Bessarion


Bessarion
Cardinal
Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
DioceseConstantinople
PredecessorIsidore of Kiev
SuccessorPietro Riario
Orders
RankCardinal bishop
Personal details
Born
Basileios

2 January 1403
Died18 November 1472(1472-11-18) (aged 69)
Ravenna, Papal States
NationalityGreek
DenominationCatholic (formerly Eastern Orthodox)
Philosophy career
EraRenaissance philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolNeoplatonism
Main interests
Metaphysics, theology
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Bessarion (Greek: Βησσαρίων; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the so-called great revival of letters in the 15th century.[1] He was educated by Gemistus Pletho in Neoplatonic philosophy and later served as the titular Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. He eventually was named a cardinal and was twice considered for the papacy.[2]

His baptismal name was Basil (Greek: Βασίλειος,[3] Basileios[4] or Basilios[5]). He took the name Bessarion upon entering the monastery.[6] He has been mistakenly known also as Johannes Bessarion (Italian: Giovanni Bessarione) due to an erroneous interpretation of Gregory III Mammas.

  1. ^ "Bessarion | Byzantine theologian". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. ^ George Gemistos Plethon, the Last of the Hellenes, by C. M. Woodhouse, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986, pp. 32–33.
  3. ^ Primary source: Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 161, 1866, "Letter from George Amiroutzes to Bessarion," pp. 723–728, esp. 725.
  4. ^ Ierodiakonou, Katerina; Bydén, Börje. "Byzantine Philosophy". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  5. ^ Craig Martin, Subverting Aristotle: Religion, History, and Philosophy in Early Modern Science, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014, p. 41.
  6. ^ Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). "Basil [Cardinal] Bessarion". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.