Psellos, Xiphilinos & Leichoudes began Konstantinos IX's government of the talented

Summary:
When Konstantinos IX came to the throne, he gathered virtue and learning around him, not relying on the aristocracy of birth but selecting his administrators on personal merit, just as he selected his generals. He examined young hopefuls with a wide range of oral and written tests, prepared and unprepared, before giving them access to the palace. Michael Psellos would be the first to succeed, while Ioannes Xiphilinos soon followed. Konstantinos Leichoudes must also have passed early 
Dates:
1042 
Ioannes VIII Xiphilinos, patriarch of Constantinople (Ioannes 18)
  • When (soon after Michael 61) he passed the tests of Konstantinos 9 and entered the palace, he was employed in legal bureaux, because of his charismatic eloquence and memory for the law (:) Psellos Xiphilinos 421
  • Thinking it intolerable to be cut off in any way from Ioannes 289 and Ioannes 18, Michael 61 introduced Xiphilinos to Konstantinos 9 at once, and Mauropous later, as it was not his wish to approach the emperor immediately (:) τὸν δὲ μετᾶ ταῦτα, οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἐκείνῳ βουλομένῳ εὐθὺς προσιέναι τῷ αὐτοκράτορι Psellos: Chronographia VI 192.15-18
Ioannes Mauropous, metropolitan of Euchaita (Ioannes 289)
  • Thinking it intolerable to be cut off in any way from Ioannes 18 and him, Michael 61 introduced Xiphilinos to Konstantinos 9 at once, and Mauropous later, as it was not the latter's wish to approach the emperor immediately (:) οὐ γὰρ ἦν έκείνῳ βουλομένῳ εύθὺς προσιέναι τῷ αὐτοκράτορι Psellos: Chronographia VI 192.15-18
Emperor Konstantinos IX Monomachos (Konstantinos 9)
  • When he came to the throne, he gathered virtue and learning around him, not relying on the aristocracy of birth but selecting his administrators on personal merit just as he selected his generals (:) Psellos Xiphilinos 421
  • He examined young hopefuls with a wide range of oral and written tests, prepared and unprepared, before giving them access to the palace; Michael 61 was the first to succeed, while Ioannes 18 soon followed (:) Psellos Xiphilinos 421
Michael Psellos (named Konstantinos till tonsure in 1054) (Michael 61)
  • He was the first of the young men who passed the tests set up by Konstantinos 9 to enter the palace and the administration (:) Psellos Xiphilinos 421
  • As soon as Konstantinos 9 became emperor, he became his servant in all things, was ranked in the higher order and entrusted with the most honoured tasks; he was ignorant of nothing, neither of things accomplished openly nor done secretly (:) ὑπηρετηκὼς διὰ πάντων καὶ εἰς τὴν κρείττω τάξιν ταχθείς, πιστευθείς τε τὰ τιμιώτατα Psellos: Chronographia VI 14.9-12