Back to the Library
The Medieval Church · c. 1264–1265
The Autobiography
Nikephoros Blemmydes · c. 1197–c. 1269
Read elsewhere
What it is
A scholar and monk defends his own career — including the day he barred an emperor's mistress from his chapel — and explains why he twice refused the patriarchate.
Why it lasted
One of the very few Byzantine autobiographies, and revealing about the collision of monastic principle and imperial power.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next