Bessarion (; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

Renaissance humanist, theologian,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the revival of letters in the 15th century. 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 The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. His baptismal name was Basil (Greek: Βασίλειος, ''Basileios'' or ''Basilios''). He took the name Bessarion upon entering the monastery. He has been mistakenly known also as Johannes Bessarion () due to an erroneous interpretation of Gregory III Mammas.

Biography

Bessarion was born in Trebizond, the

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port in northeastern

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that was the heart of Pontic Greek culture and civilization during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and Ottoman periods. The year of his birth has been given as 1389, 1395 or 1403.

Bessarion's Neoplatonism

Bessarion was educated in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, then went in 1423 to Mystras,

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

to study Neoplatonism under Gemistus Pletho. Under Pletho, he "went through the liberal arts curriculum…, with a special emphasis on mathematics…including the study of astronomy and geography" that would have related "philosophy to physics…cosmology and astrology" and Pletho's "mathematics would include Pythagorean number-mysticism, Plato's cosmological geometry and the Neoplatonic arithmetic which connected the material world with the world of Plato's Forms. Possibly it also included astrology…"C.M. Woodhouse, ''George Gemistos Plethon, the Last of the Hellenes'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 33 Woodhouse also mentions that Bessarion "had a mystical streak… ndwas proficient in Neoplatonic vocabulary…mathematics…and Platonic theology". Bessarion's Neoplatonism stayed with him his whole life, even as a cardinal. He was very familiar with Neoplatonist terminology and used it in his letter to Pletho's two sons, Demitrios and Andronikos, on the death of his still-beloved teacher in 1452. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about his life was that a Neoplatonist could have played such a significant role in the Catholic Church for at least a brief time, though he was attacked for his views by more orthodox Catholic academics shortly after his death.

Role in the Council of Ferrara

On becoming a tonsured monk, he adopted the name of

Bessarion of Egypt Bessarion of Egypt, also known as Bessarion of Scetis or Bessarion the Great (4th century – 5th century) was an Egyptian Christian monk who lived around the 4th to 5th century in Egypt, wandering in the Nitrian Desert. As a Desert Father, he is ...

, whose story he has related. In 1436 became

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of a monastery in Constantinople and in 1437, he was made metropolitan of Nicaea by the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaeologus, whom he accompanied to

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in order to bring about a reunion between the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) churches. The emperor hoped to use the possibility of re-uniting the churches to obtain help from Western Europe against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Bessarion participated in the Byzantine delegation to the Council of Ferrara-Florence as the most eminent representative of unionists, although he originally belonged to the party of anti-unionists. On 6 July 1439, he read the declaration of the Greek Association of Churches in Florence cathedral, in the presence of Pope Eugene IV and the Emperor John VIII Palaeologus. Some historians have impugned Bessarion's sincerity in adhering to the union. However, Gill upholds Bessarion's sincerity in being convinced of the truth of the Roman position in the matters discussed at the Council, quoting from Bessarion's own work ''Oratio Dogmatica'':

Cardinal and later life

Upon his return to the East, he found himself bitterly resented for his attachment to the minority party that saw no difficulty in a reconciliation of the two churches. Pope Eugene IV invested him with the rank of

at the consistory of 18 December 1439. From that time, Bessarion resided permanently in Italy, doing much (by his patronage of learned men, by his collection of books and manuscripts, and by his own writings) to spread the New Learning. His palazzo in Rome was a virtual academy for the studies of new humanistic learning, a center for learned Greeks and Greek refugees, whom he supported by commissioning transcripts of Greek manuscripts and translations into Latin that made Greek scholarship available to Western Europeans. He supported Regiomontanus in this fashion and defended Nicholas of Cusa. He is known in history as the original patron of the Greek exiles (scholars and diplomats) including Theodore Gaza, George of Trebizond, John Argyropoulos, and Janus Lascaris. He held in succession the archbishopric of Siponto and the suburbicarian sees of Sabina and Frascati. At the papal conclave of 1455 which elected the Aragonese candidate, Alfons de Borja, as Callixtus III, Cardinal Bessarion was an early candidate, favored on account of his disinterestness in the struggle between candidates pushed forward by the Roman factions of the Orsini and Colonna. He was opposed for his Greek background by the French Cardinal Alain de Coëtivy. For five years (1450–1455), he was legate at

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, and he was engaged on embassies to many foreign princes, among others to

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

in 1471. Other missions were to Germany to encourage Western princes to help their fellow Christians in the East. For these efforts, his fellow humanist Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, then Pius II, gave him the purely ceremonial title of Latin Patriarch of Constantinople in 1463. As ''primus Cardinalium'' (from April 1463) – the title Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals was not yet in use – Cardinal Bessarion presided over the Papal conclave, 1464 and Papal conclave, 1471. He died on 18 November 1472 at

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. He is buried in the basilica of the Santi Apostoli, Rome.

Works

Bessarion was one of the most learned scholars of his time. Besides his translations of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's ''Metaphysics'' and

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

's ''Memorabilia'', his most important work is a treatise directed against George of Trebizond, a vehement Aristotelian who had written a polemic against

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

, which was entitled ''In Calumniatorem Platonis'' ("Against the Slanderer of Plato"). Bessarion, though a Platonist, was not so thoroughgoing in his admiration as Gemistus Pletho, and he strove instead to reconcile the two philosophies. His work, by opening up the relations of

Platonism Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundam ...

to the main questions of religion, contributed greatly to the extension of speculative thought in the department of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. It was thanks to him that the '' Bibliotheca'', an important compendium of

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, has survived to the present. His library, which contained a very extensive collection of Greek manuscripts, was presented by him in 1468 to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the

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, and forms the nucleus of the famous library of St Mark's, the '' Biblioteca Marciana''. It comprised 482 Greek and 264 Latin manuscripts.Emblem of Cardinal Bessarion
Most of Bessarion's works are in Migne, '' Patrologia Graeca'', volume 161.

Editions

References

Attribution *

Sources

* Bardi, Alberto. "Islamic Astronomy in Fifteenth-Century Christian Environments: Cardinal Bessarion and His Library", ''Journal of Islamic Studies'', Volume 30, Issue 3, September 2019, pp. 338–366
online
. * (not fully exploited)

Bessarion an early candidate, opposed by the French. * Geanakoplos, Deno John. ''Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to the West'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard, 1962). * Gill, Joseph. ''The Council of Florence'' (Cambridge, UK :

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1959). * Harris, Jonathan. ''Greek Emigres in the West ''(Camberley : Porphyrogenitus, 1995). * Henderson, Duane. "Bessarion, Cardinalis Nicenus. A cardinalitial vita between ideal conceptions and institutional structures," , 79–122. * Keller, A. "A Byzantine admirer of 'western' progress: Cardinal Bessarion", in, ''Cambridge Historical Journal'', 11 (1953 ), 343–8. * * Labowsky, Carlota. ''Bessarion's Library and the Biblioteca Marciana'' (Rome : Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1979). * Legrand, Émile. ''Bibliographie Hellenique'' (Paris : E. Leroux (E. Guilmoto), 1885–1906). volume 1. * * Mohler, Ludwig ''Kardinal Bessarion als Theologe, Humanist und Staatsmann'' (Aalen : Scientia Verlag; Paderborn : F. Schöningh, 1923–42), 3 volumes. * Monfasani, John. ''Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and other Émigrés'' (Aldershot, UK : Variorum, 1995). * Setton, K.M. "The Byzantine background to the Italian Renaissance", in, ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', 100 (1956), 1–76. * Vast, Henri. ''Le Cardinal Bessarion'' (Paris : Hachette, 1878), see also (Geneva : Slatkine, 1977). * Wilson, Nigel Guy. ''From Byzantium to Italy. Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance'' (London : Duckworth, 1992).

External links

* * * * * Makripoulias Christos
"Bessarion Cardinal"
Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bessarion, Johannes 1403 births 1472 deaths Byzantine Pontians Cardinal-bishops of Frascati Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Deans of the College of Cardinals Diplomats for the Holy See East–West Schism Empire of Trebizond Former Greek Orthodox Christians Greek cardinals Greek Renaissance humanists Greek theologians Latin Patriarchs of Constantinople People from Trapezus Bishops of Nicaea 15th-century Byzantine writers 15th-century Greek scientists 15th-century Greek educators 15th-century Greek philosophers 15th-century Greek mathematicians 15th-century Greek astronomers