Michael IV Autoreianos ( el, ), (? – 26 August 1212) was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 1208 to his death in 1212. Michael was a well-educated man and a member of the literary circle around

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the ...

. In the ecclesiastic hierarchy, he had reached the post of '' megas sakellarios'' at the time of the sack of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

by the Fourth Crusade in 1204.Kazhdan (1991), p. 1365 According to a letter written by

John Apokaukos John Apokaukos ( el, Ἱωάννης Ἀπόκαυκος, ca. 1155 – 1233) was a Byzantine churchman and theologian. Having studied at Constantinople, he became bishop of Naupaktos and played a major role in the rivalry between the Epirote Chur ...

in 1222, he was nominated bishop of Amastris, but

David Komnenos David Komnenos ( el, Δαβίδ Κομνηνός) (c. 1184 – 1212) was one of the founders of the Empire of Trebizond and its joint ruler together with his brother Alexios until his death. At least two lead seals and an inscription found on a towe ...

rejected his nomination as an infringement of his sovereignty. In 1208 he was made patriarch by

Theodore I Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Komnēnos Laskaris; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his d ...

, in succession of

John X Pope John X ( la, Ioannes X; died 28 May 928) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 914 to his death. A candidate of the counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli ...

who had died in 1206. Laskaris had established a Byzantine Greek successor state in Asia, the Empire of Nicaea, and had tried to persuade John X to join him, but he had refused because of old age and died shortly after. Shortly after his appointment, on 20 March 1208, Michael IV performed Theodore Laskaris' coronation as emperor (Laskaris had already been acclaimed emperor in 1205). He also took the highly unusual move, contrary to both Byzantine tradition and Orthodox doctrine, of promising remission of sins for Laskaris' soldiers who fell in battle. It appears however that this pledge was of short duration. He died at

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and s ...

on 26 August 1212.According to the official site of Ecumenical Patriarchate
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References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael 04 of Constantinople 12th-century births 1212 deaths 13th-century patriarchs of Constantinople People of the Empire of Nicaea