Donation to Biblioteca Marciana

Date: May 31, 1468 • Location: Venice, Italy

Cardinal Bessarion announced his donation of 746 Greek and Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca Marciana.

Bessarion was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the revival of letters in the 15th century. He was educated by Gemistus Pletho in Neoplatonic philosophy and later served as the titular Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. He eventually was named a cardinal and was twice considered for the papacy.