Michael IV Autoreianos ; died 26 August 1212) was the

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...

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; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...

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

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

by the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

in 1204.Kazhdan (1991), p. 1365. According to a letter written by John Apokaukos in 1222(?), he was nominated bishop of Amastris, but

David Komnenos David Komnenos (, ka, დავით კომნენოსი) ( 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 ...

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

Theodore I Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris (; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his death. Although he was born to an obscure aristocratic family, his mother was related t ...

, in succession of John X of Constantinople who had died in 1206. Laskaris had established a

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

successor state in Asia, the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by Walter Abel Heurtley, W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C ...

, 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 I 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 spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

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

Notes and references

Bibliography

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