Tzetzes wrote to Osteos the protopsaltes, whom he judged to be a supporter of the patriarch Kosmas II. He enclosed with the letter a petition to Manuel I, asking Osteos to pass the petition on to Manuel and ensure that it was read to him by one of his grammatikoi who did not belong to the anti-Kosmas faction. The petition reminded Manuel that the appointment of a patriarch was a collegiate act, together with the synod and senate, not to be overturned by envious and embittered place-seekers among the ecclesiastics. It also warned him that Kosmas' opponents were gathering priests of the worst type to drive him illegally from office. Manuel was urged to intervene like a Komnenian and ensure their poisonous activities achieved no success