Manuēl Khrysolōras’ın Roma ve Konstantinopolis Karşılaştırması: Eski ve Yeni Roma Methiyesi İçeren Rönesans Dönemine Ait Mektup Hakkında Giriş ve Tercüme

Abstract

Bizanslı elçi ve entelektüel Manuēl Khrysolōras’ın kaleme aldığı ünlü Roma ve Konstantinopolis Karşılaştırması (Σύγκρισις) eserinin Yunanca aslından Türkçeye ilk tercümesini sunan bu makale, müellifin biyografisini de içerir. Rönesans Avrupa dünyasında yakından tanınan ve Floransa’da Yunanca hocalığı da yapmış olan Manuēl Khrysolōras eseri Bizans İmparatoru II. Manuēl Palaiologos için kaleme almıştır. 1411 senesinde Roma’dan Konstantinopolis’e mektup olarak gönderilen eser, aynı zamanda Manuēl Khrysolōras’ın İtalya’daki öğrencileri arasında da geniş bir çevrede okunur. Manuēl Khrysolōras, eserde Batı ve Doğu arasındaki tarihsel ve kültürel bağlantıları ön plana çıkarır. Eski ve Yeni Roma’nın ailevî bağlar ile birbirlerine bağlı olduğunun altını çizer. Eserin 1454 senesinde yapılan Latince tercümesi, Osmanlılara karşı Bizans ve Avrupa’nın ortak birliğinin sembolü olarak görülür ve Milano Dükü Francesco Sforza’ya yeni bir Haçlı Seferi çağrısı yapılması için sunulur.

Keywords

• Manuēl Khrysolōras
• Roma
• Konstantinopolis
• Geç Bizans
• Rönesans
• Retorik

Manuel Chrysoloras’ Comparison of Rome and Constantinople: A Turkish Translation of the Encomiastic Letter concerning Old and New Rome with an Introduction

Abstract

The Byzantine diplomat and intellectual Manuel Chrysoloras’ comparison of Rome and Constantinople was sent as a letter from Rome to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos in 1411. This article provides the first Turkish translation of this seminal composition based on the original Greek composition and includes a biography of Manuel Chrysoloras. Chrysoloras belonged as much in the Italian Renaissance context as the Byzantine one, spending the greater portion of his career in the West as imperial envoy to raise military aid against the Ottomans. He also converted to Catholicism. In the Comparison, Chrysoloras focused on the common late antique heritage of Rome and Constantinople and drew parallels between the two cities to provide the ideological framework for his diplomatic mission. While ostensibly addressed to the Byzantine emperor Manuel II, the Comparison was immediately circulated among Chrysoloras’ Italian colleagues and students. It was widely disseminated in early modern Europe. Francesco Aleardi translated the Comparison into Latin in 1454, dedicated the composition to Francesco Sforza, and urged the Duke of Milan to take up arms against the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

Keywords

• Manuel Chrysoloras
• Rome
• Constantinople
• Late Byzantium
• Renaissance
• Rhetoric

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