Arsenius Apostolius was a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 scholar who lived for a long time in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. He was also bishop of Monemvasia

Monemvasia

Monemvasia is a town and a municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small peninsula off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The peninsula is linked to the mainland by a short causeway 200m in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 metres above sea level, up to...

 in the Peloponnese

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...

.

Life

Arsenius Apostolius was a son of Michael Apostolius

Michael Apostolius

Michael Apostolius was a Greek theologian and rhetorician of the 15th century.- Life :...

 and brother of Aristobulus Apostolius

Aristobulus Apostolius

Aristobulus Apostolius was a son of Michael Apostolius and brother of Arsenius Apostolius. The time of his birth and death is not known. He became an archdeacon of Rome. He edited with a Greek preface the first edition of the Galeomyomachia, an imitation of the Batrachomyomachia. His work was...

. He was born about 1468 in Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 and in 1492 he moved to Italy.

In 1506 the Roman Curia

Roman Curia

The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...

 appointed Arsenius as Eastern Rite

Byzantine Rite

The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...

 bishop of Monemvasia

Monemvasia

Monemvasia is a town and a municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small peninsula off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The peninsula is linked to the mainland by a short causeway 200m in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 metres above sea level, up to...

, at that time part of the regions subjected

Stato da Màr

The Stato da Màr or Domini da Màr was the name given to the Republic of Venice's maritime and overseas possessions, including Istria, Dalmatia, Negroponte, the Morea , the Aegean islands of the Duchy of the Archipelago, and the islands of Crete and Cyprus...

 to the Venetian Republic. Arsenius declared himself in communion

Full communion

In Christian ecclesiology, full communion is a relationship between church organizations or groups that mutually recognize their sharing the essential doctrines....

 both with the Patriarch of Constantinople and with the Catholic Church. This position was untenable for the Church of Constantinople and Patriarch Pachomius I of Constantinople

Patriarch Pachomius I of Constantinople

Pachomius I was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1503 to 1513, except for a short period in 1504.-Life:Before his election as Patriarch of Constantinople, Pachomius was Metropolitan of Zichna...

 invited Arsenius to abdicate. The issue went on for more than two years until June 1509, when Pachomius excommunicated Arsenius, who retired to Venice.

In Venice Arsenius became friend of Erasmus of Rotterdam and collaborated with Aldus Manutius

Aldus Manutius

Aldus Pius Manutius , the Latinised name of Aldo Manuzio —sometimes called Aldus Manutius, the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius, the Younger—was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice.His publishing legacy includes...

. Arsenius later travelled widely in Italy and Greece until he died in Venice in 1538.