Barlaam of Seminara (ca. 1290-1348), or Barlaam of Calabria was a Greek/Italian scholar (Aristotelian scholastic) and clergyman of the 14th century. Humanist, philologist, and theologian, he is one of the representatives of Byzantine Renaissance humanism. He brought an accusation of heresy against Gregory Palamas for the latter's defence of Hesychasm (the Eastern Orthodox Church's mystical teaching on prayer). Wikipedia
On the question of the existence of uninterrupted prayer or noetic prayer, Palamas and the Evagrian tradition are on common ground as over against Barlaam, who is no hesychast. www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/frjr_notes2.aspx
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Barlaam Of Seminara. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlaam_of_Seminara
