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Sphrantzes, George

Born: 1401, Constantinople?

Died: c. 1477, Corfu

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Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

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Abstract

George Sphrantzes (1401 Constantinople? to c. 1477 Corfu) was a courtier, a diplomat, and a minister in the service of the last three emperors of the Byzantine Empire. He is mostly known as a historian and the author of the Chronicon Minus, a chronicle recording autobiographical information and the authors’ personal experiences, concerned also with the historical, diplomatic, and political events of the last years (1401–1477) of the late Palaeologan period (1260–1453). Alongside with his contemporaries Laonikos Chalkokondyles, Ducas, and Michael Critovoulos, Sphrantzes belongs to the group of the “Historians of the Fall”, being the only one of the aforementioned who has eye-witnessed the events of the Fall of Constantinople (1453).

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of London, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Surrey, UK

    Christina Kakkoura

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  1. Christina Kakkoura
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Correspondence to Christina Kakkoura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. Finnish Center of Political Thought & Conceptual Change, JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO, Finland

    Vasileios Syros

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Kakkoura, C. (2018). Sphrantzes, George. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_164-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_164-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

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