Henrietta Maria’s marriage (1625) to Charles I of England,
concluded the treaty of Monzon (1626), and was instru-
mental in the reconciliation of Louis XIII with his mother
Marie de’ Medici. He was created cardinal in 1627 and a
councillor of state; the latter post he soon relinquished as
a result of Cardinal Richelieu’s opposition to his Austrian
policy. His writings, including Grandeurs de Jésus (1623),
were popular among the French Jansenists.
Bessarion, Cardinal John (c. 1395–1472) Greek-born
humanist scholar, churchman, philosopher, and collector of
manuscripts
Born at Trebizond, he was educated in Constantinople. In
1423 he heard PLETHONlecture on Plato and was attracted
to his ideas. Unlike Plethon however, he was a Platonist
who could recognize the value in contemporary Aris-
totelianism and he endeavored to reconcile the two sys-
tems. By substituting the original works of Greek genius
for an outworn scholasticism, thus bringing men’s minds
back to the pristine sources of antiquity, Bessarion was the
principal author of the philosophical Renaissance. Cre-
ated archbishop of Nicaea (1437), he visited Italy with
Emperor John VIII Palaeologus to join in discussions in-
tended to bring about unity between the Eastern and
Western Churches. His support for the Roman Church at
the councils of Ferrara and FLORENCErecommended him
to Pope Eugenius IV, who made him a cardinal (1439).
From then on Bessarion lived in Italy, encouraging the
spread of Greek studies. He received the archbishopric of
Sipunto and the bishoprics of Sabina and Frascati, and his
palace in Rome was a meeting-place for philosophers;
refugee Greeks were especially welcome and he thus made
a major contribution to the diffusion of Hellenism. He
translated Aristotle’s Metaphysics and also wrote Platonic
treatises De natura et arte and In calumniatorem Platonis,
the latter being an attack on GEORGE OF TREBIZOND. De-
spite this, he was not an uncompromising Platonist and
his works made Platonism more hospitable to orthodox
theology and encouraged theology to be more speculative.
Bessarion’s collection of 800 manuscripts, nearly 500 of
them Greek, was presented (1468) to the Venetian senate
and became the nucleus of the Bibliotheca MARCIANA.
See also: PLATONISM, RENAISSANCE
Bess of Hardwick See HARDWICK, ELIZABETH
Beza (Théodore de Bèze) (1519–1605) French theologian
and scholar
Born in Vézelay and educated at Orleans and Bourges as a
Protestant, he practiced law in Paris (1539), where his life
was marked by worldliness and frivolity. In 1548 a serious
illness effected a change in his outlook. He became a
Calvinist and in November 1549 was appointed professor
of Greek at Lausanne. There he helped CALVINwith a
number of works, including the De haereticis a civili mag-
istratu puniendis (1554), which justified the persecution of
those who refused to accept Calvin’s teaching. In 1558 he
moved to Geneva. On Calvin’s death (1564) Beza became
his successor and wrote his biography. His main contribu-
tion to scholarship was his work on the New Testament;
his editions influenced the Genevan English versions
(1557, 1560) and the Authorized Version (1611). In 1581
he presented D (the Codex Bezae), one of the primary
manuscripts for the text of the New Testament, to Cam-
bridge University, but little attention was then paid to it.
His play Abraham sacrifiant (1550) is claimed to be the
first French tragedy; it was translated into English by
Arthur Golding in 1575. Beza’s inaccuracies as a historian
originated many errors made by later writers. His lasting
importance lies in the modifications he made to the rigors
of Calvin’s rule. He broadened the appeal of Protestantism
by adopting a more tolerant approach to the details of ad-
ministration, though he remained firm on the central
points of Calvin’s doctrine.Bibbiena, Bernardo Dovizi, Il (1470–1520) Italian
churchman, diplomat, and author
Called after his birthplace of Bibbiena, near Florence, Bib-
biena was a protégé of Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici,
whom he followed into exile in 1494. Bibbiena worked as-
siduously on his patron’s behalf and when Giovanni be-
came Pope LEO X(1513) he was rewarded by being made
a cardinal and Leo’s treasurer-general. He also undertook
several important diplomatic missions. Bibbiena was a
friend of RAPHAEL, who painted his portrait, and his char-
acter is favorably depicted in Castiglione’s THE COURTIER.
Apart from his letters, Bibbiena is mainly remembered as
the author of La calandria, a commedia erudita first per-
formed at Urbino in 1513, which had many revivals and
imitators during the Renaissance.Bible, editions of Throughout the Middle Ages the Latin
translation of the Bible made by St. Jerome in the fourth
century AD(the Vulgate) remained the basis of Bible texts.
It was some time before the new approaches to textual
criticism made an impact on biblical scholarship. Conser-
vative scholastic exegetes, exemplified by the theological
faculty of the Sorbonne, branded as heresy the subjecting
of Scripture to the same kinds of critical test as secular lit-
erature. Moreover the Hebrew text of the Old Testament
could not be studied without the help of Jewish scholars
and this too aroused hostility (see HEBREW STUDIES).
Hebrew printing began in Italy around 1475, and the
first important editions of biblical texts were printed at
Soncino, east of Milan (1485–86). The whole of the He-
brew Old Testament was printed in 1488. The next stage
was the printing of the COMPLUTENSIAN POLYGLOTat Alcalá
(1514–17), though the edition was not published till- In 1516 the first edition of the rabbinical Bible was
published. The only other important edition of the He-
5544 BBeessssaarriioonn,, CCaarrddiinnaall JJoohhnn