GREGORIO (GIORGIO) CIPRIOTA. - Greek theologian and man of letters, born in 1241 and died in 1290. A native of Cyprus, whence his name, he completed his studies at Nicaea and Constantinople, where he was a pupil of Giorgio Acropolita. He soon entered the court clergy as a deacon and, under Michele VIII Paleologo, proved to be one of the most convinced supporters of the union of the Eastern Church with Rome. After the accession to the throne of Andronico II (1288), he was called to fill the office of patriarch: he then changed his original name of Giorgio to that of G., by which he is generally known, and began to oppose the policy of Michele VIII and the agreement of the Council of Lyons. Not recognized by the patriarch of Antioch and opposed by the Orthodox themselves because of his theological ideas, he abdicated in 1289 and died a year later.
Most of his theological works were written against Giovanni Belkios and his followers, or in defense of friends accused before the Synod of Constantinople. These works earned him the title of “pillar of orthodoxy.” He also left literary works that make him one of the most characteristic representatives of thirteenth-century Byzantine humanism. The autobiography, which precedes his collection of letters, is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the society of his time.