The decline that marked the intellectual life of Thessaloniki as early as the first decades of the 15th century continued and became consolidated after the Ottomans captured the city in 1430. The same was true of the Macedonian hinterland; only Mount Athos retained something of its former eminence.
From the 17th and especially the 18th century, a significant revival could be observed, in which a decisive role was played by Greeks living abroad. Substantial change, however, was not to come until the middle of the 19th century, when the social, economic and political rise of the Greek community in combination with the emergence of intra-Balkan conflict and growing nationalism created conditions favorable to a rebirth of Greek education in Macedonia, which would be completed with the liberation of 1913.
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