. Jugie ''The Palamite Controversy''
See also
*
Byzantine scholars in Renaissance
The migration waves of Byzantine Greek scholars and émigrés in the period following the end of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 is considered by many scholars key to the revival of Greek studies that led to the development of the Renaissance ...
1410 deaths
14th-century Byzantine people
Byzantine theologians
Former Greek Orthodox Christians
Greek Roman Catholics
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy
Year of birth unknown
14th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians
14th-century Roman Catholic theologians
14th-century Byzantine writers
14th-century Greek writers
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