Arsenius Apostolius
| Arsenius Apostolius | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Monemvasia | |
| Church | Church of Constantinople |
| Installed | 1506 |
| Term ended | December 1509 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Crete |
| Died | 1538 Venice |
Arsenius Apostolius (Greek: Ἀρσένιος Ἀποστόλιος or Ἀρσένιος Ἀποστόλης; c. 1468 – 1538) was a Greek scholar who lived for a long time in Venice. He was also bishop of Monemvasia in the Peloponnese.
Arsenius Apostolius was born about 1468 in Crete and in 1492 he moved to Italy. He was the son of Michael Apostolius and grandson of Theodosius, earl of Corinth (Theodosios Komis Korinthios, of Malvasia). His first name of birth is Aristobulus (Ἀριστόβουλος) and he took the name of Arsene at the moment of his adherence to the episcopate (which is a conduit of former authors to avoid of committing the mistake of distinguishing two "brothers", Aristobulus and Arsene.
Like his father, Apostolius was reduced to poverty after the Fall of Constantinople by the Turks (1453), and he earned his living by copying manuscripts: about fifty now known to him, of which only three are dated, the oldest since 31 March 1489. A contract signed in Crete in April 1492 shows that he then collaborates with Janus Lascaris in his quest for Greek manuscripts for the library of Lorenzo de' Medici, being then deacon. He resided at that period in Florence, according to an allusion which he made in a later letter. When Aldus Manutius began his Greek impressions in 1495, he was one of his first collaborators with Marcus Musurus: he composed an epigram of four verses (called Thesaurus Cornucopiæ and horti Adonis) for a volume of Greek grammarians from the aldine presses in 1496. About the same time, an edition of Theodore Prodromus' Galeomyomachy, published by the same press, without date, contains a preface signed by him. But soon afterwards he quarrels with the printer and they have a lawsuit.
In 1506 the Roman Curia appointed Arsenius as Eastern Rite bishop of Monemvasia, at that time part of the regions subjected to the Venetian Republic. Arsenius declared himself in communion both with the Patriarch of Constantinople and with the Catholic Church. This position was untenable for the Church of Constantinople and Patriarch Pachomius I of Constantinople invited Arsenius to abdicate. The issue went on for more than two years until June 1509, when Pachomius excommunicated Arsenius, who retired to Venice.
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