ABSTRACT
One of the most stunning cultural developments of what has been called the Palaeologan Renaissance of late Byzantium was the growing admiration and appropriation by Greek intellectuals of Latin scholasticism and especially of Thomism. The Greek emigres were products of a long tradition of literary-rhetorical education in Byzantium. Translation was another obvious way Greek emigres could satisfy the wants of their Latin patrons. A theme commonly associated with the Greek emigres since the Enlightenment is the belief that they brought with them a new critical spirit. Educated Greek émigrés helped shape the Renaissance. They also adapted to serve it. Trained in a Greek environment, the best many could do was to function as copyists either professionally or on occasion. Humanism was the disciplinary area in which the émigrés would make their mark.
