Michael of Synnada orMichael theConfessor (Greek:Μιχαὴλ ὁ ὁμολογητής; died 23 May 826) was ametropolitan bishop ofSynnada from 784/7 to 815. He represented Byzantium in diplomatic missions toHarun al-Rashid andCharlemagne. He was exiled by EmperorLeo V the Armenian because of his opposition toiconoclasm, and died on 23 May 826. He is honoured as a saint by theEastern Orthodox andRoman Catholic churches, his feast day isMay 23.
Nothing is known about Michael's early life. He was much influenced byTarasios (Patriarch of Constantinople in 784–806), whotonsured him. Tarasios sent Michael, along withTheophylact of Nicomedia, to him to a monastery that Tarasios himself had founded on the shores of theBosporus.[1] By 787, when he attended theSecond Council of Nicaea, Michael was alreadymetropolitan bishop ofSynnada, having been named to the position by Tarasios.[1] Michael is recorded in all sessions of the council.[1]
He is commonly identified with theMichahel episcopus who was one of the leaders (along withPetrus abbas, identified withPeter of Goulaion) of an embassy sent by EmperorNikephoros I toCharlemagne in 802/3, to ratify thepeace treaty between the two.[2] Nikephoros used Michael and Peter, along with Gregory, the steward ofAmastris, again as peace envoys in 806, when theAbbasid caliphHarun al-Rashid launched alarge-scale invasion of Asia Minor.[2][3]
In 811/2 he led another embassy to Charlemagne, along with theprotospatharioi Arsaphios and Theognostos, on behalf ofMichael I Rangabe, in order to renew the peace treaty and negotiate a possible marriage of Michael's sonTheophylact and one of Charlemagne's daughters. Despite a warm reception atAachen and the ratification of a peace treaty between the two realms, Charlemagne, perhaps wary after the repeated failures of successive efforts to that effect over the previous decades, hesitated to agree to such a match.[1][4] On their way to Charlemagne's court, the embassy passed throughRome, where Michael handed over thesynodika (enthronement letter) of Tarasios' successor, PatriarchNikephoros I, toPope Leo III.[1]
He clashed with the EmperorLeo V the Armenian over Leo's re-adoption oficonoclasm in 815. He was arrested and exiled toEudokias.[1] He died there on 23 May 826.[1]
He is praised in theSynodikon of Orthodoxy of 843, and is venerated as a saint by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches on 23 May.[1][5][6] He is invoked for protection of crops from pests.[7]
