NICETA OF MARONEA. — Byzantine theologian of the 12th century. A native of Maronea in Thrace, he held certain ecclesiastical offices in Constantinople. He flourished during the reign of Manuel Comnenus (1143–80), but was already metropolitan of Thessalonica in 1133.
His famous Dialogues on the Procession of the Holy Spirit were already cited in 1177 by Hugh Etherianus (De haeresibus, chaps. 18–19; PL 202, 388–89). In them, his knowledge of the Latins is perfect, and he grants (an important concession in Byzantine theology) that a thorough study of the Fathers leads to the equivalence between the Greek formula διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ and the Latin ex Patre Filioque. However, he insists that this word should be removed from the traditional Symbol. The first of the six Dialogues and fragments of the others were edited by Hergenröther (PG 139, 169–222) and by N. Festa; the next three in Bessarione (9–14 [1912–16]), while the fifth and sixth Dialogues remain unpublished in Vat. gr. 1115 and Laurent. gr. plut. XXXI, 37.