Gregory of Nazianzus

Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329/330–c. 389/390), a Cappadocian Father and bishop, was born on his family's estate at Arianzus near Nazianzus in Cappadocia. His education took him successively to Caesarea in Cappadocia, Caesarea in Palestine (where he studied rhetoric under Thespesius), Alexandria, and finally Athens, where he studied for roughly five years under Himerius and Proaeresius and formed his lifelong friendship with Basil of Caesarea. He was ordained priest by his father in 361 to assist with the diocese of Nazianzus, was nominally appointed bishop of Sasima by Basil in 372 but never took up the post, and from 379 led the small Nicene community in Constantinople, delivering the Five Theological Orations that earned him the title "the Theologian." After attending the opening of the First Council of Constantinople (381) and then resigning, he retired to his family estate at Arianzus, where he died around 389/390.