On Virtue and Ascetic Practice

De virtute et ascesi · Nikephoros Blemmydes · c. 1260-1270 · treatise

Greek · domain: philosophy · researched 2026-11-13

Why this is in the register

HOLLIS Primo search 'Blemmydes' returns the modern critical edition in Corpus Christianorum, Series Graeca 80 (ed. Erika Gielen, Brepols 2016), whose note reads 'Text in Greek, preface and introduction in English' - the English is introductory matter only. The same search returns the French translation of the theological works (Sources chrétiennes 517, 558, tr. Michel Stavrou) but no English volume. A scan of the series field across all 66 HOLLIS records returned for 'Blemmydes' shows no volume in the Fathers of the Church, Ancient Christian Writers or Popular Patristics series. No English translation was located (checked 2026-11-13).

Ascetic and ethical treatise, edited together with Joseph Rhakendytes' De virtute in CCSG 80. No continuous text of it turned up in the OCR of Migne PG 142 (only catalogue notices), so the Brepols edition is the access point.

Existing translations recorded

None recorded in English. Non-English versions, where they exist, are named in the evidence above.

Electronic text

No open electronic text was verified for this work. The Greek/Coptic/Geʿez may exist only in a print or subscription edition (Migne, CSCO, TLG, CMCL).

Scanned witnesses

Scan search: no scan located. No scan located. Migne does not contain the work: the elenchus of PG 142 (IA container file https://archive.org/download/patrologia-volumes/142_djvu.txt, HTTP 206, read at bytes 0-250,000) lists under NICEPHORUS BLEMMIDA only 'De processione Spiritus sancti orationes duae', 'Sermo ad monachos', 'Epistola encyclica', 'Oratio de regis officiis', 'Epitome logica', 'Epitome physica' and the commentary 'in Psalmos' — no De virtute et ascesi. The separate item pg-142 (https://archive.org/details/pg-142, HTTP 200) carries the same contents in its description ('Gregory of Cyprus, Athanasius patriarch of Constantinople, Nicephorus Blemmida'), confirming the tome rather than a missing page. IA 'Blemmydes' search returns only other works (Duo opuscula geographica 1818, Curriculum vitae et carmina 1896, Mercati 1948). The edition is Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca 80 (ed. Erika Gielen, Brepols 2016), in copyright and not scanned. A manuscript witness is catalogued but not verified as digitised: the 1806 catalogue of the Munich Greek mss (IA item CatalogusCodicumManuscriptorumGraecor2, HTTP 200, file Catalogus_codicum_manuscriptorum_graecor_2_djvu.txt) describes Cod. CCXXVI at 'Φύλ. 7. — Fol 559' as 'Περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ ἀσκήσεως / De virtute et ascesi', noting the sections run to XIII and that the catalogue's attribution to Blemmydes is inferred ('Cum in aliis eidem Blemmidae tribuatur, eiusdem esse etiam hic censendum, licet eidem non inscriptum sit'). MDZ catalogue search returns HTTP 200 with the body 'An error occurred while serving your page' (verified 2026-11-13), and the IIIF API works only by identifier, so a BSB digitisation of Cod.graec.226 could not be confirmed — that is the next check. e-rara likewise could not be queried (SRU endpoint returns the search-page shell, HTTP 200).

Harvard Hollis

Hollis query: Nikephoros Blemmydes — 48 record(s); match basis author_only.

Sources checked

• HOLLIS search — Blemmydes epitome physica
• HOLLIS search — Blemmydes

Cite: Tergwame, “On Virtue and Ascetic Practice” (greek gap dossier), 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/gaps/greek-blemmydes-de-virtute-et-ascesi