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==Life==
Little is known of his early life. Michael was well educated and was a member of the circle of literary friends around Abp. [[Eustathius of Thessalonica ]] in the late twelfth century. He advanced in the ecclesiastic hierarchy of the patriarchate of Constantinople, reaching the post of ''megas sakellarios'' (finance minister) at the time of the [[fall of Constantinople]] to the Fourth Crusade in 1204.<ref name="ODB">A. Kazhdan (1991), p. 1365</ref>
After the fall of Constantinople, Theodore I Laskaris established a successor state in Bithynia in Asia Minor, commonly called the Empire of Nicea, and, in 1205, proclaimed himself emperor. In 1206, he tried to persuade Patr. [[John X (Camateros) of Constantinople|John X (Camateros)]] to join him in Nicea, but he refused because of old age. John died shortly afterward in 1206. <ref>A. Kazhdan (1991), pp. 1055, 1365, 2039–2040</ref>
