The Palaeologan Renaissance or Palaiologan Renaissance is the final period in the development of

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted ...

. It coincided with the reign of the

Palaiologoi The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...

, the last dynasty to rule the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

(1261–1453), and essentially preceded and predetermined the Greek and

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

. Scholars of the time utilized several classical texts.

History

The Palaiologoi emperors founded new schools to ensure the survival of traditional culture.

John III Doukas Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

(r. 1222–1254) commissioned public libraries in all the cities of his possessions and ordered municipal leaders to allocate salaries to scholars of medicine, mathematics and rhetoric. In 1238, he also instituted a school of philosophy directed by

Nikephoros Blemmydes Nikephoros Blemmydes (Latinized as Nicephorus Blemmydes; el, Νικηφόρος Βλεμμύδης, 1197–1272) was a 13th-century Byzantine author. Biography Blemmydes was born in 1197 in Constantinople as the second child of a physician. After ...

Michael VIII Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

(r. 1261–1282) undertook restoration projects on the

Blachernae Palace The Palace of Blachernae ( el, ). was an imperial Byzantine residence in the suburb of Blachernae, located in the northwestern section of Constantinople (today located in the quarter of Ayvansaray in Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey). The area of the palac ...

, the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

, several sections of the city defenses along with public service projects. Private patrons did the same for the various churches of the city. Manuel II (r. 1391–1425) created an institution called the ''Katholikon Mouseion'' in the early 15th century. Located in a hospital and attached to the monastery of St. John Prodrome whose rich library had at its disposal numerous teachers including Georges Chrysococè and

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 letter ...

who later settled in Italy. The library welcomed many Italians who came to Constantinople to learn

Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...

and culture. Also, during the reign of Manuel II, the scholar

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 ...

, wrote several texts such as the ''Discourses'' and ''Dialogues'' on the relationship between Christianity and Islam, on politics and on civil subjects such as marriage and education. He also made a treatise on the seven ecumenical ''councils'', a poem on how to convert unbelievers, a refutation of Catholic doctrine on the procession of the Holy Spirit.

Notable contributors

Theodore Metochites in the Dedication Mosaic at Chora Church

Numerous private persons contributed to the expanding of knowledge in the empire during the time, these include the judge and historian

George Pachymeres George Pachymeres ( el, Γεώργιος Παχυμέρης, Geórgios Pachyméris; 1242 – 1310) was a Byzantine Greek historian, philosopher, music theorist and miscellaneous writer. Biography Pachymeres was born at Nicaea, in Bithynia, wher ...

(1242 – c. 1310), the philologist and theologian Maximus Planude (c. 1255/1260 – c. 1305/1310) who was one of the four great philological scholars of the time of Andronikos II, alongside Thomas Magistros, Demetrius Triclinios and

Manuel Moschopoulos Manuel Moschopoulos ( Latinized as Manuel Moschopulus; el, ), was a Byzantine commentator and grammarian, who lived during the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century and was an important figure in the Palaiologan Renaissance. ''Mo ...

. The scholar and statesman

Nikephoros Choumnos Nikephoros Choumnos ( el, , 1250/55 – 1327) was a Byzantine scholar and official of the early Palaiologan period, one of the most important figures in the flowering of arts and letters of the so-called "Palaiologan Renaissance". He is notable ...

(c. 1250/1255 – 1327) was one of most important figures of the renaissance, while the philosopher

Theodore Metochites Theodore Metochites ( el, Θεόδωρος Μετοχίτης; 1270–1332) was a Byzantine Greek statesman, author, gentleman philosopher, and patron of the arts. From c. 1305 to 1328 he held the position of personal adviser ('' mesazōn'') to e ...

(1270–1332) was a patron of the arts and sciences and was considered the most complete scholar of his time. A tradition of polemic also existed during the time, exemplified by the historian

Nikephoros Gregoras Nicephorus Gregoras (; Greek: , ''Nikephoros Gregoras''; c. 1295 – 1360) was a Greek astronomer, historian, and theologian. Life Gregoras was born at Heraclea Pontica, where he was raised and educated by his uncle, John, who was the Bisho ...

, who expanded the criticism 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 ...

in his dialogue ''Phlorentius.''

Gemistos Plethon Georgios Gemistos Plethon ( el, Γεώργιος Γεμιστός Πλήθων; la, Georgius Gemistus Pletho /1360 – 1452/1454), commonly known as Gemistos Plethon, was a Greek scholar and one of the most renowned philosophers of the late Byza ...

was exiled by Manuel II to the

Despotate of Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

(an important intellectual center) from here, he gave numerous lectures that revived

Platonic Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called Platonic or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole. It ...

thought in Western Europe. Under the impetus of emperors, many politicians, scholars and writers took part in the literary revival of the time.

Art and architecture

The majority of scribes who worked on

manuscript illumination An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

and illustrations remain anonymous, only 17 of the 22 manuscripts preserved by Theodore Hagiopetrites (a copyist who lived around 1300 in

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

) are signed. The production of books are rarer, probably because many copyists went into exile under Latin domination. Nevertheless, the ''

scriptoria Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes and ...

'' of the monastery of Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople remains active throughout the 14th century.

Chora Church '' '' tr, Kariye Mosque'' , image = Chora Church Constantinople 2007 panorama 002.jpg , caption = Exterior rear view , map_type = Istanbul Fatih , map_size = 220px , map_caption ...

is the typical representative of this art. In essence, this is the second Byzantine Renaissance after the

Macedonian Renaissance Macedonian Renaissance ( el, Μακεδονική Αναγέννηση) is a historiographical term used for the blossoming of Byzantine culture in the 9th–11th centuries, under the eponymous Macedonian dynasty (867–1056), following the uphea ...

, which, however, was redefined by the previous Komnenian restoration.About Chora
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References

Bibliography

* Fryde, Edmund. ''The Early Palaeologan Renaissance (1261 – c. 1360).'' Leiden: Brill, 2000 * Helen C. Evans (Hrsg.): ''Byzantium. Faith and Power (1261–1557).'' The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2004. * Geanakoplos, Deno John. ''Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches.'' Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1989 * ''Late Byzantium Reconsidered: The Arts of the Palaiologan Era in the Mediterranean,'' edited by Andrea Mattiello and Maria Alessia Rossi. London: Taylor and Francis, 2019 *

Runciman, Steven Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...

. ''The Last Byzantine Renaissance.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008 * Ševčenko, Ihor. ''The Palaeologan Renaissance.'' Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1984 Byzantine art Palaiologos dynasty Balkan culture {{Byzantine-stub