Cydones, Demetrius

Cydones, Demetrius
died с 1398, Crete

Byzantine humanist scholar, statesman, and theologian.

After studying under a Greek scholar, he made Greek translations of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. He was twice prime minister of the Byzantine empire (1369–83, 1391–96). An academy of Greek culture that he established in Venice in 1390 diffused Greek thought throughout Italy, stimulating the Italian Renaissance. A convert to Latin Catholicism, he worked unsuccessfully for East-West Christian unity; in his Symbouleutikoi ("Exhortations") he vainly encouraged the Byzantine people to unite with the Latins against the Turks. He is considered the most brilliant Byzantine writer of the 14th century.

* * *

▪ Byzantine scholar and statesman
also spelled  Demetrios Kydones  
born c. 1324, , Thessalonica, Byzantine Empire [now in Greece]
died c. 1398, , Crete

      Byzantine humanist scholar, statesman, and theologian who introduced the study of the Greek language and culture to the Italian Renaissance.

      Cydones was a student of the Greek classical scholar and philosopher Nilus Cabasilas (Cabasilas, Nilus). In 1354 he went to Italy, where he studied the writings of the leading medieval philosophical theologians. Attracted to Latin Scholasticism, he made Greek translations of the major works of Western writers, including tracts by Augustine of Hippo (5th century) and Thomas Aquinas' Summa theologiae (“Compendium of Theology”). By 1365 he had made a profession of faith in the Latin church.

      Returning to Constantinople, Cydones was named prime minister by Emperor John V Palaeologus (1369). With the weakening of Byzantine resistance to the Arabs, he retired to private life about 1383. In 1390 Cydones returned to Italy and opened an academy of Greek culture in Venice. Attracting Venetian and Florentine students, he effected a cultural exchange that diffused Greek language and thought throughout Italy and served as a stimulus for the Italian Renaissance. He formed, moreover, the nucleus of a group of Byzantine intellectuals that strove for Christian unity between East and West. Recalled to Constantinople in 1391 by his former pupil Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, Cydones resumed his ministerial post, resigning in 1396, when hostility to his Latin Catholicism ultimately compelled him to retire permanently to the island of Crete.

      With the support of his brother Prochorus, Demetrius opposed Hesychasm, the belief in a life of contemplation and uninterrupted prayer taught by the Eastern Orthodox monks of Mount Athos and articulated by the 14th-century ascetic-theologian Gregory Palamas. Applying Aristotelian logic to the Neoplatonic character of Hesychasm, the Cydones brothers accused Palamas of pantheism, only to be condemned themselves by the Orthodox Synod of 1368 that canonized Palamas.

      Cydones is the author of the moral philosophical essay De contemnenda morte (“On Despising Death”), an apology for his conversion to Latin Catholicism, and a voluminous collection of 447 letters, valuable for the history of Byzantine relations with the West. The principal documentary sources for Byzantium's gradual submission to the Turks are his Symbouleutikoi (“Exhortations”), vainly urging the Byzantine people to unite with the Latins in order to resist the Turkish onslaught; these fervent appeals give a clear picture of the hopeless position of the Byzantine Empire in about the year 1370.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Demetrius — (as used in expressions) Cydones Demetrius Demetrius I Poliorcetes Pseudo Demetrius * * * ▪ king of Bactria flourished 2nd century BC    king of Bactria who was the son and successor of Euthydemus. The historical evidence for Demetrius reign is… …   Universalium

  • Demetrius Cydones — (1324 in Thessalonica 1397 in Crete, also transliterated Demetrios Kydones) was a Byzantine theologian, translator and writer. He was the brother of Prochorus Cydones. After converting from Eastern Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism, he attempted to… …   Wikipedia

  • Demetrius (disambiguation) — Demetrius may be a given name. Demetrius may also refer to: Contents 1 Saints 2 Kings 2.1 Macedon …   Wikipedia

  • Cydones, Prochorus — ▪ Byzantine theologian also spelled  Prochoros Kydones   born c. 1330, , Thessalonica, Byzantine Empire died c. 1369, , Mount Athos       Eastern Orthodox monk, theologian, and linguist who, by his advocacy of Western Aristotelian thought and his …   Universalium

  • Démétrius Cydones — Démétrios Kydones Démétrios Kydones fut un théologien, traducteur, auteur et homme d état byzantin, né en 1324 à Thessalonique et mort en 1397 en Crète. D abord de confession orthodoxe, il se converti au catholicisme romain et essaie de réunifier …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Prochorus Cydones — Prochorus Cydones, also spelled Prochoros Kydones or Prochorus Cydonius (born c. 1330 in Thessalonica, died c. 1369 on Mount Athos) was an Eastern Orthodox monk, theologian, and linguist. An advocate of Western Aristotelian thought, his… …   Wikipedia

  • Byzantine Empire — the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Empire in A.D. 476. Cap.: Constantinople. * * * Empire, southeastern and southern Europe and western Asia. It began as the city of Byzantium, which had grown from an ancient Greek colony… …   Universalium

  • Demetrios Kydones — Demetrios Kydones, latinized as Demetrius Cydones or Demetrius Cydonius (Greek: Δημήτριος Κυδώνης; 1324 in Thessalonica 1398 in Crete), was a Byzantine theologian, translator, writer and influential statesman, who served an unprecedented three… …   Wikipedia

  • Eastern Orthodoxy — the faith, practice, membership, and government of the Eastern Orthodox Church. * * * officially Orthodox Catholic Church One of the three major branches of Christianity. Its adherents live mostly in Greece, Russia, the Balkans, Ukraine, and the… …   Universalium

  • Nilus Cabasilas — (Greek: Νεῖλος Καβάσιλας) was a fourteenth century bishop of Thessalonika, uncle of notable Palamite theologian Nicholas Cabasilas, and teacher of Demetrius Cydones. Demetrius described him as passionately enthusiastic about Thomism, which made… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”