Michael I Rangabe

   Emperor (811-813) who succeeded Staurakios (q.v.). Michael I came under the influence of patriarch Nikephoros I (qq.v.) and, after the end of the Moechian controversy in 809, of Theodore of Stoudios (q.v.). Emperor Nikephoros I's (q.v.) former fiscal management became a thing of the past as Michael increased state donations to monasteries and churches. Most important was the change in Byzantine diplomacy with respect to Charlemagne (q.v.). Replacing hostility with accommodation, Michael I recognized Charlemagne's imperial title (basileus [q.v.]) in 812; in return he received back Byzantine territory along the coast of the Adriatic (q.v.) that Charlemagne had seized. Defeated by the Bulgars (q.v.) in 813, Michael was forced to abdicate in favor of Leo V (q.v.).