CABASILAS, NILO. — Dissident Greek theologian of the fourteenth century. Born in Thessalonica at the end of the thirteenth century, into a noble family, he flourished chiefly under the emperors Cantacuzenus and Giovanni V Paleologo, who bestowed favors and dignities upon him generously, especially when, owing to the persecution of the nobles by the zelots (1345), C. settled permanently in Constantinople. At the end of his life he was elected archbishop of Thessalonica, as successor to the celebrated innovator Gregory Palamas, but two years later (1363) he died without yet having reached his see. In the Synodicon of Thessalonica he is celebrated every year as a saint, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and as such he also seems to be recognized by the entire Byzantine Church.
His scholarly work is remarkable. For he was not only a teacher of rhetoric (his most devoted pupil was undoubtedly Demetrius Cydones), but also and above all an eminent theologian, well versed in the positive study of the Fathers and in the dialectical reasoning of Aristotelian metaphysics.
In favor of Palamism, among whose ranks he took his place from the beginning, he left the legacy of a considerable number of his works, and had that celebrated encounter with its determined opponent Nicephorus Gregoras (PG 148, 1328-1435). Together with Finteo Kokkinos, he also drafted the decisive Synodal Tome of the Palamite Council in 1351, which opened the way to the official proclamation of the new doctrine as the only true doctrine of the « Orthodox » Church.
But the most singular fact about C. is that he was one of the first Byzantines to become acquainted with St. Thomas, thanks to the translation of several works of the Saint undertaken by his pupil Demetrius and by the latter’s brother Procoro Cidone. Not only that, but he was also the first to attack him bitterly, after having once experienced all his fascination. C. composed his voluminous treatise on the Holy Spirit—his most valuable work—especially against the Angelic Doctor. The final 15 questions of the last part, accompanied by an analytical study and the Latin translation, have recently been published in vol. 116 of Studi e Testi; all the rest remains unpublished.
C. also wrote other interesting works of a historical and canonical character against the Roman Church and in defense of Palamism; their number and doctrinal value have been established in the most recent study of C., cited below in the bibliography.