Michael II Kourkouas (Oxeites) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μιχαήλ Β΄ Κουρκούας), (? – after 1146) was an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

patriarch of Constantinople (July 1143 – March 1146). In early 1143 Patriarch Leo and Emperor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

died within a few months of each other, bringing a period of turbulence to the Byzantine Church. Paul Magdalino. (2002). The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180, Cambridge University Press, pp.276-277 John's appointed successor, his son Manuel I Komnenos arrived in Constantinople on 27 June 1143, from

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

where his father had died.Angold, Michael. Church and Society in Byzantium under the Comneni, 1081-1261. Cambridge University Press, 1995, p.78-79 In order to fully assure his position as emperor, Manuel needed to arrange his coronation. However, to do this he first needed to appoint a patriarch. His choice fell on the abbot of the monastery of

Oxeia Oxeia ( el, Οξεία) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. , it had no resident population. It is the chief island in the southern group (the Ouniades) of the Echinades, part of the Ionian Islands. Oxeia possesses the highest point in the E ...

, Michael Kourkouas. The coronation did not take place until 28 November 1143, because Michael threatened to resign for unknown reasons. During his reign Michael had to deal with the highly political trial of a monk called Niphon. On 22 February 1144 Michael condemned Niphon for supporting two

Cappadocian Cappadocian Greeks also known as Greek Cappadocians ( el, Έλληνες-Καππαδόκες, Ελληνοκαππαδόκες, Καππαδόκες; tr, Kapadokyalı Rumlar) or simply Cappadocians are an ethnic Greek community native to the ...

bishops who were accused of heresy and later found guilty of

Bogomil Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Pe ...

practices. This forbade orthodox believers from associating with him. Michael II resigned in March 1146 to return to the monastery of Oxeia, most likely because of disillusion with the emperor.

References

12th-century patriarchs of Constantinople Kourkouas family Byzantine people of Armenian descent Officials of Manuel I Komnenos {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub