Michael II

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Michael II the Amorian (Greek: Μιχαήλ Β', Mikhaēl II), also called Traulos or Psellos (Τραυλός, Ψηλλος, Latin Psellus), meaning "the Stammerer", (died October 2, 829) reigned as Byzantine emperor from 820 to his death.

Michael was immediately proclaimed Emperor, still wearing the chains from the prison in his hands. Later the same day, he was crowned by Patriarch Theodotos I of Constantinople. In his internal policy, Michael II supported iconoclasm, but tacitly encouraged reconciliation with the iconodules, whom he generally stopped persecuting and allowed to return from exile. These included the former Patriarch Nikephoros and Theodore of Stoudios, who failed, however, to influence the emperor to abandon iconoclasm. One of the few victims of the emperor's policy was the future patriarch Methodios I.

Michael's accession whetted the appetite of his former comrade-in-arms Thomas the Slav, who set himself up as rival emperor in Anatolia and successfully transferred his forces into Thrace, effectively besieging the capital in December 821. Although Thomas did not obtain the support of some of the Anatolian themes, he secured the support of the naval theme and their ships, allowing him to tighten his grip on Constantinople. In his quest for support, Thomas presented himself as the champion of the poor, reduced taxation, and concluded an alliance with Al-Ma'mun of the Abbasid Caliphate, having himself crowned emperor by the Patriarch of Antioch Job.