Michael I Abdicates

Date: July 11, 813 • Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Byzantine emperor Michael I Rangabe (depicted), under threat by conspiracies, abdicated in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and became a monk.

Michael I Rangabe was Byzantine emperor from 811 to 813. A courtier of Emperor Nikephoros I, he survived the disastrous campaign against the Bulgars and was preferred as imperial successor over Staurakios, who was severely injured. He was proclaimed emperor by Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople on 2 October 811.