ИСТИНА

The earliest instances of the Byzantine interest to the New Persian language belong to the 9th century. The most notable example is provided by Photios who was especially curious about the Persian roots of Greek words. However, in the 8th-11th centuries, the knowledge of Persian was hardly common among the Greeks. The situation changed in the turn of the 14th century, when the practical knowledge of foreign languages spread out the small circle of professional scholars and diplomats and became rather common among the native Byzantines. The status of the Persian language increased dramatically for two reasons: firstly, because of the rising prestige of the Ottomans in the Byzantine eyes; secondly, due to the rediscovery of Persian science by the Byzantines. Keywords: Byzantium, foreign languages, Persian language, cultural history, science