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Byzantine university


Byzantine university refers to higher education during the Byzantine empire.

Although some Byzantine institutions are occasionally referred to as "universities" on grounds they were centers of higher education, the Byzantine world, unlike the Latin West, did not know universities in the strict and original sense of the term. Higher education was rather provided by private teachers, professional groups, and state-appointed teachers, but not by the permanent corporations (Latin universitas) of the medieval university.

In the early period Rome, Athens, and Alexandria were the main centers of learning, but were overtaken in the 5th century by the new capital, Constantinople. After the Academy in Athens closed in 529, and the conquest of Alexandria and Beirut by the Arabs in the mid seventh century, the focus of all higher learning moved to Constantinople.

After Constantinople's founding in 330, teachers were drawn to the new city and various steps were taken for official state support and supervision, but nothing lastingly formal in the way of state-funded education emerged. But in 425 Theodosius II founded the Pandidakterion, described as "the first deliberate effort of the Byzantine state to impose its control on matters relating to higher education." This established a clear distinction between private teachers and public (paid from imperial funds) ones. Official teachers enjoyed privilege and prestige. There were a total of 31: 10 each for Greek and Latin grammar; two for law; one for philosophy; and eight chairs for rhetoric, with five taught in Greek and three in Latin. This system lasted with various degrees of official support until the 7th century. Byzantine rhetoric was the most important and difficult topic studied in the Byzantine education system, forming a basis for citizens to attain public office in the imperial service, or posts of authority within the Church. Along with the dominance of Byzantine intellectual life by imperial patronage came imperial scrutiny of the higher schools' curriculum and staff.


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