Editing Michael Psellos

{{Short description|11th-century Byzantine monk, writer and court official}}
{{About| the 11th-century Byzantine historian and philosopher|the 9th-century Byzantine Emperor with the byname Psellus|Michael II|text="Michael Psellus the Elder" redirects here and is covered below under [[#Pseudo-Psellos|Pseudo-Psellos]]}}
{{Infobox scientist
| native_name       = Μιχαήλ Ψελλός
| image             = Michael Psellos.jpg
| caption           = Michael Psellos (left) with his student, Byzantine emperor [[Michael VII Doukas]]
| birth_name        = Constantine Michael Psellos
| birth_date        = {{circa|1018}}
| birth_place       = [[Constantinople]]
| death_date        = {{circa|1096}}
| death_place       = 
| residence         = 
| fields            = [[Theology]], [[philosophy]], [[psychology]], [[historiography]]
| work_institutions = [[University of Constantinople]]
| alma_mater        = 
| doctoral_advisor  = [[John Mauropous]]
| doctoral_students = [[John Italus]], [[Michael Attaleiates]], [[Michael VII Doukas]], [[Constantine Leichoudes]]
| known_for         = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| prizes            = 
| signature         = 
| spouse            = 
}}

'''Michael Psellos''' or '''Psellus''' ({{langx|el|Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός|Michaḗl Psellós}}, {{IPA|grc-x-byzant|mixaˈil pseˈlːos|lang|link=yes}}) was a [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine Greek]] monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Richter |first=Lukas |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Psellus [Psellos], Michael |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |accessdate=25 September 2021 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.22501 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000022501 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}</ref> He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking courtier and advisor to several [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperors]] and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors. Psellos has made lasting contributions to Byzantine culture by advocating for the revival of Byzantine [[Classics|classical studies]], which would later influence the [[Renaissance|Italian Renaissance]], as well as by interpreting [[Homer|Homeric]] literature and [[Platonism|Platonic philosophy]] as precursors and integral components of [[Christian theology|Christian doctrine]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Michael Psellus |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Constantine-Psellus |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> His texts combined [[theology]], philosophy, and psychology. Among his most famous works are his ''Commentary on Plato’s Teachings on the Origin of the Soul'', and the ''Chronographia'', a series of biographies from emperor [[Basil II]] to [[Nikephoros III Botaneiates|Nikephoros III]], which serves as a valuable source on the history of the 11th century [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=Michael Psellos |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Michael_Psellos/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Biography and political career==
The main sources of information about Psellos' life are his works, which contain extensive autobiographical passages. Michael Psellos was probably born in [[Constantinople]]. His family hailed from [[Nicomedia]] and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and patrician elite among its ancestors. His baptismal name was '''Constantine'''; Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. "Psellos" ('the stammerer') probably was a personal by-name referring to a speech defect.

Michael Psellos was educated in Constantinople. At around the age of ten, he was sent to work outside the capital as a secretary of a provincial judge, to help his family raise the dowry for his sister. When his sister died, he gave up that position and returned to Constantinople to resume his studies. While studying under [[John Mauropus]], he met the later Patriarchs [[Constantine III of Constantinople|Constantine Leichoudes]] and [[Patriarch John VIII of Constantinople|John Xiphilinos]], and the later emperor [[Constantine X|Constantine X Doukas]]. For some time, he worked in the provinces again, now a judge.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Michael Psellus}}</ref> Some time before 1042 he returned again to Constantinople, where he got a junior position at court as a secretary ({{lang|grc|ὑπογραμματεύς}}) in the imperial chancellery and began a rapid ascent at court. He became an influential political advisor to emperor [[Constantine IX|Constantine IX Monomachos]] (reigned 1042–1055) and became the leading professor at the [[University of Constantinople]], bearing the honorary title of "Chief of the Philosophers" ({{lang|grc|ὕπατος τῶν φιλοσόφων}} ''hypatos tōn philosophōn''). Despite his eminence and prowess in learning, his knowledge of [[Latin (language)|Latin]] was cloudy enough for him to confuse [[Cicero]] with [[Caesar]]. This is cited as a prime example of how the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] had lost nearly all of its connections to its Roman roots by the High Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/greatschism.aspx|title=The Great Schism: The Estrangement of Eastern and Western Christendom|website=orthodoxinfo.com|language=en|access-date=2018-03-24}}</ref> {{better source needed|reason=Source does not quote any relevant examples from the text.|date=July 2021}}

Towards the end of Monomachos' reign, Psellos found himself under political pressure for some reason and decided to leave court, entering the [[Olympus (monastery)|Olympus monastery]] on [[Uludağ|Mount Olympus]] in [[Bithynia]] in 1054. After Monomachos' death he was recalled to court by his successor, Empress [[Theodora (11th century)|Theodora]] (reigned 1055–1056). Throughout the following years, he remained active in politics, serving as a high-ranking political advisor to successive emperors. He played a decisive political role in the transition of power from [[Michael VI]] to [[Isaac I Komnenos]] in 1057; then from Isaac Komnenos to [[Constantine X]] Doukas (1059), then again from [[Romanos IV]] Diogenes to [[Michael VII|Michael VII Doukas]] (1071). As Psellos had served as Michael's teacher during the reign of Michael's father Constantine, and as he had played an important role in helping Michael gain power against his adversary and stepfather Romanos, Psellos probably entertained hopes of an even more influential position as a teacher and advisor under him. Michael seems to have been less inclined towards protecting Psellos and after the mid-1070s there is no more information about any role played by Psellos at court. As his autobiographic accounts cease at this point, there is little reliable information about his later years. Some scholars believe that Psellos  had to retreat into a monastery again at some time during the 1070s.<ref name="refjoannou">Perikles P. Joannou: "Psellos et le monastère *{{lang|grc|Τὰ Ναρσοῦ}}". ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' 44: 283–290.</ref> Following a remark by Psellos' fellow historian [[Joannes Zonaras]], it is believed by most scholars that Psellos died soon after the fall of Michael VII in 1078, although some scholars have also proposed later dates.<ref name="refhunger">Herbert Hunger: ''Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Byzantiner.'' 2 vols. München 1978.</ref><ref name="refpolemis">Ioannes Polemis: "When did Psellos die?" ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' 58: 73–76.</ref> What is known is that Theophylaktos of Bulgaria wrote a letter to Psellos's brother comforting him on the death of his brother saying that, "Your brother has not died, but has departed to [[God]] released of both a painful life and disease".<ref name="refTheophylaktos">P. Gautier, Theophylacte d'Achrida. Lettres. Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae. Series Thessalonicensis 16.2. Thessalonica: Association for Byzantine Research, 1986. Letter 132</ref>

==''Chronographia''== 
<!--[[Chronographia (Psellos)]] redirects here-->
[[File:Psellos on Zoe BNF Grec 1712 f. 368v.jpg|thumb|280x280px|Excerpt from ''Chronographia'' discussing [[Zoë Porphyrogenita|empress Zoe]]'s love of perfumes,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Garland |first=Lynda |author-link=Lynda Garland |date=1988 |title=The Life and Ideology of Byzantine Women: A Further Note on Conventions of Behaviour and Social Reality as Reflected in Eleventh and Twelfth Century Historical Sources |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44171058 |journal=Byzantion |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=377–378 |jstor=44171058 |issn=0378-2506}}</ref> 15th century copy]]
The ''Chronographia'' ({{Langx|el|Χρονογραφία}}), a history of the Byzantine emperors during the 100 years leading up to Psellos' own time, is probably Psellos' best known and most accessible work. It covers the reigns of 14 emperors and empresses, beginning with the almost 50-year-long reign of [[Basil II|Basil II, the "Bulgar-Slayer"]] (976–1025), and ending some time during the reign of [[Michael VII Doukas]] (1071–1078). It is structured mainly as a series of biographies. Unlike most other historiographical works of the period, it emphasizes the description of characters rather than details of political and military events. It also includes extensive autobiographical elements about Psellos' political and intellectual development, and it gives far greater weight to those periods when Psellos was active in politics, especially the reign of Constantine IX, giving the whole work almost the character of a political memoir. It is believed to have been written in two parts. The first covers the emperors up to [[Isaac I Komnenos]]. The second, which has a much more strongly apologetic tone, is in large parts an [[encomium]] on Psellus' protectors, the emperors of the Doukas dynasty.

[[Byzantine studies|Byzantinist]] historian [[Judith Herrin]] said: "This book by Michael Psellus is so fascinating that if you only read one book about Byzantium, by a Byzantine, that would be the one I’d choose".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Books |first=Five |title=Byzantium |url=https://fivebooks.com/best-books/best-books-byzantium-judith-herrin/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Five Books |language=en}}</ref> 
[[File:Rulers of Byzantine Empire in XI century..pdf|thumb|Rulers of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. Based on ''Chronographia.'']]

==Other works==
Psellos left many other writings:

#"Historia syntomos", a shorter, didactic historical text in the form of a world chronicle.
#A large number of scientific, philosophical and religious treatises. He wrote or compiled an important work on philosophy, the ''De omnifaria doctrina.'' Other works deal with topics such as [[astronomy]], [[medicine]], [[music]], [[jurisprudence]], [[physics]], and [[laography]].
#''[[On the Operation of Demons|De operatione dæmonum (On the Operation of Demons)]]'', which offered a [[Classification of demons|demonic taxonomy]] as part of an anti-[[Manichaean]] dialogue.<ref>''De operatione daemonum.'' Tr. Marcus Collisson. Sydney 1843. [http://www.esotericarchives.com/psellos/daemonibus.pdf Full online text].</ref> He wrote a treatise on alchemy, [[theurgy]] (summoning spirits) despite the study being forbidden by the church.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simon |first=Ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gahEEAAAQBAJ |title=Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology |date=2022-02-22 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1-64700-389-0 |language=en}}</ref>
# Various didactic poems on topics such as [[grammar]] and [[rhetorics]].
# Three ''Epitaphioi'' or funeral orations over the patriarchs [[Michael Cerularius|Michael Keroularios]], [[Constantine III of Constantinople|Constantine III Leichoudes]] and [[Patriarch John VIII of Constantinople|John Xiphilinos]].
#A funeral oration for his mother, including a large amount of autobiographic information.
#Several  [[panegyric]]s, persuasive speeches (including works against the [[Bogomils]] and [[Euchites]]) and speeches addressed to his patron emperors at court.
#Several hundred personal letters.
# [[Rhetoric]]al exercises and essays on set themes.
# Occasional, satirical, and epigrammatic verse.

==Personality==
Psellos was universally educated and had a reputation for being one of the most learned men of his time. He prided himself on having single-handedly reintroduced to Byzantine scholarship a serious study of ancient philosophy, especially of [[Plato]]. His predilection for Plato and other pagan (often [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]]) philosophers led to doubts about the orthodoxy of his faith among some of his contemporaries, and at one point he was forced to make a public profession of faith in his defense.  He also prided himself on being a master of rhetoric, combining the wisdom of the philosopher and the persuasiveness of the rhetorician. This made him the model of a political leader and advisor. Among modern commentators, Psellos' penchant for long autobiographical digressions in his works has earned him accusations of vanity and ambition. At the same time, his political career and the contents of his ''Chronographia'' have led commentators to characterize him as obsequious and opportunistic, because of his ostensibly uncritical stance towards some of the emperors and because of the many shifts in his political loyalty over the course of his life {{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}. However, other commentators argue that there is a powerful ironic undercurrent running through his work, especially the ''Chronographia'', transmitting highly critical and subversive messages about the emperors portrayed,<ref name="refpietsch">Efthymia Pietsch: ''Die "Chronographia" des Michael Psellos: Kaisergeschichte, Autobiographie und Apologie''. Wiesbaden 2005.</ref> or even about Byzantine [[Christianity|Christian]] beliefs and morality at large.<ref name="refkaldellis">[[Anthony Kaldellis]]: ''The argument of Psellos' Chronographia.'' Boston 1999.</ref>

As mentioned above, serious questions were raised during Psellos' lifetime concerning his religious beliefs. For example, according to Byzantinist [[Anthony Kaldellis]], "In 1054 he [Psellos] was accused by his erstwhile friend, the future Patriarch John Xiphilinos, of forsaking Christ to follow Plato."<ref name="refkaldellis"/> Even stronger doubts arose concerning Psellos' student, [[John Italos]], who succeeded Psellos as Chief of the Philosophers. Italos was publicly accused of teaching such "Hellenizing" ideas as [[metempsychosis]] and the [[eternity of the world]]. Italos faced such accusations twice, and both times he confessed and recanted.<ref name="refclucas">Lowell Clucas: "The Trial of John Italos and the Crisis of Intellectual Values in Byzantium in the Eleventh Century", München 1981</ref>

==Pseudo-Psellos<!--;Michael Psellos the Elder' and 'Pseudo-Psellos' redirect here-->==
It was once thought that there was another Byzantine writer of the same name, '''Michael Psellos the Elder'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> (now also called '''Pseudo-Psellos'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->), who lived on the island of [[Andros]] in the 9th century, and who was a pupil of [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] and teacher of emperor [[Leo VI the Wise]]. Michael Psellos was also called "the younger" by some authors. This belief was based on an entry in a medieval chronicle, the {{lang|grc|Σύνοψις Κεδρηνοῦ-Σκυλίτση}}, which mentions the name in that context. It is now believed that the inclusion of the name Psellos in this chronicle was the mistake of an ignorant copyist at a later time, and that no "Michael Psellos the elder" existed.<ref name="reflemerle">Paul Lemerle: ''Le premier humanisme byzantin: Notes et remarques sur enseignement et culture à Byzance des origines au Xe siècle.'' Paris 1971. (ch. 6)</ref> The term "Pseudo-Psellos" is also used in modern scholarship to describe the authorship of several later works that are believed to have been falsely ascribed to Psellos in Byzantine times.

==References in literature==
In the gloss of [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]'s poem "[[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]", there is a reference to "the Platonic Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus" as an authority on "the invisible inhabitants of this planet, neither departed souls nor angels".

The British poet [[Christopher Middleton (poet)|Christopher Middleton]] includes a poem about Psellus in his 1986 collection, ''[[Two Horse Wagon Going By]]'', "Mezzomephistophelean Scholion".

Psellos appears also in [[Tim Severin]]'s novel ''Viking: King's Man'', the final piece of the ''Viking trilogy''.

==Editions==
[[File:Psellus - Compendium mathematicum, 1647 - 185241.jpg|thumb|''Compendium mathematicum'', 1647]]
* {{Cite book
| publisher = Bonaventura Elzevier, Abraham Elzevier
| language = la
| last = Psellus
| first = Michael
| title = Compendium mathematicum
| location = Leiden
| access-date = 2015-06-19
| date = 1647
| url = https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=185241&search_terms=DTL4
}}
*''Chronographie ou histoire d'un siècle de Byzance (976–1077).'' Ed. Émile Renauld. 2 vols. Paris 1926/28. [Standard modern edition].
*''Imperatori di Bisanzio (Cronografia).'' Ed. Salvatore Impellizzeri. 2 vols. Vicenza 1984. [New critical edition and Italian translation.]
*''Chronographia'', ed. E. R. A. Sewter. London 1953. English translation, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/psellus-chronographia.html Full online text]
*''Chronographia'', ed. Vrasidas Karalis. 2 vols. Athen 1992/96 [Modern Greek translation].
*''Vidas de los emperadores des Bizancio (Cronografia)''. Ed. Juan Signes Codoñer. Madrid 2005 [Spanish translation].
*''Autobiografia (Encomio per la madre''. Ed. Ugo Criscuolo. Naples 1989.
*''De omnifaria doctrina.'' [Διδασκαλία παντοδαπή] Ed. Leendert G. Westerink. Utrecht 1948.
*''De operatione daemonum.'' Ed. [[Jean François Boissonade de Fontarabie|Jean-François Boissonade]]. Nürnberg 1838, reprint Amsterdam 1964.
*''De operatione daemonum.'' Tr. Marcus Collision. Sydney 1843. [http://www.esotericarchives.com/psellos/daemonibus.pdf Full online text]
*'"Éloge inédit du lecteur Jean Kroustoulas." Ed. Paul Gautier. ''Rivista di studi bizantini e neoellenici'', n.s. 17–19 (27–29), 1980–1982: 119–147.
*''Epistola a Giovanni Xifilino.'' Ed. Ugo Criscuolo. Naples 1990.
*''Epistola a Michele Kerulario.'' Ed. Ugo Criscuolo. Naples 1990.
*''Historia Syntomos''. Ed. Willem J. Aerts. Berlin 1990.
*''Orationes hagiographicae.'' Ed. Elizabeth A. Fisher. Stuttgart/Leipzig 1994.
*''Orationes panegyricae.'' Ed. George T. Dennis. Stuttgart/Leipzig 1994.
*''Oratoria minora''. Ed. Antony R. Littlewood. Leipzig 1984.
*''Orazione in memoria di Constantino Lichudi.'' Ed. Ugo Criscuolo. Messina 1983.
*''Philosophica minora I.'' Ed. John M. Duffy. Stuttgart/Leipzig 1992.
*''Philosophica minora II.'' Ed. Dominic J. O'Meara. Leipzig 1989.
*''Poemata''. Ed. Leendert G. Westerink. Stuttgart/Leipzig 1992.
*''Scripta minora magnam partem adhuc inedita.'' 2 vols. Ed. Eduard Kurtz, Franz Drexl. Milan 1936/41.
*''Essays on Euripides and George of Pisidia and on Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius.'' Ed. Andrew R. Dyck. Wien 1989.
*''Theologica I.'' Ed. Paul Gautier. Leipzig 1989.
*''Theologica II.'' Ed. Leendert G. Westerink, John M. Duffy. München/Leipzig 2002.

==See also==
* [[Byzantine Aristotelianism]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*Bardi, Alberto. "Michael Psellos on the Sizes of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth: A Note on De omnifaria doctrina 127 (Westerink)". ''Anekdota Byzantina: Studien zur byzantinischen Geschichte und Kultur. Festschrift für Albrecht Berger anlässlich seines 65. Geburtstags'', edited by Isabel Grimm-Stadelmann, Alexander Riehle, Raimondo Tocci and Martin Marko Vučetić, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2023, pp. 21–28. {{doi|10.1515/9783111070315-002}}
*A. Kaldellis,  Anthony Kaldellis: The argument of Psellos' Chronographia, Boston 1999.
*F. Lauritzen, Depiction of Character in the Chronographia of Michael Psellos, Turnhout 2013.
*S. Papaioannou, Michael Psellos: Rhetoric and Authorship in Byzantium, Cambridge 2013.
*E. Pietsch: Die "Chronographia" des Michael Psellos: Kaisergeschichte, Autobiographie und Apologie [The ‘Chronographia’ of Michael Psellos: imperial history, autobiography and apologia], Wiesbaden 2005.
*[[Diether Roderich Reinsch|D. R. Reinsch]], "[https://www.academia.edu/9589556/Wer_waren_die_Leser_und_H%C3%B6rer_der_Chronographia_des_Michael_Psellos Wer waren die Leser und Hörer der Chronographia des Michael Psellos?]" [Who were the readers and listeners of the Chronographia of Michael Psellos?]. ''Зборник радова Византолошког института'' '''50''', 2013, pp. 389-398.
*D. Walter, ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Michael_Psellos_Christliche_Philosophie/MK82DgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Michael Psellos – Christliche Philosophie in Byzanz. Mittelalterliche Philosophie im Verhältnis zu Antike und Spätantike]'' [Michael Psellos - Christian Philosophy in Byzantium. Medieval philosophy in relation to antiquity and late antiquity]. De Gruyter, Berlin, Boston 2017, {{ISBN|978-3-11-052597-7}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Michael Psellos}}
*{{in lang|la|el|en}} [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_1017-1078-_Michae_Psellos.html Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]

{{Byzantine historians}}
{{Byzantine music}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Psellos, Michael}}
[[Category:1010s births]]
[[Category:11th-century deaths]]
[[Category:11th-century Byzantine physicians]]
[[Category:11th-century Byzantine historians]]
[[Category:11th-century Byzantine writers]]
[[Category:Byzantine poets]]
[[Category:Christian philosophers]]
[[Category:Christian poets]]
[[Category:11th-century Byzantine monks]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]
[[Category:Byzantine letter writers]]
[[Category:11th-century poets]]
[[Category:11th-century Greek mathematicians]]
[[Category:11th-century Byzantine scientists]]
[[Category:Byzantine astronomers]]
[[Category:11th-century astronomers]]
[[Category:11th-century jurists]]
[[Category:11th-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:11th-century Greek writers]]
[[Category:11th-century educators]]
[[Category:Greek educators]]