Bessarion

Bessarion (1403–1472) was a Byzantine churchman and pupil of Plethon who, settling in Italy as a cardinal, became a great patron of Greek learning.

His treatise Against the Calumniator of Plato defended Plato against his detractors and sought to reconcile him with Aristotle; his magnificent library of Greek manuscripts, given to Venice, preserved much that fed the work of Ficino and the Florentine revival.