Greece Reinvented: Transformations of Byzantine Hellenism in Renaissance Italy

Description

'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. 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