Leo the Mathematician heads the school of the Magnaura
In the Magnaura palace by the imperial residence a school of higher learning was set up with Leo the Mathematician, a philosopher and mathematician famed for his learning, at its head; his pupils taught geometry, astronomy and grammar there. Its foundation is credited to Bardas, the uncle and chief minister of Michael III, and historians see it as a landmark in the revival of learning in 9th-century Byzantium.
- Date
- between 843 and 866exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Magnaura palace, Constantinopletoday: Sultanahmet, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Leo the Mathematician, Bardas, Byzantine Empire
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Magnaura school; Магнаврская школа; University of Constantinople; Константинопольский университет; Leo the Philosopher; Лев Философ; Byzantine beacon system
Leo, born around 790 and a relative of the iconoclast patriarch John the Grammarian, studied mathematics in the monasteries of Andros and taught privately in Constantinople. Byzantine chroniclers tell that one of his pupils, taken prisoner by the Arabs, so impressed the caliph with his knowledge that the caliph invited Leo to Baghdad, and that Emperor Theophilos, unwilling to let him go, gave him a public school instead; Genesios and Theophanes Continuatus set the story under al-Ma'mun (829–833), Symeon the Logothete under al-Mu'tasim, after the fall of Amorium (838). From 840 to 843 Leo was metropolitan of Thessalonica, but lost his see when the veneration of icons was restored.
The school of the Magnaura was organized by Bardas, brother of the empress Theodora, who took power at the end of 855; Leo taught philosophy there, and his pupils Theodore, Theodegios and Kometas taught geometry, astronomy and grammar. The date is unknown. It is usually put at about 855–856, and often at 863; Paul Lemerle, who could not trace the origin of the latter date, placed the foundation, as is usual, between 855 and 866, but allowed — as J. B. Bury had done — that Bardas might have set up the school before he came to power, while Warren Treadgold dated Leo’s appointment at the Magnaura to 843.
Few of Leo’s writings survive, but his library, partly reconstructed from manuscripts, included Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius and Plato. He is credited with the synchronized clocks of the chain of fire beacons that carried warnings of Arab raids from the Cilician frontier to the capital; some historians also ascribe to him the automata of the imperial throne room, but Lemerle doubted this. According to his Slavonic Life, Constantine (Cyril), the future apostle of the Slavs, studied dialectic and philosophy with Leo and Photios. Leo was still alive after the earthquake of January 869.
Connections
Related events
- Imperial school in the Capitol of Constantinople27 February 425 · Balkans and AnatoliaJ. B. Bury saw in the school of the Magnaura a revival, on a smaller scale, of the school founded by Theodosius II in 425
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843 · Balkans and AnatoliaLeo, an iconoclast metropolitan of Thessalonica, lost his see when the icons were restored in 843
- The House of Wisdom and the translation movement in Baghdadc. 800 – c. 900 · Middle East and EgyptAccording to Theophanes Continuatus, al-Ma’mun tried to lure Leo to Baghdad, offering Theophilos gold and peace
- Mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia863 – 6 April 885 · Western and Central EuropeAccording to his Life, Constantine (Cyril) studied with Leo and Photios
Same participants
- The “Rhos” at the court of Louis the Pious18 May 839 · Western and Central Europevia Byzantine Empire
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Byzantine Empire
Same place
- Founding of Constantinople11 May 330 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Theodosian Walls of Constantinoplebetween 404 and 408 – 413 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reign of Theodosius II1 May 408 – 28 July 450 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Theodosian Code15 February 438 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Council of Chalcedon8 October – 1 November 451 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Nika riots13–18 January 532 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Corpus Juris Civilis7 April 529 – 16 November 534 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Construction of Hagia Sophia23 February 532 – 27 December 537 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague of Justinian541–549 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reign of Justinian I1 August 527 – 14 November 565 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Jordanes and Procopius describe the Sclaveni and the Antesbetween 550 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Silkworm eggs are smuggled to Constantinoplebetween 552 and 554 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Phocas overthrows Maurice23 November 602 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reign of Heraclius5 October 610 – 11 February 641 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Avar–Persian siege of Constantinople29 June – 7 August 626 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Invention of Greek firec. 672 · Balkans and Anatolia
- First Arab siege of Constantinople674–678 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Third Council of Constantinople7 November 680 – 16 September 681 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Second Arab siege of Constantinoplebetween 15 July and 15 August 717 – 15 August 718 · Balkans and Anatolia
- The Ecloga: law code of Leo III and Constantine Vbetween 726 and 741 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Plague in Constantinople, 746–747746 – between 747 and 748 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Irene becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empirebetween 15 August and 19 August 797 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople907 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 9112 September 911 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Igor’s campaigns against Byzantium11 June 941 – 944 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’–Byzantine Treaty of 944between 944 and 945 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Olga’s visit to Constantinople and her baptism9 September – 18 October 957 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Fall of Constantinople29 May 1453 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Accession of Suleiman the Magnificent30 September 1520 · Balkans and Anatolia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Treaty of VerdunAugust 843 · Western and Central Europe
- Christianization of Bulgaria864 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Aghlabid conquest of SicilyJune 827 – 1 August 902
- Treaty of VerdunAugust 843
- Oaths of Strasbourg14 February 842
- Great Heathen Army in England865–878
- Mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia863 – 6 April 885
Eastern Europe
- Calling of the Varangians862
- First Christianization of the Rus’between 860 and 867
- Saltovo-Mayaki culturec. 750 – between 900 and 950
- Construction of Sarkelbetween 833 and 841
- Askold and Dir rule in Kyiv862–882
+ 1 event
Middle East and Egypt
- Accounts of China and India: merchants’ reports on the sea route to Guangzhoubetween 851 and 852
- The House of Wisdom and the translation movement in Baghdadc. 800 – c. 900
- The mihna: the Abbasid inquisition over the createdness of the Qur’an833 – between 848 and 852
Africa
- Ifriqiya under the Aghlabids800 – March 909
- Founding of the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fezbetween 857 and 877
- Igbo-Ukwu: bronze casting in the West African forest800–899 – 1100–1199
Central and Northern Asia
South Asia
- Devapala’s Nalanda charter for the monastery of Balaputrabetween 844 and 860
- The tripartite struggle for Kannaujbetween 783 and 790 – between 915 and 918
- The Kavirajamarga, the earliest Kannada work on poeticsc. 850
- Mahavira writes the Ganitasarasangrahac. 850
- Vijayalaya takes Thanjavur: the rise of the Cholasc. 850
+ 1 event
East Asia
- Huichang persecution: Emperor Wuzong suppresses the Buddhist monasteries10 May – 12 September 845
- Ennin’s pilgrimage to Tang China12 July 838 – 30 October 847
- Jang Bogo’s Cheonghae garrison and the trade of the Yellow Seabetween 18 May and 15 June 828 – between December 841 and April 846
Southeast Asia and Oceania
North America
Latin America
- Classic Maya collapse in the southern lowlandsc. 800 – c. 950
- Rise of Chichén Itzá in northern Yucatánc. 800 – between 900 and 1000
- Wari culture and the Middle Horizon state in the Central Andesc. 600 – c. 1000
- Tiwanaku culture at its height by Lake Titicacac. 600 – c. 1000
- Cacaxtla and Xochicalco: the Epiclassic cities of central Mexicoc. 650 – c. 900
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Leo the Mathematician
- Wikipedia (English): Magnaura
- Wikipedia (English): Bardas
- Wikipedia (Russian): Лев Математик
- Wikipedia (Russian): Магнавра
- Wikipedia (Russian): Варда (цезарь)
- Lemerle P. Le premier humanisme byzantin: Notes et remarques sur enseignement et culture à Byzance des origines au Xe siècle. — Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1971.
- Лемерль П. Первый византийский гуманизм / пер. Т. А. Сениной. — СПб.: Своё издательство, 2012. — С. 215–258.
- Bury J. B. A History of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil I (A.D. 802–867). — London: Macmillan, 1912. — P. 439.
- Treadgold W. T. The Chronological Accuracy of the Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete for the Years 813–845 // Dumbarton Oaks Papers. — 1979. — Vol. 33.