Gregory II of Constantinople (Greek:Γρηγόριος ὁ Κύπριος,romanized: Grēgorios ho Kyprios;c. 1241 –c. 1290) wasEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople between 1283 and 1289.

Gregory was born inLapithos,Cyprus. His name was originally George. His parents were middle class but of noble origin. He moved toNicosia as a teenager seeking further education. Not satisfied by the level of education provided by local teachers inGreek, he became a student at aLatin school (available then as Cyprus was aCrusader states Kingdom). He had difficulty learning Latin and thus got only a superficial knowledge of grammar andAristotle'sLogic.

Still determined to get a decent education, he got on a ship toAcre,Palestine, where he arrived after three days. From there he travelled toAnaea inAnatolia and finally made it toMount Galesios nearEphesus. He had heard a lot about the scholarNikephoros Blemmydes but was disappointed by him and moved toNicaea where he studied withGeorge Akropolites. With the recapture ofConstantinople by Nicaean forces in 1261, he moved there. Later he became a teacher, his students includingNikephoros Choumnos.

He became patriarch in 1283. The Orthodox and the Catholic churches had proclaimed their union in 1274 in theSecond Council of Lyon, motivated more by the emperor's politics than by theological arguments. Gregory II, contrary to his predecessor refused to accept theFilioque clause added to theNicene Creed by the Roman Catholics. Gregory spoke of an eternal manifestation of the Spirit by the Son. Gregory II's formula has been considered an Orthodox "answer" to the Filioque, though it does not have the status of official Orthodox doctrine. Gregory II's perception ofTrinity was endorsed by theCouncil of Constantinople in 1285.

Gregory II's doctrine of an eternal manifestation of the Spirit is often interpreted by Orthodox theologians as being a significant influence onGregory Palamas and the formulation of hisEssence-Energy doctrine. ParticularlyDumitru Stăniloae,^[1]John Meyendorff,^[2] andVladimir Lossky, who states:

It is interesting to note that the distinction between the hypostatic existence of the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father alone, and his eternal shining forth – εἰς αἷδιον ἔκφανσιν – through the Son, has been formulated during the discussions which took place in Constantinople at the end of the 13th century, after the Council of Lyon. We can grasp here the doctrinal continuity: the defence of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father alone requires clarification on the διὰ υἱοῦ, and that latter opens the way to the distinction between essence and energies. It is not a "dogmatic development" but one and same tradition defended on different points by the Orthodox theologians, from Saint Photius to Gregory II and Saint Gregory Palamas.^[3]

Gregory wrote collections of proverbs, his own autobiography, and a series of rhetorical exercises, as well as hagiographical and doctrinal works. He also left a collection of letters:

• Paroemiae (Proverbs):Schneidewin, F. G.; von Leutsch, E. L., eds. (1839).Corpus paroemiographorum Graecorum. Vol. I. pp. 349–378.von Leutsch, E. L., ed. (1851).Corpus paroemiographorum Graecorum. Vol. II. pp. 53–92, 93–130 and 131–134.
• Epistola ad Joannem II sebastocratorem Thessaliae (Epistle to John II,sebastokrator ofThessaly):Rapp, C. (1988). "Ein bisher unbekannter Brief des Patriarchen Gregor von Zypern an Johannes II, Sebastokrator von Thessalien".Byzantinische Zeitschrift.81 (1):12–20.doi:10.1515/bz-1988-0204.S2CID 191479342.
• Tomus fidei (Explanatory tome of the Orthodox faith),Migne, Jacques Paul (1863). Migne, Jacques Paul Migne (ed.).Patrologiae cursus completes - Series Graeca. Vol. CXLIV. pp. 233–246.
• Progymnasmata (Rhetorical exercises),Kotzabassi, S. (1993). "Die Progymnasmata des Gregor von Zypern".Ἑλληνικά.43:51–63.
• De vita sua (On his own life; autobiography),Lameere, W. (1937).La tradition manuscrite de la correspondance de Grégoire II, Patriarche de Constantinople (1283–1289). pp. 177–191.
• Contra Synesium, sive comae encomium (AgainstSynesius; or, hair praise),Pérez Martín, I. (1996). "El Elogio de la cabellera de Gregorio de Chipre".El Patriarca Gregorio de Chipre (ca. 1240–1290) y la transmisión de los textos clásicos en Bizancio. pp. 361–396.
• Vita sancti Lazari (Life of St. Lazarus),Delehaye, H. (1910).Acta Sanctorum Novembris. Vol. III. pp. 588–606.
• Oratio antirrhetica contra Joannem Beccum (Discourse againstJohn XI of Constantinople),Kislas, Th. (2012). "Discours antirrhétique contre les opinions blasphématoires de Beccus".La vie et l'oeuvre de Grégoire II (1241–1290) patriarche de Constantinople. pp. 166–256.
• Epistulae ad Theodoram Rhaulenam (Letters to Theodora Rhaulena),Kotzabassi, S. (2011)."Scholarly friendship in the thirteenth century - Patriarch Gregorios II and Theodora Raoulaina".Παρεκβολαί.1:145–167.
• Encomium maris, sive de universa aquae natura (Sea praise, or on the Nature of Water),Migne, Jacques Paul (1863).Patrologiae cursus completus - Series Graeca. Vol. CXLIV. pp. 433–443.

• Ostrogorsky, George (1956).History of the Byzantine State. Oxford:Basil Blackwell.
• Papadakis, Aristeides (1997).Crisis in Byzantium - The Filioque Controversy in the Patriarchate of Gregory II (1283–1289). Crestwood, Yonkers:Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.ISBN 9780881411768.

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