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by tongue, that Michael Komnenos was innocent in all respects; and I myself heard this, being present at the judgment, and with me was John Makrotos, perhaps we too were numbered among the judges by the emperor, as if some stood there differing in no way from logs. For he wanted everyone to vote against him, but there was no sense for us, with Michael Komnenos being judged without a defense. For he was loved—for truth is dear—not by us alone, but also by everyone, by those in authority, the generals, the soldiers, and even the common crowd; for to the young he was pleasant and affable in conversation and charming in his words and most skillful in his pursuits, and to the old he seemed aged in his speech and understanding, and was considered welcome by them. And so these things, I think, happened to him as a trial for the better; for since God was about to raise him to the conspicuous imperial office, He tested him with the fire of torments and the crucible of experience, so that upon ascending the imperial throne he would not be too ready to believe slanders and calumnies nor make his decisions too quickly, having the power to do what he wished. But not only this, He also tested him in many other ways, as the course of the history will show as it proceeds. And at the end of this affair, the emperor had said, while I was listening to his words: "Alas, what a pity, from what glory you have fallen." And this was because it was the emperor's wish to give his granddaughter, the first daughter of his son, the emperor Theodore, Irene, to Michael Komnenos as a wife. She was a cousin to Michael, the daughter of his second cousin; but this also happened in the case of the emperor John and in many others, and such things are accustomed to happen in this way; for even if it is forbidden by the church, it is permitted to emperors for the sake of the common providence and advantage.

51 The emperor, then, having thus settled the matters of the affair, departed for the east, but Michael Komnenos, as I had said, was regarded with suspicion. But since the distinction of his family and his kinship to him, and furthermore his loyalty to the great ones, did not allow the emperor to treat matters concerning him with contempt, what did he do? He sends him to the patriarch. Manuel was then guiding the rudders of the patriarchate, a man of pious and reverent life and conduct, even though he was married to a woman, but otherwise unversed in letters nor did he unfold the meaning of what he read. And the emperor writes to him to subject Michael Komnenos to penance and to bind him with oaths, that he would never wish to plot any infidelity against the emperor, but to keep his disposition toward the ruler pure. These things were done, and the emperor received Michael Komnenos and joined to him as wife the granddaughter of his brother, the sebastokrator Isaac Doukas, Theodora, whom alone her father, John the son of the sebastokrator, had left behind when, still a youth, he paid the debt of nature, leaving his wife Eudokia, the daughter of John Angelos, a widow, and his daughter Theodora an orphan, who was then happily joined to Michael Komnenos; for her mother Eudokia, although being very young, welcomed bearing her widowhood, and she loved virtue and devoting herself entirely to God. For these reasons she also receives the marriage alliance as a reward from God. And these things, then, turned out thus.

52 But the emperor, having occupied the eastern parts and when that year had passed, came again to the leading city of the Bithynians, Nicaea. It was the time around the end of winter, and February happened to be waning. And the emperor, sitting on his bed in the evening—and some part of the night had also passed—suddenly became speechless, and falling face down on the bed was from then on completely mute. The hands of physicians ministered in this and made incisions on his feet

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γλώττῃ, ἀθῷον εἶναι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸν Κομνηνὸν Μιχαήλ· ἤκουσα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τῇ κρίσει παρών, καὶ σὺν ἐμοὶ ὁ Μακρωτὸς Ἰωάννης, τάχα καὶ ἡμεῖς συναριθμούμενοι τοῖς κρίνουσι πρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως, ὡς ξύλων ἄν τινες μηδὲν διαφέροντες ἐνταῦθ' ἵστανται. ἐβούλετο γὰρ πάντας κατ' αὐτοῦ συμψη φίζεσθαι, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐκ ἦν λόγος, ἄνευ λόγου τοῦ Κομνηνοῦ Μιχαὴλ κρινομένου. ἐφιλεῖτο γὰρ-φίλη γε ἡ ἀλήθεια -οὐ πρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς παντὸς τῶν τε ἐν τέλει τῶν τε στρατηγῶν τῶν τε στρατιωτῶν καὶ αὐ τῶν τῶν τῆς ξύγκλυδος· τοῖς τε γὰρ νεάζουσιν ἡδὺς ἦν καὶ προσηνὴς ὁμιλῶν καὶ χαρίεις ἐν λόγοις καὶ ἐν ἐπιτη δεύμασι δεξιώτατος, τοῖς τε γέρουσι γηραιὸς ἐδόκει τὸν λόγον τε καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν, καὶ ἀσπάσιος αὐτοῖς ἐνομίζετο. καὶ ταῦτ' οὖν, ὡς οἶμαι, γέγονεν ἐπ' αὐτῷ δοκιμασίᾳ τοῦ κρείττονος· ἐπεὶ γὰρ εἰς τὴν βασίλειαν ἔμελλε θεὸς ἀναβι βάσαι τοῦτον περιωπήν, τῷ τῶν βασάνων πυρὶ καὶ τῷ διὰ πείρας χωνευτηρίῳ δεδοκίμακεν, ἵνα μὴ εἰς τὸν βασίλειον ἀναβὰς θρόνον ῥᾷον ἔχῃ πιστεύειν διαβολαῖς καὶ συκοφαν τίαις μήτε θᾶττον τὰς ἀποφάσεις ποιεῖν ἐπ' ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ πράττειν τὰ βουλητέα γεγενημένος. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις πολλοῖς κατεξήτασεν, ὡς προϊὼν ὁ τῆς ἱστορίας λό γος δηλώσειεν. ἐπὶ δὲ τέλει τῆς ὑποθέσεως ταυτησὶν ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰρηκώς, κἀμοῦ τῶν λόγων ἀκροωμένου· «αἶ ἐλεεινὸν οἵας δόξης ἐξέπεσες.» τὸ δὲ ἦν ὅτιπερ πρὸς βου λήσεως ἦν τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν ἐγγόνην αὐτοῦ, τὴν πρώτην θυγατέρα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώρου τὴν Εἰρήνην, ἐπιδοῦναι τῷ Κομνηνῷ Μιχαὴλ εἰς ὁμόκοιτιν. ἦν δὲ αὕτη πρὸς τὸν Μιχαὴλ ἀνεψιά, δευτερεξαδέλφου θυγάτηρ· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἰωάννῃ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐν πλείοσιν ἄλλοις, καὶ εἴωθε τὰ τοιαῦτα οὕτω πως ξυμβαίνειν· κἂν γὰρ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ κεκώλυται, ἀλλὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἐφεῖται τῆς κοινῆς προμηθείας χάριν καὶ τοῦ συμ φέροντος.

51 Ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς οὑτωσὶ τὰ τῆς ὑποθέσεως διαλύσας εἰς τὴν ἕω ἀπῄει, ὁ δὲ Κομνηνὸς Μιχαήλ, ὡς εἰρήκειν, ὑπεβλέπετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ τοῦ γένους περιφανὲς καὶ τὸ πρὸς αὐτὸν συγγενές, ἔτι γε μὴν τὸ πρὸς τοὺς μεγάλους γνήσιον τούτου οὐκ εἴα τὸν βασιλέα ἐν περιφρο νήσει φέρειν τὰ κατ' αὐτόν, τί δὴ ποιεῖ; στέλλει τοῦτον πρὸς τὸν πατριάρχην. ὁ Μανουὴλ ἦν τότε τὰ τῆς πατριαρχίας διιθύνων πηδάλια, ἀνὴρ εὐλαβοῦς καὶ βίου καὶ πολιτείας σεμνῆς, εἰ καὶ γυναικὶ συνεζύγη, ἄλλως δὲ οὐ πεπειραμένος γραμμάτων οὐδὲ ὧν ἀνεγίνωσκεν ἀνελίττων τὴν ἔννοιαν. καὶ γράφει πρὸς τοῦτον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπιτιμίῳ καθυποβα λεῖν τὸν Κομνηνὸν Μιχαὴλ καὶ ὅρκοις αὐτὸν ἐμπεδῶ σαι, μὴ ἄν ποτε βουληθῆναι ἀπιστίαν κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως μελετῆσαι, φυλάττειν δὲ καθαρὰν αὐτοῦ τὴν πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα διάθεσιν. γέγονε ταῦτα, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν Κομνηνὸν ἀνεδέξατο Μιχαὴλ καὶ συζεύγνυσιν αὐτῷ εἰς γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σεβαστοκράτορος Ἰσαακίου τοῦ ∆ούκα ἐγγόνην τὴν Θεοδώραν, ἣν μόνην ὁ πατὴρ αὐ τῆς καταλελοιπὼς ὁ τοῦ σεβαστοκράτορος υἱὸς Ἰωάννης ἔτι ἐν μείραξιν ὢν τὸ χρεὼν ἐξεμέτρησε, χήραν μὲν τὴν αὐτοῦ γαμετὴν Εὐδοκίαν ἀφείς, τὴν τοῦ Ἀγγέλου Ἰωάννου θυγατέρα, ὀρφανὴν δὲ τὴν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ Θεοδώραν, ἥτις εὐτυχῶς τῷ Κομνηνῷ τότε συνέζευκτο Μιχαήλ· ἡ γὰρ μήτηρ αὐτῆς Εὐδοκία καίτοι γε νέα οὖσα πάνυ τὴν χηρείαν φέρειν ἠσπάσατο, ἀρετὴν δὲ ἐφίλει καὶ τὸ καθάπαξ προσανέχειν θεῷ. διὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἀντιμισθίαν ἀντιλαμβάνει πρὸς θεοῦ τὸ κῆδος. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἔσχεν οὕτω.

52 Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τὰ τῆς ἕω μέρη κατειληφὼς καὶ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐκείνου παρῳχηκότος αὖθις περὶ τὴν προκαθη μένην τῶν Βιθυνῶν πόλιν ἀφίκετο Νίκαιαν. καιρὸς ἦν περὶ τὰ τοῦ χειμῶνος τέλη, καὶ φθίνων ἐτύγχανε Φεβρου άριος. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης ἑσπέρας καθήμενος -παρέδραμε δὲ καὶ μέρος τι τῆς νυκτός- αἴφνης γε γονὼς ἄφωνος, πρηνὴς ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης πεσὼν ἦν τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦδε ἄναυδος τὸ καθόλου. χεῖρες δὲ ἰατρῶν ὑπούργουν ἐν τούτῳ καὶ ἀμυχὰς ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν ἐποίουν