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

The Greek word scholastikos as a human attribute appears continuously from classical antiquity to modern times. However, over the centuries, the term took various nuances, which are associated with respective activities, the participation in public life and the social status of the persons qualified as scholastikoi. In the article, starting with Axel Claus’ conclusions in his doctoral thesis (Cologne 1965) as well as the exploitation of new evidences concludes that from the 3rd until the 7th century AD the number of people known as scholastikoi is particularly high. These people were well educated with rhetoric and legal knowledge. The term did not designate a specific profession, though often during this period a scholastikos gathered the characteristics of a jurist in today’s sense; he was an advocate, legal advisor, teacher of law, judge, notary, etc. Although he was not directly related to the education system as a teacher or professor of rhetoric, occasionally a scholastikos could have been, under certain circumstances, a private teacher of grammar (grammarian). During the middle and late Byzantine period, the attribute scholastikos for a person is found in very few and isolated cases (Arethas’ letters to Niketas David Paphlagon, Ecloga privata aucta, Alexiad, Nikephoros Gregoras to Theodoros Metochites and Thomas Magistros, Life of saint Athanasios of Meteora). It is clear that scholastikos, as a human type with the characteristics outlined above, did not disappear, but the term was no longer used in this context. According to the rare available evidence, most of the authors used the term in its ancient Greek meaning, associating it mainly with education, teachers and letters in general.