Archimandrite Ioakeim Spetsieris studied Theology at the University of Athens, was elected as an archimandrite and later on retired in Mount Athos. He also served as a military priest in the two Balkan Wars and as State Preacher. He has acquired a quasi-mystical reputation as a worker of miracles.

Saint Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessaloniki, is perhaps the most important figure in 14th-century Orthodox theology. He dedicated himself to the defence of the values of Hesychasm, the domination of which in monastic life after the 14th century is mostly owed to the appeal Palamas and his writings had among the wider monastic community. In 1316 Palamas became a monk at Mount Athos where he was initiated into hesychastic monasticism. In 1326 he was ordained priest and in 1336 he began to exchange letters with Barlaam of Calabria, objecting to his syllogism in theological approaches.