Steven Avery
Administrator
Farmakidis
p. 436
III. 3. THE WESTERNERS AND THE MONUMENTS OF
GREEK LITERATURE
41. The action of the Catholics for the acquisition of Greek monuments: in his book "THE ACTION OF CATHOLICISM IN GREEK COUNTRIES IN 1600-1700" Apostolos Vakalopoulos (History of Modern Hellenism, Vol.3, Thessaloniki 1968) refers in detail to the way the Westerners acted.
He therefore says that the Catholic Church since the end of the 16th century, for various reasons, has been seeking with keen interest and striving to become a possessor especially of old Greek theological texts. This activity in the Near and Middle East is being pointed out and deduced by the English Protestants, in order to enrich even more the library of their famous Royal Academy. This rivalry becomes more intense as the years go by, because it is intertwined with the economic interests and interests of the two great maritime powers, France and England. But others are still interested in manuscripts and antiquities, since they are objects of sale, such as the Venetians, the Germans, etc.
The exploration of every corner of the East for the discovery of manuscripts is carried out with a planned program, with the help of agents who mark the places and guide the monks to distinguish the genuine from the fake. To get an idea of this curious commercial fever for the acquisition of manuscripts, especially those of Byzantine emperors, which were rumoured to be in the saragogue's library, it is enough to look at Omont's book, Missions archeologiques francaises en Orient au XVIIeet au XVIIIe siecles. French merchants on the stairs of the Orient granted loans to antiquities hunters, while they were credited with the corresponding sums in France. "They had to hurry because many of these relics of the pan-ancient civilization of the East were disappearing over the years. In particular, the fires so frequent in the East were destroying every day - as much as the ignorance and negligence of the inhabitants - precious manuscripts." A manuscript that had "lived" 2,000 years in one place was suddenly found to be protected from destruction by the "Franks".
p. 437
The study of the manuscripts was not useful to deal only with the "schismatic" Greeks. They also wanted to draw new, rich and powerful arguments against the ideas of Luther, Calvin, etc. It was mainly for this purpose and on the initiative of the King of France Louis XV (1715-1774) that the most extensive and systematic exploration of the libraries in Greece was organized between 1728 and 1730. They sent the brilliant scholars Sevin and Fourmont. The king's o-directions were that they should be able to penetrate the Sultan's library587 to perceive its value, and to note what is there of authors which they do not have in France, what is lacking in Polybius, Titus Livio, etc."They will pay particular attention to the ecclesiastical writers who have written after the schism, examining also the books written in the languages of the East, which are the least known here."
With the support of the ambassador of France, Marquis de Villeneuve, Sevin and Fourmont began their persistent search in Constantinople and through diplomatic representatives or other agents in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire to its heartland, Crimea, the Euphrates, Syria and Egypt, for Greek, Arabic, Persian and Armenian manuscripts.
Sevin in his correspondence with Count de Maurepas, Abbé Bignon and other scholars tells how he tries to point out possible places where manuscripts exist. He tells of his struggles and difficult negotiations to obtain some manuscripts from the Patriarch of Jerusalem or the Prince of Wallachia, Nicholas of Mavrokor-Datou, a fanatical collector of manuscripts. How he tries to infiltrate the saragogue's library. These texts are very interesting for the accurate information and correct judgments they give us.
Indeed, the main targets of the French envoys are the library of the Sultan's saragogue and Mount Athos. With the help of a negro Italian, who was in the service of Selikhtar Aga, a favourite of the Sultan, the French managed to learn to their great disappointment that the more than 200 Greek codices contained works that had almost all been printed.
587. We will see that Simonides was accused in Germany of stealing manuscripts from the Sultan's Library. Such a library, of course, did not exist. But no one knew about it at the time. Later they realized that this treasure was in the monasteries.
p. 438
On Mount Athos it would have been easier for them to enter and obtain manuscripts, because the monks were terribly poor, would not have had much interest in them and would have been willing, in the opinion of the French king, to hand them over for nothing. So long as the searchers showed no enthusiasm or interest in buying them. Sevin's harvest, especially that relating to ecclesiastical literature after the schism, was a-worthy.
Fourmont again, who travels from Constantinople to Chios and then to Attica, the Peloponnese and other parts of Greece, is mainly interested in buying coins, rare manuscripts and in the discovery and copying of ancient inscriptions. Although he is not lucky in finding valuable manuscripts, the same is not the case with inscriptions. In this field he does not have time to harvest the fruits of his researches. He is overjoyed when he finds that the inscriptions he finds have escaped the attention of Spon and Wheler. He is proud to make known to the scientific world more than 900 inscriptions compared to the 500 of the two travelers above. His tour is a real "combing" of archaeological sites. "I don't leave a single chapel in the agra, a pile of stones, a boundary, the slightest thing unvisited, so that no one would have anything to do going there".
But the bad thing is that in these quests Fourmont is possessed by such wild joy, such fury, that he stops at no obstacle, as long as he finds the inscriptions that interest him: he demolishes ancient ruins, walls, towers, etc., in a word, what the barbarians and time have respected. So he writes on 10 April 1730 to Feret: 'I have nowhere read since the revival of letters that it has occurred to anyone to turn over whole cities in this way, in order to find these marbles, the only and reliable witnesses of antiquity and the only ones capable of throwing light on the dark points of the history of the state and religion of the ancient peoples. Only by acting in this way is it possible to be of benefit to classical literature. 54y,w xaad ôn q Imdy,rq εί~w q m~pmrq mô~q Tqs Hε~mavp4mv m~6 t7w xaraoty,frει. Hermione and Troizina had the same fate. I did not spare Argos, Fliacia and a few others. Now I am bent on destroying to the foundations the temple of Apollo Amycleos. There every day we find things that will give you great pleasure to see. There is no matter of remorse in me." And comment-
p. 439
living the impression it made on the inhabitants, he writes the following: "This demolition caused the Turks to marvel, the Greeks to tremble with rage and the Jews to wonder. But I am a quiet one...'. Alongside these Catholic hunters of manuscripts and inscriptions, missionaries (missiologists), especially the Jesuits, were permanently active in mainland and island Greece. So this is what the Symeans by the word "Frank".
A prominent target of the Jesuits is also the very hearth of orthodoxy, Mount Athos. What they expect from this movement is told to us by the Secretary of Propaganda Francesco Ingoli in 1628:
"It is the opinion of all those who know well the affairs of the Eastern Church, that if we win over the monks of Mount Athos, we will open a great road to the union of this church with the Western; and this because these monks are held in high esteem by the bishops and the population of Greece. Some even affirm that if Mount Athos is united with the Roman church, immediately Muscovy will accept this union, because the Muscovites have a great esteem for these monks and support them with great alms when they go to Muscovy.
For these reasons the Congregatio considers it necessary to establish a school of Greek and Latin on Mount Athos. This question is discussed in 1628 with the president of the Congregatio, Cardinal Bandini, by the abbot of the Vatopedi monastery, Ignatius, who is visiting Rome and its religious institutions. The organization of the school was undertaken by the apostolic mercenary and priest Nicolaos Rosis from Nafplio, who had attended the College of St. Athanasius (from 6 December 1624), had studied grammar, rhetoric, philosophy and then two years of theology. Indeed, from the autumn of 1635, Russius was giving lessons in Protaton (in 1638 the number of students rose to 21) in a tolerant atmosphere, turning against Calvinism, discussing with prominent philhellenistic abbots and former patriarchs on various religious matters, especially on the union of the churches. In fact, the former patriarch Athanasius Patellaros, bitterly throws the words at him that he will proceed with the union of the churches if he is restored to the throne.
p. 440
D'Autry, wishing to be of use to the Lavrionites588 on his return to France in 1650, stopped in Malta and obtained from the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta a document which placed the monastery under his protection and secured it from pirate harassment. On the other hand, d'Autry tried to make use of his friendships with the monks of Athos - and above all of Lavra - to establish a Jesuit monastery there, but finally, after a trip there in 1658, he was forced to give up his cause because the monks objected.
PIC
588. Monks of the monastery of Agia Lavra.
p. 436
III. 3. THE WESTERNERS AND THE MONUMENTS OF
GREEK LITERATURE
41. The action of the Catholics for the acquisition of Greek monuments: in his book "THE ACTION OF CATHOLICISM IN GREEK COUNTRIES IN 1600-1700" Apostolos Vakalopoulos (History of Modern Hellenism, Vol.3, Thessaloniki 1968) refers in detail to the way the Westerners acted.
He therefore says that the Catholic Church since the end of the 16th century, for various reasons, has been seeking with keen interest and striving to become a possessor especially of old Greek theological texts. This activity in the Near and Middle East is being pointed out and deduced by the English Protestants, in order to enrich even more the library of their famous Royal Academy. This rivalry becomes more intense as the years go by, because it is intertwined with the economic interests and interests of the two great maritime powers, France and England. But others are still interested in manuscripts and antiquities, since they are objects of sale, such as the Venetians, the Germans, etc.
The exploration of every corner of the East for the discovery of manuscripts is carried out with a planned program, with the help of agents who mark the places and guide the monks to distinguish the genuine from the fake. To get an idea of this curious commercial fever for the acquisition of manuscripts, especially those of Byzantine emperors, which were rumoured to be in the saragogue's library, it is enough to look at Omont's book, Missions archeologiques francaises en Orient au XVIIeet au XVIIIe siecles. French merchants on the stairs of the Orient granted loans to antiquities hunters, while they were credited with the corresponding sums in France. "They had to hurry because many of these relics of the pan-ancient civilization of the East were disappearing over the years. In particular, the fires so frequent in the East were destroying every day - as much as the ignorance and negligence of the inhabitants - precious manuscripts." A manuscript that had "lived" 2,000 years in one place was suddenly found to be protected from destruction by the "Franks".
p. 437
The study of the manuscripts was not useful to deal only with the "schismatic" Greeks. They also wanted to draw new, rich and powerful arguments against the ideas of Luther, Calvin, etc. It was mainly for this purpose and on the initiative of the King of France Louis XV (1715-1774) that the most extensive and systematic exploration of the libraries in Greece was organized between 1728 and 1730. They sent the brilliant scholars Sevin and Fourmont. The king's o-directions were that they should be able to penetrate the Sultan's library587 to perceive its value, and to note what is there of authors which they do not have in France, what is lacking in Polybius, Titus Livio, etc."They will pay particular attention to the ecclesiastical writers who have written after the schism, examining also the books written in the languages of the East, which are the least known here."
With the support of the ambassador of France, Marquis de Villeneuve, Sevin and Fourmont began their persistent search in Constantinople and through diplomatic representatives or other agents in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire to its heartland, Crimea, the Euphrates, Syria and Egypt, for Greek, Arabic, Persian and Armenian manuscripts.
Sevin in his correspondence with Count de Maurepas, Abbé Bignon and other scholars tells how he tries to point out possible places where manuscripts exist. He tells of his struggles and difficult negotiations to obtain some manuscripts from the Patriarch of Jerusalem or the Prince of Wallachia, Nicholas of Mavrokor-Datou, a fanatical collector of manuscripts. How he tries to infiltrate the saragogue's library. These texts are very interesting for the accurate information and correct judgments they give us.
Indeed, the main targets of the French envoys are the library of the Sultan's saragogue and Mount Athos. With the help of a negro Italian, who was in the service of Selikhtar Aga, a favourite of the Sultan, the French managed to learn to their great disappointment that the more than 200 Greek codices contained works that had almost all been printed.
587. We will see that Simonides was accused in Germany of stealing manuscripts from the Sultan's Library. Such a library, of course, did not exist. But no one knew about it at the time. Later they realized that this treasure was in the monasteries.
p. 438
On Mount Athos it would have been easier for them to enter and obtain manuscripts, because the monks were terribly poor, would not have had much interest in them and would have been willing, in the opinion of the French king, to hand them over for nothing. So long as the searchers showed no enthusiasm or interest in buying them. Sevin's harvest, especially that relating to ecclesiastical literature after the schism, was a-worthy.
Fourmont again, who travels from Constantinople to Chios and then to Attica, the Peloponnese and other parts of Greece, is mainly interested in buying coins, rare manuscripts and in the discovery and copying of ancient inscriptions. Although he is not lucky in finding valuable manuscripts, the same is not the case with inscriptions. In this field he does not have time to harvest the fruits of his researches. He is overjoyed when he finds that the inscriptions he finds have escaped the attention of Spon and Wheler. He is proud to make known to the scientific world more than 900 inscriptions compared to the 500 of the two travelers above. His tour is a real "combing" of archaeological sites. "I don't leave a single chapel in the agra, a pile of stones, a boundary, the slightest thing unvisited, so that no one would have anything to do going there".
But the bad thing is that in these quests Fourmont is possessed by such wild joy, such fury, that he stops at no obstacle, as long as he finds the inscriptions that interest him: he demolishes ancient ruins, walls, towers, etc., in a word, what the barbarians and time have respected. So he writes on 10 April 1730 to Feret: 'I have nowhere read since the revival of letters that it has occurred to anyone to turn over whole cities in this way, in order to find these marbles, the only and reliable witnesses of antiquity and the only ones capable of throwing light on the dark points of the history of the state and religion of the ancient peoples. Only by acting in this way is it possible to be of benefit to classical literature. 54y,w xaad ôn q Imdy,rq εί~w q m~pmrq mô~q Tqs Hε~mavp4mv m~6 t7w xaraoty,frει. Hermione and Troizina had the same fate. I did not spare Argos, Fliacia and a few others. Now I am bent on destroying to the foundations the temple of Apollo Amycleos. There every day we find things that will give you great pleasure to see. There is no matter of remorse in me." And comment-
p. 439
living the impression it made on the inhabitants, he writes the following: "This demolition caused the Turks to marvel, the Greeks to tremble with rage and the Jews to wonder. But I am a quiet one...'. Alongside these Catholic hunters of manuscripts and inscriptions, missionaries (missiologists), especially the Jesuits, were permanently active in mainland and island Greece. So this is what the Symeans by the word "Frank".
A prominent target of the Jesuits is also the very hearth of orthodoxy, Mount Athos. What they expect from this movement is told to us by the Secretary of Propaganda Francesco Ingoli in 1628:
"It is the opinion of all those who know well the affairs of the Eastern Church, that if we win over the monks of Mount Athos, we will open a great road to the union of this church with the Western; and this because these monks are held in high esteem by the bishops and the population of Greece. Some even affirm that if Mount Athos is united with the Roman church, immediately Muscovy will accept this union, because the Muscovites have a great esteem for these monks and support them with great alms when they go to Muscovy.
For these reasons the Congregatio considers it necessary to establish a school of Greek and Latin on Mount Athos. This question is discussed in 1628 with the president of the Congregatio, Cardinal Bandini, by the abbot of the Vatopedi monastery, Ignatius, who is visiting Rome and its religious institutions. The organization of the school was undertaken by the apostolic mercenary and priest Nicolaos Rosis from Nafplio, who had attended the College of St. Athanasius (from 6 December 1624), had studied grammar, rhetoric, philosophy and then two years of theology. Indeed, from the autumn of 1635, Russius was giving lessons in Protaton (in 1638 the number of students rose to 21) in a tolerant atmosphere, turning against Calvinism, discussing with prominent philhellenistic abbots and former patriarchs on various religious matters, especially on the union of the churches. In fact, the former patriarch Athanasius Patellaros, bitterly throws the words at him that he will proceed with the union of the churches if he is restored to the throne.
p. 440
D'Autry, wishing to be of use to the Lavrionites588 on his return to France in 1650, stopped in Malta and obtained from the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta a document which placed the monastery under his protection and secured it from pirate harassment. On the other hand, d'Autry tried to make use of his friendships with the monks of Athos - and above all of Lavra - to establish a Jesuit monastery there, but finally, after a trip there in 1658, he was forced to give up his cause because the monks objected.
PIC
588. Monks of the monastery of Agia Lavra.