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<p>[QUOTE="Voulgaroktonou, post: 5257572, member: 84047"]Dear “Only a Poor Old Man”, what a wonderful exposition! Thank you! (I also have been meaning for months to say I love your Palaiologan insignia!) You raise an issue of tremendous importance for the intellectual revival of the west and for the rebirth of the Greek Classics, which had been unknown there for a millennium! While a broad bibliography of the Byzantine empire would be far too vast to note (a search in our library catalog for “Byzantine Empire”, for example, produces nearly 6000 entries), a useful book on the subject is: Harris, Jonathan: Greek emigres in the West 1400-1520. Publisher, Porphyrogenitus, 1995. ISBN 187132811X.</p><p><br /></p><p>Besides the flow of Greek scholars to the west, we recall that several of the final Emperors of the Eastern Empire also travelled west in unfortunately futile attempts to seek western aid against the encroaching Ottomans.</p><p><br /></p><p>John V Palaiologos, (emperor 1341–91) travelled to the courts in Hungary and Rome, in 1366, and 1369 respectively, to seek financial and military support. To win western favor, he even declared his intention to convert to Catholicism (which would not have won friends back home). Underlining the poverty to which the eastern empire had sunk by this time, on his return to Constantinople he was detained in Venice because of unpaid debts and was forced to promise the cession of Tenedos to the Venetians for his release.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my stavrata of John V. Constantinople, 1379-91. 8.03 gr. 26 mm. Hr. 6. Sear 2510; DO 1266-67.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1219495[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>John VII Palaiologos, (emperor 1390, regent under Manuel II 1399 to 1403). Grandson of John V, John VII in April 1390 usurped the throne of his uncle Manuel II with Turkish and Genoese support, but soon reconciled with his uncle and was deposed in September of that year. Nine years later, during Manuel’s prolonged absence in the west from 1399 to 1403, John served as his regent and was entrusted with the defense of Constantinople against the siege of Bayezid I. The capital was saved by Bayezid's defeat at Ankara in 1402. Shortly after Manuel's return from the West, John was made “basileus of all Thessaly” and despotes of Thessalonike, where he spent his final years quietly.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my half stavrata of John VII as regent, Constantinople, 1399-1403. 3.77 gr. 21 mm. Hr. 12. Sear 2562; DO 1334-45; PCPC 346.8; Ashmolean 1029 sqq.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1219496[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Manuel II Palaiologos, (emperor 1391–1425). From 1399 to 1403 Manuel also visited western Europe, seeking assistance against the Turks who were besieging Constantinople (1394–1402). After being hosted in Italy and France, he was warmly received in England by Henry IV, and spent Christmas 1400 at the king’s new palace at Eltham. Although the dignity of the emperor and his attendants made a profound impression on their hosts, his attempt proved fruitless; although the Turks withdrew after the defeat of Bayezid by Timur at Ankara (1402), no lasting gains were achieved for the beleaguered empire, by now reduced to the city of Constantinople, its immediate environs, and a few scattered outposts.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my stavrata of Manuel. Constantinople, 1394-1425. 7.41 gr. 26 mm. Hr. 12. Sear 2549; LPC 160,1; PCPC 332, 3; Ashmolean 913 var.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1219500[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>John VIII Palaiologos, (emperor 1425–48). John also sought rapprochement with the West in order to resist further Ottoman advances. He was eager to achieve a Union of the Churches and personally participated in the Council of Ferrara-Florence, where he signed the decree of Union. After his return to Constantinople in 1440, however, he found much popular opposition to the decisions of the council. Moreover, the Crusade of 1444, a reward for the Union of Florence, never reached Constantinople, but was destroyed by the Turks at Varna. John died without ever implementing the Union.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of my favorite John VIII stavrata. Constantinople, 1425-48. 7.09 gr. 25 mm. Hr. 12. Sear 2564; DO 1636-38 var; LPC 172, 1; PCPC 348.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1219501[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>John VIII Palaiologos was depicted by several painters on the occasion of his visit to Italy. Perhaps the most famous of his portraits is the one by Benozzo Gozzoli, on the southern wall of the Magi Chapel, at the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, in Florence. I leave it to you, dear reader, to decide whether my coin portrait or the painting below is the more realistic image!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1219502[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Voulgaroktonou, post: 5257572, member: 84047"]Dear “Only a Poor Old Man”, what a wonderful exposition! Thank you! (I also have been meaning for months to say I love your Palaiologan insignia!) You raise an issue of tremendous importance for the intellectual revival of the west and for the rebirth of the Greek Classics, which had been unknown there for a millennium! While a broad bibliography of the Byzantine empire would be far too vast to note (a search in our library catalog for “Byzantine Empire”, for example, produces nearly 6000 entries), a useful book on the subject is: Harris, Jonathan: Greek emigres in the West 1400-1520. Publisher, Porphyrogenitus, 1995. ISBN 187132811X. Besides the flow of Greek scholars to the west, we recall that several of the final Emperors of the Eastern Empire also travelled west in unfortunately futile attempts to seek western aid against the encroaching Ottomans. John V Palaiologos, (emperor 1341–91) travelled to the courts in Hungary and Rome, in 1366, and 1369 respectively, to seek financial and military support. To win western favor, he even declared his intention to convert to Catholicism (which would not have won friends back home). Underlining the poverty to which the eastern empire had sunk by this time, on his return to Constantinople he was detained in Venice because of unpaid debts and was forced to promise the cession of Tenedos to the Venetians for his release. One of my stavrata of John V. Constantinople, 1379-91. 8.03 gr. 26 mm. Hr. 6. Sear 2510; DO 1266-67. [ATTACH=full]1219495[/ATTACH] John VII Palaiologos, (emperor 1390, regent under Manuel II 1399 to 1403). Grandson of John V, John VII in April 1390 usurped the throne of his uncle Manuel II with Turkish and Genoese support, but soon reconciled with his uncle and was deposed in September of that year. Nine years later, during Manuel’s prolonged absence in the west from 1399 to 1403, John served as his regent and was entrusted with the defense of Constantinople against the siege of Bayezid I. The capital was saved by Bayezid's defeat at Ankara in 1402. Shortly after Manuel's return from the West, John was made “basileus of all Thessaly” and despotes of Thessalonike, where he spent his final years quietly. One of my half stavrata of John VII as regent, Constantinople, 1399-1403. 3.77 gr. 21 mm. Hr. 12. Sear 2562; DO 1334-45; PCPC 346.8; Ashmolean 1029 sqq. [ATTACH=full]1219496[/ATTACH] Manuel II Palaiologos, (emperor 1391–1425). From 1399 to 1403 Manuel also visited western Europe, seeking assistance against the Turks who were besieging Constantinople (1394–1402). After being hosted in Italy and France, he was warmly received in England by Henry IV, and spent Christmas 1400 at the king’s new palace at Eltham. Although the dignity of the emperor and his attendants made a profound impression on their hosts, his attempt proved fruitless; although the Turks withdrew after the defeat of Bayezid by Timur at Ankara (1402), no lasting gains were achieved for the beleaguered empire, by now reduced to the city of Constantinople, its immediate environs, and a few scattered outposts. One of my stavrata of Manuel. Constantinople, 1394-1425. 7.41 gr. 26 mm. Hr. 12. Sear 2549; LPC 160,1; PCPC 332, 3; Ashmolean 913 var. [ATTACH=full]1219500[/ATTACH] John VIII Palaiologos, (emperor 1425–48). John also sought rapprochement with the West in order to resist further Ottoman advances. He was eager to achieve a Union of the Churches and personally participated in the Council of Ferrara-Florence, where he signed the decree of Union. After his return to Constantinople in 1440, however, he found much popular opposition to the decisions of the council. Moreover, the Crusade of 1444, a reward for the Union of Florence, never reached Constantinople, but was destroyed by the Turks at Varna. John died without ever implementing the Union. One of my favorite John VIII stavrata. Constantinople, 1425-48. 7.09 gr. 25 mm. Hr. 12. Sear 2564; DO 1636-38 var; LPC 172, 1; PCPC 348. [ATTACH=full]1219501[/ATTACH] John VIII Palaiologos was depicted by several painters on the occasion of his visit to Italy. Perhaps the most famous of his portraits is the one by Benozzo Gozzoli, on the southern wall of the Magi Chapel, at the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, in Florence. I leave it to you, dear reader, to decide whether my coin portrait or the painting below is the more realistic image! [ATTACH=full]1219502[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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