c. 1400: Bessarion is born in Trebizond of the Pontos
c. 1415: He moves to Constantinople for advanced studies
1420s: He studies under George Chrysokkokes and John Chortasmenos
1424: He is tonsured a monk and receives the monastic name Bessarion
1426: He becomes a deacon
c. 1427: Bessarion participates in a diplomatic mission to Trebizond
1431: He becomes a monk and follows his patron, Dositheos, to the Peloponnese
1431-1435: Bessarion studies in Mystra, under the philosopher George Gemistos-Pletho
1436: Bessarion is recalled to Constantinople. He is appointed abbot and teacher in the monastery of St. Basil. He participates in an another diplomatic mission to Trebizond
1437: Bessarion is made metropolitan of Nicaea. Departure for Italy as a member of a Byzantine delegation
1437-1439: Participation in the Council of Ferrara-Florence
1439: In July Bessarion signs the Act of Union. In October he sails for Constantinople. In December 18th he is elected a Cardinal of the Papal Church
late 1440: He leaves Byzantium forever and settles in Italy
1442-1444: Bessarion’s first attempts to incite a Crusade against the Ottomans. He corresponds with Constantine Palaiologos
1446: Following Bessarion’s initiative, reforms are carried out in the Greek Catholic monasteries of Italy
1449: He is made bishop of Tusculum. Diplomatic mission in Northern Italy
1450-1455: Bessarion is a papal legate in Bologna
1455: Bessarion is a candidate for the papal throne
1459: He actively participates in the congress of Mantua
fall 1459 - January 1462: Diplomatic mission in Central Europe
1462: Bessarion sets up an «endowment» for the unionist priests of Crete
1463: He is elected Catholic Patriarch of Constantinople
July 1463 – summer 1464: Diplomatic mission to Venice
1465: He undertakes the upbringing of Thomas Palaiologos’ children
1468: Bessarion bequeaths his library to the Venetian state. He is elected bishop of Sabina
1468-1469: Creation of the first printing press in Rome. Bessarion played a leading role in this, and prints his essay against Plato’s detractors, thus taking a position in the quarrel between the Platonists and the Aristotelians of his era
1471: Bessarion fails for the second time to become Pope
25th of December 1471- fall 1472: Diplomatic mission in France
November 18th 1472: Bessarion dies in Ravenna, in Northern Italy