Calendar: 1927-1928 Page 482

SOME DEBTS TO BYZANTINISM Xlll to know more about these things and hope that shall be found ready to do so as far as lies in my power may perhaps be allowed to mention some studies in the sphere of mediseval and modern Greek that myself have found of decided interest The history of Greece itself in its various phases under Roman sway and as province of the Byzantine Empire with the successive Avar and Slav invasions and the Slav Vlach and Albanian settlements is full of interest The transformation into Frankish dukedoms and the introduction of feudal customs offer much that is picturesque The Catalan and Florentine rule of Athens abounds in dramatic incidents Under Turkish sway the transference of Greek culture to the Danubian principalities and the foundation of Greek schools at Bucharest and Jassy and the Greek works produced by the printing presses of these cities under the rule of the Hospodars are subjects about which there is good deal of information but about which little is known outside small circle of specialists The enthusiastic teaching of George Gen- nadius at Bucharest and his influence in the formation of the Sacred Band shed ray of brightness on the gloom attending Ypsilanti's campaign in 1821 If we turn to quite different period and to different scenes the schemes of Cyril Lucar as Patriarch of Constantinople for the union of the Eastern and Western Churches in the early seventeenth century seem to strike quite modern note and should be of interest to students of history and theology alike We possess an exceedingly interesting account of the int jgues at Constantinople at this time in the corre- spondence of Sir Thomas Roe our own ambassador at the Porte which throws much light on the proceedings of the Jesuits supported by the French ambassador and the counteracting efforts of the English and Dutch ambassadors and incidentally alludes to the efforts of the Earl of Arundel to obtain Greek antiquities and to Roe's own efforts to obtain Greek manuscripts The Codex Alexandrinus in the British Museum is the most celebrated monument of his efforts But the career of Cyril's protego Metrophanes Critopoulos both as student at Oxford and student in the Universities of Germany is one that deserves wider knowledge on many counts His album published by the late Mr Markos Rhenieres is full of interest as evidence of the numerous'persons of distinction with whom he came into contact both in England and in Germany and illustrates the conditions of the Universities of Germany during the Thirty Years' War Critopoulos was really Cyril's emissary to promote his darling project of union between the Churches but that effort was unsuccessful and the ultimate attitude of Critopoulos as Patriarch of Alexandria shows that despite his long residence in England and Germany he absolutely rejected Calvinism and clung tenaciously to the tenets of the Orthodox Church There is much in his story which should provide food for thought for those who are working for union of the Eastern and Western Churches The centenary of various episodes in the Greek War of Independence is now being celebrated and it is not amiss to turn our thoughts to some