Bessarion of Trebizond and the hermeneutics of the Patristic tradition

The example of Bessarion of Trebizond, metropolitan of Nicaea and later cardinal of the Roman Church, is extremely interesting, as it is one of the dominant figures of the Synod of Ferrara Florence. Having worked towards a crusade that would save his homeland from the Turkish danger with the help of the West, the speech of the Oratio Dogmatica examined in the present study has a weight of special interest. The philosophical way of reasoning and method of approach of the Fathers, insofar as it becomes an argumentative tool, allows him to focus on the common elements, in order to serve his unifying effort, continuing a spacious interpretation of the doctrine of “emanation” (inv. of the Holy Spirit) . Bessarion prioritizes the salvation of the country over the accuracy of the Church’s dogmatic teaching.