Thekla (daughter of Theophilos)
Thekla | |
---|---|
Amorian dynasty | |
Father | Theophilos |
Mother | Theodora |
Thekla (
Thekla was deposed by Michael III, possibly alongside her mother, in 856 and consigned to a convent in Constantinople. Some time later, she allegedly returned to imperial affairs and became the mistress of Michael III's friend and co-emperor Basil I. After Basil murdered Michael in 867 and took power as the sole emperor, Thekla was neglected as his mistress and she took another lover, John Neatokometes. Once Basil found out about the affair, Thekla fell out of favor, was beaten and had her property confiscated.
Life
Thekla was born on an uncertain date, as calculating her date of birth depends on the year her parents married, estimated to be either c. 820/821, or 830. Thus she was born in either the early 820s or the early 830s.
In the 830s, the eldest sisters Thekla, Anna, and Anastasia were all proclaimed
After Theophilos's death on 20 January 842,
On 15 March 856, Theodora's reign officially ended with Michael III being proclaimed sole emperor.[4] In 857[23] or 858[4] Theodora was expelled from the imperial palace and confined to a convent in Gastria, in Constantinople;[23][24] the monastery had been converted from a house by her maternal grandmother, Theoktiste, likely during the reign of Theophilos.[25] Thekla and the other sisters were either expelled and placed in the same convent at the same time,[24] or had already been there for some time.[26] Whether they were ordained as nuns is uncertain: they may have actually been ordained, or it may only have been intended. In one version of the narrative, they were confined to the palace at ta Karianou in November 858, possibly in a semi-monastical setting. Another version claims they were immediately placed in the Monastery of Gastria. The most common narrative states that Theodora was confined to the monastery with Pulcheria, while Thekla, and her other sisters Anna and Anastasia, were first kept at the palace at ta Karianou, but shortly thereafter moved to the Monastery of Gastria and shorn as nuns.[1] Theodora may have been released from the convent around 863.[27] According to the tradition of Symeon Logothete, a 10th-century Byzantine historian, Thekla was also released and used by Michael III to attempt to make a political deal. He states that in around 865, Michael had married his long-time lover Eudokia Ingerina to his friend and co-emperor Basil I, in order to mask the continued relationship of Michael and Eudokia.[28] Some historians, such as Cyril Mango, believe that Michael did so after impregnating Eudokia, to ensure that the child would be born legitimate. However, Symeon's neutrality is disputed, and other contemporary sources do not speak of this conspiracy, leading several prominent Byzantists, such as Ostrogorsky and Nicholas Adontz to dismiss this narrative.[29]
According to Symeon, Michael also offered Thekla to Basil as a mistress,[28] perhaps to keep his attention away from Eudokia,[30] a plan which Thekla had allegedly consented to.[28] Thus Thekla, who Treadgold states was 35 at the time, became Basil's mistress in early 866, according to Symeon's narrative.[31] The historian William Greenwalt speculates on the reasons that drove Thekla to agree to this relationship: resentment for having been unmarried for so long, Basil's imposing physical stature, or political gain.[26] After Basil murdered Michael III in 867 and seized power for himself, Symeon further writes that Thekla then became neglected and took another lover, John Neatokometes,[28] sometime after 870.[5] When Basil found out about the affair, he had John beaten and consigned to a monastery.[32] Thekla was also beaten and her considerable riches were confiscated.[28] Mango, who supports the theory of the alleged affairs,[33] commented that Basil would already have had good reason to dislike Neatokometes, as the man had attempted to warn Michael of his impending murder, but believes the best explanation for Basil's response is that "Thekla had previously occupied some place in his life", as a mistress.[5] The De Ceremoniis, a 10th-century Byzantine book on courtly protocol and history, states that she was buried in the Monastery of Gastria, where she had been confined earlier, in a sarcophagus with her mother and her sisters Anastasia and Pulcheria.[1]
Notes
- ^ The reason for depicting Theodora's mother Theoktiste instead of Theophilos's step-mother Euphrosyne, who actually instructed the children in the veneration of icons, is unknown.[10][11]
- Triumph of Orthodoxy; Iconoclasm was anathematized in the 860s and 870s, and ceased to be a significant issue.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit, Thekla (#7261).
- ^ Treadgold 1975, p. 340.
- ^ a b Codoñer 2016, p. 464.
- ^ a b c d e ODB, p. 2037, "Theodora".
- ^ a b c d Mango 1973, p. 23.
- ^ Grierson 1973, p. 407.
- ^ a b Herrin 2002, p. 191.
- ^ a b c Garland 1999, p. 99.
- ^ Garland 1999, p. 96.
- ^ Herrin 2002, p. 181.
- ^ Herrin 2013, p. 76.
- ^ Herrin 2002, plate 6.
- ^ ODB, pp. 975–976, "Iconoclasm".
- ^ Greenwalt 2002, p. 343.
- ^ ODB, p. 2066, "Theophilos".
- ^ a b Ostrogorsky 1956, p. 219.
- ^ Ringrose 2008, p. 66.
- ^ a b Garland 1999, p. 102.
- ^ Herrin 2002, p. 202.
- ^ Greenwalt 2002, pp. 343–344.
- ^ Herrin 2013, pp. 66, 248, 258.
- ^ Grierson 1973, p. 12.
- ^ a b Treadgold 1997, p. 451.
- ^ a b ODB, p. 2038, "Theodora".
- ^ Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit, Theoktiste Phlorina (#8025).
- ^ a b Greenwalt 2002, p. 344.
- ^ Herrin 2002, p. 232.
- ^ a b c d e Greenwalt 2002, pp. 344–345.
- ^ Ostrogorsky 1956, p. 233.
- ^ Treadgold 1975, p. 335.
- ^ Treadgold 1975, p. 341.
- ^ Herrin 2002, pp. 228–229.
- ^ Mango 1973, pp. 22 & 27.
Bibliography
- Codoñer, Juan Signes (2016) [2014]. The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829–842: Court and Frontier in Byzantium during the Last Phase of Iconoclasm. Oxford: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7546-6489-5.
- ISBN 0-415-14688-7.
- Greenwalt, William S. (2002). "Thecla". In Commire, Anne (ed.). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Vol. 15: Sul–Vica. Waterford: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3.
- Grierson, Philip (1973). Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, 3: Leo III to Nicephorus III, 717–1081. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 978-0-88402-045-5.
- ISBN 1-84212-529-X.
- Herrin, Judith (2013). Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium. Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15321-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit(in German). Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
- ISSN 0584-9888.
- ISBN 978-0-813-51198-6.
- Ringrose, Kathryn M. (2008). "Women and Power at the Byzantine Court". In Walthall, Anne (ed.). Servants of the Dynasty: Palace Women in World History. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520254435.
- ISSN 2159-3159.
- Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2630-6.