Since the late 14th century and especially after the Fall of Constantinople (1453), Byzantine Greek scholars fled to the West, mostly in developed cities of Italy.There they worked with passion for saving precious Greek manuscripts and codices, as scribes, teachers of Greek learning, translators, editors and founders of schools. With their work, they contributed to the cultural rapprochement of divided Christendom, to the development of humanities in Europe and to the flourishing of Italian Renaissance.

During the Ottoman period, the Church provided important services to Hellenism, assisting it to preserve its identity and coherence.The Church was an administrative branch of the Ottoman State with responsibility over the Orthodox population (millet) and the Patriarch of Constantinople was accountable to the Sultan as their leader (millet başı).Many scholar bishops worked, either in Ottoman Greece or in the Greek communities of Europe, for the spiritual recovery of the Nation. Many bishops and priests also participated actively in the Greek War of Independence of 1821, often even taking up arms.