 In his service he led Turkish raids into Byzantine territory around the Maeander River valley.According to Geoffrey of Villehardouin, a participant in the Fourth Crusade and author of "De la Conquête de Constantinople", at the time of the fall of Constantinople to the forces of the Fourth Crusade, Michael was present in the city, having possibly returned from exile in the period after the deposition of Alexios III and the restoration of Isaac II and his son Alexios IV in 1203–04.Michael then entered into the service of Boniface of Montferrat, who received the Kingdom of Thessalonica and overlordship over Greece in the division of the spoils among the Crusaders, and followed Boniface west as the latter went to take up his kingdom in September 1204.