Georges Križanić et ses relations avec le monde grec
Main Article Content
Abstract
The object of this study is to ascertain whether the father of panslavism, the well-known Croatian cleric and scholar, was acquainted with the Greek language and culture and how much this knowledge influenced his writing. Combining new facts from the archives of the Curia Provinciale della Compagnia di Gesù (Roma) and the Greek College of Rome with evidence collected from other sources, the writer is led to the following conclusions: a) G. Križanič was a student of the Greek College of Saint Athanassios in Rome for 17 months, from May 1641 to September 1642. b) During his studies he worked together with over 15 Greek students, coming from Chios, Cyprus, Crete, Macedonia and Thessaly. There were P. Ligaridis, Dem. Papanos, John and Hieronymos-Ilarion
Kigalas, Nicholaos Logothetis, David Papadimos, Basil Tzagarolos and
others. c) He managed to obtain permission to hold masses according to
the Orthodox-Byzantine ritual, as was the custom of the church of the
College. d) He had quite satisfactorily familiarized himself both with the
Greek patristic texts and the antipontifical works of the Greek theologians, and with the Greek language spoken at that time. The education which he acquired within the Greek environment helped him to utilize later sources written in Greek; some of them he tried to translate as well. Specifically, while it is doubtful whether Križanič directly utilized texts by Byzantine writers, it is also true that he translated works by mainly post-Byzantine Greek theologians. This conviction has been secured by the study of an unpublished large volume of his, entitled Bibliotheca Schismaticorum Universa. In it Križanič has inserted translations he had made from Greek texts written by the following writers: Meletios Pigas the protosyncellus, afterwards Patriarch of Alexandria (16th cent.); the theologian from Chios, George Coressios (17th cent.); Gabriel Seviros (16th-17th cent.), the Bishop of Philadelphia; Maximos Margounios (16th cent.); Nilos Kavassilas (14th cent.), the Archbishop of Thessaloniki; the monk Varlaam Calavros (14th cent.); the Athenian scholar Nathanael Chika (early 17th cent.); and the Patriarch Fotios (9th cent.). It can be proved moreover that the Croatian scholar was acquainted with the works of Gregory Palamas and George Gennadios Scholarios, which he had planned to translate.
Also he had a knowledge and utilized the works of the contemporary latinist Greeks Peter Arkudios, John-Matthew Karyophilis and Leon Allatios. In conclusion, the education of Križanič owes much to the deep study of the Greek texts of the late Byzantine, and especially the postByzantine age and, moreover, thanks to his personal friendships and ties with many Greeks he managed to get well acquainted with the contemporary Greek world.
Kigalas, Nicholaos Logothetis, David Papadimos, Basil Tzagarolos and
others. c) He managed to obtain permission to hold masses according to
the Orthodox-Byzantine ritual, as was the custom of the church of the
College. d) He had quite satisfactorily familiarized himself both with the
Greek patristic texts and the antipontifical works of the Greek theologians, and with the Greek language spoken at that time. The education which he acquired within the Greek environment helped him to utilize later sources written in Greek; some of them he tried to translate as well. Specifically, while it is doubtful whether Križanič directly utilized texts by Byzantine writers, it is also true that he translated works by mainly post-Byzantine Greek theologians. This conviction has been secured by the study of an unpublished large volume of his, entitled Bibliotheca Schismaticorum Universa. In it Križanič has inserted translations he had made from Greek texts written by the following writers: Meletios Pigas the protosyncellus, afterwards Patriarch of Alexandria (16th cent.); the theologian from Chios, George Coressios (17th cent.); Gabriel Seviros (16th-17th cent.), the Bishop of Philadelphia; Maximos Margounios (16th cent.); Nilos Kavassilas (14th cent.), the Archbishop of Thessaloniki; the monk Varlaam Calavros (14th cent.); the Athenian scholar Nathanael Chika (early 17th cent.); and the Patriarch Fotios (9th cent.). It can be proved moreover that the Croatian scholar was acquainted with the works of Gregory Palamas and George Gennadios Scholarios, which he had planned to translate.
Also he had a knowledge and utilized the works of the contemporary latinist Greeks Peter Arkudios, John-Matthew Karyophilis and Leon Allatios. In conclusion, the education of Križanič owes much to the deep study of the Greek texts of the late Byzantine, and especially the postByzantine age and, moreover, thanks to his personal friendships and ties with many Greeks he managed to get well acquainted with the contemporary Greek world.
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles