Classical Learning in the Latin East

This project centers on the innovative expressions of classical learning in the Latin East, or the areas conquered and settled by Europeans in the Levant, Cyprus, and the Peloponnese over the course of over three centuries (1098-1430). Following their conquest of these territories, the settlers developed a vibrant and complex intellectual culture, resulting in splendidly illuminated copies of classical texts and translations into Latin, Greek, and vernacular languages. This project examines the complicated and creative ways in which the settlers of the Latin East developed their own traditions of classical learning, in contradistinction to contemporary European, Byzantine, and Islamic traditions. Through thematic studies, a database of classical learning in the Latin East, and by mapping the movement of manuscripts, this project seeks to make a new contribution to the fields of classical reception studies and the cultural and intellectual history of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East.