Cydones, Prochorus
CYDONES, PROCHORUS
Byzantine monk and theologian; b. Thessalonica, c. 1330; d. 1368 or 1369. Prochorus, a brother of Demetrius cydones, became a monk in the Laura on Mt. Athos; he was ordained a priest and left the monastery solely to visit his brother. He was attracted by scholastic thought. Strenuously opposed to Gregory palamas and hesychasm, he translated into Greek, works of Augustine, Boethius, Herveus Natalis, and Thomas Aquinas (Summa theologiae 3a), and directed an anti-Hesychast study (De essentia et operatione ) to Philotheus Coccinus. He was excommunicated and degraded by the Synod of 1368, which canonized Gregory Palamas. It is probable that he had become a Catholic in secret. His brother Demetrius's eulogy of him was also his defense.
Bibliography: g. palamas, Contra Prochorum Cydonium, Patrologia Graeca 151:693–716. g. acindyni, De essentia et operatione Dei, Patrologia Graeca 1191–1242. b. kotter, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche 2 8:781. m. candal, "El libro VI de Prócoro Cidonio," Orientalia Christiana periodica 20 (1954) 247–297. g. mercati, ed., Notizie di Procoro e Demetrio Cidone Studi e Testi 56 (1931) 1–6, 285–355. h. g. beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich 60, 737–739.
[p. joannou]