Cardinal Bessarion (1403–1472)

Download or read book Cardinal Bessarion (1403–1472) written by Michael Malone-Lee and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cardinal Bessarion was a towering figure in the fifteenth-century Renaissance. His life spanned the century. In his sixty-nine years of life, he was a stellar student, a Basilian monk, a Greek Orthodox archbishop, a Roman cardinal, a papal diplomat, and an eminent humanist and scholar. Cardinal Bessarion’s life and career were shaped by the tidal wave of the advance of the Ottoman Turks towards the West and by the centuries-old tension between the Orthodox East and the Latin West. He made a significant impact in both these areas. His long-term legacy is his contribution to the revival of classical learning in the fifteenth century Renaissance. This biography presents Cardinal Bessarion in his time and explores his personal perspective on his times and experience. It will be of interest to anybody with an interest in the fifteenth century Renaissance and to specialists in Christian/Islamic relations in the period, the theological tensions between the Latin West and the Greek East, and the history of scholarship.