 He was nominally a Byzantine vassal, like his father, John IV, before him.In 1024, he submitted to Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, when the latter was besieging Capua on behalf of Emperor Henry II, though his own duchy was not threatened.By this he acquired a reputation for weakness in the eyes of Prince Pandulf IV of Capua, the Wolf of the Abruzzi, who had been defeated by Pilgrim.