Abstract
This paper is focused on Georgios Gemistos Plethon's (c. 1360-1452 or 1454) spiritual and intellectual development from his alleged studies in Andrianople (the present Edirne) as they are conceived in general, pedagogical activities in Constantinople and his later philosophical and scientific activities in Peloponnesian Mistra, the capital of the Despotate of Morea, since the end of the first decade of the 15th century (i.e. since c. 1409) until his death (presumably in 1454 and not in 1452 as is thought in general). Plethon's inspirational philosophical impact occurred during the first phase of the current Council of Ferrara and Florence (1438-1439) concerning the union of churches.
Plethon's treatise On Difference between Plato and Aristotle triggered Plato-Aristotle controversy significant for the philosophical thought of the 15th century. George Gemistos Plethon was the most original and influential thinker of the Late Palaeologan Renaissance, which helped to introduce Platonic philosophy in the Renaissance Italy, and thus indirectly to the whole Western thought.
Potential inspirational influence of his "philosophical school" in Mistra is considered in relation to the establishment of Cosimo's and Ficino's Platonic Academy in Careggi.