Italian Renaissance. For over a century the monastery of San Lazzaro became the "potent agency for the advancement of secular, as well as of religious, knowledge" with "avowed religious, educational, and literary objectives like those of the medieval Benedictine order." National consciousness and nationalism The activities of the island monastery, which became a center for Armenian studies, led to a revival of Armenian national consciousness. According to Harry Jewell Sarkiss the emphasis Mekhitarists of San Lazzaro put on "their national history and language was significant, for thereby they planted the seeds" of modern Armenian nationalism. Elizabeth Redgate writes that the developments in intellectual culture and scholarship in Russian Armenia and at the Mkhitarist monasteries of San Lazzaro and Vienna inspired an increased nationalism among Armenians in the 1880s. Mary Tarzian suggests that nationalism among Armenians in the Ottoman Empire emerged from the educational vision of the Mechitarists in San Lazzaro. This view was expressed as early as 1877 when Charles Yriarte wrote that the Armenians "look with justice upon the island of San Lazzaro as the torch which shall one day illuminate Armenia, when the hour comes for her to live again in history and to take her place once more among free nations." However, their activities were not without criticism. Mikael Nalbandian, a liberal and anti-clerical Russian-Armenian writer, wrote in the mid-19th century that the "enlightenment of our nation must proceed from the hands of execrable papist monks! Their 'light' is far more pernicious than darkness." Notable resident scholars Notable visitors A wide range of notable individuals have visited the island through centuries. Lord Byron English Romantic poet Lord Byron visited the island from November 1816 to February 1817. He acquired enough Armenian to translate passages from Classical Armenian into English. He co-authored English Grammar and Armenian in 1817, and Armenian Grammar and English in 1819, where he included quotations from classical and modern Armenian. The room where Byron studied now bears his name and is cherished by the monks. There is also a plaque commemorating Byron's stay. Byron is considered the most prominent of all visitors of the island. James Morris wrote in 1960 that "many people in Venice, asked to think of San Lazzaro, think first of Byron, and only secondly of the Armenians. Byron's spirit haunts the island." Non-Armenians Pope Pius VII visited the island on May 9, 1800. Since the 19th century numerous notable individuals