Nikephoros the Monk

Nikephoros the Monk, also called the Hesychast or the Athonite, was a 13th-century monk and spiritual writer of the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to Gregory Palamas, Nikephoros was originally a Roman Catholic but travelled to the Byzantine Empire, where he converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith and became a monk at Mount Athos. Like Theoleptos of Philadelphia, Nikephoros was a strong opponent of the union of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches which was agreed to at the Council of Lyons in 1274. Because of this, he was imprisoned and later wrote an account of his ordeal.