1. Birth - family

Emperor Michael IV was born into a family of money changers which originated from Paphlagonia. As it was usual in that period, the name which denoted his origin replaced his family name. Thus, for his contemporaries Michael IV was ‘the Paphlagonian’. Many of his family members acquired great influence during the first half of the 11^th century, mainly during Michael IV’s reign. The most prominent and influential member of the family, however, the person that led Michael IV to the throne, was John Orphanotrophos, Michael’s brother.¹

The information we have on Michael IV’s early years is very limited. In the contemporary texts, the focus is mainly on the deeds of his powerful brother John Orphanotrophos, while Michael is mentioned only after his ascent to the throne.

2. Activity

2.1. Accession to the throne

Michael IV owed his success and his imperial crown to the adroit policy of his brother John Orphanotrophos. This eunuch had managed to secure a place in the Byzantine imperial court. After the death of Emperor Constantine VIII (1028), when the throne was taken by the late emperor’s daughter, Empress Zoe, and her first husband Romanos III Argyros (1028-1034), Orphanotrophos managed to increase his influence by approaching the augusta. Furthermore, taking advantage of the estrangement between Zoe and Romanos III, John brought the empress close to his young and beautiful brother, Michael. Soon Michael became the favourite and lover of Zoe (who was quite older than him) notwithstanding his fits of epilepsy.

On April 11, 1034 Emperor Romanos III Argyros was found dead in his bath under suspicious circumstances. His death was considered a murder, in which the role of Zoe, Michael and John remained obscure. These, however, amounted to little more than unsubstantiated conjectures. In any case, on the same day and while the dead emperor’s body was still in the imperial palace, Empress Zoe and John Orphanotrophos prepared her favourite’s hastened coronation and the couple’s wedding. Their haste for the marriage and the legitimation of the coronation betokens the tense conditions that prevailed after Romanos III’s death. Patriarch Alexios Stoudites (1025-1043) was called into the palace to officiate at Zoe’s marriage to Michael and his coronation. Notwithstanding his initial reluctance and unwillingness, the patriarch finally obeyed, with the promise of large donations in gold.² Soon after Michael IV begun neglecting Empress Zoe, who was brushed aside in the administration of the state’s affairs and was confined to the imperial palace under supervision.

2.2. Reign

The reign of Michal IV was defined by the overt influence his brother John Orphanotrophos exerted, who had in fact all the real power in his hands. Furthermore, most Byzantine writers held John, and not Michael, responsible for all the problems the empire faced. Especially in the economy, the imposition of new taxes (the so-called aerikon) and commercial fees was attributed to John’s greed and his efforts to secure greater income for himself and his family.³

Michael IV was the first emperor after two centuries of rule by the Macedonian dynasty who tried and partially succeeded in organizing the administration of the state on a familial basis. He placed various members of his extensive family in charge of state affairs, always under the leadership of John Orphanotrophos. By making an accurate appraisal of the circumstances and the condition which the empire was in during the first half of the 11^th century, the two brothers tried to establish their family’s rule in as many fields as possible. In the context of these efforts, John Orphanotrophos, aided by certain metropolitans, attempted to replace Alexios Stoudites on the patriarchal throne in 1037. This endeavour was thwarted however. Apart from this, Michael IV and John managed to secure that the next emperor would also be a member of their family. As his health kept deteriorating and his fits became more often, Michael along with John managed to convince Empress Zoe to adopt their nephew, their sister’s son (the future Michael V). Zoe’s consent, irrespective of the fact that she had been ousted from power, was essential; she was a descendant of the rightful Macedonian dynasty, and could thus guarantee the legitimacy of the succession, so as to give a facade of lawfulness to the establishment of the new Paphlagonian dyansty.⁴

The rise of the Paphlagonian family, however, was resisted by the aristocracy. Michael IV and Orphanotrophos’ policy more or less did not infringe upon the interests of the capital's officialdom, but it did hurt the interests of the military aristocracy of Asia Minor, which now viewed the ascendancy of the low-birth Paphlagonians as an affront.⁵ Thus, by August 1034, Michael IV and John Orphanotrophos had to face the rebellion of Constantine Dalassenos, a prominent member of the aristocracy of Asia Minor, who attempted to take power aided by his brother and his brother in law as well as by persons such as the future Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and the later Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Keroularios. The Paphlagonians attempted to suppress this uprising and their enemies were banished, while the family of Orphanotrophos seized a large part of their property.⁶

Orphanotrophos’ rapacious fiscal policies also ignited riots in the Balkans too. The rebellion of Peter Deljan, who was proclaimed tsar in Belgrade in 1040 (the insurgency was quenched in 1041) clearly reveals the centrifugal tendencies of the northern provinces, tendencies which would later find expression in Stefan Vojislav's move to make his small state independent (Diokleia, 1042). Although the pressure mounted due to his ever more frequent fits of epilepsy, Michael IV tried to fulfil his military obligations as an emperor. Thus, although very weakened, he took the command of a campaign against Peter Deleanos. The success of this campaign and the suppression of Deleanos’ rebellion was Michael IV’s last achievement as an emperor. Following the triumphal parade he held at Constantinople to celebrate his victory, Michael retired on December 10, 1041 to the monastery of Ss Cosmas and Damian at Kosmidion, which he had renovated, northwest of the Blachernae palace, where he died on the same day.⁷

3. Evaluation

In the Byzantine sources Michael IV is described as a worthy, honest and able ruler, who could have achieved even more if it not for his brother's excessive ambitions. His condition weakened him severely and thus he was forced to assign the running of the state to Orphanotrophos; this led to all the blame for the problems the empire faced and for the tough fiscal policy of his reign being placed with his brother.

Michael Psellos, writing on Michael IV, juxtaposes the young emperor’s many virtues to the shortcomings of his brother, John Orphanotrophos. He stresses Michael’s piety, which was expressed in the renovation of the above mentioned monastery as well as in his care towards the monks. He also lauds Michael IV’s care for the poor, for whom he had established a poorhouse, as well as for the prostitutes, for which he built a monastery in Constantinople in which they could find refuge. Finally, Psellos praises the emperor for the goodwill he showed to scholars (the ‘philosophers’), a munificence that the author himself was a recipient of. With respect to the negative picture painted by some of Michael's contemporaries, Psellos attributes this to their dislike towards his family and their lowly origins, which the writer also stresses but without allowing it to mar his generally positive view of the Paphagonian emperor.⁸