Michael Apostolius
Michael Apostolius (c. 1420 in Constantinople – after 1474 or 1486, possibly in Venetian Crete) or Apostolius Paroemiographus, i.e. Apostolius the proverb-writer, was a Greek teacher, writer and copyist who lived in the fifteenth century.
Also recorded as Michael Apostolis
Michael Apostolius
- Born
- 1420 · Constantinople.
- Nationality
- Byzantine Empire
- Occupation
- writer · teacher · philosopher · scribe · scholar · copyist
- Teachers
- John Argyropoulos
- Languages
- medieval Greek
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Documentary summary
Michael Apostolius (c. 1420 in Constantinople – after 1474 or 1486, possibly in Venetian Crete) or Apostolius Paroemiographus, i.e. Apostolius the proverb-writer, was a Greek teacher, writer and copyist who lived in the fifteenth century.
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Note VALÉORINE
Michael Apostolius (1420–1478) was a copyist, philosopher and scholar, among other activities, a national of the Byzantine Empire. The copyist was born in Constantinople and died in Crete. Languages used include medieval Greek.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1362779 · wikipedia · Michael Apostolius
In this article
Life
Life
Apostolius, a student of John Argyropoulos, taught for a short time at the Monastery of St. John of Petra in Constantinople. Taken prisoner by the Turks during the fall of Constantinople in 1453, he was later released and fled to Crete, then a Venetian colony. There he earned a scanty living by teaching and by copying manuscripts for Italian humanists, including his patron, Cardinal Bessarion. He often complained about his poverty: one of his manuscripts, a copy of the Eikones of Philostratus, now in Bologna, bears the inscription: "The king of the poor of this world has written this book for his living." Apostolius died about 1480, leaving a son, Arsenius Apostolius, who became bishop of Malvasia (Monemvasia) in the Morea.
Selected works
Selected works
• Παροιμίαι (Paroemiae, Greek for "proverbs"), a collection of proverbs in Greek • an edition published in Basel in 1538 • a fuller edition edited by Daniel Heinsius ("Curante Heinsio") and published in Leiden in 1619 • a critical edition edited by E. L. von Leutsch and published in Göttingen in 1851 • "Oratio Panegyrica ad Fredericum III." in Marquard Freher's Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum, vol. ii. (Frankfurt, 1624) • Georgii Gemisthi Plethonis et Mich. Apostolii Orationes funebres duae in quibus de Immortalitate Animae exponitur (Leipzig, 1793) • a work against the Latin Church and the council of Florence in Étienne Le Moine's Varia Sacra.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1420
Michael Apostolius born at Constantinople.
1478
Michael Apostolius died on 18 July 1478.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Constantinople.
Birth place
Crete.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1362779: Michael Apostolius
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Michael Apostolius”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Oxford University Press. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1. 140–141, s.v. Apostoles, Michael. 1991. 0195046528.
- 2.Apostolii Bisantii Paroemiae, Basel, 1538.
- 3.Michaelis Apostolii Paroemiae, ed. Daniel Heinsius, Leiden, 1619.
- 4.E. L. von Leutsch, ed., Corpus paroeimiographorum Graecorum, Göttingen, 1851, vol. 2, pp. 233–744.
References
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the heading Michael Apostolis. His recorded language was medieval Greek. One child is recorded: Arsenius Apostolius. Formation and teaching. He trained under John Argyropoulos. Each of those relationships is stated by the authority record rather than inferred from style. Recorded with the occupation philosopher. Recorded as writer, teacher, philosopher, scribe and scholar.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,285 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- Michael Avi-YonahAuthor
- Michael AxworthyAuthor
- Michael AzerradAuthor
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