Georgius Pachymeres, Chronicle II

He receives the ordination in the month of Hekatombaion. From that point, since he had shown every gentleness in these affairs, the members and parts of the church, which indeed yesterday and the day before were divided and separated by a fiercely blowing contrary wind, were harmonized and settled, yet not so that those of the church enjoyed perfect peace, some being completely restrained on account of yesterday's disorder, and others, even if they had these men in the rank of the bema and as fellow-liturgists, being overlooked for greater advancement, the monks being preferred in the votes for the high priesthood. Nevertheless (for what is common is bearable, even if 187 it is reckoned among the grievous and unbearable things) they bore their pain moderately, and for their part, being at peace and calm, they committed their affairs to God. For this Kosmas and John, while still outside of affairs and in a private station, judged what was done concerning the church's affairs to be unjust and altogether uncanonical, and it was clear, as it seemed, that if he himself were in charge of affairs, he would annul the condemnation as being opposed to the holy canons and having sprung up from opportune anomalies, by which indeed the established order is naturally disturbed, since it is the nature of evil not only to remain evil itself, but also to attach itself to many things. But having come into the very affairs of the church, their situation seemed to be measured by the stars, as he was carried along with the rest. Whence also, when some often lamented at a synod and bewailed the silent condemnation, those men, having no ground on which they might stand and support themselves (for the canons and statutes of the fathers stood against their wishes and were a refutation for them) attributed the actions to the emperor, while they themselves were neglectful of the established canons, they used the ruler as a bulwark for the transgression as much as possible. 188

29. Then the emperor too, when the month of Kronios arrived, I do not know whether being provoked by his mother and lady for having acted unjustly towards his brother, or whether indeed he wished to make his plot and manner against him clear to the Romans, calls everyone to the assembly, and in the Alexiac triclinium he himself presides, and the high priests and clerics in office sit with him, and as many of the state as were distinguished and elite were also present. And the matters concerning that man and Strategopoulos become clear. And it did not seem proper to expose the one, but having placed Strategopoulos in the middle, he set in motion the proceedings against them, how they were convicted of saying such and such things and of plotting such things, and from this he presented the sentence against them as just, or rather even merciful.

30. Then also a certain one of the Bulgarians appeared from somewhere of his own accord and proclaimed himself Lachanas, and it was clear that he would do the greatest things against the enemy, if the emperor would permit. At first, therefore, this disturbed the emperor himself, if the one whom they had had killed by Nogai, the ruler of the Tochars, they now see him alive and imagining great things for himself. Whence also of 189 his own first cousin Maria, who had formerly been married to Lachanas, to whom she had even borne a female child, showing him to her without his knowledge, he inquired if he was in truth Lachanas. But when she affirmed not only that it was not he, but that he did not resemble him at all, they held the barbarian in no good suspicion. And since he himself, appearing quite resentful, did not openly and in this way claim to be Lachanas, even if he was called so, but nevertheless, feigning a certain reverence toward the divine, he allowed some who saw him to imagine the greatest things about him, they held him under observation and put him in prison, thereby cutting short the delusive hope of the many concerning him; for it was not at all possible for one recognized as a barbarian and an imposter to do anything good. But many concerning him were not only deceived by what they heard, but even placed their hopes (for those who are suffering to the utmost and are not helped at all toward a cure by present circumstances and by what they hoped for, it is necessary to grasp even at things that simply seem useful, and all the more, if they should be some strange things

Ἑκατομβαιῶνος μηνὸς τὴν χειροτονίαν δέχεται. Ἐντεῦθεν ἐκείνου πᾶσαν ἐνδειξαμένου τοῖς πράγμασιν ἡμε ρότητα, τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας μέλη καὶ μέρη, ἃ δὴ χθὲς καὶ πρὸ τρίτης διῃροῦντό τε καὶ διίσταντο ἐξ ἀντιπνοίας κυμαινούσης σφόδρα, συνηρμολογοῦντό τε καὶ καθίσταντο, οὐ μὴν δ' ὥστε καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἐκκλησίας τελείαν ἄγειν εἰρήνην, τῶν μὲν ἐπισχομέ νων τέλειον διὰ τὴν χθεσινὴν ἀκαταστασίαν, τῶν δέ, εἰ καὶ εἶ χον τούτους ἐν τάξει τοῦ βήματος καὶ συλλειτουργούς, περιορω μένων ἐν μείζονι προκοπῇ, τῶν μοναχῶν προτιμωμένων ἐν ψή φοις ἀρχιερότητος. ὅμως γε μέντοι (τὸ γὰρ κοινὸν οἰστόν, κἂν 187 τῶν λυπηρῶν λογίζηται καὶ ἀνύποιστον) διέφερον τὴν ὀδύνην με τρίως, καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰρηνεύοντές τε καὶ γαληνῶς ἔχοντες θεῷ προσανετίθουν τὰ καθ' αὑτούς. ὁ γὰρ Κοσμᾶς οὗτος καὶ Ἰωάν νης ἔτι μὲν ἐκτὸς ὢν τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ ἰδιωτεύων ἐφ' ἅπασι τὸ ἐπὶ τοῖς τῆς ἐκκλησίας τελούμενον ἄδικον ἔκρινε καὶ παντάπασιν ἀκανόνιστον, καὶ δῆλος ἦν, ὡς ἐῴκει, εἰ αὐτὸς ἐπισταίη τοῖς πράγμασι, λύσων τὴν καταδίκην ὡς ἱεροῖς ἀνθισταμένην κανόσι καὶ καιρικαῖς ἀναφυσηθεῖσαν ἀνωμαλίαις, αἷς δὴ καὶ τὸ καθε στηκὸς ταράσσεσθαι πέφυκε, φύσιν ἔχοντος τοῦ κακοῦ μὴ μόνον ἐκεῖνο μένειν κακόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλοῖς ἐπιφύεσθαι. ἐπ' αὐτῶν δὲ γεγονὼς τῶν τῆς ἐκκλησίας πραγμάτων ἄστρασι τὰ κατ' ἐκεί νους ἐῴκει μετρεῖσθαι, συνυπαγόμενος τοῖς λοιποῖς. ὅθεν καὶ πολλάκις τινῶν ἐπικλαιομένων ἐπὶ συνόδου καὶ τὴν κωφὴν κατα δίκην ὀδυρομένων, ἐκεῖνοι μὴ ἔχοντες ὅπῃ ἂν στῶσι καὶ ἀπερεί σωνται (τὰ γὰρ τῶν κανόνων καὶ θεσμῶν τῶν πατέρων προσί σταντο ταῖς βουλήσεσι καὶ ἔλεγχος σφίσιν ἦσαν) ἐπήρειδον τὰς πράξεις τῷ βασιλεῖ, αὐτοὶ μὲν τῶν κειμένων καταρραθυμοῦντες κανόνων, τῷ δέ γε κρατοῦντι τῆς παραβασίας ἐχρῶντο κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν προτειχίσματι. 188

29. Τότε καὶ βασιλεὺς Κρονίου μηνὸς ἐνστάντος, οὐκ οἶδα εἴτε παρὰ τῆς μητρὸς καὶ δεσποίνης ὡς ἄδικα πράξας πρὸς τὸν κάσιν παρακνιζόμενος, εἴτε μὴν καὶ προφανῆ θέλων θεῖναι Ῥωμαίοις τὸν ἐκείνου πρὸς ἑαυτὸν δόλον καὶ τρόπον, συμπάντας ἀγορήνδε καλεῖ, καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀλεξιακῷ τρικλίνῳ προκαθίζεται μὲν αὐτός, συνεδριάζουσι δ' οἱ ἐν τέλει ἀρχιερεῖς τε καὶ κληρικοί, παρίσταται δὲ καὶ τῶν τῆς πολιτείας ὅσον περιφανές τε καὶ ἔκ κριτον. καὶ δῆλα τά τε κατ' ἐκεῖνον καὶ τὸν Στρατηγόπουλον γίνονται. καὶ τὸν μὲν ἐμφανίζειν εὐπρεπὲς οὐκ ἐδόκει, τὸν δέ γε Στρατηγόπουλον ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου παραστησάμενος τὰ κατ' ἐκεί νων ἐκίνει, ὡς ἐλεγχθεῖεν τὰ καὶ τὰ λέγοντες καὶ τὰ βουλευσά μενοι, κἀντεῦθεν δικαίαν ἢ μᾶλλον καὶ συμπαθῆ τὴν κατ' ἐκεί νων παρίστα ψῆφον.

30. Τότε καί τις τῶν Βουλγάρων ἔκποθεν φανεὶς αὐτό ματος Λαχανᾶν τε ἑαυτὸν ἐπιφημίζει, καὶ δῆλος ἦν πραξείων κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, εἰ βασιλεὺς ἐπιτρέποι, τὰ μέγιστα. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον καὶ αὐτὸν ἐθορύβησε βασιλέα, εἰ ὃν εἶχον πεφονευ μένον παρὰ Νογᾶ τοῦ τῶν Τοχάρων ἄρχοντος, τοῦτον βλέπουσι ζῶντα καὶ τὰ μεγάλα περὶ αὐτοῦ φανταζόμενον. ὅθεν καὶ τῆς 189 ἰδίας αὐτανεψίας Μαρίας, τῆς καὶ τῷ Λαχανᾷ συνοικησάσης πάλαι, ᾧ δὴ καὶ παιδίον θῆλυ ἀπέτεκεν, δεικνὺς ἐξ ἀδήλου ἐπυνθάνετο εἰ αὐτὸς εἴη ταῖς ἀληθείαις ὁ Λαχανᾶς. τῆς δὲ μὴ ὅπως ἐκεῖνον εἶναι, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὸ παράπαν ἐοικέναι οἱ διαβε βαιουμένης, ἐν οὐ καλαῖς ὑπονοίαις εἶχον τὸν βάρβαρον. ὡς δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ζάκοτός τις φαινόμενος οὐκ ἄντικρυς οὐδ' οὕτως ἑαυτῷ περιετίθει τὸν Λαχανᾶν, εἰ καὶ λέγοιτο, ἀλλ' ὅμως εὐ λάβειάν τινα περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὑποκρινόμενος ἐδίδου τισὶν ὁρῶσι τὰ μέγιστα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φαντάζεσθαι, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐν τηρήσει εἶχον καὶ φυλακαῖς ἐδίδουν, τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἐλπιδοτρίβησιν ἐπ' αὐ τῷ ἐντεῦθεν ὑποτεμνόμενοι· μηδὲ γὰρ ὅλως εἶναι βάρβαρόν τε καὶ πλάνον κατανοούμενον ἀγαθόν τι ποιεῖν. πολλοὶ δ' ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ οὐχ ὅπως ἀκούοντες ἐλπιδοκοπούμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἐλ πίδας ἱστάντες (τοῖς γὰρ πονοῦσιν ἐσχάτως ἐκ τῶν παρόντων εἰς θεραπείαν μηδὲν βοηθουμένοις καὶ οἷς ἤλπισαν, ἅπτεσθαι καὶ τῶν ἁπλῶς δοκούντων χρησίμων ἀνάγκη, καὶ μᾶλλον, εἰ ξένα τινὰ εἴη