Andronicus Callistus

and brings honors easily, and demonstrates that a man is happy [even] if he happens to be naked in a foreign land and lives among men of another race, just as the things told about Odysseus also imply. But vice leads astray the one who possesses it and lives by it, making him miserable, and even after he has departed [this life] it punishes him in Hades. Do not, therefore, choose such a vice instead of virtue; but having preferred the better lot, prepare for yourself a reputation born of virtue, and not one [based on] speaking wickedly about men to the greatest degree. So much for these things. That you are now tarrying in ^A Fersania, studying letters, and using Jerome and Guarinus as your teachers, is well; for both the studies will show you to be a man of distinction, and these men themselves are wise and learned and are friends of mine. Keep also your intimacy with Lodovico; for the young man is worthy of love and praise. Athanasius also greets you, ^B a man truly such as you have said him to be, and he too is already beginning to love you. Farewell.

ANDRONICUS CALLISTUS

NOTITIA

Since the number of illustrious Andronicuses is not small [1], and since in the fifteenth century after the birth of Christ, several learned men of this name flourished [2], among whom the fame of learning and merit distinguishes the one whom we now bring forward from the choir of the restorers of Greek letters, Andronicus Callistus [3], a Byzantine.

[1] Plus twenty learned Andronicuses in the *Bibliotheca* of Jo. Alb. Fabric. [2] Besides him of whom we are undertaking to speak, two others of nearly the same time are celebrated in writings under the name Andronicus. One of these is Tranquillus Andronicus, a Dalmatian, whom Paulus Jovius mentions in his *Elogia*, p. 224, where he says that no one among the Dalmatians appears worthy of praise unless Tranquillus Andronicus, a pre-eminent emulator of Cicero, studiously brings his own works into the light, while he writes down the commentaries of most weighty deeds and an Ottoman embassy, and of journeys unknown to us. There exist some orations and poems of this Andronicus, and also a dialogue entitled *Sulla*. But it is false what Simler in *Epit. Biblioth. Gesner.*, p. 806, and by his authority P. Bayle, *Diction.* vol. I, p. 238, transmits: that he taught letters in our academy at Leipzig in the time of Peter Mosellanus. They confuse this Dalmatian with Andronicus Callistus, who they say came into Gaul after Hermonymus for the purpose of teaching Greek letters; which G. Naudaeus does in *Addit. ad hist. Ludov. XI*, p. 187, and Morerius, with good reason blamed by Bayle, l. c. p. 237. Moreover, C. E. Balæus admitted the same error in the index of tome V of the *Hist. Universit. Paris.*, where these words of his are read: "Tranquillus Andronicus, a Dalmatian, a Greek exile, came to Paris while Louis XI still reigned and publicly taught Greek letters."

Another Andronicus is he who is called by the surname Contoblaca, from whom Jo. Reuchlin first learned Greek letters at Basel in the twentieth year of his age; which he himself records in the preface of his *Lexicon Hebraicum et Grammat.* lib. 1, p. 20. That same Andronicus Contoblaca wrote a letter to Reuchlin at Basel in the year 1477, in which he exhorts him to teach the Greek language. That letter is inserted among the letters of illustrious men to Reuchlin, and M. Crusius exhibits the same in *Animal. Suev.* part II, p. 449, and J. H. Maius in *Vita Reuchl.* p. 160. And these are the things which we happen to know about this Andronicus, being deprived of all other knowledge of him.

To these, P. Bayle, l. c. p. 238, adds a third Andronicus, born in Constantinople, of whom Franc. Philelphus, a teacher of Greek letters among the Bolognese, makes mention with praise in his letters here and there, and especially in *epp. lib. xxiv, ep. 1*. But I judge that this Byzantine, whom Philelphus praises, is not different from the Andronicus of whom I am about to speak, Callistus, because not only do the things said about him correspond entirely to this man, but he himself is also called a Byzantine in his own writings, which are to be mentioned later. It seems that only the authority of R. Volaterranus, *Comment. urban.*, lib. xxi, p. 775, who attributes the fatherland of Thessalonica to Andronicus Callistus, brought Bayle to that opinion, so that he thought two Andronicuses flourished in Italy at the same time, one a Byzantine, the other a Thessalonian. But perhaps Volaterranus was led into error by memory, or Andronicus was born in Thessalonica, lived his life in Constantinople, and thence received the name of Byzantine. [3] The author of the book which is inscribed: *Athènes ancienne et nouvelle*, p. 259, remarking as Bayle does from...

^A Constantinople, he came into Italy and soon thereafter, following the example of most of the exiled Greek scholars, set his heart upon teaching the literature of his homeland (4). At Rome, he was a favorite of that most munificent patron of his fellow exiles from his homeland, Bessarion (5). Andronicus greatly impressed that eminent man with his own singular and excellent learning, joined with remarkable modesty, when he sent up to him for his judgment an *apologia* he had written for Gaza against Apostolius, and submitted it to his review (6). Having lived for some time in Rome, because, as Volaterranus says, he was not receiving the compensation his talents deserved, he was forced by poverty to leave the City and migrated to Florence. With a great number of students flocking to him, he taught Greek letters there for several years (7), and among others, had even Politian himself as his student (8). Finally, induced by the hope of greater gain, he went to France, where, not long after his arrival, he died of an illness, being already in extreme old age (9).

Andronicus was so gifted in his knowledge of Greek literature that he was considered the equal of Theodorus Gaza—nay, some even judged him superior to the latter in his knowledge of the Greek language. For indeed, as Volaterranus testifies, he had mastered all the authors of the Greek tongue; he was skilled in the knowledge which they call encyclical; and furthermore, he was thoroughly conversant with the entire Aristotelian discipline (10). His renowned learning is highly praised by that man who was equally learned in Greek and Latin, and thus a most reliable judge: Francis Philelphus (11).

Very few memorials of the talent and learning of Andronicus remain, and these, almost all unpublished (ἀνέκδοτα), lie hidden in the libraries of Italy and France. The chief ones are: *Monody on the capture of Constantinople* (12); *Defense of Theodorus Gaza against Mich. Apostolius*, in the controversy concerning the difference between Plato and Aristotle, which was agitated among the learned Greeks at that time; *Epigram in praise of the book composed by Bessarion for Plato* (13); *Epistles written to Nic. Secundinus, Cardinal Bessarion, and Greg. Palæologus*; *Oration in praise of Ge. Palæologus* (a); *On the emotions of the soul*; *On fortune*; *On the various classes of poets* (14). Also preserved in the Laurentian Medicean library are two books of Aristotle's *On generation and corruption*, translated into the Latin language by Andronicus Callistus the Byzantine for the sake of Lorenzo de' Medici (15).

1017 EPISTOLA AD GEORGIUM PALEOLOG. 1018

ANDRONICUS CALLISTUS TO THE MAGNIFICENT MAN, LORD GEORGE PALAEOLOGUS, THE DISYPATE

^A Magnificent man, may you be healthy in the aid of God, and may you yourself continue in health up to this present time. George Hermonymus, a man possessing both culture and virtue, and a friend of mine and of yours in the highest degree, as he journeys toward you, has asked for letters from me. I, desiring on other grounds to gain you as a friend—a man who is noble and a countryman of mine, adorned with martial and political deeds, and this in a foreign land where envy is greatest and love toward strangers is little—thought it right to write to you, in order to suffice both for myself and for George.

George, then, arrived having been sent from Rome by the greatest high priest for the liberation of the Archbishop of York; and having labored much and faced no small dangers, and having accomplished a task such as no one else hoped could be accomplished, and having liberated the archbishop, he obtained indeed generous gifts from the archbishop, but not worthy of such a deed and of the many dangers he underwent. Finally, as time went on, having been accused by the Italian merchants here because he had sent letters to you, George, and had declared the things being done by them against you—and the merchants also supposing that he would reveal their other deeds to you, George, so that you could easily weave plots and ambushes against them and seize them—he was therefore thrown into prison under a penalty of a thousand pounds. Having consumed everything he received from the archbishop and everything he had brought from Rome, becoming a debtor of much gold, and barely ^B liberated from the prison, being unable to pay the debt—and I having become his guarantor—he is now coming to you, trusting in you, next to God, and through you into the serene king of the Franks.

You, therefore, most generous and most magnificent man, imitating your father and your other ancestors, who were all illustrious and distinguished in good works—whom you yourself perhaps do not know due to your age, but I know well were my paternal friends—and having considered also your own magnificent rank and the reputation you have acquired among all men for beneficence and generosity, and having considered also all that George, the friend, has suffered for your sake and for the serene king, having spent three months in prison and having had his feet bound in iron chains, as I myself saw, having gone many times to the prison, and having consumed everything he had, and besides this, having become a debtor of much gold—having considered all these things, help George, who is both a good man and loves you in the highest degree, and who praises your virtues and your successes; help him both by your own means and, especially, by the means of the most brilliant and serene king.

The king is just in helping the man; for I am persuaded that he is most generous and most magnificent, and accustomed to benefiting all who come to him. If at least he benefits others, he is much more worthy to benefit those who have suffered many dreadful things4 on his account. But also, with your added rank and the freedom of speech that you have before the ^C king (for I learn that you are held in the highest regard by him, [and I hope] that I shall be able to see you, a friend and...

king (for I hear that you possess the greatest influence with him), he will be more ready to grant the favor. Come now, most magnificent sir, set out to help Georgios; and by the favor you grant him, confirm the reputation which, as I said, you have already acquired among all men for benevolence and generosity. And if my own influence has any weight with you (as it is likely to have, given my age and the knowledge that many say I possess), help Georgios through me as well. For I would wish him to enjoy the greatest success, as he is a good man, both in word and deed, on my behalf.

That you will act in this way and help Georgios, I know. But as for whether you will see me, you know well that you will see me as a fatherly friend; yet if, due to my old age, anything happens and I am unable to see you, know that I am prepared to do everything for your sake. For all who understand even a faint glimmer of the Greek tongue, all owe you the greatest thanks, being a man both prudent and most excellently trained in military operations, and one who, for the sake of virtue, honors not himself alone, but the wretched race of the Greeks as well. Add, therefore, to your other fine qualities this just favor toward your friend Georgios, that you may appear to be the most excellent of men, not only in wars and political actions, but also in the favors you grant to your friends.

And may God make your magnificence happy. ^A At Lyon, on the third day before the end of the month of Munychion.

NOVEL CONSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPERORS OF CONSTANTINOPLE

1. Treaty of Emperor Theodore Laskaris with the Venetians (A.D. 1220)

Theodoros, in Christo God-fearing Emperor and governor of the Romans and always Augustus Comnenus Lascarus.

I have agreed to keep a pure and firm peace, free from scandal, with you, the most fortunate and most noble lord, Ja. Teupulo, by order of the most high Doge of Venice, the Potestà of the Venetians in Romania and Despotes of the Empire of Romania and of one fourth and one half of its Empire, acting in his stead, from the feast of the Assumption of the most holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, recently passed, in this month of August of this current seventh indiction, in the year from the creation of the world 6728, that all Venetians and the men of Venice, going, staying, and returning in all the lands of my Empire, and in all various other places by land and by sea, with their ships and with all the men and goods standing within these same ships, shall be preserved by my Empire without harm and without any annoyance and without any disturbance. And those Venetians, with all their goods, in every subjection of the lands of my Empire by land and by sea, must be free and without any commerce tax and without any other exaction, and they must handle whatever merchandise pleases them throughout my entire Empire and without any inquiry. Indeed, merchants of the lands of my Empire in Constantinople and in other lands of your lordship, going, staying, and returning, must handle their merchandise without impediment, saving the right of commerce which they must pay. ^B

It is also agreed that, if any ship of the men of Venice shall be in danger, or that of the merchants of the lands of your lordship in the parts of the lands of my Empire; or if a ship of the men of my Empire shall be in danger in the parts of the lands of your lordship, the goods which shall have been extracted from both parties from the danger, must be returned to the men who emerge from the danger.