Key members of the court decided that flighty Zoë needed a co-ruler, and backed the people's demand that it should be Theodora. A delegation, headed by the patrician Constantine Cabasilas, went to the monastery at Petrion to convince Theodora to become co-empress. Theodora, accustomed to a life of religious contemplation, rejected their pleas out of hand, and fled to the convent chapel to seek sanctuary. Constantine and his retinue pursued her, forcibly dragged her out and exchanged her monastic clothes for imperial ones. At an assembly at Hagia Sophia, the people escorted the now furious Theodora and proclaimed her empress with Zoë. After crowning Theodora, the mob stormed the palace, forcing Michael V to escape to a monastery.