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Chronology – Transmission of Greek Learning to the Middle Ages

  1. Greek Learning to Islam:
    325 B.C. – Eastward spread of Greek culture begins.

    431 A.D. – Council of Ephesus; Nestorians declared heretics.

    529 – Scholars from Plato’s Academy (closed by Justinian) invited to Jundi- Shapur.

    632 – Death of Muhammed; spread of Islam.

    749 – New Muslim dynasty (Abbasids) patronize translation.

    850 – Hunain ibn Ishaq heads an institute of translation.

    900 – Islamic science begins to flourish in its own right.

    1100 – Translation from Arabic to Latin begins.

    1200 – Islamic science is in serious decline.

  2. Islamic Learning to Medieval Christendom:
    400 – 600 A.D. – Barbarian destruction of the Roman Empire.

    800 – Carolingian Renaissance under Charlemagne.

    1100 – 12th-century Renaissance revives interest in learning; translation from Greek and Arabic begins.

    1200 – The full legacy of Greek and Muslim learning is available in Latin and is incorporated into University curriculum.

    1277 – Condemnations by Bishop of Paris represent the church’s reaction against Aristotelian and other Greek and Muslim learning.