Nikephoros Choumnos (Greek:Νικηφόρος Χοῦμνος,c. 1253 – 16 January 1327) was aByzantine scholar and official of the earlyPalaiologan period, one of the most important figures in the flowering of arts and letters of the so-called "Palaiologan Renaissance".^[1] He is notable for his eleven-year tenure as chief minister of emperorAndronikos II Palaiologos, his intense intellectual rivalry with fellow scholar and officialTheodore Metochites, and for building the monastery of theTheotokos Gorgoepēkoos (Θεοτόκος Γοργοεπήκοος) inConstantinople.

Choumnos was born between 1250 and 1255. He came from an already distinguished family, which since the 11th century had provided several high-ranking officials.^[3] Nikephoros studied rhetoric and philosophy under the futurePatriarch of ConstantinopleGregory of Cyprus,^[4] and upon conclusion of his studies entered the imperial bureaucracy. He makes his first appearance in historyc. 1275, with the lowly rank ofquaestor, as head of anembassy to the MongolIlkhanid ruler of Persia,Abaqa Khan.^[3] Although underMichael VIII Choumnos too had embraced theUnion of the Churches, under his successor, the staunchly Orthodox and piousAndronikos II Palaiologos, he recanted. Around 1285, he composed apanegyric in honour of the emperor, duly emphasizing not only his virtues and martial accomplishments, but also his opposition to the Union.^[5] Henceforth, his rise in the hierarchy was rapid: in early 1294, following the death ofTheodore Mouzalon, Andronikos II named himmystikos (privy councillor) andmesazōn (in effect, chief minister), while in 1295 he also received the office ofepi tou kanikleiou, becoming head of the imperial chancellery.^[3][6] AsGeorge Pachymeres reports, the emperor increasingly took absence from his administrative duties in order to devote himself to prayer and fasting, leaving Choumnos to effectively handle the governance of the state.^[7] Choumnos' growing influence also led to a clash with the deposedpatriarchAthanasios I, in whose dismissal in 1293 he may have had a role. Their enmity, which was likely founded on Choumnos' centralizing tendencies and on hisclassicizing and humanist education, ran deep and was marked by the exchange of mutual accusations of corruption.^[8]

In 1303, after a planned marriage of his daughter Eirene toAlexios II failed, and despite the opposition of EmpressIrene, he secured his ties to the ruling dynasty by marrying her to the emperor's third son, thedespotēsJohn Palaiologos (c. 1286–1308).^[9] Nevertheless, two years later, he was dismissed and replaced asmesazōn by Metochites.^[3] During his tenure, he amassed a great fortune, especially estates inMacedonia,^[10] through bribes, the selling of offices and tax farming. These practices were quite common among the Palaiologan bureaucracy, whose corrupt administration was especially burdensome on the Empire's subjects.^[11] Part of this fortune was used in the establishment and endowment of the monastery of theTheotokos Gorgoepekoos inConstantinople.^[10]

In 1309–1310, Choumnos served as governor of the Empire's second-largest city,Thessalonica, but thereafter withdrew from public office. During the 1320s, he engaged in a protracted exchange of polemics with his chief intellectual and political rival, Theodore Metochites. While Choumnos derided his opponent's lack of clarity, Metochites attacked Choumnos' disinterest in physics and his ignorance of astronomy, which he held as the "highest form of science". In c. 1326, Choumnos retired as a monk, under themonastic name Nathanael, to themonastery of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople, which had been founded by his daughter Eirene. There he died on 16 January 1327.^[12]

Choumnos was a prolific writer, greatly influenced by the Classics, which he had studied as a young pupil.^[2] His works, several of which remain unpublished, include rhetorical pieces, such as the eulogy to Andronikos II, as well as treatises on philosophy, especially on elemental theory, meteorology, cosmology and theology. Several of these treatises often appear to have been composed on the occasion of literary gatherings within the court, sometimes with the emperor presiding. From his extensive correspondence, 172 letters survive.^[10][13]

In his philosophical works, Choumnos proves himself an "ardent and skillful" defender ofAristotle.^[14] Nevertheless, he does not embraceAristotelianism, but is rather interested to provide a rigidly rational philosophical justification for the doctrines held by Christian theology.^[13] In his attacks on thePlatonic theories ofsubstance andforms or in his refutation ofPlotinus' theories on the soul, Choumnos tries to prove Christian theological teaching.^[15]

According to the FrenchByzantinistRodolphe Guilland, "by his love of antiquity, passionate, although a little servile, and by the variety of his knowledge Choumnos heralds Italianhumanism and the westernRenaissance."^[14]

Nikephoros' brother Theodore was also a court official.^[3] From his marriage to an unknown wife, Choumnos had several children:

• John Choumnos,parakoimōmenos (chamberlain) and general.^[3]
• George Choumnos,epi tēs trapezēs (head of the imperial table) andmegas stratopedarchēs (grand master of the camp).^[3]
• Irene Palaiologina Choumnaina, married thedespotēsJohn Palaiologos. Following his death in 1308, and having no children, she became a nun by the name of Eulogia, and founded the monastery of Christ Philanthrōpos in Constantinople.^[16][17] Despite her retreat into the convent, she remained very active in the intellectual life of the capital, maintaining a large library, commissioning copies of manuscripts, as well as conversing and corresponding with scholars.^[18]

• Angelov, Dimiter (2007).Imperial ideology and political thought in Byzantium (1204–1330). Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-85703-1.
• Boojamra, John Lawrence (1993).The Church and social reform: the policies of Patriarch Athanasios of Constantinople. Fordham University Press.ISBN 978-0-8232-1335-1.
• Cavallo, Guglielmo (1997).The Byzantines. University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-0-226-09792-3.
• Craig, Edward (1998).Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor & Francis.ISBN 978-0-415-07310-3.
• Ierodiakonou, Katerina; Bydén, Börje (2008)."Byzantine Philosophy".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Retrieved8 May 2009.
• Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991).The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
• Moutafakis, Nicholas J. (2003).Byzantine philosophy. Hackett Publishing.ISBN 978-0-87220-563-5.
• Nicol, Donald M. (1993).The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 (Second ed.). London: Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd.ISBN 0-246-10559-3.
• Necipoğlu, Nevra (2001).Byzantine Constantinople: monuments, topography, and everyday life. BRILL.ISBN 978-90-04-11625-2.
• Ševčenko, Ihor (1962).Études sur la polémique entre Théodore Métochite et Nicéphore Choumnos (in French). Brussels: Éditions de Byzantion.
• Vasiliev, Alexander A. (1958).History of the Byzantine Empire, 324–1453. University of Wisconsin Press.ISBN 978-0-299-80926-3.
• Verpeaux, Jean (1959).Nicéphore Choumnos. homme d'état et humaniste Byzantin (ca 1250/1255-1327) (in French). Paris: A. et J. Picard.

• 1250s births
• 1327 deaths
• 14th-century Byzantine government officials
• 14th-century Greek philosophers
• 13th-century Greek philosophers
• Byzantine theologians
• 13th-century Byzantine writers
• Eastern Orthodox monks
• Choumnos family
• Byzantine letter writers
• 14th-century Byzantine writers
• 13th-century Greek writers
• 13th-century Greek educators
• 14th-century Greek writers
• 14th-century Greek educators
• 13th-century Byzantine government officials

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