Certainty: 3 Empress Theodora's investigation into Melissourgeion: phase 1
The monk Kosmas (Tornikios) Kontoleon, in dispute with Iveron over the metochion of Melissourgeion, had died. The empress Theodora issued a decree ordering Leon Thylakas, krites of Boleron, Strymon and Thessalonike, to implement a decision taken while Kosmas was still alive, to check the validity of the titles by which he claimed ownership of Melissourgeion, and to deliver a definitive decision. The decree was passed to Leon by Arsenios, hegoumenos of Iveron. Theodora further ordered Leon to examine complaints from Iveron that some of its vineyards and other properties had been seized by the monastery's neighbours. Leon ordered representative monks of Melissourgeion to Philippopolis (Basileios, Christophoros, Leontios and Prochoros), but they told him it was Kosmas' epitropoi who held the documents he needed. They were Hilarion, protos of Athos; Ioannes, hegoumenos of Lavra; and Ioannes hegoumenos of Zygos on Athos. Arsenios, hegoumenos of Iveron, asked these epitropoi to swear that the metochion had never belonged to Iveron. They found all sorts of excuses to delay a decision, treated Arsenios and the Iveron monks badly, and used the dispute as a pretext to try to drive them out of Athos