michael psellus fourteen byzantine rulers

During the same time, he became the leading professor at the University of Constantinople, bearing the honorary title of 'Chief of the Philosophers' ( ὕπατος τῶν φιλοσόφων). He became an influential political advisor to emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (reigned 1042–1055). From there he began a rapid court career. Some time before 1042 he returned again to Constantinople, where he got a junior position at court as a secretary ( ὑπογραμματεύς) in the imperial chancellery. For some time, he worked in the provinces again, now serving as a judge himself. While studying under John Mauropus, he met the later Patriarchs Constantine Leichoudes and John Xiphilinos, and the later emperor Constantine X Doukas. When his sister died, he gave up that position and returned to Constantinople to resume his studies. At around the age of ten, he was sent to work outside the capital as a secretary of a provincial judge, in order to help his family raise the dowry for his sister. Michael Psellos was educated in Constantinople. Psellos ('the stammerer') probably was a personal by-name referring to a speech defect. His baptismal name was Constantine Michael was the monastic name he chose when he entered a monastery later in life. His family hailed from Nicomedia and, according to his own testimony, counted members of the consular and patrician elite among its ancestors. Michael Psellos was probably born in Constantinople. The main source of information about Psellos' life comes from his own works, which contain extensive autobiographical passages.

Michael psellus fourteen byzantine rulers