Michael Psellos or Psellus was a Byzantine monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian, and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also been maintained that he remained alive until 1096. He served as a high ranking courtier and advisor to several Byzantine emperors and was instrumental in the re-positioning of power of those emperors. 1018 – 1078; died at about 60. Alive at the same time as Avicenna, Murasaki Shikibu, William the Conqueror, Omar Khayyám, and Ibn al-Haytham. Wiki link