BLEMMYDES, NICEPHORUS. – Byzantine philosopher and theologian, b. in Constantinople in 1197, d. in 1272. Initially an opponent of the Catholic doctrine on the procession of the Holy Spirit, he frustrated attempts at union with the Latins at Nymphaeum near Nicaea in 1234 and in 1250. However, around 1256, adopting the conciliatory ideas of Emperor Theodore II and influenced by the *Dialogues on the Procession of the Holy Spirit* by Nicetas of Maronea, he clearly taught the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father through the Son. Later, in compiling his *Autobiography* (1264), he provided an anti-Photian explanation of the *per Filium* formula, though not one that was Catholic. This explanation refers to the response to the Latins at Nymphaeum in 1250, and it is reasonable to believe that he did not repudiate, toward the end of his life, what he had written in 1256. It is known, moreover, that he favored the unionist policy of Michael Palaeologus.
B. wrote numerous works on theology, philosophy, exegesis, liturgy, and ascetics. He also composed a treatise on the duties and virtues of a good prince, geographical pamphlets, and a number of letters. Many of these writings have been published, others remain unpublished, and some are lost.
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