The Maroutsaia School ( el, Μαρουτσαία Σχολή) or Maroutsios was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

educational institution that operated in Ioannina from 1742 to 1797. The school reached its peak under Eugenios Voulgaris, one of the main representative of the

modern Greek Enlightenment The Modern Greek Enlightenment ( el, Διαφωτισμός, ''Diafotismos'', "enlightenment," "illumination"; also known as the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment) was the Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment. Origins The Greek Enlightenment w ...

. This period also marked the first phase of renaissance of Greek education in Ioannina.

Under Eugenios Voulgaris

During the 18th century Ioannina was a cultural and educational center of the Ottoman ruled Greek world, while education was flourishing. The Maroutsaia school was sponsored by members of the Maroutsis family, successful merchants and benefactors that were active in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. First schoolmaster of the Maroutsaia became the theologian and scholar Eugenios Voulgaris. Voulgaris apart from

taught also

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, Philosophy, and experimental physics. In general he was an agent of modernization, advocated Newtonian science and philosophy, but on the other hand insisted that the Greek intellectual revival, which was underway, should remain theologically and socially conservative. Voulgaris also included John Locke's

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...

in his teaching, as well as translations of works of

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...

and Christian Wolff. Although Voulgaris did not use the vernacular Greek language (

Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm, the demotic script for writing Vietnamese See also * * Demos (disa ...

) in his teachings, he was considered a progressive scholar.

Decline

Because of his progressive teaching methods, Voulgaris was denounced by conservative scholars, like Balanos Vasilopoulos, director of another local school of the city, the Balanios. In 1753, Voulgaris left Ioannina and he was succeeded by the theologian Tryphon of Metsovo, who continued the educational methods of the former. The Maroutsaia faced financial problems during the following decades since the Maroutsis couldn't sponsor the school any more. The political instability in Venice faced with the French occupation of the city made this situation even worse and, in 1797, the school had to close due to financial difficulties. However, during the same year it reopened but with a new administration and name, Kaplaneios, after Zois and Manthos Kaplanis who founded this new school.

Notable graduates

* Theodore Kavalliotis * Michail Papageorgiou * Athanasios Psalidas * Athanasios Tsakalov

References

{{Modern Greek Enlightenment Education in the Ottoman Empire Modern Greek Enlightenment Education in Ioannina Schools in Greece 1747 establishments in Europe 1797 disestablishments in Europe 1747 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1797 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire 18th-century establishments in Greece Educational institutions established in 1747 Educational institutions disestablished in the 1790s Buildings and structures in Ioannina