• Diaconus et Chartophylax, who was present at the sec- ond Council of Nicaja, and was afterwards raised to the patriarchate; if so, however, he would be identical with Nicephorus, the famous author of the Breviarium, who was maile patriarch in 806. He wrote, SoliUionum Epistoke II. ad Theodosium monackum, Greece et Latine,
■ in Leunclavis, Jus Grceco-Romanum, also in the twelfth vol. of Biblioth. Patr. Maxim., and in the Orthodoxo- graphi. See Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 801 ; Fabricius, Bihl. Grcec. vii, 608, 674.
Nicephorus Constantixopolitanus, St., an em- inent Byzantine Church historian, and patriarch of Constantinople, was born in that city about 750 or 758. He first attached himself to the court, and held high offices. In 787 lie was present at the Council of Nicaea, and there defended image-worship. Shortly after his return to the capital he withdrew to a convent, from whence he was called in 806 to become patriarch of Constantinople. Leo Arminius having become em- peror in 813, the worship of images was forbidden, and Nicephorus, on account of his exertions in their defence, became unpopular at court, and was finally obliged to resign the patriarchate in 815. He then retired to the convent of St. Theodore, of which he was the founder, and remained there until his death in 828. Nicephorus is sometimes called Ilomologeta, or Confessor, on account of his firm opposition to the Iconoclasts and his ensuing deposition. He is highly esteemed as the author of several important ecclesiastical productions of intrinsic value and beautiful st3-le. His historical writings, which are his best, are remarkable for accuracy, erudi-
tion, and discemment; yet the doctrine of the worship of images is defended in his writings to a tiresome ex- tent, and this course of Nicephorus astonishes the more as it is in contrast with his liberal views on other points. His most important works are : Breviarium historicum, or ^LuivaTavrn'ovwoKHoq'laTopia avvropog, one of the best works of the Byzantine period, from the death of Mauritius to the marriage of Leo IV and Irene, 602-770 (ed. Petav. Par. 1616; Venet. 1729) : — Chronologia com- pendiaria tripartita, from Adam down to the time of the author (translated bj^ Anastas. Bibliothec, and often published: Par. 1648; ibid. 1652, cum notis Goari): — An- tirchetici libri adversus Iconomachos opuscula iv apud Canisium 1. c. and in Bibl. Patr. Lugd. t. xiv : — Disnuta- tio de Imaginibus cum Leone Armeno ed Comhefis (Par. 1664): — Stichometria librorum sacrorum (in O/j/?. Petri Pitheoi, Par. 1609; also in Critici sacri Angli, t. viii): — Confess, fid. ad Leonem III (in Baron. Annal. ad ann. 811; and in Ilardouini t. iv, 978): — Canones ecclesi- astici X VII (in Hardouini t. iv ; and Coteler. Monum. t. iii, 445) : — Fragmentum de sex synodis (in Combefis, A uctar. Nov. Bibl. ii, 603). Banduri prepared a complete edition of Nicephorus's works, but he died before it was ready for publication. In recent times a number of the works of Nicephorus have been brought out by Ncri (1849) and Petra (1852). See an account of his life in Ignatius, Polit. inActis ad. 13 Mart. Avctar. Nov. Bibl. ii, 503; Comhefis, Origen. Constant. T^.lb^; Oudini 6'o7«- ment. ii, 2 ; Fabricius, Bihl. Grcec. vii, 603 sq. ; Nean- der, Kirchengesch. iv, 373 ; Piper, Einleitung in d. Mon- timental-Theologie, § 62; Christian Rememhrancer, July, 1853, p. 248. (J.H.W.)
Nicephorus Monachus, an Eastern ascetic noted as an ecclesiastical writer, but little known, however, ex- cept as an author, flourished about 1100, according to P. Possinus. One Nicephorus, a monk, is the author of Tlepi ^vXaKiJQ Kapclac,De Custodia Cordis, a very inter- esting and valuable essay, which Possinus published in Greek and Latin, in his Thesaurus Asceticus (Paris, 1648, 4to). See Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 1101 ; Fabricius, Bihl, Grcec. vii, 679.
Nicephorus Piiilosophus, an Eastern writer, flourished about 900 at Constantinople, where he en- joyed great esteem for his learning and genius. He wrote Oratio Panecpjrica s. Vita Antonii Caulei (Cau- lece) Patriarch C. P., who died in 891 (895), which is printed in Bollandii .4c/rt Sanct. ad 12 diem Februarii. He is perhaps also the author of 'Oktcitivxoq, or Ca- tena in Octuteuchuni et Lihros Regum, which is ascribed to one Nicephorus Hieromonachus. The Octateuchus was published at Venice (1772-1773, 2 vols, fol.), with a Latin version and a commentary; in the title there stands Leipzig, without a date. See Fabricius, Bihl. Grcec. xii, 610 ; Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 895.
Nicephorus Presbyter, an Eastern ecclesiastic of uncertain age, flourished at Constantinople, and was connected with the church of St. Sophia. He wrote Vifce S. A 7idrecE, which is printed in Acta Sanctor.ad 28 diem Maii. See Fabricius, Bibl. Grcec. vii, 675.
Niceron, Jkan Pierre, a distinguished French ecclesiastic, noted especially as a biograjJier and bibli- ographer, was born at Paris March 11, 1685. He stud- ied at the Mazarin College at Paris, and afterwards at the College of Du Plessis. He was received into the Society of the Barnabite Jesuits in 1702, and took the vows in 1704. Ordained in 1708, he became a very use- ful preacher, and died at Paris July 8, 1738. Niceron wrote Memoirespour serrir a I'histoire des Hommes illus- tres dans la repuhlique des Leftres, etc. (Paris, 1729-45, 43 vols, in 44, 12mo), a laborious and excellent work, from which all subsequent accounts of the same authors and their works are derived. (See Darling, Cycl. Bih- liographica, ii, 2192; Brunet, Manuel du Lihraire, s. v.) Hallam has made free use of these writings, and not un- frequently quotes Niceron's estimates of writers in his own Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Ibth,