The didactic poems of Niketas of Herakleia chiefly concern grammar and are written in various metres, all of them accentual, even including hymnographic metres. Rather than being mere reformulations of existing grammatical knowledge, the poems urge us to consider questions related to contemporary teaching practices. How does verse help to transmit knowledge, and which roles do accentual rhythm and musical heirmos play in this process? Issues of performance, audience and patronage are of undeniable importance for this question. The poems reflect a lively (sometimes unruly) classroom situation and an equally lively competition between teachers in Constantinople. Especially Niketas’ remarks on schedography reflect this competitive teaching field. Thus, the poems of this versatile author may explain why grammar became in the twelfth century an object to be reflected upon, reformulated, debated and even aestheticized. The chapter also situates Niketas in the literary tradition of didactic poetry. How does he, as a poet, at the same time represent himself as an able teacher and expert? And how does he combine poetic form and avowedly dry subject matter?

Theodora Palaiologina Kantakouzene Raoulaina was a wealthy educated patron, a true bibliophile with a rich collection of books, among which her autograph Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, gr. 1899 holds a prominent place. Raoulaina copied forty-three out of the fifty-three works of Aelius Aristides, a highly popular orator in the Palaiologan period for the teaching of rhetoric. The manuscript was copied most probably before 8 October 1273 and was intended to be Raoulaina’s gift to future generations. This chapter paper offers the first edition of hitherto unedited scholia to Aristides’ two Platonic discourses, Ὑπὲρ Ῥητορικῆς Λόγος Α΄&Β΄.

The chapter focuses on Manuel's childhood and adolescence. His education, upbringing, relations with family and relatives, and childhood memories are discussed through his own writings and other sources. The inital relationship between Manuel and his teacher Demetrios Kydones is traced. The political, socio-economic and cultural background for Manuel's reign is set. The chapter concludes with Manuel's voyage to Buda in 1369 and his later literary representation of the episode.