Asens in Byzantium

John Asen

A teacher (didaskalos) on the island of Euboea, known solely from one manuscript (Cod. San Marco 303); distinct from the influential Constantinopolitan archon John Asen.

Biography

John Asen is known solely from one manuscript (Cod. San Marco 303), in which he is named a teacher (didaskalos) on the island of Euboea. The scant evidence does not allow him to be identified with other members of the family of the same name — unlike the influential Constantinopolitan archon John Asen, this John was a modest teacher. His codex later passed into the hands of the Florentine humanists Carlo Marsuppini and Angelo Poliziano.