Prochoros Kydones (; c. 1330 – c. 1369), Latinized as Prochorus Cydones or Prochorus Cydonius was an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

monk, theologian, and linguist. An advocate of Western Aristotelian thought, his translation of Latin Scholastic writings brought him into conflict with

Hesychasm Hesychasm () is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Christian traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in ...

, the leading school of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

mystical theology, and its most vigorous defender,

Gregory Palamas Gregory Palamas (; ; – 1357/1359) was a Byzantine Greek theologian and Eastern Orthodox cleric of the late Byzantine period. A monk of Mount Athos (modern Greece) and later archbishop of Thessalonica, he is famous for his defense of hesyc ...

Life

Born in the

city of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic reg ...

, Prochoros entered the

Great Lavra The Monastery of Great Lavra () is the first monastery built on Mount Athos, on the Athos peninsula in geographical Macedonia, northeastern Greece. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the ...

, a monastery on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

at a young age, and was eventually ordained a

hieromonk A hieromonk,; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: ''Иеромонахъ''; ; ; ; ; Albanian language, Albanian: ''Hieromurg'' also called a priestmonk, is a person who is both monk and Priest#Roman Catholic and Orthodox, priest in the Eastern Christianity ...

. He was greatly influenced by Western

Scholasticism Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Ca ...

. He collaborated with his brother

Demetrios Kydones Demetrios Kydones, latinized as Demetrius Cydones or Demetrius Cydonius (; 1324, Thessalonica – 1398, Crete), was a Byzantine Catholic theologian, translator, author and statesman. He served an unprecedented three terms as '' Mesazon'' (Im ...

in translating

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

' monumental ''

Summa Theologiae The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main the ...

''. Prochoros also made Greek translations of the works of

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

and the 6th-century philosopher

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

. Prochoros' own treatise, ''De essentia et operatione Dei'' (“On the Essence and Activity of God”), was a condemnation of the mystical theology of

Palamism Palamism or the Palamite theology comprises the teachings of Gregory Palamas (c. 1296 – 1359), whose writings defended the Eastern Orthodox practice of Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam. Followers of Palamas are sometimes referred to a ...

, propagated by

. The Synod of Constantinople in 1368 condemned both of the brothers Kydones as heretics, and Prochoros was deposed from the priesthood. The chief source for Prochoros' life is a pair of polemical addresses by Demetrios, eulogizing his brother and denouncing Patriarch

Philotheus Kokkinos Philotheus I of Constantinople (; – 1379) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for two periods from August 1353 to December 1354 and from 8 October 1364 to August 1376, and a leader of the Byzantine monastic and religious revival in ...

, who had been responsible for their condemnation. He died at

Life

See also