[3] Nevertheless, a few days after Theodore's death George Mouzalon was murdered by Michael VIII Palaiologos, and who, at an assembly of the aristocracy presided over by Patriarch Arsenius, was appointed regent for the boy.
He also insisted that at the double coronation John IV Lascaris should be crowned first, which Michael VIII Palaiologos saw as a serious barrier to his final usurpation.
Arsenius at last conceded the point and crowned Michael VIII and his wife first, while John IV Lascaris received only a special head-dress.
[5] The ceremony completed, Arsenius took refuge in the monastery of Paschasius, retaining his office of patriarch but refusing to discharge its duties.
[2] Throughout these years Arsenius declined to lift the sentence of excommunication from Michael VIII and after his death, when the new patriarch Joseph I of Constantinople gave absolution to the emperor, the dispute was carried on between the "Arsenites" and the "Josephists".