A letter of Ralph d'Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury (1114–22), to Pope Calixtus II, records that Thomas, Archbishop of York (1109–14), had ordained a bishop for the see of the "Britons of Glasgow".
However, Thomas Stubbs, a historian writing in the second half of the 14th century, tells us that Archbishop Thomas had ordained a man called Michael at the request of David, then Prince of the Cumbrians.
Stubs informs us that Michael had dedicated churches in the diocese of York.
According to Stubbs, Michael was buried in St Laurence's Church, Morland, Westmorland.
It is possible that Michael was merely a nominal bishop, like the nominal York-appointed bishops of Orkney, whose main duties consisted of assisting the Archbishop of York in day-to-day duties.