On Plethon again PART 2
As this Project is emerging as an ongoing, international co-operative network - here are some resources and routes for further research:
The Wikipedia entry on Bembo, has the following:
"Born in Brescia and formed in the late Gothic school, he was influenced by the Renaissance style. After his knowledge with Gemistus Pletho, he absorbed the latter's Neoplatonic ideals. He was also active in Cremona."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonifacio_Bembo
What is the evidence for a Bembo/Plethon link? I will make my suggestions, and hope you could follow the sources of this quote.
Any further speculations on Pletho [I prefer this form of his name] need to absorb all the research published to date, and parallel material. A good place to start is with this key article:
Milton V. Anastos, Pletho's Calendar and Liturgy, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 4, (1948), pp. 183-305
For the Neo-Zoroastrian angle, and Pletho - through to Ficino/Chaldean Oracles:
Dr. Michael Stausberg, Neo-Zoroastrian Hellenism in 15th Century Byzantine Empire: The Case of George Gemistos Plethon, K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Third International Congress Proceedings, January 2000, Mumbai
Dr. Michael Stausberg, Zoroaster as Perceived in Western Europe After Antiquity, August 29, 2005
http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp9/ot_zoreur_20050829.html
For Pletho & Islam, Anastos and more recently:
Maria Mavroudi (University of C. Berkeley): George Gemistos Plethon in the Islamic world.
This would seen to be the most vital material, amongst others, but a bit thin on content:
Marco Bertozzi, George Gemistos Plethon and the Myth of Ancient Paganism: from the Council of Ferrara to the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini, (pubblicato negli Atti del Congresso Internazionale su Pletone e il suo tempo, 2002-2003);
[Note the Plethon Congress in Mistra and its participants]
Marco Bertozzi, Giorgio Gemisto Pletone e il mito del paganesimo antico, in: Sul ritorno di Pletone. Un filosofo a Rimini, Raffaelli, 2003
Some other papers, without any order, which should be enough for the time being,
Yours sincerely, Samten de Wet
Bamford, Christopher, The Dream of Gemistos Plethon, Sphinx 6, London. Delivered at the: Marsilio Ficino, Renaissance Doctor of Soul & "A Little Breath of Venus"--1993 Convivium conference at the Villa Medici, Careggi in Florence.
Wouter J. Hanegraaff , ‘The Pagan Who Came from the East: George Gemistos Plethon and Platonic Orientalism’, in: Wouter J. Hanegraaff & Joyce Pijnenburg (eds.), Hermes in the Academy: Ten Years’ Study of Western Esotericism at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press: Amsterdam 2009, pp. 33‐49.
Sherrard, Philip, The Symbolical Career of Georgios Gemistos Plethon, Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Spring 1974) © World Wisdom, Inc.
www.studiesincomparativereligion.com
Leonidas C. Bargeliotes, Plethon's Conception of Cosmos and its Impact on the Western Cosmological Theories [Online as a .pdf]
Leonidas C Bargeliotes, Plethon as a Forerunner of Neo-Hellenic and Modern European Consciousness, Diotima (1973, Volume: 1, Pages: 33-60
Leonidas C Bargeliotes, Fate or "Heimarmene" According to Pletho, Diotima (1975)
Pages: 3 137-149
Abstract
Pletho's determinism is expressed in his conception of fate or "heimarmene". besides the political and religious significance of the doctrine it has an epistemological and a scientific one. this is shown by an analysis and presentation of the doctrine of fate in the context of his speculations on cosmology, divinity and man. a relation of fate to other concepts such as causality, necessity and chance is also included. it is also shown that Pletho had recourse to Greek traditional philosophers where he found the necessary concepts to meet the needs of his time. his main ideas discussed are: 1) the concept of "heimarmene", 2) universal causation and divine foreknowledge, 3) causation and inductive method of investigation, and 4) causation and rival theories.