Michael Apostolius ( el, Μιχαὴλ Ἀποστόλιος or Μιχαὴλ Ἀποστόλης; in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

– after 1474 or 1486, possibly in

Venetian Crete The Realm or Kingdom of Candia ( Venetian: ''Regno de Càndia'') or Duchy of Candia ( Venetian: ''Dogado de Càndia'' ) was the official name of Crete during the island's period as an overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, from the initial V ...

) or Apostolius Paroemiographus, i.e. ''Apostolius the proverb-writer'', 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 ...

teacher, writer and

copyist A copyist is a person that makes duplications of the same thing. The term is sometimes used for artists who make copies of other artists' paintings. However, the modern use of the term is almost entirely confined to music copyists, who are emplo ...

who lived in the fifteenth century.

Life

When, in 1453, the Turks conquered Constantinople, his native city, he fled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and there obtained the protection of

Cardinal Bessarion Bessarion ( el, Βησσαρίων; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the so-called great revival of letters ...

. But engaging in the great dispute that then raged between the upholders of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

and

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, his zeal for the latter led him to speak so contemptuously of the more popular philosopher and of his defender,

Theodorus Gaza Theodorus Gaza ( el, Θεόδωρος Γαζῆς, ''Theodoros Gazis''; it, Teodoro Gaza; la, Theodorus Gazes), also called Theodore Gazis or by the epithet Thessalonicensis (in Latin) and Thessalonikeus (in Greek) (c. 1398 – c. 1475), wa ...

, that he fell under the severe displeasure of his patron. He afterwards retired to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, then a Venetian colony, where he earned a scanty living by teaching and by copying manuscripts. Many of his copies are still to be found in the libraries of Europe. One of them, the ''Icones'' of

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ; c. 170 – 247/250 AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probab ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, bears the inscription: "The king of the poor of this world has written this book for his living." Apostolius died about 1480, leaving a son,

Arsenius Apostolius Arsenius Apostolius ( el, Ἀρσένιος Ἀποστόλιος or Ἀρσένιος Ἀποστόλης; c. 1468 – 1538) was a Greek scholar who lived for a long time in Venice. He was also bishop of Monemvasia in the Peloponnese. Life Arsen ...

, who became bishop of Malvasia (

Monemvasia Monemvasia ( el, Μονεμβασιά, Μονεμβασία, or ) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected t ...

) in the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...

Writings

Of his numerous works a few have been printed: *Παροιμίαι (''Paroemiae'', Greek for "proverbs"), a collection of proverbs in

** an edition published in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

in 1538, now exceedingly rare ** a fuller edition edited by Daniel Heinsius ("Curante Heinsio") and published in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

in 1619Michael Apostolius,
Paroemiae
' 'Proverbs'' Ed. Daniel Heinsius. Leiden, 1619. *"Oratio Panegyrica ad Fredericum III." in Freher's ''Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum'', vol. ii. (Frankfort, 1624) *''Georgii Gemisthi Plethonis et Mich. Apostolii Orationes funebres duae in quibus de Immortalitate Animae exponitur'' (Leipzig, 1793) *a work against the Latin Church and the

council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

in Le Moine's ''Varia Sacra''.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apostolius, Michael 1420s births 1480 deaths 15th-century Byzantine people 15th-century Greek people Greek theologians Greek Renaissance humanists People from Constantinople Year of birth uncertain Kingdom of Candia 15th-century Greek writers 15th-century Greek educators

Life

Writings

See also

Notes

References