[1] The continued iconoclasm further worsened relations between the East and the West, which were already bad following the papal coronations of a rival line of "Roman Emperors" beginning with Charlemagne in 800.

During the Second Iconoclasm, the Empire began to see systems resembling feudalism being put in place, with large and local landholders becoming increasingly prominent, receiving lands in return for military service to the central government.

Michael was not popular among the Orthodox clergy, but he would prove himself a competent statesman and administrator, eventually bringing much-needed stability to the Empire following decades of strife and warfare and even restorations of the military.

As Michael was merely two years old when his father died, the Empire was governed by a regency headed by his mother Theodora, her uncle Sergios, and the minister Theoktistos.

[7] His reign would see continued war against the Arabs and due to his pleasure-loving nature he was nicknamed "the Drunkard" by later chroniclers sympathetic to his murderer and successor Basil I.