Nice'phorus Blemmidas
（
*Nikhfo/ros), Byzantine writers.
1. BLEMMIDAS or BLEMMYDAS, lived in the thirteenth century.
He was descended from a distinguished and wealthy family, but, nevertheless, took holy orders, and led the life of an ascetic. Having erected a beautiful church at his own expence at Nicaea, he was appointed presbyter of it, and, by his really Christian life, gave a good example to his people. One day Marchesina, the concubine of the emperor John Ducas, entered his church to hear the mass, when, to her astonishment and indignation, the honest Blemmidas ordered her to leave the church directly, and, as she refused to do so, he caused her to be turned out; in consequence of which he had to suffer much annoyance from the emperor. Theodore Lascaris, the successor of John Ducas, behaved differently to him, and on the death of the patriarch Germanus, in 1255, offered him the vacant seat, which, however, Nicephorus declined.
In the religious disputes between the Greeks and the Latins, Blemmidas showed himself well disposed towards the latter.
The year of the death of Blemmidas is not known.
Works
He wrote various works, the principal of which are:--
In this work he adopts entirely the views of the Roman catholics on the procession of the Holy Ghost and other matters; which is the more surprising, as he wrote a second work on the same subject, where he defends the opinion of the Greek church. Leo Allatius
De Consensu, 2.14) endeavours to justify him for his want of principle, showing that he either wrote that work when very young, before he had formed a thorough conviction on the point, or that some schismatics published their opinions under the name of Blemmidas.
De Processione Spirtius Sancti Libri I. This is the second work, just mentioned, the first book of which is dedicated to the emperor Theodore Lascaris, and the second to Jacol), archbishop of Bulgaria.
Editions
Graece et Latine, by Oderius Ragnaldus, in the appendix to the first volume of his Annales Ecclesiast.; by
Leo Allatius, in the first volume of Orthodoxae Graeciae Script.
Epistola ad plurimos data postquam Marchesinam temple ejeceiat, Graece et Latine, in the second book of Leo Allatius,
De Consensu.
Edition
Graece, Augsburg, 1605, 8vo.
Unpublished works still in MS.
There are also many other writings by Blemmidas extant in manuscript, in the libraries of Munich, Rome, Paris, and other places.
Further Information
Cave,
Hist. Liter. ad an. 1255; Fabric.
Bibl. Graec. vol. xi. p. 394.
