, a learned modern Greek, was born in 1395, in the island of Crete,
, a learned modern Greek,
was born in 1395, in the island of Crete, but took the
name of Trapezuntius, or “of Trebisond,
” because his
family were originally of that city. In his youth he wenj;
to Venice, where Francis Barbaro, who had invited him,
became his patron. Having been instructed in the Latin
language he went to Padua, and afterwards to Vicenza,
where in 1420 his patron obtained for him the professorship of the Greek, but he did not remain long in this situation. Finding himself harassed by the intrigues of Guarino, of Verona, who regarded him with sentiments of determined hostility, he gave up his professorship, on which
Barbaro recalled him to Venice, where by the interest of
this steady friend he was appointed to teach rhetoric, and
was enrolled among the citizens of Venice. Barbaro afterwards recommended him to the court of Rome, where
we find Trapezuntius in 1442, in the pontificate of
Eugenius, teaching the belles lettres and the Aristotelian philosophy. During the same time he was employed in translating several Greek authors into Latin, which induced
Nicholas V. the successor of Eugenius, to make him apostolic secretary. These translations he was thought to have
executed well, but his reputation declined so far on one
occasion as to end in his disgrace. He had received orders
from the pope to translate the Almagest of Ptolemy, and
to add a commentary, or notes. This he performed in
1451, and the following year was banished from Rome on
account of this work. What there was so offensive as to
bring upon him this punishment is not known, or at least
not clearly expressed by his biographers; but it seems
not improbable, that his general temper, which was irritable, had disgusted some of his contemporaries, and that
the pope had listened to the insinuations of his enemies.
Many errors had been detected in his translations by some
of those able scholars whom Nicholas V. had assembled at
his court, and this probably rendered Trapezuntius more
apt to take offence. It was probably while in this temper,
that a disgraceful quarrel took place between him and the
celebrated Poggio, in Pompey’s theatre, where the pontifical secretaries were assembled, for the purpose of correcting certain official papers. It was occasioned by some
satiric remarks of Poggio, which provoked Trapezuntius to
give him a blow on the face. Poggio returned it, and
continued the battle until, as we may suppose, the combatants were parted.