Gregory Akindynos, a native of Prilep, had moved from Pelagonia to Thessaloniki and studied under Thomas Magistros and Gregory Bryennios.

He had become an admirer of Nikephoros Gregoras after he was shown an astronomical treatise of that scholar by his friend Balsamon in 1332, writing him a letter in which he calls him a "sea of wisdom".

From Thessaloniki, he had intended to move on to Mount Athos, but for reasons unknown, he was refused.

He has become involved in the theological dispute surrounding the doctrine of Uncreated Light between Gregory Palamas and Barlaam of Calabria.

A student of Palamas', he has mediated between the two from 1337, warning Barlaam in 1340 that his attempts against his doctrine would be futile.

The dispute over Hesychasm (the Eastern Orthodox Church's mystical teaching on prayer) comes before a synod held at Constantinople in May 1341 and presided over by the emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos.

The assembly, influenced by the veneration in which the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius are held in the Eastern Church, condemns Barlaam, who recants.