Greece Reinvented: Transformations of Byzantine Hellenism in Renaissance Italy (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 247)

In Greece Reinvented Han Lamers Explores The Transformations Of Byzantine Hellenism In Renaissance Italy. Relinquishing Their Traditional Roman Inheritance, The Byzantine Intelligentsia In Italy Generally Portrayed Themselves As 'children Of The Hellenes'. On The Basis Of Sources In Greek, Latin, And Italian, And At The Crossroads Of Cultural, Literary, And Intellectual History, Greece Reinvented Shows In What Ways Greek Exiles Such As Bessarion, George Trapezuntius, Ianus Lascaris, Michele Marullo, And Others Redefined What It Meant To Be Greek In The Italian Diaspora. Placing Their Renewed 'greekness' In The Context Of The Cultural Exchange Between Greeks And Latins, Greece Reinvented Reveals The Cultural Dynamics Behind The Much-studied Transfer Of Greek Learning From Byzantium To The Latin West-- Greece Reinvented Discusses The Transformation Of Byzantine Hellenism As The Cultural Elite Of Byzantium, Displaced To Italy, Constructed It. It Explores Why And How Byzantine Migrants Such As Cardinal Bessarion, Ianus Lascaris, And Giovanni Gemisto Adopted Greek Personas To Replace Traditional Byzantine Claims To The Heirship Of Ancient Rome. In Greece Reinvented, Han Lamers Shows That Being Greek In The Diaspora Was Both Blessing And Burden, And Explores How These Migrants’ Newfound ‘greekness’ Enabled Them To Create Distinctive Positions For Themselves While Promoting Group Cohesion. These Greek Personas Reflected Latin Understandings Of Who The Greeks ‘really’ Were But Sometimes Also Undermined Western Paradigms. Greece Reinvented Reveals Some Of The Cultural Tensions That Bubble Under The Surface Of The Much-studied Transmission Of Greek Learning From Byzantium To Italy.-- Introduction -- A Hellenic Alternative : The Emergence Of Greekness In Byzantium -- Making The Best Of It : The Negotiation Of Greekness In Italy -- Freedom And Community : The Secular Greekness Of Cardinal Bessarion -- The Greek Tradition As A Combat Zone : Hellenocentrism In The Work Of George Trapezuntius Of Crete -- Greekness As Cultural Common Ground : Ianus Lascaris' Attempt At Greco-latin Ecumenism -- Greekness Without Greece : Michele Tarcaniota Marullo And Manilio Cabacio Rallo -- The Territorialisation Of Hellenism : Giovanni Gemisto's Vision Of The Greek World -- Conclusion : Greece Reinvented -- Appendix 1. Gemisto’s Gallery Of Greek Heroes -- Appendix 2. Gemisto’s Imaginary Greece. By Han Lamers. The Present Study Origibated In My Doctoral Thesis ... At The University Of Leiden On 12 June 2013....--page Ix. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 314-385) And Index. Contents 7 Preface 9 Acknowledgements 11 List of Illustrations 15 List of Maps 16 Introduction 17 Chapter 1 A Hellenic Alternative: The Emergence of Greekness in Byzantium 44 Chapter 2 Making the Best of It: The Negotiation of Greekness in Italy 79 Chapter 3 Freedom and Community: The Secular Greekness of Cardinal Bessarion 108 Chapter 4 The Greek Tradition as a Combat Zone: Hellenocentrism in the Work of George Trapezuntius of Crete 149 Chapter 5 Greekness as Cultural Common Ground: Ianus Lascaris’ Attempt at Greco-Latin Ecumenism 182 Chapter 6 Greekness without Greece: Michele Tarcaniota Marullo and Manilio Cabacio Rallo 216 Chapter 7 The Territorialisation of Hellenism: Giovanni Gemisto’s Vision of the Greek World 249 Conclusion: Greece Reinvented 286 Appendices 299 1 Gemisto’s Gallery of Greek Heroes 299 2 Gemisto’s imaginary Greece 309 Bibliography 330 Index 402 Preface vii Acknowledgements ix Conventions and Abbreviations xi List of Illustrations xiii List of Maps xiv Introduction 1 1. A Hellenic Alternative: The Emergence of Greekness in Byzantium 28 2. Making the Best of It: The Negotiation of Greekness in Italy 63 3. Freedom and Community: The Secular Greekness of Cardinal Bessarion 92 4. The Greek Tradition as a Combat Zone: Hellenocentrism in the Work of George Trapezuntius of Crete 133 5. Greekness as Cultural Common Ground: Ianus Lascaris’ Attempt at Greco-Latin Ecumenism 166 6. Greekness Without Greece: Michele Tarcaniota Marullo and Manilio Cabacio Rallo 200 7. The Territorialisation of Hellenism: Giovanni Gemisto’s Vision of the Greek World 233 Conclusion: Greece Reinvented 270 Appendices 283 1. Gemisto’s Gallery of Greek Heroes 283 2. Gemisto’s Imaginary Greece 293 Bibliography 314 Index 386