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Gregory Palamas

Type Figure Region Byzantine Empire Time c. 1296–1359 Also known as Palamas

Gregory Palamas (c. 1296–1359) was a late Byzantine theologian and Athonite monk, later Archbishop of Thessaloniki, who defended hesychasm and the es…

Timeline

  1. c. 1296–1316Constantinople · ConstantinopleFrom a noble family that moved from Asia Minor to the capital, his father was a courtier of Andronikos II; after his early death the emperor took part in his upbringing. He completed the medieval higher education curriculum but refused a career in office, persuading his family around age twenty to take monastic vows with him.
  2. 1316–1326Vatopedi Monastery, Mount Athos · Mount AthosHe entered Vatopedi around 1316, later moving to the Great Lavra and hermitages of Glykophylous, practicing the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm under elders. In 1326 he fled Turkish raids to Thessaloniki, was ordained, and founded a small skete near Veria.
  3. 1336–1347Constantinople · ConstantinopleFrom 1336 he rebutted Barlaam of Calabria's attacks on Athonite hesychasm, writing the Triads and other works distinguishing God's essence from uncreated energies. The 1341 council supported his teaching; during the civil war he was briefly imprisoned and rehabilitated in 1347 with the support of John VI Kantakouzenos.
  4. 1347–1359Thessaloniki · ThessalonikiConsecrated archbishop in 1347, he did not enter the city to take up his post until around 1350 because of its politics, and was at one point captured by the Turks. The 1351 council again confirmed Palamism. He died in Thessaloniki on November 14, 1359, and was canonized in 1368.

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