1018-c. 1078

Byzantine Scholar and Statesman

Michael Constantine Psellus is known both for his role in Byzantine politics and for his wide-ranging scholarship, which influenced the later Italian Renaissance. Not only did he write the Chronographia, a history of the years 976-1078, but he commented on most known areas of science and mathematics, and is regarded as the last great Greek scholar of astronomy.

Psellus served in a number of key positions in the court at Constantinople, beginning as imperial secretary to Michael V in 1041. Upon the accession of Constantine IX in 1042, he became secretary of state, a position he maintained until the end of Constantine's reign in 1054. He also served as professor of philosophy at Constantinople for nine years beginning in 1045.

The year 1054 was an important one both in Byzantine history and in Psellus's life. It was then that the breach between the Greek...