Σχολαστικός. Remarques sur le sens du terme à Byzance (IVe–XVe siècles)

What is it about?

The greek word scholastikos as a human attribut is attested continuously from classical Antiquity to Modern times. However, over the centuries, the term took various nuances, which is associated with the respective activities, the participation in public life and the social status of the persons qualified as scholastikoi. In the article, starting with Axel Claus’ remarques in his doctoral thesis (Cologne 1965) and the exploitation of new evidences, is demonstrated that from the 3rd until the 7th century AD the number of people known as scholastikoi is particularly high. These people were educated men with rhetoric and legal training. The term did not designate a specific profession, but often at this period a scholastikos gathered the characteristics of a jurist in today's sense; he was a lawyer, solicitor, teacher of law, judge, notarius, etc. Although he was not directly related to the education as a school teacher, nor professor of rhetoric, in some circumstances and occasionally a scholastikos could be, in private and among others, teacher of grammar (grammarian). In the middle and late Byzantine period, the attribut scholastikos for a person is attested in a very few and isolated cases (Arethas’ letters for Niketas David Paphlagon, Ecloga privata aucta, Alexiad, Nikephoros Gregoras for Theodoros Metochites and Thomas Magistros, Life of saint Athanasios of Meteora). As it seems, the scholastikos, as human type with the characteristics outlined above, did not disappear, but the term was no longer used for this. In the rare available evidences, the authors mostly used the term in its ancient-greek meaning associated mostly with education, teachers and letters.

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