ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a historian’s perspective on the subject of the individual based on the current historiographic context, which sees many historians bringing to the fore the prosopographic dimension (πρόσωπον = person) of history. As the person is distinguished from the individual by his or her inscription in a context, in relation to other people, the chapter takes the example of Nicholas Cabasilas (the fourteenth-century theologian) by placing his action and his work in its roots – that is to say, his hometown of Thessalonica. His family background, his attachment to his city, his formation, and his links with the legal school and the political thinkers of Thessaloniki, as well as with the Church of Thessalonica, from the clergy of the Metropolis to the Archbishop (who was once Gregory Palamas). Taking into account all these dimensions of his person makes it possible to understand in depth his theological work.
