Editing Gemistos Plethon

{{Short description|15th-century Byzantine Greek philosopher}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region    = [[Western philosophy]]
| era       = [[Renaissance philosophy]]
| image     = Benozzo Gozzoli, Pletone, Cappella dei Magi.jpg
| caption   = Portrait of Gemistos Plethon, detail of a fresco by acquaintance [[Benozzo Gozzoli]], [[Palazzo Medici Riccardi]], [[Florence]], Italy.
| name            = Gemistos Plethon 
| birth_date      = 1355/1360
| birth_place     = [[Constantinople]], [[Byzantine Empire]]<br>{{small|(modern [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]])}}
| death_date      = 1452/1454 (aged 92–99)
| death_place     = [[Mystras]], [[Despotate of Morea]], [[Byzantine Empire]]<br>{{small|(modern [[Mystras]], [[Greece]])}}
| school_tradition = [[Byzantine philosophy]]<br>[[Neoplatonism]]
| main_interests   = [[Plato's Republic]], [[Ancient Greek religion]], [[Zoroastrianism]]
| influences       = [[Plato]], [[Plotinus]], [[Demetrios Kydones]]<ref>Niketas Siniossoglou, ''Radical Platonism in Byzantium: Illumination and Utopia in Gemistos Plethon'', Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 3.</ref>
| influenced       = [[Bessarion]],<ref>James Hankins, ''Humanism and Platonism in the Italian Renaissance'', Volume 1, Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 2003, p. 207.</ref> [[John Argyropoulos]], [[Hermonymus of Sparta]], [[Marsilio Ficino]], [[Nicholas of Cusa]]<ref>Sophia Howlett, ''Marsilio Ficino and His World'', Springer, 2016, p. 42.</ref>
| notable_ideas    = Comparing the similarities and differences between [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]
}}

'''Georgios Gemistos Plethon''' ({{langx|el|Γεώργιος Γεμιστὸς Πλήθων}}; {{langx|la|Georgius Gemistus Pletho}} {{circa|1355}}/1360 – 1452/1454), commonly known as '''Gemistos Plethon''', was a [[Byzantine Greeks|Greek]] [[scholar]]<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Humphreys|first1=Sarah C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9StEAAAAQBAJ|title=Modernity's Classics|last2=Wagner|first2=Rudolf G.|date=2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-33071-1|pages=125|language=en}}</ref> and one of the most renowned [[philosophers]] of the [[Late Byzantine]] era.<ref>Hanegraaff p.29-31</ref> He was a chief pioneer of the revival of Greek scholarship in [[Western Europe]].<ref>Richard Clogg, [[Woodhouse, Christopher Montague]], fifth Baron Terrington (1917–2001), ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2005</ref> As revealed in his last literary work, the ''Nomoi'' or ''Book of Laws'', which he circulated only among close friends, he [[Criticism of Christianity|rejected Christianity]] in favour of a return to the worship of the [[Hellenistic religion|classical Hellenic gods]], mixed with ancient wisdom based on [[Zoroaster]] and the [[Magi]].<ref>Hanegraaff p.38</ref>

In 1438–1439 he reintroduced [[Plato]]'s ideas to Western Europe during the [[Council of Florence]], in a failed attempt to reconcile the [[East–West Schism|East–West schism]]. Plethon also formulated his political vision in several speeches throughout his life. The boast in one of the speeches that "We are Hellenes by race and culture" and his proposal of a reborn [[Byzantine Empire]] following a utopian Hellenic system of government centered in [[Mystras]], have generated discussion about Byzantine and modern Greek identity.<ref>Makrides, (2009) p.136"</ref> In this regard, Plethon has been labelled both "the last Hellene"<ref>Woodhouse, C.M. (1986)</ref> and "the first modern Greek".<ref>Zervas, (2010). p.4</ref>

== Biography ==

===Early life and career===
Georgios Gemistos Plethon was born in [[Constantinople]] ''circa'' 1355/1360.<ref name="Merry">Merry, Bruce (2002) "George Gemistos Plethon (c. 1355/60–1452)" in Amoia, Alba & Knapp, Bettina L., ''Multicultural Writers from Antiquity to 1945: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook''. Greenwood Publishing Group.</ref> Raised in a family of well-educated Orthodox Christians,<ref name="de Biasi 2011 p. 19">{{cite book | last=de Biasi | first=J.L. | title=The Divine Arcana of the Aurum Solis: Using Tarot Talismans for Ritual & Initiation | publisher=Llewellyn Publications | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-7387-2086-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbqSPpAj0sEC&pg=PA19 | access-date=2023-02-16 | page=19}}</ref> he studied in Constantinople and [[Adrianople]], before returning to Constantinople and establishing himself as a teacher of philosophy.<ref name="Hanegraaff p.31">Hanegraaff p.31</ref> Adrianople, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] capital following its capture by the Ottoman [[Sultan Murad I]] in 1365, was a centre of learning modelled by Murad on the caliphates of [[Cairo]] and [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Merry"/> Plethon admired [[Plato]] (Greek: ''Plátōn'') so much that late in life he took the similar-meaning name ''Plethon''.<ref>Πλήθων: "the full", pronounced {{IPA|el|ˈpliθon|}}. Plethon is also an archaic translation of the [[modern Greek language|Greek]] γεμιστός ''gemistós'' ("full, stuffed")</ref> Some time before 1410, Emperor [[Manuel II Paleologos]] sent him to [[Mystras|Mystra]] in the [[Despotate of Morea]] in the southern Peloponnese,<ref name="CambridgePolitical">{{cite book |pages=77–8 |editor-last=Burns |editor-first=James Henderson  |title=The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought C. 350 – C. 1450 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1991}}</ref> which remained his home for the rest of his life. In Constantinople, he had been a senator, and he continued to fulfil various public functions, such as being a judge, and was regularly consulted by rulers of Morea. Despite suspicions of heresy from the Church, he was held in high Imperial favour.<ref name="Hanegraaff p.31"/>

In Mystra he taught and wrote philosophy, astronomy, history and geography, and compiled digests of many classical writers. His pupils included [[Bessarion]] and [[George Scholarius]] (later to become [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] and Plethon's enemy). He was made chief magistrate by [[Theodore II Palaiologos, Lord of Morea|Theodore II]].<ref name="Merry"/> He produced his major writings during his time in Italy and after his return.<ref name="Hanegraaff p.32">Hanegraaff p.32</ref>

===Council of Florence===
In 1428 Plethon was consulted by [[John VIII Palaiologos|Emperor John VIII]] on the issue of unifying the Greek and Latin churches, and advised that both delegations should have equal voting power.<ref name="Merry"/> Byzantine scholars had been in contact with their counterparts in Western [[Europe]] since the time of the [[Latin Empire]], and especially since the Byzantine Empire had begun to ask for Western European help against the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] in the 14th century. Western Europe had some access to ancient [[Greek philosophy]] through the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Muslim]]s, but the Byzantines had many documents and interpretations that the Westerners had never seen before. Byzantine scholarship became more fully available to the West after 1438, when [[Byzantine emperor]] [[John VIII Palaiologos]] attended the Council of Ferrara, later known as the [[Council of Florence]], to discuss a union of the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern (Orthodox)]] and [[Catholic Church|Western (Catholic)]] churches. Despite not being a theologian, Plethon was chosen to accompany John VIII on the basis of his renowned wisdom and morality. Other delegates included Plethon's former students Bessarion, [[Mark Eugenikos]] and [[Gennadius Scholarius]].<ref name="DeBolt">DeBolt, Darien C. (1998) [http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Medi/MediDebo.htm ''George Gemistos Plethon on God: Heterodoxy in Defence of Orthodoxy'']. A paper delivered at the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, Mass. Retrieved 2008-11-20.</ref>

===Plethon and the Renaissance===
At the invitation of some Florentine humanists he set up a temporary school to lecture on the difference between Plato and [[Aristotle]]. Few of Plato's writings were studied in the Latin West at that time,<ref>''Timaeus'' in the partial translation of [[Calcidius]] was available; [[Henricus Aristippus]]' 12th century translation of the ''Meno'' and ''Phaedo'' was available, but obscure; [[Leonardo Bruni]]'s translations of the ''Phaedo'', ''Apology'', ''Crito'' and ''Phaedrus'' appeared only shortly before Plethon's visit. (DeBolt)</ref> and he essentially reintroduced much of Plato to the Western world, shaking the domination which [[Aristotle]] had come to exercise over Western European thought in the high and later [[Middle Ages]].

Marsilio Ficino's introduction to the translation of Plotinus<ref>{{Cite journal|last=James|first=Hankins|title=Cosimo de' Medici and the 'Platonic Academy'|url=https://www.academia.edu/22668009|journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes|year=1990 |language=en|volume=53|issue=1 |pages=144–162 |doi=10.2307/751344 |jstor=751344 |s2cid=186398177 |issn=0075-4390}}</ref> has traditionally been interpreted to the effect that [[Cosimo de' Medici]] attended Pletho's lectures and was inspired to found the ''[[Platonic Academy (Florence)|Accademia Platonica]]'' in Florence, where Italian students of Plethon continued to teach after the conclusion of the council.<ref name="DeBolt"/> However, according to [[James Hankins]], Ficino was misunderstood. In fact, communication between Plethon and Cosimo de' Medici - for whose meeting there is no independent evidence - would have been severely constrained by the language barrier. Furthermore, Ficino's "Platonic Academy" was more of an "informal gymnasium" that did not have a particularly Platonic orientation.<ref name="Hanegraaff p.41">Hanegraaff p.41</ref> Nevertheless, Plethon came to be considered one of the most important influences on the Italian [[Renaissance]]. [[Marsilio Ficino]], the Florentine [[Humanism|humanist]] and the first director of the Accademia Platonica, paid Plethon the ultimate honour, calling him 'the second Plato', while Cardinal Bessarion speculated as to whether Plato's soul occupied his body. Plethon may also have been the source for Ficino's [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] system of [[natural magic]].<ref name="Merry"/>

While still in Florence, Pletho wrote a volume titled ''Wherein Aristotle disagrees with Plato'', commonly called ''De Differentiis'', to correct the misunderstandings he had encountered. He claimed he had written it "without serious intent" while incapacitated through illness, "to comfort myself and to please those who are dedicated to Plato".<ref name="Hanegraaff p.32"/> [[Gennadius Scholarius|George Scholarius]] responded with a ''Defence of Aristotle'', which elicited Plethon's subsequent ''Reply''. Expatriate Byzantine scholars and later Italian humanists continued the argument.<ref name="DeBolt"/>

Plethon died in Mistra in 1452, or in 1454, according to J. Monfasani (the difference between the two dates being significant as to whether or not Plethon still lived to know of the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453). In 1466, some of his Italian disciples, headed by [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]], stole his remains from Mistra and interred them in the [[Tempio Malatestiano]] in [[Rimini]], "so that the great Teacher may be among free men".{{citation needed||date=November 2022}}

==Writings==
[[Image:Plethon autograph.jpg|thumb|One of Plethon's manuscripts ([[Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana]], Venice)]]

===Reform of the Peloponnese===
Believing that the [[Peloponnese|Peloponnesians]] were direct descendants of the [[Hellenistic Greece|ancient Hellenes]], Plethon rejected Justinian's idea of a [[universal Empire]] in favour of recreating the [[Hellenistic civilization]], the zenith of [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] influence.<ref>James Henderson Burns, ''The Cambridge history of medieval political thought c. 350–c. 1450,'' [[Cambridge University Press]], 1988.</ref> In his 1415 and 1418 pamphlets he urged [[Manuel II Palaiologos|Manuel II]] and his son [[Theodore II Palaiologos|Theodore Palaiologos]] to turn the peninsula into a cultural island with a new constitution of strongly centralised monarchy advised by a small body of middle-class educated men. The army must be composed only of professional native Greek soldiers, who would be supported by the taxpayers, or "[[Helots]]" who would be exempt from military service. Land was to be publicly owned, and a third of all produce given to the state fund; incentives would be given for cultivating virgin land. Trade would be regulated and the use of coinage limited, barter instead being encouraged; locally available products would be supported over imports. Mutilation as a punishment would be abolished, and chain gangs introduced. Homosexuals and sexual deviants would be burnt at the stake. The social and political ideas in these pamphlets were largely derived from Plato's ''Republic''. Plethon touched little on religion, although he expressed disdain for monks, who "render no service to the common good". He vaguely prescribed three religious principles: belief in a supreme being; that this being has concern for mankind; and that it is uninfluenced by gifts or flattery. Manuel and Theodore did not act on any of these reforms.<ref name="CambridgePolitical"/>

===''De Differentiis''===
In ''De Differentiis'' Plethon compares Aristotle's and Plato's conceptions of God, arguing that Plato credits God with more exalted powers as "creator of every kind of intelligible and separate substance, and hence of our entire universe", while Aristotle has God as only the motive force of the universe; Plato's God is also the end and final cause of existence, while Aristotle's God is only the end of movement and change.<ref name="DeBolt"/> Plethon derides Aristotle for discussing unimportant matters such as shellfish and embryos while failing to credit God with creating the universe,<ref name="DeBolt"/> for believing the heavens are composed of a fifth element, and for his view that contemplation was the greatest pleasure; the latter aligned him with [[Epicurus]], Plethon argued, and he attributed this same pleasure-seeking to monks, whom he accused of laziness.<ref name="Merry"/> Later, in response to [[Gennadius Scholarius|Gennadius]]' ''Defence of Aristotle'', Plethon argued in his ''Reply'' that Plato's God was more consistent with Christian doctrine than Aristotle's, and this, according to Darien DeBolt, was probably in part an attempt to escape suspicion of [[heterodoxy]].<ref name="DeBolt"/>

===''Nomoi''===
{{blockquote|I myself heard him at Florence ... asserting that in a few more years the whole world would accept one and the same religion with one mind, one intelligence, one teaching. And when I asked him "Christ’s or Muhammad’s?," he said, "Neither; but it will not differ much from paganism." I was so shocked by these words that I hated him ever after and feared him like a poisonous viper, and I could no longer bear to see or hear him. I heard, too, from a number of Greeks who escaped here from the Peloponnese that he openly said before he died ... that not many years after his death Muhammad and Christ would collapse and the true truth would shine through every region of the globe.|[[George of Trebizond]], ''Comparatio Platonis et Aristotelis'', fol. v63<ref>Hanegraaff, p. 38.</ref>}}

After his death, Plethon's ''Nómōn syngraphḗ'' (Νόμων συγγραφή) or ''Nómoi'' (Νόμοι, "Book of Laws") was discovered. It came into the possession of Princess Theodora, wife of [[Demetrios Palaiologos]], [[despot of Morea]]. Theodora sent the manuscript to Scholarius, now Gennadius II, Patriarch of Constantinople, asking for his advice on what to do with it; he returned it, advising her to destroy it. Morea was under invasion from Sultan [[Mehmet II]], and Theodora escaped with Demetrios to Constantinople where she gave the manuscript back to Gennadius, reluctant to destroy the only copy of such a distinguished scholar's work herself. Gennadius [[book burning|burned]] it in 1460; however, in a letter to the Exarch Joseph (which still survives) he details the book, providing chapter headings and brief summaries of the contents.<ref name="DeBolt"/> It seemed to represent a merging of [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosophy and [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] mysticism, and discussed [[astrology]], [[Daemon (mythology)|daemons]] and the migration of the soul. He recommended religious rites and hymns to petition the classical gods, such as [[Zeus]], whom he saw as universal principles and planetary powers. Man, as relative of the gods, should strive towards good. Plethon believed the universe has no beginning or end in time, and being created perfect, nothing may be added to it. He rejected the concept of a brief reign of evil followed by perpetual happiness, and held that the human soul is reincarnated, directed by the gods into successive bodies to fulfill divine order. This same divine order, he believed, governed the organisation of bees, the foresight of ants and the dexterity of spiders, as well as the growth of plants, magnetic attraction, and the amalgamation of mercury and gold.<ref name="Merry"/>

Plethon drew up plans in his ''Nómoi'' to radically change the structure and philosophy of the Byzantine Empire in line with his interpretation of [[Platonism]]. The new state religion was to be founded on a hierarchical pantheon of pagan gods, based largely upon the ideas of [[humanism]] prevalent at the time, incorporating themes such as [[rationalism]] and [[logic]]. As an [[ad hoc]] measure he also supported the reconciliation of the two churches in order to secure Western Europe's support against the Ottomans.<ref>''Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 7, p. 356.</ref> He also proposed more practical, immediate measures, such as rebuilding the [[Hexamilion]], the ancient defensive wall across the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], which had been breached by the Ottomans in 1423.

The political and social elements of his theories covered the creation of communities, government (he promoted benevolent monarchy as the most stable form), land ownership (land should be shared, rather than individually owned), social organisation, families, and divisions of sex and class. He believed that labourers should keep a third of their produce, and that soldiers should be professional. He held that love should be private not because it is shameful, but because it is sacred.<ref name="Merry"/>

===''Summary''===
Plethon's own summary of the ''Nómoi'' also survived, among manuscripts held by his former student [[Bessarion]]. This summary, titled ''Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato'', affirms the existence of a pantheon of gods, with [[Zeus]] as supreme sovereign, containing within himself all being in an undivided state; his eldest child, motherless, is [[Poseidon]], who created the heavens and rules all below, ordaining order in the universe. Zeus' other children include an array of "supercelestial" gods, the Olympians and Tartareans, all motherless. Of these [[Hera]] is third in command after Poseidon, creatress and ruler of indestructible matter, and the mother by Zeus of the heavenly gods, demi-gods and spirits. The Olympians rule immortal life in the heavens, the Tartareans mortal life below, their leader Kronos ruling over mortality altogether. The eldest of the heavenly gods is Helios, master of the heavens here and source of all mortal life on earth. The gods are responsible for much good and no evil, and guide all life towards divine order. Plethon describes the creation of the universe as being perfect and outside of time, so that the universe remains eternal, without beginning or end. The soul of man, like the gods is immortal and essentially good, and is reincarnated in successive mortal bodies for eternity at the direction of the gods.<ref name="DeBolt"/>

===Other works===
[[File:Tempio malatestiano, ri, fianco dx, tomba 03 di giorgio gemisto pletone.JPG|thumb|His tomb on a side of [[Tempio Malatestiano]], [[Rimini]].]]

* ''On Virtues'' ({{langx|el|Περὶ ἀρετῶν}})

Many of Plethon's other works still exist in manuscript form in various European libraries. Most of Plethon's works can be found in [[Jacques Paul Migne|J. P. Migne]]'s ''[[Patrologia Graeca]]'' collection; for a complete list see [[Johann Albert Fabricius|Fabricius]], ''Bibliotheca Graeca'' (ed. [[Gottlieb Christoph Harless|Harles]]), xii.

==In modern literature==
Early in his writing career, [[E. M. Forster]] attempted a historical novel about Plethon and [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta]], but was not satisfied with the result and never published it — though he kept the manuscript and later showed it to [[Naomi Mitchison]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mitchison|first1=Naomi|title=You May Well Ask: A Memoir 1920–1940|year=1986|orig-year=1979|publisher=Fontana Paperbacks|location=London|isbn=978-0-00-654193-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nas5AAAACAAJ|chapter=11: Morgan Comes to Tea}}</ref> Forster also wrote an essay about Plethon, to be found in his book ''[[Abinger Harvest]]''.

[[Ezra Pound]] included Plethon in his poem ''[[The Cantos]]''. References to Plethon and Sigismondo Malatesta can be found in Canto 8. Plethon is also mentioned in Cantos 23 and 26. Pound was fascinated by the effect that Plethon's conversation may have had on Cosimo de Medici and his decision to acquire Greek manuscripts of Plato and Neoplatonic philosophers. By having manuscripts brought from Greece and becoming the patron of "the young boy, Ficino," Cosimo facilitated the preservation and transmission of the Greek cultural patrimony into the modern world after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Plethon thus played a key but hidden role in the Italian Renaissance.

Plethon and his school are depicted in the 2008 novel ''The Perfect Remembrance of Death'' ({{lang|sr|Savršeno sećanje na smrt}}) by Serbian writer [[Radoslav Petković]], whose main character survives the fall of Constantinople and remembers his early days in Mystra as Plethon's pupil.

== See also ==
* [[Greek scholars in the Renaissance]]
* [[Christian heresy]]
* [[Hellenistic religion]]
* [[Polytheistic reconstructionism]]
* [[Renaissance humanism]]
* [[Renaissance magic]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Benakis, A. G. and Baloglou, Ch. P., ''Proceedings of the International Congress of Plethon and His Time'', Mystras, 26–29 June 2002, Athens-Mystras, 2003 {{ISBN|960-87144-1-9}}
* Brown, Alison M., 'Platonism in fifteenth century Florence and its contribution to early modern political thought', ''Journal of Modern History'' 58 (1986), 383–413.
*{{cite book |last=Hanegraaff | first=Wouter |year=2012 | title=Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture | publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521196215}}
* Harris, Jonathan, 'The influence of Plethon's idea of fate on the historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles', in: '' Proceedings of the International Congress on Plethon and his Time'', Mystras, 26–29 June 2002, ed. L.G. Benakis and Ch.P. Baloglou (Athens: Society for Peloponnesian and Byzantine Studies, 2004), pp.&nbsp;211–17
* Keller, A., 'Two Byzantine scholars and their reception in Italy', in: ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'' 20 (1957), 363–70
*{{cite book|last1=Makrides|first1=Vasilios|title=Hellenic Temples and Christian Churches: A Concise History of the Religious Cultures of Greece from Antiquity to the Present|year=2009|location=New York|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-9568-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKOY5NsekfkC}}
* Mandilas, Kostas, ''Georgius Gemistos Plethon'' (Athens 1997)* {{ISBN|960-7748-08-5}}
* Matula, Jozef and Blum, Paul Richard (ed.), ''Georgios Gemistos Plethon – The Byzantine and the Latin Renaissance'' (Olomouc 2014) [http://www.renesancni-texty.upol.cz/soubory/publikace/Plethon_Conference_Proceedings.pdf]
* Michalopoulos, Dimitris,  "George Gemistos Pletho and his Legacy" in ''Intelectualii Politicii si Politica Intelectuallilor'', Editura Cetatea de Scaun, 2016, p.&nbsp;448-459 ({{ISBN|978-606-537-347-1}})
* Masai, François, ''Pléthon et le platonisme de Mistra'' (Paris, 1956)
* Monfasani, John, 'Platonic paganism in the fifteenth century', in: John Monfasani, ''Byzantine Scholars in Renaissance Italy: Cardinal Bessarion and Other Émigrés'', (Aldershot, 1995).
* Runciman, Steven, ''The Last Byzantine Renaissance'' (Cambridge, 1970)
* Setton, Kenneth M. 'The Byzantine background to the Italian Renaissance', in: ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', 100 (1956), 1–76.
* Tambrun, Brigitte. ''Pléthon. Le retour de Platon'', Paris, Vrin, 2006 {{ISBN|2-7116-1859-5}}
* Tambrun-Krasker, Brigitte, ''Georges Gémiste Pléthon, Traité des vertus''. Édition critique avec introduction, traduction et commentaire, Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi, Philosophi Byzantini 3, Athens-The Academy of Athens, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1987.
* Tambrun-Krasker, Brigitte, ''Magika logia tôn apo Zoroastrou magôn, Georgiou Gemistou Plêthônos Exêgêsis eis ta auta logia. Oracles chaldaïques. Recension de Georges Gémiste Pléthon''. Edition critique avec introduction, traduction et commentaire par Brigitte Tambrun-Krasker. ''La recension arabe des Magika logia'' par Michel Tardieu, Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi, Philosophi Byzantini 7, Athens-The Academy of Athens, Paris, Librairie J. Vrin, Bruxelles, éditions Ousia, 1995, LXXX+187 p.
* Tambrun, Brigitte, "Pletho" (article) in: W.J. Hanegraaff, A. Faivre, [[Roel van den Broek|R. van den Broek]], J.-P. Brach ed., ''Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism'', Leiden, E.J. Brill, 2005, 2006.
* Vassileiou, Fotis & Saribalidou, Barbara, ''Short Biographical Lexicon of Byzantine Academics Immigrants in Western Europe'', 2007.
* [http://www.anistor.gr/english/enback/2012_1e_Anistoriton.pdf Viglas, Katelis, 'Alexandre Joseph Hidulphe Vincent on George Gemistos Plethon', ''Anistoriton Journal'', Vol. 13, No 1, 2012–2013, 1–12]
* Vojtech Hladky, ''The Philosophy of Gemistos Plethon. Platonism in Late Byzantium, between Hellenism and Orthodoxy'', Ashgate, Farnham-Burlington, 2014 {{ISBN|978-1-4094-5294-2}}
* [[Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington|Woodhouse, Cristopher Montague]], ''George Gemistos Plethon – The Last of the Hellenes'' (Oxford, 1986).
* Zervas, Theodore. (2010). Beginnings of a Modern Greek Identity: Byzantine Legacy.
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Georgius Gemistus Plethon}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Gemistus Pletho, Georgius|volume=11||page=573}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Plethon}}
* {{MathGenealogy|id=131575}}
* [https://archive.org/details/plthontraitdesl00pellgoog Pléthon (1858), ''Traité des lois'' (''Book of Laws'')] at [[archive.org]]
* [https://library.acropolis.org/plethon/ Plethon] at the [[New Acropolis]] library
* [http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Medi/MediDebo.htm "George Gemistos Plethon on God: Heterodoxy in Defense of Orthodoxy"]
* [http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00293398/fr/ Pléthon et Cosme de Médicis]
* [http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00293417/fr/ Pléthon : le retour de Platon, Pythagore et Zoroastre]
* [https://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/3019 "Secret Texts of Hellenic Polytheism"] by John Opsopaus, PhD

{{Social and political philosophy}}
{{Political philosophy}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plethon, George Gemistos}}
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