# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/michael-psellos
# Generated: 2026-08-31T18:40:51.624Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/michael-psellos"
name: "Michael Psellos"
slug: "michael-psellos"
description: "A monk who rewrote Byzantine power from the inside. Michael Psellos shaped emperors, salvaged classical Greek thought for Christendom, and penned the Chronographia — the sharpest inside account of 11th-century palace intrigue we have."
tagline: "11th-century Byzantine monk, writer and court official"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Michael_Psellos.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Writers"
  slug: "writers"
profileType:
  name: "Writer / Author"
  slug: "writer"
birthDate: "1018"
deathDate: "1078"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           53.86
  momentum:             1.068062827225131
  historical:           22.61865866666667
  currentAttention:     5.93368237347295
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Academics"
    slug: "academics"
  - name: "Academic"
    slug: "academic"
  - name: "Philosophy"
    slug: "philosophy"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "History"
    slug: "history"
  - name: "Poetry"
    slug: "poetry"
  - name: "Medicine"
    slug: "medicine"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q294109"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Psellos"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Michael%20Psellos"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixail_Psell"
    title: "Mixail Psell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D1%96%D1%85%D0%B0%D1%96%D0%BB_%D0%9F%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB"
    title: "Міхаіл Псел"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BB_%D0%9F%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB"
    title: "Михаил Псел"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihailo_Psel"
    title: "Mihailo Psel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miquel_Psel%C2%B7los"
    title: "Miquel Psel·los"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Psellos"
    title: "Michael Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Psellos"
    title: "Michael Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%B9%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%AE%CE%BB_%CE%A8%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CF%8C%CF%82"
    title: "Μιχαήλ Ψελλός"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Pselo"
    title: "Miguel Pselo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Psellos"
    title: "Michael Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikel_Psellos"
    title: "Mikel Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Psellos"
    title: "Mikael Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Psellos"
    title: "Michel Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Pselo"
    title: "Miguel Pselo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%A4%D7%A1%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A1"
    title: "מיכאל פסלוס"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihael_Psel"
    title: "Mihael Psel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikha%C3%A9l_Pszellosz"
    title: "Mikhaél Pszellosz"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%84%D5%AB%D5%AD%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AB%D5%AC_%D5%93%D5%BD%D5%A5%D5%AC%D5%AC%D5%B8%D5%BD"
    title: "Միխայիլ Փսելլոս"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Psellos"
    title: "Michael Psellos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Psello"
    title: "Michele Psello"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9F%E3%82%AB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%97%E3%82%BB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B9"
    title: "ミカエル・プセルロス"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%AF%B8%ED%95%98%EC%9D%BC_%ED%94%84%EC%85%80%EB%A1%9C%EC%8A%A4"
    title: "미하일 프셀로스"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Psellos"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84_%D8%A8%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "مايكل بسيلوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84_%D8%A8%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "مايكل بسيلوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in 1017 or 1018, Psellos became a Byzantine Greek monk who moved through the imperial court as advisor to multiple emperors, wielding influence over the throne itself. He championed the revival of classical studies — Homer, Plato — and argued they were foundational to Christian doctrine, not rivals to it. His texts fused theology, philosophy, and psychology; his Commentary on Plato's Teachings on the Origin of the Soul laid intellectual groundwork that would later reach the Italian Renaissance. The Chronographia, his series of imperial biographies from Basil II to Nikephoros III, remains an essential source on Byzantine politics and personality. He died in 1078, though some accounts place him alive until 1096.