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