▁and ▁British ▁ep ics , ▁producing ▁the ▁N ib el ungen lied . ▁There ▁was ▁also ▁a ▁quantity ▁of ▁poetry ▁and ▁historical ▁writ ings ▁which ▁were ▁written ▁during ▁this ▁period , ▁such ▁as ▁Historia ▁Reg um ▁Britann iae ▁by ▁Geoff rey ▁of ▁Mon mouth . ▁ ▁Despite ▁political ▁decl ine ▁during ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 2 th ▁and ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 3 th ▁centuries , ▁the ▁By z antine ▁scholar ly ▁tradition ▁remained ▁particularly ▁fruit ful ▁over ▁the ▁time ▁period . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁prominent ▁philosoph ers ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 1 th ▁century , ▁Michael ▁Ps ell os , ▁re inv ig or ated ▁Ne op lat on ism ▁on ▁Christian ▁found ations ▁and ▁bol ster ed ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁ancient ▁philosoph ical ▁texts , ▁along ▁with ▁contrib uting ▁to ▁history , ▁grammar , ▁and ▁r het or ics . ▁His ▁pup il ▁and ▁successor ▁at ▁the ▁head ▁of ▁Philosoph y ▁at ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁Constantin ople ▁Io annes ▁Ital os ▁continued ▁the ▁Plat onic ▁line ▁in ▁By z antine ▁thought ▁and ▁was ▁critic ized ▁by ▁the ▁Church ▁for ▁holding ▁opinions ▁it ▁considered ▁her et ical , ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁doctrine ▁of ▁transm igration . ▁Two ▁Orth odox ▁the olog ians ▁important ▁in ▁the ▁dialog ue ▁between ▁the ▁eastern ▁and ▁western ▁churches ▁were ▁N ike ph or os ▁B lem my des ▁and ▁Maxim us ▁Plan udes . ▁By z antine ▁historical ▁tradition ▁also ▁fl our ished ▁with ▁the ▁works ▁of ▁the ▁brothers ▁Nik et as ▁and ▁Michael ▁Ch