Runciman S. The Last Byzantine Renaissance

Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1970, 112 p.
During the last two centuries of its existence the Byzantine Empire was politically in a state of utter decadence, but, in contrast, its intellectual life has never before shone so brilliantly. In these four lectures the author discusses the leading scholars of the period, their erudition, their intense individualism, their controversies and their achievements.