MICHAEL (1596–1645), tsar of Russia, was the first tsar of the house of Romanov, being the son of Theodore Nekitich Romanov, afterwards the Patriarch Philaret (q.v.), and Xenia Chestovaya, afterwards the nun Martha. He was elected unanimously tsar of Russia by a national assembly on the 21st of February 1613, but not till the 24th of March did the delegates of the council discover the young tsar and his mother at the Ipatievsky monastery near Kostroma. At first Martha protested that her son was too young and tender for so difficult an office in such troublesome times. At the last moment, however, Michael consented to accept the throne, but not till the weeping boyars had solemnly declared that if he persisted in his refusal they would hold him responsible to God for the utter destruction of Muscovy. In so dilapidated a condition was the capital at this time that Michael had to wait for several weeks at the Troitsa monastery, 75 m. off, before decent accommodation could be provided for him at Moscow. He was crowned on the 22nd of July. The first care of the new tsar was to clear the land of the robbers that infested it. Sweden and Poland were then got rid of respectively by the peace of Stolbova (March 10, 1617) and the truce of Deulina (Feb. 13, 1619). The most important result of the truce of Deulina was the return from exile of the tsar's father, who henceforth took over the government till his death in October 1633, Michael occupying quite a subordinate position. He was a gentle and pious prince who gave little trouble to any one and effaced himself behind his counsellors. Fortunately for him they were relatively honest and capable men. Michael's failure to wed his daughter Irene with Prince Waldemar of Denmark, in consequence of the refusal of the latter to accept orthodoxy, so deeply afflicted him as to contribute to bring about his death on the 12th of July 1645.
See R. Nisbet Bain, The First Romanovs (Lond., 1905). (R. N. B.)
MICHAEL, the name of nine East-Roman emperors.
Michael I. Rhangabes (d. 845), an obscure nobleman who had married Procopia, the daughter of Nicephorus I., and been made master of the palace. He was made emperor in a revolution against his brother-in-law, Stauracius (811).
Elected as the tool of the bigoted orthodox party in the Church, Michael diligently persecuted the iconoclasts on the northern and eastern frontiers of the empire, but meanwhile allowed the Bulgarians to ravage a great part of Macedonia and Thrace; having at last taken the field in the spring of 813, he was defeated near Bersinikia, and Leo the Armenian was saluted emperor in his stead in the following summer. Michael was relegated as a monk to the island of Prote, where he lived unmolested till his death in 845.
Michael II., called Psellus, “the stammerer,” emperor 820–829, was a native of Amorium in Phrygia, who began life as a private soldier, but rose by his talents to the rank of general. He had favoured the enthronement of his old companion in arms Leo the Armenian (813), but, detected in a conspiracy against that emperor, had been sentenced to death in December 820; his partisans, however, succeeded in assassinating Leo and called Michael from the prison to the throne. The principal features of his reign were a struggle against his brother general, Thomas, who aimed at the throne (822–824); the conquest of Crete by the Saracens in 823; and the beginning of their attacks upon Sicily (827). In spite of his iconoclastic sympathies, he endeavoured to conciliate the image-worshippers, but incurred the wrath of the monks by entering into a second marriage with Euphrosyne, daughter of Constantine VI., who had previously taken the veil.
Michael III. (839–867), “the drunkard,” was grandson of Michael II., and succeeded his father Theophilus when three years old (842). During his minority the empire was governed by his mother Theodora, who in spite of several defeats inflicted upon her generals maintained the frontiers against the Saracens of Bagdad and Crete. The regent displayed her religious zeal by restoring image-worship (842) and persecuting the Paulician heretics, but she entirely neglected the education of her son. As a result Michael grew up a debauchee, and fell under the sway of his uncle Bardas, who induced him to banish Theodora to a convent and practically assumed the chief control (857). Bardas justified this usurpation by introducing various internal reforms; in the wars of the period Michael himself took a more active part. During a conflict with the Saracens of the Euphrates (856–63), the emperor sustained a personal defeat (860), which was retrieved by a great victory on the part of his uncle Petronas in Asia Minor. In 861 Michael and Bardas invaded Bulgaria and secured the conversion of the king to Christianity. On sea the empire suffered under the ravages of the Cretan corsairs; and in 865 the first pillaging expedition of the Russians endangered the Bosporus. In 867 Michael was assassinated by Basil the Macedonian, a former groom, who had overthrown the influence of Bardas and in 866 been associated in the Empire.
Michael IV. (d. 1041), “the Paphlagonian,” owed his elevation to Zoe, daughter of Constantine VIII., who was the wife of Romanus III., but becoming enamoured of Michael, her chamberlain, poisoned her husband and married her attendant (1034). Michael, however, being of a weak character and subject to epileptic fits, left the government in the hands of his brother, John the Eunuch, who had been first minister of Constantine and Romanus. John's reforms of the army and financial system revived for a while the strength of the Empire, which held its own successfully against its foreign enemies. On the eastern frontier the important post of Edessa was relieved after a prolonged siege. The western Saracens were almost driven out of Sicily by George Maniakes (1038–40); but an expedition against the Italian Normans suffered several defeats, and after the recall of Maniakes most of the Sicilian conquests were lost (1041). In the north the Serbs achieved a successful revolt (1040), but a dangerous rising by the Bulgarians and Slavs which threatened the cities of Thrace and Macedonia was repressed by a triumphant campaign which the decrepit emperor undertook in person shortly before his death (1041).
Michael V. Calaphrates, or “the caulker,” nephew and successor of the preceding, surnamed after the early occupation of his father. He owed his elevation (Dec. 1041) to his uncle John, whom along with Zoe he almost immediately banished; this led to a popular tumult in consequence of which he was dethroned after a brief reign of four months, and relegated to a monastery. His unpopularity seems largely due to his attempts at administrative reform, which were strongly resented by the dominant classes.
Michael VI., “the warlike,” was already an old man when chosen by the empress Theodora as her successor shortly before her death in 1056. He was unable to check the disaffection of the feudal aristocracy, who combined with an officer named Isaac Comnenus to depose him. After a successful battle in Phrygia, the rebels had no difficulty in dethroning Michael (1057), who spent the rest of his life in a monastery.
Michael VII. Ducas, or Parapinaces, was the eldest son of Constantine X. Ducas. After a joint reign with his brothers, Andronicus I. and Constantine XI. (1067–1071), he was made sole emperor through his uncle John Ducas. The feebleness of Michael, whose chief interest lay in trifling academic pursuits, and the avarice of his ministers, was disastrous to the empire. As the result of anarchy in the army, the Byzantines lost their last possessions in Italy (1071), and were forced to cede a large strip of Asia Minor which they were unable to defend against the Seljuk Turks (1074). These misfortunes, which were but partially retrieved by the suppression of a Bulgarian revolt (1073), caused widespread dissatisfaction. In 1078 two generals, Nicephorus Bryennius and Nicephorus Botaniates, simultaneously revolted. Michael resigned the throne with hardly a struggle and retired into a monastery. His nickname Parapinaces (“starver”) was due to his causing the price of wheat to rise.
Michael VIII. Palaeologus (1234–1282) was the son of Andronicus Palaeologus Comnenus and Irene Angela, the granddaughter of Alexius Angelus, emperor of Constantinople. At an early age he rose to distinction, and ultimately became
