Michael Choniates was a 12th and 13th-century Byzantine cleric, historian, and writer. Born in Chonae, he studied in Constantinople under Eustathius of Thessalonica before becoming the archbishop of Athens in 1182. He is notably remembered for defending the Acropolis against Leo Sgouros until the Crusaders arrived in 1205. Following the Latin conquest, he lived in exile on the island of Ceos and later at a monastery near Thermopylae, where he passed away in 1222.