Best of us all the best he Philosophy podcast, brought to you with the support of the philosophy department at King's College London and the

LMU in Munich online at history of philosophy.net. Today's episode, through his works you shall know him,

Palomos and Hesekasm.

If you are a faithful listener who has come to this series on Byzantine philosophy, straight

after the earlier episodes on medieval philosophy, you may have been struck by several differences.

There have been fewer Marx Brothers references and more rulers named Constantine,

albeit like a good pasta sauce with some basil thrown in for good measure.

Also religious institutions have played a far less dominant role.

Our account of Latin medieval philosophy included extensive discussion of mendicant orders and monastic

contexts. In the Bazantium series too we've met our share of churchmen such as the monk John of Damascus,

the Bishop Nicholas of Meton and the Syrian patriarch, Timothy.

But many of our protagonists have been men and women of the secular world.

An exception who proved the rule was Michael Obselos, whose brief stint as a monk convinced

him that he preferred the life of the courtier and scholar.

In fact, though, monastic traditions were of tremendous importance in Byzantine culture and not only as centers of spirituality.

Some of the manuscripts we've recently been discussing were made or stored at monasteries.

They were also institutions of political and economic importance.

Their status under imperial tax law was a matter of heated dispute and it was common for

aristocrats to become patrons of monasteries.

Salos is again an example here, as is a figure we met last time,

Theodore Mettochitez, whose refurbishment of a monastery at Korda,

included the sponsoring of mosaics that survived to the present day and are a highlight of extant Byzantine art.

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