HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Georgios Gemistos Plethon (; /1360 – 1452/1454), commonly known as Gemistos Plethon, was a
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
and one of the most renowned
philosophers Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on ...
of the Late Byzantine era. He was a chief pioneer of the revival of Greek scholarship in
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
. As revealed in his last literary work, the ''Nomoi'' or ''Book of Laws'', which he circulated only among close friends, he rejected Christianity in favour of a return to the worship of the classical Hellenic gods, mixed with ancient wisdom based on
Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
and the
Magi Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...
. In 1438–1439 he reintroduced
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 ...
's ideas to Western Europe during the
Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...
, in a failed attempt to reconcile the
East–West schism The East–West Schism, also known as the Great Schism or the Schism of 1054, is the break of communion (Christian), communion between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. A series of Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic eccle ...
. Plethon also formulated his political vision in several speeches throughout his life. The boast in one of the speeches that "We are Hellenes by race and culture" and his proposal of a reborn
Byzantine Empire 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
following a utopian Hellenic system of government centered in
Mystras Mystras or Mistras (), also known in the '' Chronicle of the Morea'' as Myzethras or Myzithras (Μυζηθρᾶς), is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Situated on Mount Taygetus, above ancient Sparta, ...
, have generated discussion about Byzantine and modern Greek identity. In this regard, Plethon has been labelled both "the last Hellene" and "the first modern Greek".


Biography


Early life and career

Georgios Gemistos Plethon was born 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 ...
''circa'' 1355/1360.Merry, Bruce (2002) "George Gemistos Plethon (c. 1355/60–1452)" in Amoia, Alba & Knapp, Bettina L., ''Multicultural Writers from Antiquity to 1945: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook''. Greenwood Publishing Group. Raised in a family of well-educated Orthodox Christians, he studied in Constantinople and
Adrianople Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
, before returning to Constantinople and establishing himself as a teacher of philosophy.Hanegraaff p.31 Adrianople, the Ottoman capital following its capture by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I in 1365, was a centre of learning modelled by Murad on the caliphates of
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
and
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
. Plethon admired
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 ...
(Greek: ''Plátōn'') so much that late in life he took the similar-meaning name ''Plethon''. Some time before 1410, Emperor Manuel II Paleologos sent him to Mystra in the
Despotate of Morea The Despotate of the Morea () or Despotate of Mystras () was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its existence but eventually grew to include almost a ...
in the southern Peloponnese, which remained his home for the rest of his life. In Constantinople, he had been a senator, and he continued to fulfil various public functions, such as being a judge, and was regularly consulted by rulers of Morea. Despite suspicions of heresy from the Church, he was held in high Imperial favour. In Mystra he taught and wrote philosophy, astronomy, history and geography, and compiled digests of many classical writers. His pupils included Bessarion and George Scholarius (later to become
Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...
and Plethon's enemy). He was made chief magistrate by Theodore II. He produced his major writings during his time in Italy and after his return.Hanegraaff p.32


Council of Florence

In 1428 Plethon was consulted by Emperor John VIII on the issue of unifying the Greek and Latin churches, and advised that both delegations should have equal voting power. Byzantine scholars had been in contact with their counterparts in Western
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
since the time of the
Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...
, and especially since the Byzantine Empire had begun to ask for Western European help against the
Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
in the 14th century. Western Europe had some access to ancient
Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysic ...
through the
Catholic Church 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 ...
and the
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s, but the Byzantines had many documents and interpretations that the Westerners had never seen before. Byzantine scholarship became more fully available to the West after 1438, when
Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...
John VIII Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus (; 18 December 1392 – 31 October 1448) was the penultimate Byzantine emperor. Ruling from 1425 to 1448, he attempted to bring about the reunification of the Orthodox and Catholic churches and prior ...
attended the Council of Ferrara, later known as the
Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...
, to discuss a union of the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) churches. Despite not being a theologian, Plethon was chosen to accompany John VIII on the basis of his renowned wisdom and morality. Other delegates included Plethon's former students Bessarion, Mark Eugenikos and Gennadius Scholarius.DeBolt, Darien C. (1998
''George Gemistos Plethon on God: Heterodoxy in Defence of Orthodoxy''
A paper delivered at the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, Mass. Retrieved 2008-11-20.


Plethon and the Renaissance

At the invitation of some Florentine humanists he set up a temporary school to lecture on the difference between Plato and
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 ...
. Few of Plato's writings were studied in the Latin West at that time, and he essentially reintroduced much of Plato to the Western world, shaking the domination which
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 ...
had come to exercise over Western European thought in the high and later
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Marsilio Ficino's introduction to the translation of Plotinus has traditionally been interpreted to the effect that
Cosimo de' Medici Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the House of Medici, Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derive ...
attended Pletho's lectures and was inspired to found the '' Accademia Platonica'' in Florence, where Italian students of Plethon continued to teach after the conclusion of the council. However, according to James Hankins, Ficino was misunderstood. In fact, communication between Plethon and Cosimo de' Medici - for whose meeting there is no independent evidence - would have been severely constrained by the language barrier. Furthermore, Ficino's "Platonic Academy" was more of an "informal gymnasium" that did not have a particularly Platonic orientation.Hanegraaff p.41 Nevertheless, Plethon came to be considered one of the most important influences on the Italian
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
.
Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...
, the Florentine
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
and the first director of the Accademia Platonica, paid Plethon the ultimate honour, calling him 'the second Plato', while Cardinal Bessarion speculated as to whether Plato's soul occupied his body. Plethon may also have been the source for Ficino's Orphic system of
natural magic ' (in English, ''Natural Magic'') is a work of popular science by Giambattista della Porta first published in Naples in 1558. Its popularity ensured it was republished in five Latin editions within ten years, with translations into Italian (156 ...
. While still in Florence, Pletho wrote a volume titled ''Wherein Aristotle disagrees with Plato'', commonly called ''De Differentiis'', to correct the misunderstandings he had encountered. He claimed he had written it "without serious intent" while incapacitated through illness, "to comfort myself and to please those who are dedicated to Plato". George Scholarius responded with a ''Defence of Aristotle'', which elicited Plethon's subsequent ''Reply''. Expatriate Byzantine scholars and later Italian humanists continued the argument. Plethon died in Mistra in 1452, or in 1454, according to J. Monfasani (the difference between the two dates being significant as to whether or not Plethon still lived to know of the
Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
in 1453). In 1466, some of his Italian disciples, headed by
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (19 June 1417 – 7 October 1468) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman, a member of the House of Malatesta and lord of Rimini and Fano from 1432. He was widely considered by his contemporaries as one of the mos ...
, stole his remains from Mistra and interred them in the
Tempio Malatestiano The Tempio Malatestiano () is the Unfinished building, unfinished cathedral church of Rimini, Italy. Officially named for Francis of Assisi, St. Francis, it takes the popular name from Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, who commissioned its reconstr ...
in
Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...
, "so that the great Teacher may be among free men".


Writings


Reform of the Peloponnese

Believing that the Peloponnesians were direct descendants of the ancient Hellenes, Plethon rejected Justinian's idea of a universal Empire in favour of recreating the
Hellenistic civilization In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
, the zenith of
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
influence. In his 1415 and 1418 pamphlets he urged Manuel II and his son Theodore Palaiologos to turn the peninsula into a cultural island with a new constitution of strongly centralised monarchy advised by a small body of middle-class educated men. The army must be composed only of professional native Greek soldiers, who would be supported by the taxpayers, or "
Helots The helots (; , ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their exact characteristic ...
" who would be exempt from military service. Land was to be publicly owned, and a third of all produce given to the state fund; incentives would be given for cultivating virgin land. Trade would be regulated and the use of coinage limited, barter instead being encouraged; locally available products would be supported over imports. Mutilation as a punishment would be abolished, and chain gangs introduced. Homosexuals and sexual deviants would be burnt at the stake. The social and political ideas in these pamphlets were largely derived from Plato's ''Republic''. Plethon touched little on religion, although he expressed disdain for monks, who "render no service to the common good". He vaguely prescribed three religious principles: belief in a supreme being; that this being has concern for mankind; and that it is uninfluenced by gifts or flattery. Manuel and Theodore did not act on any of these reforms.


''De Differentiis''

In ''De Differentiis'' Plethon compares Aristotle's and Plato's conceptions of God, arguing that Plato credits God with more exalted powers as "creator of every kind of intelligible and separate substance, and hence of our entire universe", while Aristotle has God as only the motive force of the universe; Plato's God is also the end and final cause of existence, while Aristotle's God is only the end of movement and change. Plethon derides Aristotle for discussing unimportant matters such as shellfish and embryos while failing to credit God with creating the universe, for believing the heavens are composed of a fifth element, and for his view that contemplation was the greatest pleasure; the latter aligned him with
Epicurus Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an Greek philosophy, ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy that asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranqui ...
, Plethon argued, and he attributed this same pleasure-seeking to monks, whom he accused of laziness. Later, in response to Gennadius' ''Defence of Aristotle'', Plethon argued in his ''Reply'' that Plato's God was more consistent with Christian doctrine than Aristotle's, and this, according to Darien DeBolt, was probably in part an attempt to escape suspicion of
heterodoxy In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , + , ) means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". ''Heterodoxy'' is also an ecclesiastical jargon term, defined in various ways by different religions and ...
.


''Nomoi''

After his death, Plethon's ''Nómōn syngraphḗ'' (Νόμων συγγραφή) or ''Nómoi'' (Νόμοι, "Book of Laws") was discovered. It came into the possession of Princess Theodora, wife of
Demetrios Palaiologos Demetrios Palaiologos or Demetrius Palaeologus (; 1407–1470) was Despot of the Morea together with his brother Thomas from 1449 until the fall of the despotate in 1460. Demetrios and Thomas were sons of Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiolog ...
, despot of Morea. Theodora sent the manuscript to Scholarius, now Gennadius II, Patriarch of Constantinople, asking for his advice on what to do with it; he returned it, advising her to destroy it. Morea was under invasion from Sultan
Mehmet II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
, and Theodora escaped with Demetrios to Constantinople where she gave the manuscript back to Gennadius, reluctant to destroy the only copy of such a distinguished scholar's work herself. Gennadius burned it in 1460; however, in a letter to the Exarch Joseph (which still survives) he details the book, providing chapter headings and brief summaries of the contents. It seemed to represent a merging of
Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed i ...
philosophy and
Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...
mysticism, and discussed
astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
, daemons and the migration of the soul. He recommended religious rites and hymns to petition the classical gods, such as
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
, whom he saw as universal principles and planetary powers. Man, as relative of the gods, should strive towards good. Plethon believed the universe has no beginning or end in time, and being created perfect, nothing may be added to it. He rejected the concept of a brief reign of evil followed by perpetual happiness, and held that the human soul is reincarnated, directed by the gods into successive bodies to fulfill divine order. This same divine order, he believed, governed the organisation of bees, the foresight of ants and the dexterity of spiders, as well as the growth of plants, magnetic attraction, and the amalgamation of mercury and gold. Plethon drew up plans in his ''Nómoi'' to radically change the structure and philosophy of the Byzantine Empire in line with his interpretation 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 ...
. The new state religion was to be founded on a hierarchical pantheon of pagan gods, based largely upon the ideas of
humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...
prevalent at the time, incorporating themes such as
rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...
and
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
. As an
ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
measure he also supported the reconciliation of the two churches in order to secure Western Europe's support against the Ottomans. He also proposed more practical, immediate measures, such as rebuilding the
Hexamilion The Hexamilion wall (, "six-mile wall") was a defensive wall constructed across the Isthmus of Corinth, guarding the only land route onto the Peloponnese peninsula from mainland Greece. It was constructed between AD 408 and 450, under the reign o ...
, the ancient defensive wall across the
Isthmus of Corinth The Isthmus of Corinth ( Greek: Ισθμός της Κορίνθου) is the narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. The wide Isthmus was known in the a ...
, which had been breached by the Ottomans in 1423. The political and social elements of his theories covered the creation of communities, government (he promoted benevolent monarchy as the most stable form), land ownership (land should be shared, rather than individually owned), social organisation, families, and divisions of sex and class. He believed that labourers should keep a third of their produce, and that soldiers should be professional. He held that love should be private not because it is shameful, but because it is sacred.


''Summary''

Plethon's own summary of the ''Nómoi'' also survived, among manuscripts held by his former student Bessarion. This summary, titled ''Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato'', affirms the existence of a pantheon of gods, with
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
as supreme sovereign, containing within himself all being in an undivided state; his eldest child, motherless, is
Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...
, who created the heavens and rules all below, ordaining order in the universe. Zeus' other children include an array of "supercelestial" gods, the Olympians and Tartareans, all motherless. Of these
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
is third in command after Poseidon, creatress and ruler of indestructible matter, and the mother by Zeus of the heavenly gods, demi-gods and spirits. The Olympians rule immortal life in the heavens, the Tartareans mortal life below, their leader Kronos ruling over mortality altogether. The eldest of the heavenly gods is Helios, master of the heavens here and source of all mortal life on earth. The gods are responsible for much good and no evil, and guide all life towards divine order. Plethon describes the creation of the universe as being perfect and outside of time, so that the universe remains eternal, without beginning or end. The soul of man, like the gods is immortal and essentially good, and is reincarnated in successive mortal bodies for eternity at the direction of the gods.


Other works

* ''On Virtues'' () Many of Plethon's other works still exist in manuscript form in various European libraries. Most of Plethon's works can be found in J. P. Migne's '' Patrologia Graeca'' collection; for a complete list see Fabricius, ''Bibliotheca Graeca'' (ed. Harles), xii.


In modern literature

Early in his writing career, E. M. Forster attempted a historical novel about Plethon and
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (19 June 1417 – 7 October 1468) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman, a member of the House of Malatesta and lord of Rimini and Fano from 1432. He was widely considered by his contemporaries as one of the mos ...
, but was not satisfied with the result and never published it — though he kept the manuscript and later showed it to
Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...
. Forster also wrote an essay about Plethon, to be found in his book '' Abinger Harvest''.
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
included Plethon in his poem ''
The Cantos ''The Cantos'' is a long modernist poem by Ezra Pound, written in 109 canonical sections in addition to a number of drafts and fragments added as a supplement at the request of the poem's American publisher, James Laughlin. Most of it was wr ...
''. References to Plethon and Sigismondo Malatesta can be found in Canto 8. Plethon is also mentioned in Cantos 23 and 26. Pound was fascinated by the effect that Plethon's conversation may have had on Cosimo de Medici and his decision to acquire Greek manuscripts of Plato and Neoplatonic philosophers. By having manuscripts brought from Greece and becoming the patron of "the young boy, Ficino," Cosimo facilitated the preservation and transmission of the Greek cultural patrimony into the modern world after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Plethon thus played a key but hidden role in the Italian Renaissance. Plethon and his school are depicted in the 2008 novel ''The Perfect Remembrance of Death'' () by Serbian writer Radoslav Petković, whose main character survives the fall of Constantinople and remembers his early days in Mystra as Plethon's pupil.


See also

*
Greek scholars in the Renaissance The migration waves of Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek scholars and émigrés in the period following the fall of Constantinople, end of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 are considered by many scholars key to the revival of Classics, Greek stu ...
*
Christian heresy Heresy in Christianity denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches. The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy and the ro ...
*
Hellenistic religion The concept of Hellenistic religion as the late form of Ancient Greek religion covers any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the ...
*
Polytheistic reconstructionism Polytheistic reconstructionism (or simply reconstructionism) is an approach to modern paganism first emerging in the late 1960s to early 1970s, which gathered momentum starting in the 1990s. Reconstructionism attempts to re-establish genuine pol ...
* Renaissance humanism * Renaissance magic


References


Sources

* Benakis, A. G. and Baloglou, Ch. P., ''Proceedings of the International Congress of Plethon and His Time'', Mystras, 26–29 June 2002, Athens-Mystras, 2003 * Brown, Alison M., 'Platonism in fifteenth century Florence and its contribution to early modern political thought', ''Journal of Modern History'' 58 (1986), 383–413. * * Harris, Jonathan, 'The influence of Plethon's idea of fate on the historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles', in: '' Proceedings of the International Congress on Plethon and his Time'', Mystras, 26–29 June 2002, ed. L.G. Benakis and Ch.P. Baloglou (Athens: Society for Peloponnesian and Byzantine Studies, 2004), pp. 211–17 * Keller, A., 'Two Byzantine scholars and their reception in Italy', in: ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'' 20 (1957), 363–70 * * Mandilas, Kostas, ''Georgius Gemistos Plethon'' (Athens 1997)* * Matula, Jozef and Blum, Paul Richard (ed.), ''Georgios Gemistos Plethon – The Byzantine and the Latin Renaissance'' (Olomouc 2014

* Michalopoulos, Dimitris, "George Gemistos Pletho and his Legacy" in ''Intelectualii Politicii si Politica Intelectuallilor'', Editura Cetatea de Scaun, 2016, p. 448-459 () * Masai, François, ''Pléthon et le platonisme de Mistra'' (Paris, 1956) * Monfasani, John, 'Platonic paganism in the fifteenth century', in: John Monfasani, ''Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and Other Émigrés'', (Aldershot, 1995). * Runciman, Steven, ''The Last Byzantine Renaissance'' (Cambridge, 1970) * Setton, Kenneth M. 'The Byzantine background to the Italian Renaissance', in: ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', 100 (1956), 1–76. * Tambrun, Brigitte. ''Pléthon. Le retour de Platon'', Paris, Vrin, 2006 * Tambrun-Krasker, Brigitte, ''Georges Gémiste Pléthon, Traité des vertus''. Édition critique avec introduction, traduction et commentaire, Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi, Philosophi Byzantini 3, Athens-The Academy of Athens, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1987. * Tambrun-Krasker, Brigitte, ''Magika logia tôn apo Zoroastrou magôn, Georgiou Gemistou Plêthônos Exêgêsis eis ta auta logia. Oracles chaldaïques. Recension de Georges Gémiste Pléthon''. Edition critique avec introduction, traduction et commentaire par Brigitte Tambrun-Krasker. ''La recension arabe des Magika logia'' par Michel Tardieu, Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi, Philosophi Byzantini 7, Athens-The Academy of Athens, Paris, Librairie J. Vrin, Bruxelles, éditions Ousia, 1995, LXXX+187 p. * Tambrun, Brigitte, "Pletho" (article) in: W.J. Hanegraaff, A. Faivre, Roel van den Broek, R. van den Broek, J.-P. Brach ed., ''Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism'', Leiden, E.J. Brill, 2005, 2006. * Vassileiou, Fotis & Saribalidou, Barbara, ''Short Biographical Lexicon of Byzantine Academics Immigrants in Western Europe'', 2007.
Viglas, Katelis, 'Alexandre Joseph Hidulphe Vincent on George Gemistos Plethon', ''Anistoriton Journal'', Vol. 13, No 1, 2012–2013, 1–12
* Vojtech Hladky, ''The Philosophy of Gemistos Plethon. Platonism in Late Byzantium, between Hellenism and Orthodoxy'', Ashgate, Farnham-Burlington, 2014 * Woodhouse, Cristopher Montague, ''George Gemistos Plethon – The Last of the Hellenes'' (Oxford, 1986). * Zervas, Theodore. (2010). Beginnings of a Modern Greek Identity: Byzantine Legacy. * *


External links

*
Pléthon (1858), ''Traité des lois'' (''Book of Laws'')
at archive.org
Plethon
at the
New Acropolis New Acropolis (NA; ; OINA; ) is a non-profit organisation originally founded in 1957 by Jorge Ángel Livraga Rizzi in Argentina positioning itself as a school of philosophy. As of 2010, it claimed branches in more than forty countries. As of 2020 ...
library
"George Gemistos Plethon on God: Heterodoxy in Defense of Orthodoxy"

Pléthon et Cosme de Médicis

Pléthon : le retour de Platon, Pythagore et Zoroastre

"Secret Texts of Hellenic Polytheism"
by John Opsopaus, PhD {{DEFAULTSORT:Plethon, George Gemistos 14th-century Byzantine historians 14th-century Byzantine scientists 14th-century Greek philosophers 14th-century Greek writers 14th-century theologians 15th-century Byzantine historians 15th-century Greek writers 15th-century theologians Byzantine theologians Greek-language commentators on Plato Constantinopolitan Greeks Greek Renaissance humanists Greek theologians Mystics Neoplatonists People from the Despotate of the Morea Greek political philosophers Burials at Tempio Malatestiano Writers from Constantinople