File:Michael_Psellos.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Michael Psellos
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11th-century Byzantine monk, writer and court official
OverviewAI-generated
Michael Psellos was a male philosopher, writer, politician, and historian from the Byzantine Empire. Born in Constantinople on January 1, 1018, he died in the same city on May 31, 1078. He practiced Eastern Orthodoxy and wrote in Ancient Greek, which was also his native language. His intellectual work was associated with the Neoplatonism movement.
His notable work is the *Chronographia*. Other works attributed to him include *Leben der Byzantinischen Kaiser*, *Chronografie*, *Chronographie*, and *Psellos and the Patriarchs*. He was a student of John Mauropous and taught John Italus and Ioane Petritsi. He is described in the *Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary* and the *Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition*.
Synthesized by Vinony from 21 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Europeana Sparql. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 7
Top works
- Leben der Byzantinischen Kaiser
- Leben der Byzantinischen Kaiser / Chronographia
- [Set Geschichten Aus Byzanz, 2 Bände, Tusculum]
- Chronografie
- Chronographie
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- Constantine Psellos , c. 1018 , Constantinople
- Died
- c. 1096
- Fields
- Theology philosophy psychology historiography
- Institutions
- University of Constantinople
- Notable students
- John Italus , Michael Attaleiates , Michael VII Doukas , Constantine Leichoudes
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Byzantine Empire
- Place of birth
- Constantinople
- Place of death
- Constantinople
- Occupation
- astronomer
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
- Native language
- Ancient Greek
- Religion
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Notable work
- Chronographia
- Student of
- John Mauropous
- Movement
- Neoplatonism
- Image
- Michael Psellos.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- date of death
- 1078-05-31
- Commons category
- Michael Psellos
- date of birth
- 1018-01-01
- student
- Ioane Petritsi
- writing language
- Ancient Greek
- Commons Creator page
- Michael Psellos
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
20 objects attributed to Michael Psellos, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
In physicen Aristotelis commentarii. Joanne Baptista Camotio interprete
Scholia Pselli in quoddam dictum Basilii in Apologia in Hexaemeronis
Paraphrasis Pselli in Iliada Homeri
Collectio philosophica
Collectio philosophica
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Encyclopedic overview
Michael Psellos or Psellus (Greek: Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, romanized: Michaḗl Psellós, Byzantine Greek: [mixaˈil pseˈlːos]) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian, and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking courtier and advisor to several Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors.
Psellos made lasting contributions to Byzantine culture by advocating the revival of Byzantine classical studies, which would later influence the Italian Renaissance, as well as by interpreting Homeric literature and Platonic philosophy as precursors to and integral components of Christian doctrine. His texts combined theology, philosophy, and psychology. Among his most famous works are his Commentary on Plato's Teachings on the Origin of the Soul, and the Chronographia, a series of biographies from emperor Basil II to Nikephoros III, which serves as a valuable source on the history of the 11th-century Byzantine Empire.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Michael Psellos” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.