An older man with a beard, dressed in red robes, sits in a candlelit monastery interior at night, with murals on the walls and an archway opening to a moonlit courtyard.

Kabasilas was the nephew of theologian and clergyman Neilos Kabasilas. He was on intimate terms with the emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, whom he accompanied in his retirement to a monastery. He was once thought to have succeeded his uncle Neilos Kabasilas as archbishop of Thessalonica; however, contemporary records of that see do not show Nicholas as serving in the capacity of archbishop. It is more likely that he served as a priest at the Mangana Monastery at Constantinople. In the Hesychast controversy he took the side of the monks of Mount Athos and Saint Gregory Palamas. See more