Michael IV Autoreanos

   Patriarch of Constantinople at Nicaea (qq.v.) from 1208-1212. The death of John X Kamateros (q.v.) in 1206 left the post vacant, providing the opportunity for Michael's appointment. Almost immediately Michael crowned and anointed Theodore I Lascaris (q.v.) at Nicaea as sole emperor of Byzantium (qq.v.). These actions, four years after the conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade (q.v.), gave further legitimacy to Nicaea's claim to be the only true Byzantium, though in exile.