THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 591 there and some of which he had translated. Toward the end of the fourteenth century noted Greek professors came to Italy to lecture. Chrysoloras at Florence is one of the best- known examples. Works of Greek literature, too, were now carried to the West. In 1423 one man brought two hundred and thirty-eight volumes to Venice. The fall of Constanti- nople thirty years later, to which the spread of Greek learn- ing in the West and even the Italian Renaissance were once ignorantly attributed, really had no such influence. The transfer of classical culture from its Byzantine storehouse had begun long before 1453, while the Turkish conquest did not blot out the Greek learning and Church or cause any great exodus of scholars and removal of treasures of art and learning. Previous church councils, however, like that of Ferrara- Florence in 1438-39, where the question of the union of the Eastern and Western Churches was considered, had had some effect in increasing learned communication be- tween Italy and Constantinople. The Italian humanists be- fore 1500 seldom reached the same point of proficiency in the Greek as in the Latin language, and were apt to content themselves with translating some Greek work into Latin. But in the course of time the study of Greek was to receive equal attention. The humanists not only read widely in both Latin and Greek literature, but also examined ancient ruins, works of art, coins, and other such remains. Besides Latin Advance in grammars and Greek dictionaries, they composed knowledge works on classical history, antiquities, geography, and attitude and mythology. Thus they came to understand the sur- roundings and daily life of the ancients, the history of Greece and Rome, and the classical attitude and viewpoint as medi- eval men had not done. They no longer thought of Caesar's and Alexander's soldiers as knights nor of Nimrod as the founder of chivalry. In short, historical knowledge and sympathy with the past made marked progress. Unfortu- nately at the same time they lost sympathy with and knowl- edge of the past medieval period which was now vanishing behind them.
