Saint Theodora, Empress of Byzantium

Biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_the_Armenian

Theodora (Greek: Θεοδώρα, c. 815 - after 867) was a Byzantine Empress as the spouse of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos, and regent of her son, Michael III, from Theophilos' death in 842 to 855. For her restoration of the veneration of icons, which ended the Byzantine Iconoclasm, she is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church; her Feast Day is February 11. She is The patron Saint of Churches.

Family

Originally from Paphlagonia, Theodora was of Armenian aristocratic descent.
The names of her parents were preserved in Theophanes Continuatus, the continuation of the chronicle started by Theophanes the Confessor. They were Marinos, a drungarios, and Theoktiste Phlorina. Genealogies attribute Mamikonian ancestry to Marinos; he is an alleged son of Artavazd Mamikonian, who was head of the House in the 770s. Manuel the Armenian, a leading general of Theophilos, was her uncle. Theodora was a sister of Bardas and Petronas. Theophanes also records three sisters: Kalomaria, Sophia and Irene. Irene reportedly married Sergios, brother of Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople.

Marriage

In 829, Theophilos succeeded to the throne. He was sixteen-years-old and unmarried. The following year his stepmother, Euphrosyne, proclaimed a bride-show. Potential brides from every theme travelled from their homelands to Constantinople, Theodora among them. The poet Kassia was said to have taken part.
The bride-show took place in May, 830, and Theodora was chosen to become empress, probably by her new mother-in-law. The marriage took place on 5 June 830, in Hagia Sophia. Euphrosyne soon retired to a convent and Theodora remained the only Augusta.

Empress consort

The family of Theodora seems to have followed her to court. Her brothers became officials and her sisters married into the court aristocracy. During her own marriage she bore Theophilus five daughters and two sons, the younger of whom became the future Michael III.
Despite the fact that Theophilus was an iconoclast, Theodora held fast to the veneration of icons which she kept in her chambers in the imperial palace. One story holds that a servant witnessed her venerating her icons and reported her to the emperor. When her husband confronted her about the incident she stated that she had merely been "playing with dolls." Two of her icons are kept at the monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos to this day and are referred to as "Theodora's Dolls". They are displayed annually on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Theodora is said to have intervened to save Lazarus Zographos from further torture under her husband. Whether their opposing religious beliefs strained their relationship is unclear. Theophilus' health however eventually failed and he died on 20 January 842. He was about twenty-nine years old.

Regent

Following the death of her husband, Theodora served as regent for her son Michael. She overrode Theophilus' ecclesiastical policy and summoned a council under the patriarch Methodius, in which the veneration, but not worship, of icons (images of Jesus Christ and the saints) was finally restored and the iconoclastic clergy deposed.

She carried on the government with a firm and judicious hand; she replenished the treasury and deterred the Bulgarians from an attempt at invasion. However, it was during her regency that a vigorous persecution of the Paulician 'heresy' commenced. In order to perpetuate her power she purposely neglected her son's education, and therefore must be held responsible for the voluptuous character which he developed under the influence of his uncle Bardas, who was Theodora's brother and likewise of Mamikonian heritage. Theodora endeavoured in vain to combat Bardas's authority; in 855 she was displaced from her regency at his prompting, and being subsequently convicted of intrigues against him was relegated to the monastery of Gastria. She died after his assassination at the hands of Basil I, thus witnessing the end of the dynasty she had worked so hard to preserve. She was sainted in recompense for her zeal on behalf of the restoration of icons as objects of veneration. Her feast day is February 11.

Children

Theodora and Theophilos had seven children. Listed here in the order given by Theophanes:

1. Constantine, co-emperor from c. 833 to c. 835.
2. Thekla (born c. 831 - after 867). She was named Augusta and her image appears in coinage during the regency of her mother. Later exiled to a monastery by her brother Michael. She was recalled and was a mistress of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian.
3. Anna (born c. 832). Exiled into the monastery of Gastria. Never recalled.
4. Anastasia (born c. 833). Exiled into the monastery of Gastria. Never recalled.
5. Pulcheria (born c. 836). Exiled into the monastery of Gastria. Never recalled.
6. Maria (born c. 838). Married the Caesar Alexios Mosele. Her husband was placed in command of Byzantine Sicily but was later accused of conspiring to gain the throne. Forced to retire into a monastery. Maria was not alive in 856 when her sisters were exiled from the court.
7. Michael III (19 January 840 - 23 September/24 September 867), who succeeded as emperor.

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The Righteous Theodora was the wife of Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast during the middle of the ninth century. She was a strong iconodule who after the death of her husband overrode his iconoclastic policies to finally restore veneration of icons in the Eastern Roman Empire. With her glorification as a saint the Church remembers her role in this restoration. Her feast day is February 11.

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Theodora_(9th_century_empress)

Little is known of her early life. Coming from Paphagonia, Theodora descended from an aristocratic Armenian family. Theophilus' stepmother, Euphrosyne, selected her as his bride and during their marriage they had seven children, five daughters and two sons. The youngest son would succeed his father as Emperor Michael III.

Theophilus maintained the restored iconoclastic policies initiated by Leo V in 813 after the first period of restoration of veneration under Empress Irene in the late eighth century. Theodora, however, secretly was a strong believer in veneration of icons. Upon the death of Theophilus in 842, Theodora came to power as the regent for her son Michael and ended the iconoclastic policies of her husband in 843 with the backing of a church council. The proclamation of 843 restoring veneration of icons initiated the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy that has since been celebrated by the Orthodox Church each year on the first Sunday of Lent.

She ably governed the empire, including replenishing the treasury and fending off an attempted invasion by the Bulgarians. As Michael grew older, he came under the influence of his uncle Bardas, who undermined the authority of Theodora. In 855, he finally displaced Theodora from her regency and sent her to the Monastery of St. Euphroyne, where she died around the year 867.

In 1460, the Turks gave her relics to the people of Kerkyra (Kephalonia).

Theodora var den bysantinske kejsaren Theofilos gemål.

Under hennes makes sista styrelseår (842) åsidosatte hon hans ecklesiastiska hållning och sammankallade en koncilium under patriarken Metodius, där bilddyrkan slutligen återupprättades och det prästerskap som var emot detta fördrevs. Som förmyndare till sonen Mikael III, styrde hon ed fast och förståndig hand; hon fyllde på i skattkistorna och avskräckte bulgarernas invasionsförsök.

I syfte att bevara sin maktposition försummade hon avsiktligen sin sons utbildning, och måste därför hållas ansvarig för den epikureiska karaktär han utvecklade hos sin farbror Bardas. Theodora kämpade förgäves mot Bardas styre; 855 fråntogs hon makten på hans begäran och blev senare dömd för att ha intrigerat mot honom och sänd till kloster. Hon helgonförklarades för sin strävan i frågan om avbildsdyrkan.

Komnenos eller Comnenos var en av de mer framträdande kungliga dynastierna i Bysantinska rikets historia, eftersom de allmänt anses ha vänt Bysantinska rikets nedgång under bara ett århundrade, omkring 1081-1185.

Ätten Komnenos kom troligen från Paflagonien, kanske från Kastamonu slott, ett namn som kan vara bildat av Castra Comnenus. Huset Komenos bildades i och med att Isak I Komenos gjorde anspråk på Bysantinska rikets tron 1057 efter att han besegrade kejsar Mikael VI. Huset hade emellertid inte full makt över riket förrän med Isaks brorsson Alexios I Komnenos, som blev kejsare 1081. I samband med detta synes alla tidigare kungahus ha försvunnit, som de inflytelserika Scleros och Argyros. Deras ättlingar synes ha lämnat landet, och gift in sig i kungliga familjer i Ryssland, Frankrike, Tyskland, Polen, Ungern och Serbien.

Komnenos var genom Alexios I gifte med Irene Doukaina släkt med ätten Doukas, varför deras ättlingar ofta kallas ”Komnenodoukai”. En av dessa var Theodora, som gifte sig med en av ätten Angelos och blev anmoder till kejsarna Isak II Angelos och Alexios III Angelos.

Bysantinska riket blev en genomfarled för korsriddarna under Första korståget då korsfararstaterna bildades. Huset Komnenos var inblandade i diverse angelägenheter runt omkring detta, bland annat gifte sig flera medlemmar av ätten med de regerande husen i Furstendömet Antiokia och Kungariket Jerusalem.

Till ätten hör Anna Komnena som möjligen är den första kvinnliga historikern. Hon var syster till kejsar Johannes II Komnenos, som efterträdde Alexios. Så småningom delade sig ätten i flera grenar. Eftersom successionen inte var fixerad till företrädarens äldste son, var det ständiga maktkamper, konspirationer och intriger mellan släktingarna.

Vid Konstantinopels fall 1204, begav sig en gren av ätten tillbaka till Paflagonien och grundade Kejsardömet Trabzon vid Svarta havet. Den första kejsaren var Alexios I av Trabzon, sonson till kejsar Andronikos I Komnenos, och de regerade Trabzon i 250 år, tills den osmanske sultanen Mehmed II intog landet. Denna gren av ätten kallas Megai Komnenoi, Stora Komnenon.

En prins av ätten, Mikael Angelos Komnenos Ducas, ättling till Alexios I, grundade Despotatet Epirus 1204 i anslutning till Konstantinopels fall samma år. En annan medlem av släkten, Isak Komnenos grundade ett imperium på Cypern på 1100-talet, men landet erövrades senare av Rickard I av England under Tredje korståget.

Konstantinopel återtogs 1261 av ätten Palaiologos, en sidolinje till Komnenos. Palaiologos regerade till Konstantinopels fall 1453.

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- http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM.htm#Theodoradied867

c) THEODORA (815-after 23 Sep 867, bur Monastery of Ta Gastria). Theophanes Continuatus records the marriage of Emperor Theofilos and "Theodora…Augusta…Paphlagoniam patriam…oppidum Ebissam", naming her parents "Marinum patrem…drungarius…matrem…Theoctistam cognomento Florinam"[989]. Genesius names "Theodora" as mother of Emperor Mikhael III[990]. Symeon Magister records that Theofilos married "Theodora" after a bride show organised by "eius mater Euphrosyna"[991]. She was crowned in the Oratory of St Stephen[992]. She ruled jointly with her son Emperor Mikhael III from 842 to 856. A synod proclaimed the restoration of images in March 843, but the empress followed a policy of moderation with respect to the previous supporters of iconoclasm. Her chief adviser Theoktistos led energetic, though frequently unsuccessful, military campaigns against the Arabs. He failed to recapture Crete in 844, but captured the fortress of Damietta in Egypt in 853[993]. The regency was brought to an end by a coup d'état in 856 when Emperor Mikhael III assumed direct power. Theodora was exiled to the monastery of Ta Gastria in 858 after she plotted unsuccessfully to resume power[994]. She was imprisoned in the palace of Karianos and tonsured with her daughters[995]. Theophanes Continuatus records that Theodora died during the reign of Emperor Basileios I who transferred her body to the monastery of Ta Gastria where her daughters were also sent to live[996]. Emperor Konstantinos VII's De Ceremoniis Aulæ records that "S. Theodora, uxor Theophili, et eius tres filiæ Thecla, Anastasia et Pulcheria" were buried in "monasterii, ta Gastria vel Gastriorum dicti, ecclesia"[997].

m ([823]%29 THEOFILOS, son of Emperor MIKHAEL II & his first wife Thekla --- (804 or [812/13]-20 Jan 842, bur Constantinople, Church of the Holy Apostles). He was crowned emperor by his father in late 820[998] and succeeded his father in 829 as Emperor THEOFILOS.

References

1. http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00270656&tree=LEO
2. https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM.htm#Theophilosdied842B cites
   1. [925] The chronology of the births of their children is discussed in Treadgold, 'The Problem of the Marriage of the Emperor Theophilus', GRBS 16 (1975), pp. 325-341.
   2. [926] De Ceremoniis Book II, ch. 42, p. 645.
   3. [927] Treadgold, Revival, p. 284, quoted in PBE I (CD-Rom).
3. Garland, Lynda (1999). Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527–1204. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-14688-7. "Theodora, Restorer of Orthodoxy (830-67+)." Page 96. < Archive.Org > "Born in Ebissa in Paphlagonia, she was probably of Armenian origin and the daughter of an army officer called Marinos and Theoktiste Phlorina. 8 On 5 June 830 she married Theophilos, after a bride-show held in the palace. 9 They had two sons: Constantine, born probably in 834, who was unfortunately drowned in a palace cistern at the age of two, and Michael III; and five daughters: Thekla, Anna, Anastasia, Maria and Pulcheria (Plate 8). ..."
4. Herrin, Judith (2002) [2001]. Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium. London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-529-X.
5. Treadgold, Warren (1975). "The Problem of the Marriage of the Emperor Theophilus". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 16: 325–341. (Download PDF from https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/8531) The article discusses the marriage of Emperor Theophilus (829–42 AD), which took place in 830 according to Symeon the Logothete, the only primary source to mention the event. However, E. W. Brooks redated the marriage to 821/22 in 1901. Treadgold argues that the Logothete's account is attractive and that accepting it could help solve the chronological problem and explain some other facts about Theophilus' life.
6. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_II.
7. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM.htm#Theodoradied867