BESSARION, JOHANNES or BASILIUS (c. 14 7 2) , titular patriarch of Constantinople, and an illustrious Greek scholar who contributed to the revival of letters in the 15th century, was born at Trebizond, the year of his birth being variously given as or 1403. He was educated at Constantinople, and under Gemistus Pletho the Neo-Platonist (1423). On entering the order of St. Basil, he took the name of Bessarion. In 1437 he was made archbishop of Nicaea by John VII. Palaeologus, whom he accompanied to Italy in order to bring about a union between the Greek and Latin churches, with the object of obtaining help against the Turks. At the councils held in Ferrara and Florence Bessarion supported the Roman Church, and gained the favour of Pope Eugenius IV., who invested him with the rank of cardinal. From that time he resided in Italy, doing much, by his patronage of scholars, by his collection of books and manuscripts, and by his writing to spread abroad the new learning. In 1463 he received the title of Latin patriarch of Constantinople. For five years (1450--55) he was legate at Bologna, and he was engaged on embassies to foreign princes, among others to Louis XI. of France in 1471. He died on Nov. 19, 1472, at Ravenna. Bessarion was one of the most learned scholars of his time. Besides his translations of Aristotle's Metaphysics and Xenophon's Memorabilia, his most important work is a treatise against George of Trebizond, a violent Aristotelian, entitled In Calumniatorem Platonis. Bessarion rather strives after a reconciliation of the two philosophies. His work, by opening up the relations of Platonism to religion, contributed to the extension of speculative thought in theology. His library, which contained a large collection of Greek mss. was presented by him to the senate of Venice, and formed the nucleus of the library of St. Mark.
See A. M. Bandini, De Vita et Rebus Gestis Bessarionis ; H. Vast, Le Cardinal Bessarion (1878) ; E. Legrand, Bibliographie Hellenique (1885) ; G. Voigt, Die Wiederbelebung des klassischen Altertums, ii. (1893) ; R. Rocholl, Bessarion, Studie zur Gesch. der Renaissance (Leipzig, 1904) ; L. Mohler, Kardinal Bessarion (Pader born, 1923) ; Von Bessarion at the councils of Ferrara and Florence, A. Sadov, Bessarion de Nicee (1883) ; on his philosophy, monograph by A. Kandelos (in Greek: Athens, 1888) . Most of his works are in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, clxi.