Isaakios I decided to act against Keroularios for his ambitious threats. To avoid the turmoil of detaining him in the city, he seized the chance offered by the patriarch's visit to his own monastery (of the Archangels), outside the city walls to the west, and sent Varangian troops to arrest him and his nephews Konstantinos and Nikephoros. A cleric was sent beforehand to allay suspicions. The prisoners were taken to the shore at Blachernai, put on a boat and banished to Proikonnesos. It was said that the patriarch was abused and physically manhandled, in ways inappropriate to his office and dignity, but he remained calm and unafraid. Though Psellos worked closely with Isaakios at the time and knew some of his secrets, the arrest came as a surprise. The city populace was enraged at the treatment of the patriarch, so Isaakios decided to legitimise with a trial the exile which had already been decided