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Information about Theodora, Wife Of Theophilus

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Theodora depicted as ruler on this coin, with her son Michael, nominally emperor, and her daughter Thecla on the reverse.
Theodora (Greek Θεοδώρα) was the wife of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus. Originally from Paphlagonia, Theodora was of Armenian aristocratic descent and selected by Theophilus' step-mother Euphrosyne as his bride and travelled from her homeland to Constantinople accompanied by several members of her family. During their marriage she bore him 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. The story is related that once a servant who had seen her venerating her icons 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", and are displayed annualy on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Following the death of her husband, as regent to her son Michael, she overrode Theophilus' ecclesiastical policy and summoned a council under the patriarch Methodius, in which the veneration (not worship) of icons (images of Christ and the saints) was finally restored and the iconoclastic clergy deposed. Appointed guardian of her infant son, Michael III, 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.[1] 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 a monastery. 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 feastday is February 11.

Notes

1. ^ Christian Settipani, Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité

References

  • Herrin, Judith (2001). Women in Purple:Rulers of Medieval Byzantium. London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-529-X. 

External links

  • Media on in the Wikicommons.
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This is a list of the Emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire, called Byzantine by modern historians. This list does not include numerous co-emperors who never attained sole or senior status as rulers.
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Theophilos or Theophilus (Greek: Θεόφιλος), (813 – 20 January 842) was Byzantine emperor from 829 to 842. He was the second emperor of the Amorian dynasty.
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Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia and Pontus, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia) by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus.
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8 to 10 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Armenia
 Russia
 United States
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Euphrosyne, a daughter of Byzantine emperor Constantine VI, the last representative of the Isaurian dynasty, and Maria of Amnia. Constantine divorced her mother and send them both to a convent.
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Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoúpolis, or Πόλις, Polis
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Michael III the Drunkard (Greek: Μιχαήλ Γ΄, Mikhaēl III ), (January 19, 840 – September 23/24, 867), Byzantine Emperor from 842 to 867.
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Iconoclast may refer to:

Primary meaning:
  • A person who performs iconoclasm, destruction of a culture's religious symbols.
  • An innovator.
  • One who attacks cherished beliefs.

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icon (from Greek εἰκών, eikon, "image") is an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it, or by analogy, as in semiotics; by
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The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi was built during the second half of the 10th century, by three monks, Athanasius, Nicholas, and Antonius from Adrianople, who were the pupils of Athanasius the Athonite.
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Capital Karyes
Largest city Karyés
Official languages Koine Greek, Church Slavonic, Modern Greek, Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Bulgarian, Romanian (both liturgical and civil use), Modern Greek (civil use)
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The Feast of Orthodoxy (also knowns as the Sunday of Orthodoxy or the Triumph of Orthodoxy) is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent (six Sundays before Pascha) in the liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Greek-Catholics (Eastern Catholics of
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St. Methodios I or Methodius I (Greek: Μεθόδιος Α΄), (788/800 – June 14 847) was Patriarch of Constantinople from March 4, 843 to June 14, 847. He was born in Syracuse and died in Constantinople.
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icon (from Greek εἰκών, eikon, "image") is an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it, or by analogy, as in semiotics; by
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Christ is the English term for the Greek word Χριστός (Christós), which literally means "The Anointed One.
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saint is one who is sanctified (cf. 2 Chron. 6:41). The early Christians were all called saints. (Heb. 13:24; Jud. 1:3; Phile. 1:5, 7) Over time, the traditional usage of the term saint
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Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major domestic political or religious changes.
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Michael III the Drunkard (Greek: Μιχαήλ Γ΄, Mikhaēl III ), (January 19, 840 – September 23/24, 867), Byzantine Emperor from 842 to 867.
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Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people, originally from Central Asia, who from the AD 2nd century inhabited the steppe north of the Caucasus and the banks of river Itil (now Volga).
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Bardas was the regent (856-866) of Byzantine Emperor Michael III. Bardas was the purported son of Marinos Mamikonian and the brother of Theodora, the wife of Byzantine Emperor Theophilus. Theodora and Theophilus were the parents of Michael III.
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Mamikonian or Mamikoneans (Armenian: Մամիկոնեան) was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th centuries.
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Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος Α΄ο Μακεδών, Basileios I o Makedhon; Armenian:
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Christian Settipani (born January 31 1961) is the Technical Director of an IT company in the Paris area and a self-taught genealogist.

Passionate about genealogy, he has specialised in the ancestry of early Middle Ages people and earlier.
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Judith Herrin (born 1942), is Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London. She studied history at the University of Cambridge and did her PhD at the University of Birmingham.
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