Nikephoros, seeing how dire the situation of the Byzantine Empire was, sent a letter to Emperor Michael in 1078 pleading with him to address the rapidly worsening situation in Byzantine Anatolia. Michael was insulted by the directness of one of his subordinates, and turned against Nikephoros, forcing him to rebel against Michael to protect himself from imprisonment. Nikephoros declared himself emperor on 2 July 1078, mobilizing an army of native troops and Turkish mercenaries. Michael sent Nikephoros a letter in which he reminded Nikephoros that he owed much to the emperor who had brought him out of exile. The military acumen and family renown of Nikephoros helped him to solidify his support base, and the tyranny of Michael ensured that even some of the elites of Constantinople sided with Nikephoros; something Attaleiates notes as being very rare, as, generally, people defect from the usurper's side to the emperor's side. The defection of some of the capital elites was even more astonishing because the march from the Anatolic Theme to Constantinople was not safe due to Turkish raids, which had reached deep into Anatolia by 1078, meaning that Nikephoross rebellion might be destroyed before it even reached Constantinople. Michael's wife, Maria of Alania, seeing that Michael would soon be overthrown, defected to the side of Nikephoros; in October 1078 Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder also raised a revolt against Michael. Nikephoros entered Constantinople and seized the throne. Upon taking power, Nikephoros married Maria of Alania, exiled Michael to a monastery, a common Byzantine practice for removing threats to the throne since the 7th century, and castrated Michael's sons. The castration of the sons was viewed poorly by the Byzantine nobility, possibly due to the brutality of the act, although Michael the Syrian does not provide an in-depth explanation of exactly why the Byzantine elite opposed it.