Lecture by:
Giancarlo Abbamonte, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

In an attempt to salvage as much as possible of the Greek cultural heritage, at a time when the remnants of the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks, Nicholas commissioned a large number of Latin translations of ancient Greek authors from the humanists employed at his court. From the beginning of the fifteenth century, Italy had seen a veritable boom both in translations from the Greek and in writings on translation method. Translation from the Greek became a central part of Italian Renaissance Humanism, and due to the cultural initiative of Nicholas, authors such as Thucydides, Herodotus, Polybius and Strabo – to name just a few – became accessible to Western readers, in Latin garb.

For more information please contact:
Marianne Pade and Troels Myrup Kristensen
pade@cas.au.dk