Constantine, one of those illustrious Greeks who, having been expelled from their native country in the fifteenth century, contributed greatly to the revival of letters in Europe. He was descended of the imperial family of the same name, and born at Constantinople, though in what year has not been ascertained. In 1454, he left the imperial city, destined soon afterwards to become the prey of the Turkish invaders, and went to seek an asylum in Italy, where he was favourably received by Francesco Sforza, who intrusted him with the education of his daughter Hippolyta, afterwards married to Alfonzo king of Naples. From Milan he proceeded to Rome, where he lived some time in habits of intimacy with Cardinal Bessarion, and then set out for Naples, whither he had been invited by King Ferdinand, in order to profess Greek and rhetoric in that city. Having spent some years in this occupation, he formed the resolution of going to end his days in one of the isles of Greece; but the vessel in which he had embarked having touched at Messina, the principal inhabitants made to him such urgent applications, that he consented to give lessons in their city. The reputation of this great master of learning soon attracted thither numerous pupils, amongst whom the celebrated Bembo is said to have been one; and he received the honour of citizenship, which he merited equally by his virtues and his erudition. He lived to an advanced age, and died towards the end of the year 1493. In gratitude for the proofs of regard which he had received from the senate, he bequeathed to it, by his will, his library, consisting of valuable manuscripts, which were afterwards transported to Spain, where they may still be seen in the Royal Library of the Escorial. His published works are, 1. Grammatica Graeca, sive Compendium octo Orationis partium, Milan, 1476, in 4to, being the first book printed in Greek; 2. Two Opuscula on the Sicilians and Calabrese who had written in Greek, published, for the first time, by Maurolico in 1562; 3. A Dissertation on Orpheus, printed in the first volume of the Marmora Taurinensis, from a manuscript in the library of the king of Sardinia.

Andrew John, a learned Greek, of the same family with the preceding, and surnamed Rhypadacenus, probably because he was originally from Rhynadacus, a small town between the Hellespont and Phrygia. He abandoned his native country after the overthrow of the lower empire, and took refuge at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici. This great protector of letters sent him back to the East to collect such manuscripts as had escaped the fury of the Turks; and having obtained permission to examine the libraries, he derived from them a great number of valuable works. Some years afterwards, he made a second voyage to Greece; but before his return Lorenzo died, and the troubles which broke out in Florence determined Lascaris to accept the offers made to him by Charles VIII. in order to draw him to France. He was at Paris in the year 1495; and it was he who taught the principles of the Greek language to Budé and to Danes. In 1503, Louis XII. appointed him to the embassy of Venice; a mission in which he must have acquitted himself in a satisfactory manner, since he was sent thither a second time in 1505. Nevertheless, Wicquert pretends that Lascaris was but ill qualified for an employment which required a knowledge of the interests of princes, and great experience of the world; and he even asserts that the Venetians complained that France had sent them a pedant instead of an ambassador. His functions ceased in consequence of the rupture which took place between the republic and France; and Lascaris resumed the teaching of the Greek language. Leo X. having conceived the design of extending the knowledge of this language, called him to Rome, to put him at the head of the college of young Greeks which he had just founded; and at the same time confided to him the direction of a printing establishment destined to multiply impressions of Greek books. In 1515, the pope intrusted him with a mission to Francis I.; and this prince, sensible of his merits, endeavoured to retain him in France. Lascaris, however, returned to Rome the same year; but he revisited Paris in 1518, and, along with Budé, was employed to form the royal library of Fontainebleau. Francis I. then appointed Lascaris his ambassador to Venice, as his predecessor had done; and he remained in that city until Pope Paul III. testified a desire to have him at Rome. He yielded to the solicitations of the pontiff, though suffering from the gout, and immediately set out for the capital of the Christian world; but the fatigue of the journey augmented his sufferings, and he died, in 1535, a few months after his arrival, at the advanced age of nearly ninety. Lascaris did not deem it unworthy of him to act as corrector of the press, first in the office of F. Alopia at Florence, and next in the printing-house established by Pope Leo X. in Monte-Cavallo; and we are indebted to him for excellent editions of the following works, viz. 1. Anthologia Epigrammatum Graecorum, libri vii. Grace, Florence, 1494, in 4to; 2. Callimachi Hymni Gr. cum scholiis Graecis, ibid. in 4to, the editio princeps, executed with the same characters as the preceding work; 3. Scholia Graeca in Iliadem, in integrum restituta, Rome, 1517, in folio, a very rare edition; 4. Homericarum Questionum, liber, et de Nympharum antro in Odyssea opusculum, ibid. 1518, in small 4to, the editio princeps; 5. Commentarii [Graeci] in septem Tragedias Sophoclis, ibid. 1518, in small 4to. Lascaris wrote in Latin with equal facility and elegance; and he was entreated to undertake the translation of several Greek authors, but he has only rendered some treatises of Polybius on the military art. Several smaller works are also ascribed to him, viz. 1. Epigrammata Graeca et Latina, Paris, 1527, in 8vo, and 1544, in 4to; 2. De veris Graecarum Litterarum formis ac causis apud Antiquos, Paris, 1536, in 8vo; 3. Orationes, Francfort, 1575. The Nuova Scelta di Lettere, by Bernardo Pino, contains one of Lascaris.