A Chronological Overview of Science and Philosophy of Byzantium Between 1300 and 1453
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HAKEMLİ YAZILAR/Refereed Articles A Chronological Overview of Science and Philosophy of Byzantium Between 1300 and 1453 Melek DOSAY GÖKDOĞAN* Remzi DEMİR** To Professor Sevim Tekeli Abstract The Palaeologi Age (1261-1453) of Byzantine Empire was one of the significant periods in the Medieval Ages because of its creative cultural activities. Byzantine scholars contributed to the rise of interest in antique Greek literature and philosophy in Latin World, by teaching Greek in Italy and translating some important books from Greek into Latin. Moreover, this period witnessed both the establishment of the Ottoman State and the falling down of Byzantine Empire. This article provides the reader with a chronological overview of the late Byzantine science and philosophy, and opens a new base for the possible interactions between Byzantine and Ottoman scholars. Keywords: The Palaeologi Age, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine science and philosophy. Bizans Bilim ve Felsefesine Kronolojik Bir Bakış (1300-1453 Yılları Arasında) Özet Bizans İmparatorluğu’nun Palaeologi Çağı (1261- 1453) yaratıcı kültürel faaliyetlerden do- layı Orta Çağın dönüm noktalarından biridir. Bizanslı bilginler İtalya’da Yunanca öğreterek ve bazı önemli kitapları Yunancadan Latinceye çevirerek Latin Dünyasında Antik Yunan edebiya- tı ve felsefesine karşı ilginin artmasına katkıda bulunmuşlardır. Ayrıca, bu dönem hem Osmanlı Devleti’nin kuruluşuna hem de Bizans İmparatorluğu’nun çöküşüne tanıklık etmiştir. Bu makale okuyucuya son dönem Bizans bilim ve felsefesine ilişkin kronolojik bir bakış sunmaktadır ve Osmanlı bilgileri ile Bizanslı bilginlerin arasındaki muhtemel etkileşimlere yeni bir dayanak sunmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Palaeologi Çağı, Bizans İmparatorluğu, Bizans bilim ve felsefesi * Prof. Dr., Ankara Üniversitesi, Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi, Felsefe Bölümü, Bilim Tarihi Anabilim Dalı. ** Prof. Dr., Ankara Üniversitesi, Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi, Felsefe Bölümü, Bilim Tarihi Anabilim Dalı. 1 82 veIntroduction Madalya (1319-1320), 10 Hanedân-ı Osmâni Nişân ve İmtiyâz Madalyası (1311- 1334), 17 Teba-yı Şâhâne Mecîdî Esâmî (1321-1332), 30 Altın İmtiyâz Madalyası The Palaeologi Age (1261-1453), which spanned the last two centuries of (1309-1320), 40 Madalya Esâmî (1899-1902) Defterleri. the Byzantine Empire and followed the recapture of Constantinople from Latins İngilizin 1261, Ulusal corresponds Arşivi: FO to 195/1720;a period FOwhich 195/1883; witnessed FO 195/1477;both the FOestablishment 195/1368; FO of 195/ the Ottoman1932; State FO 195/1976;and the downfallFO 195/1305, of the FO Byzantine 195/1369; Empire,FO 195/ and1448; contains FO 195/1306; of six ByzantineFO 195/ emperors 1545. except the founder of the dynasty, VIII. Michael Palaelogos Amerikan(1258-1282) Misyoner who supportedArşivi: 640, the641, revival642, 643,644, of old 645, customs 646, 647, after 648, the651, 652,recapture 653, 654, of Constantinople.655, 660, 661, The 66 2, city 663. hadReeller. been conquered by the Latin Fourth Crusade in Sâlnameler:1203-1204 andSalname-i Michael Vilâyet-i Palaelogos Haleb: was1320. able to recapture it in 1261. Şer’îyyeIn Sicili:this 23period, Recep which1293- 25is Şabancalled 1296 the tarihli restored Urfa Şer’îyyeempire Siciliof the Palaeologoi, Şanlıurfa,Byzantium Yukarı much Telfidan of what Köyü had saha been araştırması. destroyed had to be restored having serious economical and social problems and surviving from the invasion by Latins in Adıvar, H. E. (2005). Mehmet Kalpaklı G. T. (Haz..), Mor Salkımlı Ev. İstanbul: Özgür Constantinople. By the mid of the fifteenth century the Byzantine State had long Yayınları. ceased to be an empire and it was little more than a large city-state besieged from Bayraktar,all sides. TheH. (2007). economical Tanzimattan structure Cumhuriyet’e was mainly Urfa dependentElazığ: Fırat on Üniversitesi agriculture, Ortadoğu and the tradeAraştırmaları was in hands Merkezi. of the Venetians and Genoese. Bingöl,On S. the(2005). other Osmanlı hand, thisMahkemelerinde period, critical Reform as it vewas Cerîde-yi from political, Mehâkim’deki social andÜst economicalMahkeme perspectives, Kararları. Tarih was Incelemelerione of the Dergisi,brightest XX points (19), 19-38. of Byzantine civilization. Çadırcı,It was aM. period (1997). of Tanzimat intense creativeDöneminde activity. Anadolu This Kentleri’nin restoration Sosyal included ve Ekonomik education, Yapısı. and theAnkara: imperial TTK. higher school and the patriarchal school were reopened. It had Deringil,been appeared S. (2002). a İktidarınremarkable Sembolleri renew ve science İdeoloji II.and Abdülhamit philosophy Dönemi in the( 1876-1909) same period, (Çev. and theG. Ç.spirit Güven). of the İstanbul: Renaissance YKY. and Humanism of Western Europe spread over Byzantium although being not the strong as much as did in Latin World, and Fatma Aliye Hanım. (1995). Ahmed Cevdet Paşa ve zamanı. İstanbul: Bedir. even after the capture of Istanbul, this spirit affected the Ottoman intellectuals, Foucault,in particular M. (2006). Mehmed Deliliğin the TarihiConqueror ( Çev. M.of Constantinople.A. Kılıçbay). Ankara: And İmge. in the Ottomans, Ginzburg,important C. contributions (2011). Peynir to ve mathematicskurtlar (Çev. A. and Gür). astronomy İstanbul: Metis.were made by depending Kenanoğlu,also on Arabic M. M. and (2007). Persian Nizâmiye scientific mahkemeleri. works. Islâm Ansiklopedisi, XXXIII, 185-188. Kodaman,A lot B. of (1987). notable II. scholarly Abdülhamid developments Devri Doğu Anadolu occurred Politikası in the. reignAnkara: of TürkAndronicos Kültürünü II who recognizedAraştırma Enstitüsü. the need for a reorganization of the University of Constantinople Kürkçüoğlu,and put it under C. (2008). the administration Şanlıurfa 1850-1950 of Grand. Şanlıurfa: Logothete. ŞURKAV. In that period, under the influence of the Persian and Arabic sciences, the Academy at Trebizond, at the east Nicault, C. (2001). Kudüs 1850-1948 (Çev. E. S. Vali). İstanbul: İletişim. coast of Black Sea, became a renowned center for the study of astronomy and other Ortaylı,mathematical İ. (1983). sciences. Osmanlı Besides,imparatorluğu’nun medicine En also Uzun attracted Yüzyılı. İstanbul:the interest Hil. of almost all Seyitdanlıoğlu,Byzantine scholars. M. (1996). Tanzimat Devri’nde Meclis-i vâlâ. Ankara: TTK. Tanpınar,Our H. purpose (2001). byXIX. this Asırda article Türk is Edebiyatıto provide Tarihi the . readerİstanbul: with Çağlayan a chronological Kitabevi. view Urfa.of late (1984). Byzantine Yurt Ansiklopedisi, science and X, philosophy, 7367-7389. and to open new historical perspectives 1 Zürcher,on the possible E. (1999). interactions Modernleşen between Türkiye’nin Byzantine Tarihi (Çev. and OttomanY. S. Gönen). scholars. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. 1 This preliminary chronological survey is of course far from to be complete. It needs to further study on the subject to evaluate the mutual cultural influences between Byzantine and Otto- man scholars. Dört Öge-Yıl 4-Sayı5-Sayı 8-Ekim10-Ekim 2015 2016 A Chronological Overview of Science and Philosophy of Byzantium 3 Chronology Andronicos II (1282-1328) 1280- Nicholas Myrepsos wrote his book on pharmaceutics entitled Materia Medica which contains 2656 recipes of which about 150 were derived from Nicholas of Salerno and the remaining were most probably seemed from East. 1297-1330- Under the rule of Alexios II, an academy was constituted in Trebizond to investigate scientific literature in Persia where some intelligentsia were sent, they returned to Trebizond with a load of Persian and Arabic books, some of which were translated into Greek. Thus, Trebizond was a center of a Persian-Arabic renaissance at that time. ~1300- The physician Gregorios Choniades traveled to Persia where he stud- ied Persian and Arabic astronomy and mathematics which he introduced into Byzantium upon his return. 1305- Maximos Planudes (b.1255) died. He was a theologian, mathemati- cian, and man of letters and sent to Venetia as an ambassador where he learned Latin very well and translated many theological and classical works into Greek, including De Trinitate (On the Trinity) (410-416) by St. Augustine, logical and theological papers by Boethius, and poems by Ovid. In the point of the his- tory of science, his most important work is Psephopkoria kat Indous (Calculation According to the Indians, 1300) in which he introduced Arabic numerals and the operations with them. At the end of his treatise, he presented his own method of deriving the square root, which permits a more accurate approximation. Hence, it can be concluded that he accelerated the developing of arithmetic and generally of mathematical sciences in Byzantium. Moreover, he wrote a commentary on the first two books of Diophantos’ Arithmetica and used the zero as a first time in Byzantine mathematics. 1310- Georgios Pachymeres who was both a Platonic and an Aristotelian scholar, died. He learned Arabic numerals and used them in his Syntagma ton tes- saron mathematon (The Summary of Four Mathematics) which was on guadrivium consists of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. This work doesn’t contain original mathematics, however, it shows the high level of mathematics at the early Palaeologoi period. His most important work is Hromaike historia (Roman History) which consists of 13 volumes and follows the chronicle of Georgios Acropolites. 1310- John Pediasimos taught philosophy in the University of Hagia Sofia which was newly opened. He interested in Neopythagorean numerology. He asked why those