Saint Michael Choniates was a Byzantine Greek writer and cleric, born at Chonae. At an early age he studied at Constantinople and was the pupil of Eustathius of Thessalonica. In 1182 he was appointed archbishop of Athens, a position which he retained until 1204. In 1204, he defended the Acropolis of Athens from attack by Leo Sgouros, holding out until the arrival of the Crusaders in 1205, to whom he surrendered the city. After the establishment of Latin control, he retired to the island of Ceos. Around 1217 he moved again to the monastery of Vodonitsa near Thermopylae, where he died on 4 July.