BYZANTINE PHILOLOGY

The ‘Byzantine Philology’ course is part of the interdisciplinary activities of the curriculum “Ancient Philology, Literatures and History” and part of the core educational activities of the curriculum “Archaeology” of the Master’s degree in “Ancient Civilizations: Literatures, History and Archaeology”. It is also part of the interdisciplinary activities of the Master’s degree “History from the Middle Ages to Modern Times”.

The ‘Byzantine Philology’ course offers the students the appropriate training for analysing historical and literary Byzantine sources within their broader context, as well as for learning the fundamental instruments of Medieval Greek textual criticism. Moreover, the ‘Byzantine Philology’ course provides the students with a panoramic view of Byzantine Literature and of those topics discussed by Late Byzantine intellectuals during a period that sees the collapse of the Byzantine Empire and the flourish of West Europe. The course enriches the knowledge of classical Greek and stands as an appropriate preparation for learning Modern Greek.

The students will obtain:
- advanced expertise in contents and methods of the field of Byzantine Philology;
- thorough knowledge of linguistic, literary and historical aspects of the Byzantine world;
- ability to critically use the sources of Byzantine literature and history.

Knowledge of Classical Greek.

Late Byzantine era is characterized by crucial historical developments as well as by an intensive intellectual productivity. In this respect, the ‘Byzantine Philology’ course proposes an introduction to the Byzantine literature and the intellectual history of the Palaeologan period (the last Byzantine dynasty that ruled the Empire from 1261 to 1453 AD), as well as the study of the texts of two of the most significant authors of that era: Nicholas Kabasilas' On the value of reasoning and Demetrios Kydones’ On the Procession of the Holy Spirit. The course will explore the historical context, manuscript tradition, editorial problems, as well as the structure, content and sources of these texts.

Themes:
1. An introduction to Byzantine Philology; periods; instruments.
2. The Medieval Greek language and its features.
3. Byzantine literature and its genres; its relation to the ancient Greek literature.
4. Intellectual history of the Palaeologan era (I): Theology.
5. Intellectual history of the Palaeologan era (II): Philosophy.
6. The Byzantine text: palaeography and codicology.
7-9. Studying critical editions of Byzantine texts: Nicholas Kabasilas, On the value of reasoning.
10-14. Producing the critical edition of a Byzantine text: Demetrios Kydones, On the Procession of the Holy Spirit.
15. Structure, contents, sources, context of Kydones’ On the Procession of the Holy Spirit.

Reading list:
• Demetracopoulos J. A., “Cabasilas, Nicholas Chamaetos” and “Cydones, Demetrius”, in E. G. Farrugia, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Christian East, Rome 2015, pp. 355-358 and 577-582.
• Laiou A. – Morrisson C., Bisanzio e i suoi vicini (1204-1453), Torino 2013, chapters XII, XIV, XV.
• Ševčenko I., Three Byzantine Literatures: A Layman’s Guide, Massachusetts 1985, pp. 1-24.
• West M. L., Textual Criticism and Editorial Technique Applicable to Greek and Latin texts, Stuttgart 1973.

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Other texts of reference, the consultation of which is strongly suggested, are the following:

• Demetracopoulos J. A., “Nicholas Cabasilas’ Quaestio de Rationis Valore. An Anti-Palamite Defense of Secular Wisdom”, Byzantina 19 (1998) 53-93.
• Kianka F., “Demetrios Kydones and Italy”, in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 49: Symposium on Byzantium and the Italians, 13th-15th Centuries, (1995) 99-110.

Instruments:
• Briquet C. M., Les Filigranes, 4 vols., Hildesheim – New York 1977 (available online: http://www.ksbm.oeaw.ac.at/_scripts/php/BR.php ).
• Harlfinger D. & J., Wasserzeichen aus griechischen Handschriften, I, Berlin 1974.
• Lampe G. W. H., A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Oxford 1984.
• Mosin V. – Traljic S. M., Filigranes des XIIIe et XIVe siècles, 2 vols., Zagreb 1957.
• Perria L., Γραφίς: per una storia della scrittura greca libraria, secoli IV a.C.-XVI d.C, Roma e Città del Vaticano 2011.
• Piccard G., Die Wasserzeichenkartei Piccard im Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, 17 vols. Stuttgart 1961-1997 (available online: https://www.piccard-online.de ).
• Pieraccioni D., Grammatica greca, Firenze 1981.
• Trapp E., Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, 12 vols., Wien 1976.

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For additional didactic material, please subscribe to the Moodle webpage:
https://moodle.unive.it/

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NON ATTENDING STUDENTS:

Participation in the classes is strongly recommended.

Students not attending the classes will be able to prepare for the exam through the following readings:

• Demetracopoulos J. A., “Nicholas Cabasilas’ Quaestio de Rationis Valore. An Anti-Palamite Defense of Secular Wisdom”, Byzantina 19 (1998) 53-93.
• Demetracopoulos J. A., “Cabasilas, Nicholas Chamaetos” and “Cydones, Demetrius”, in E. G. Farrugia, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Christian East, Rome 2015, pp. 355-358 and 577-582.
• Gregory T. E., A History of Byzantium, Malden – Oxford 2005, chapters XIII, XIV.
• Laiou A. – C. Morrisson, Bisanzio e i suoi vicini (1204-1453), Torino 2013, chapters XII, XIV, XV.
• Mercati G., “Notizie di Procoro e Demetrio Cidone, Manuele Caleca e Teodoro Meliteniota”, Studi e Testi 56 (1931), chapters II/1, II/4, IV/3.
• Ševčenko I., Three Byzantine Literatures: A Layman’s Guide, Massachusetts 1985, pp. 1-24.
• West M. L., Textual Criticism and Editorial Technique Applicable to Greek and Latin texts, Stuttgart 1973.

70 % Oral exam.
30 % Presentations in classroom with the assistance of IT tools.

Lectures and practice on the texts by Nicholas Kabasilas and Demetrios. Students are expected to briefly present specific issues related to the proposed texts to the class. The (constant) participation is essential to learn how to prepare a critical edition.

English

The course will be delivered in English; yet, the comprehension level of the participants will be considered as well.

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Additional material (optional):
• Demetracopoulos J. A., “Échos d’Orient – Résonances d’Ouest. In Respect of: C.G. Conticello / V. Conticello (eds.), «La théologie byzantine et sa tradition. II: xiiie-xixe s.»” in Nicolaus 37/2 (2010) 76-84.
• Gregory T. E., A History of Byzantium, Malden – Oxford 2005, chapters XIII, XIV.
• James L., A Companion to Byzantium, Chichester – Malden, 2010, chapter I, II, XXI.
• Mercati G., “Notizie di Procoro e Demetrio Cidone, Manuele Caleca e Teodoro Meliteniota”, Studi e Testi 56 (1931), chapters II/1, II/4, IV/3.
• Spiteris Y. – Conticello C. G., “Nicola Cabasilas Chamaetos”, in C. G. Conticello – V. Conticello (eds.), La théologie byzantine et sa tradition. II: xiiie-xixe s., Turnhout 2002, pp. 315-410.

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Online instruments and useful sites:

http://digi.vatlib.it/?ling=it
https://gallica.bnf.fr
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/

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