Nicodemus Metaxas

Nicodemus Metaxas ( Greek Νικόδημος Μεταξάς Nikódimos Metaxás ) was a Greek publisher in the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century and a supporter of the Reformation .

Life

Metaxas came from a long-established family on Kefalonia in the Gulf of Patras . His uncle was bishop of Kefalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos. It was through him that Nicodemus came into contact with the patriarchate , which was keen to found a Greek printing company in Constantinople .

Metaxas first studied in Athens with the Neo-Aristotelian philosopher Theophilos Corydalleus and went to England in 1622. He continued his studies at Oxford (presumably under John Williams). In London he founded a printing company and began to print ecclesiastical and philosophical writings in Greek, such as the rhetoric of Corydalleus (1625). The business turned out to be difficult, as only a few Greeks lived in the city and his publisher was almost unknown abroad, only in Venice larger numbers could be sold.

Out of this necessity he took up the idea of ​​patriarchy for a Greek printing company in Constantinople and relocated his company there. The printing of Greek scripts was forbidden in Constantinople, but hundreds of thousands of Greeks lived in the city. The Jesuits in the city already owned a printing house in which they also printed books on the proselytism of the Greeks, but they were not able to print large quantities. In 1627, with the help of the English ambassador, Metaxas managed to get his machines and his stock of books through customs and was then able to work for three years. With the help of the Dutch ambassador, he was also able to hire a Dutch printer. His first print was a commission, a critical print about Judaism for the patriarchy. It was also the last, because Metaxas had turned to Protestantism.

He now had both churches against him. In the meantime, the Jesuits were also able to catch up in terms of quantity and when the Sublime Porte heard of Metaxas' activities, he had to close his printing house. He moved his machines to the town of Livathos on Kefalonia , where he resumed operations. He gained a reputation as a major publisher in the Ionian Islands .

literature

• Nil Palabiyik, 'An Early Case of the Printer's Self-Censorship in Constantinople', The Library , April 16 (2015): 381–404, [1]
• Nil Palabiyik, 'Redundant Presses and Recycled Woodcuts: The Journey of Printing Materials from London to Constantinople in the Seventeenth Century', Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 110.3 (2016): 273–298, [2]
• Hugh R. Trevor-Roper : From Counter-Reformation to Glorious Revolution . University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL 1992, ISBN 0-226-81230-8 , pp. 102ff.
• Keetje Rozemond: De drukkerij van Nicodemus Metaxas in Constantinople (1627-1628) . In: Het Boek . Series 3: 37, 1964/66, pp. 82-94, ISSN  0774-9465 .
• Letterio Augliera: Libri politica religione nel Levante del Seicento. La tipografia di Nicodemo Metaxas. Primo editore di testi greci nell'oriente ortodosso . Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti , Venice 1996, ISBN 88-86166-29-X ( Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti - Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti Memorie 62).