R. Yitshaq alFasi disputed the Geonim and began the task of summarizing the practical law of the Talmud, making it accessible outside of the Geonic academies. Instead of establishing a dynasty like the Geonim did before him, he appointed his disciple Yoseph ibn Megas to lead the academy after him.
R. Yoseph ibn Megas ruled that after the sealing of the Talmud, all legal authorities were equal and the Geonim of his day held no authority solely by virtue of their office. In the academy of Lucena he taught the way of the Talmud to his disciples from Cordoba Maimun the judge and Maimun’s young son, Moshe.
R. Moshe b. Maimun disputed the Geonim and upheld his master’s ruling that after the Talmud, all authorities are equal. He continued his grand-master’s project of summarizing the practical law of the Talmud for public consumption, opting for the more accessible encyclopedia model becoming popular in his era and the common lingua hebraica of the Jewish people.
Rambam’s work shook the rabbinic world and changed the path of rabbinic Judaism, but he was just following in his teachers’ footsteps.