Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/603

Rh JOANNKS. mentioned hy Allatius in his book De Si/nodo Pho- tiana, p. 542. 6. Monodia in ohitum Imperatoris Juannis Palaeologi. 7. Comparatio veterum Im- peratorum cum hodierno, or Veterum Principum cum Impp.ratore nunc regnante Comparatio. The title is indefinite, but the comparison instituted in the work is, according to some of our authorities, be- tween the Greek emperors of Constantinople and their Turkish successors. 8. Homilia de Imperio, ad Constantinum PaJaeologum. 9. Solutiones Quaes- tionum quae proposuerant Philosophi et Medici qui- damex Ci/pro insula. 10. Ad Papain Nicolaum V. 11. Poemata Graeca Ecchsiastica, by Argyro- pulus and others. A manuscript in the Bodleian library {Cod. Barocc. Ixxwvii., according to the Catalog. MStorum Angliae et Hiher?tiae)., contains Porphyrii Isagoge cum scliohis marginalibus forte Jo. Argyropuli^ et A ristotelis Organon cum scholiis foHe per eundem. It has an effigy of Argyropulus in his study, which is engraved in Hody's work cited below. Fabricius (Bibl. Gr. vol. iii. p. 479) speaks of his Expositiones in Aristotelis Ethica, Physica., Lib. de Anima et Meeha7iica; and distin- guishes them from the work published by Accia- juoli, with which we should otherwise have supposed the Expositiones iti Ethica to be identical. liarless, in a note to Fabricius {^Dihl. Gr. vol. vi. p. 131), speaks of his Prolegg. in Progymnasm. as contained in a MS. at Heidelberg. The Latin versions of Argyropulus are chiefly of the works (genuine or reputed) of Aristotle. 1. PJthica Nicomachea^ Libri X. There is reason to think that this was printed at Florence about a. d. 1478, in which year the Commentarii taken down by Acciajuoli were printed: it was certainly printed at Rome a. d. 1492, and in the Latin edition of the works of Aristotle published by Gregorius de Gregoriis, 2 vols. fol. Venice, 1496. This edition contained versions of the following works of Aris- totle by Argyropulus: — 2. Categoriae. s. Praedica- vienta. 3. Physica s. Acroases Physicae s. De Naturali Auscultatione, Libri VIII. 4. De Coelo et Mundo., Libri IV. 5. De Anima, Libri III. 6. Metaphysica, Libri XII. The thirteenth and four- teenth books were not translated by him. 7. De Interpretatione. 8. Analytica Priora. 9. Analytica Posteriora^ Librill. 10. Epistola ad Alexandrum spectantibus disseritur." Some of our authorities speak of the following works as having been trans- lated by him, but we have not been able to trace them in print : — 11. Politica, Libri VIII. ; and 12. Oeconomica, Libi-i II. These two works are said to have been published in 8vo. Venice, A. D. 1 506, but we doubt the correctness of the statement. IS. De Mujido. 14. Mecha7iica Pivblemata. Some of his translations are reprinted in the volume of Latin versions which fonns a sequel to Bekker's edition of Aristotle. He also translated the Praedicabilia ovDe quinque Vocibus of Porphyry, and the Ilomiliae S. Basilii in Ilexa'cmeron. His version of Porphyry was printed with his translations of Aristotle at Venice in 1496, and that of Basil at Rome a. d. 1515. (Hody, de Graecis Illusiribus, pp. 187 — 210 ; Boerner, de Doctis Ilominibus Graecis; Roscoe, Life of Lore7izo de'' Medici^ 4th edition, vol. i. pp. 6 1,101, vol. ii. pp. 107— 110; Wharton apud Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. ii.. Appendix, p. 168 ; Fabric. i?i6/. (haec. vol. iii. p. 496, &c., vol. xi. p. 460, &c.; Fac- ciokiti, Tiraboschi, Nic. Coranenus Papadopoli, U. JOANNES. Bm cc. ; Bayle, Dictioimaire^ s. v. Acciaioli (Dcfiat.) Aygyropyle.) 18. Barbucallus. [Barbucallus.] 19. S. Basilii Discipulus, sive Obedien- TiAE FiLius. [See No. 28.] 20. Beccus, or Veccus. [Veccus.] 21. Bessarion or Bessario, sometimes Besa- RiON, Bissarion, Bisarion, or BiZARioN (BTjo-tra- piwv or Brjo-aptwv, or BLaaapiuv), in Italian Bessari- ONE. The first name of this eminent ecclesiastic has been the subject of dispute : he is commonly men- tioned by the name Bessarion only: some have pre- fixed the name of Basilius, others (as Panzer, An- nates Typog. Indices) that of Nicolaus ; but it has been shown by Bandini [Commentarius de Vita Bes- sarionis., c. 2) upon the authority of the cardinal him- self, thathis name was Joannes or John. Hewasborn at Trapezus, or Trebizond, A. d. 1 895, whether of an obscure or noble, or even royal family, is much disputed. He studied at Constantinople, and at- tended the school of Georglus Chrysococces [Chrv- sococcEs], and had for his fellow-student Francesco Filelfo (Frauciscus Philelphus), as appears from a letter of Filelfo dated x. Cal. Feb. 1448. {Vd- Tphxis., Epistolae, lib. vi. fol. 84, ed. Basil. 1506.) Having embraced a monastic life in the order of St. Basil, he turned his attention from poetry and ora- tory, in which he had already become eminent, to theology, which he studied under two of the most learned metropolitans of the Greek church. He also studied the Platonic philosophy under Geor- gius Pletho or Gemistus [GemistusJ, for whom he ever retained the greatest reverence, and under whom he became a zealous Platonist. To study under Gemistus he withdrew (apparently about A. D. 1416 or 1417) into the Morea, and remained 21 years in a monastery there, except when en- gaged in diplomatic missions for the emperors of Constantinople and Trebizond. Bessarion was an advocate for the proposed union of the two churches, the Latin and the Greek, and was one of those who urged upon the emperor Joannes Palaeologus the convocation of the general council for the purpose, which met A. D. 1438 at Ferrara, and from thence adjourned to Florence. He had, just before the meeting of the council, been appointed archbishop of Nicaea, and appeared as one of the managers of the conference on the side of the Greeks, Mark, archbishop of Ephesus [EuGENicus Marcus], being the other. He at first advocated, on the points of diflference between the two churches, the opinions generally entertained by the Greeks, but was soon converted to the Latin side, either from honest conviction, as he himself afiirmed, or, as his enemies intimated, in the hope of receiving honours and emoluments from the pope. He was possibly influenced by a feeling of jealousy against Mark of Ephesus, his coadjutor. Phranza asserts (ii. 17) that on the death of Joseph, patriarch of Constantinople [Josephus, No. 7], during the sitting of the council, the emperor Joan- nes Palaeologus and the council elected Bessarion to succeed him ; but Bessarion probably thought that his Latinist predilections, however acceptable to the emperor, would not recommend him to his country- men in general, and declined the appointment. He did not, however, remain in Italy, as Phranza incorrectly states, but returned to Constantinople soon after the breaking up of the council. He was, however, almost immediately induced to return to Italy by the intelligence that the pope had con-
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