Bessarion
Bessarion
(bĕsâr`ēən), 1395?–1472, Byzantine humanist, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a leading figure at the Council of Ferrara-FlorenceFerrara-Florence, Council of,1438–45, second part of the 17th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church; the first part was the Council of Basel, canonically convened but after 1437 schismatic (see Basel, Council of).
..... Click the link for more information. , which he attended as metropolitan of Nicaea. He favored ending the schism between East and West, and when the Orthodox Church refused, he joined the Roman Catholic Church and remained in Italy. He was made a cardinal in 1439, and in 1463 the pope named him patriarch of Constantinople. A projected translation into Latin of Ptolemy was completed by his protégés, Purbach and RegiomontanusRegiomontanus
[Lat.,=belonging to the royal mountain, i.e., to Königsberg], 1436–76, German astronomer and mathematician, b. Königsberg. His original name was Johannes Müller.
..... Click the link for more information. . His fine collection of Greek manuscripts was the nucleus of St. Mark's library, Venice.