John Italus

John Italus
Born
Johannes Italus

1050?
Died1112 (aged 61–62)
NationalityByzantine Greek
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Constantinople
Doctoral advisorMichael Psellos
Doctoral studentsTheodore of Smyrna, Eustratius of Nicaea

John Italus or Italos (Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἰταλός, Iōánnēs ho Italós; Latin: Johannes Italus) was a neoplatonic[1][2] Byzantine philosopher of the eleventh century. He was Calabrian in origin, his father being a soldier.[3] He came to Constantinople, where he became a student of Michael Psellus in classical Greek philosophy. He succeeded Psellus in his position as head of the philosophical school. Subsequently, some of his tenets were found heretic in 1076-77 by Patriarch Cosmas I of Constantinople, and in 1082[4] he was personally condemned, having come into conflict with Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.

  1. ^ Vasiliev A. Alksandr (1952) History of the Byzantine Empire, 2nd english edition, University of Wisconsin Press, USA, vol. 2, p. 474
  2. ^ Merry Bruce (2004) Encyclopedia of modern Greek literature, Greenwood Press, USA, p. 57
  3. ^ The Byzantine background to the First Crusade, by Paul Magdalino Archived 2007-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The Byzantine Empire in the 11th Century Archived 2009-02-17 at the Wayback Machine