Zoe Porphyrogenita: A Feisty Byzantine Empress (978-1050)

To close our little tribute to the Byzantine empresses, we speak of Zoe Porphyrogenita who, unlike the predecessors we have spoken to, came of high born origins (hence why her surname is Porphyrogenita, which meant 'born into the purple', a colour that for a long time has been associated to royalty in general) and was politically and culturally cunning for her days. Yet, it's sad to attest that few were the proper websites that were dedicated to her, but one hopes this should not prevent those who are intrigued to search further about our historical character.

Born Zoe Porphyrogenita, she was the second daughter of Constantine VIII and Helena of Alypious. She had an older sister, Eudocia, and one younger, Theodora. Eudocia was unfit to rule due to her appearance being disfigured by small pox, and it's known that if the heir of the imperial crown has some physical disease or incapacity, they are thus unfit to rule. Zoe would have to share the throne with her younger sister, Theodora.

Not much is known of Zoe's childhood and youth, since she remained in obscurity once her uncle, Basil II, feared the loss of the Macedonian Dynasty if his nieces were married. Still, suitors sought the hands of the imperial princesses, though it was Zoe's that Basil II agreed to give to the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III in 996 once she captured the attention of the Emperor's ambassy, Arnulf, who thought Zoe quite the beauty. 

As a result, "in January 1002, she accompanied Arnulf back to Italy, only to discover when the ship reached Bari that Otto III had died, forcing her to return home. Another opportunity arose in 1028, when an embassy from the Holy Roman Empire arrived in Constantinople with a proposal for an imperial marriage. Constantine VIII and the fifty-year-old Zoe rejected the idea out of hand when it was revealed that the intended groom Henry, the son of Conrad II, was only ten years old."

It was not until her uncle had died that Zoe was able to choose her own husband. Until that moment, she was forced to be at the company of her youngest sister, Theodora, whom she despised and had jealousy feelings because "she had never forgiven Theodora for being their father's first choice to marry Romanos." He, who would eventually be her husband and co-emperor as Romanos III Agyros, was the urban prefect of Constantinople, and third distant cousin of the Empress. 

In order to have the power for herself, unwilling as she was to share with her sister, Zoe manipulated Romanos by preventing him to marry Theodora, by placing one of his men to watch her and later, by accusing her sister "of  plotting to usurp the throne,first with Presian of Bulgaria, followed by Constantine Diogenes, the Archon of Sirmium." Consequently, Zoe had her own youngest sister locked in a monastery and forced her to take her vows. 

Even though she was married and crowned next to Romanos, the Empress became obsessed in keeping the dynasty of which she was a member to and attempted the many medieval ways possible to carry an heir, such as potions, amulets and magic charms. But neither of the said options could give her what she wanted. Romanos, then, attempted to control the Empress further by limiting her activities, though he tolerated her extra marital affairs. However, 

"On April 11, 1034, Romanos III was found dead in his bath, and there was speculation that Zoe and Michael had conspired to have him poisoned, then strangled or drowned. Zoe married Michael later that same day and he reigned as Michael IV until his death in 1041."

Interesting is to observe that, even though she had her first marriage at an advanced age for that time, she remarried in a short time. According to her contemporary chronicles, this beauty and youth admired by others were the result of her concern to her vanity, that is, to remain young and beautiful. As we see next:

"The eye-witness chronicles of the era describe her as blonde, with bright white skin, lack of wrinkles, and a very young girl appearance, preserving her beauty even into her 60s. All the historical sources agree that her main occupation was the manufacture of cosmetic essences, and for this purpose, she had installed a laboratory (myrepseion) in her private quarters, where she prepared various drugs and perfumes, spending much of her time for these activities"

That way, she was far more lively even in ther fifties than probably when she was younger, but it must taken in consideration that her parents and uncle no longer were there to refrain her free spirit. As for marrying one of her lovers, Zoe thought, as probably many women would regardless the century, that he was the one. That Michael would be more devoted to her, more than her previous husband. Zoe was to be proven wrong, for:

"Michael IV was  concerned about Zoe turning on him the way she had turned on Romanos, so he excluded Zoe from politics by placing all power in the hands of his brother John the Eunuch. Zoe was confined again to the palace gynaeceum and kept under strict surveillance, while Michael's visits grew more and more infrequent. Nevertheless, the disgruntled empress conspired in vain against John in 1037 or 1038."

Although we have no informations of how were the politics under the reign of Zoe, it can be presumed, perhaps, they were partly the reason of her popularity, for when Michael V had banished her after the death of Zoe's hand and continued to imput such a harsh treatment, a popular and violent riot rose that almost took him life. To attend the popular demand of bringing the Empress back, she did so, but this time she was not meant to rule solely. Instead, Zoe was forced to reign with the sister she hated the most: Theodora.

"A delegation headed by the Patrician Constantine Cabasilas went to the monastery at Petrion to convince Theodora to become co-empress alongside her sister. At an assembly at Hagia Sophia, the people escorted a furious Theodora from Petrion and proclaimed her empress along Zoe. After crowning Theodora, the mob stormed the palace, forcing Michael V to escape to a monastery."

But the sibling rivalry would remain still. Several were the attempts Zoe tried to overshadow the policies by reigning solely, but she was prevented each time of doing so. One of these attempts, however, included a third husband and this was the limit the Orthodox Church permitted for the sovereigns to remarry. Constantine IX then was Zoe's third husband, but he would not give in his long term mistress in order to marry the empress, a deal that was oddly taken with no complaints from Zoe. 

During his reign, she permitted Constantine to rule almost as if he was sole emperor, once she gave him powers to do so. But, behind all the schemes, it was Theodora who reigned effectively. However, that was not how it was seen before the public, who, once again, protested in the strees against the poor treatment Constantine IX was imputing the sisters. Their presences were required and both Zoe and Theodora showed before the people to assure them there had been no attempt of murdering Zoe and that all rested well.

Unfortunately, there is no further information of the last days of Zoe Porphyrogenita, a woman that was, to certain extent, ahead of her days, living against the general medieval expectation concerning how a consort should act and behave. What is known is that she did not stop her activities of perfume and cosmetics, and that she died around the year of 1050, childless.

Bibliography:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zo%C3%AB_Porphyrogenita

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1473-2165.2012.00629.x/abstract?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+unavailable+on+Saturday+25th+March+from+07%3A00+GMT+%2F+03%3A00+EDT+%2F+15%3A00+SGT+for+4+hours+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.

Theodora of the Byzantines: From the Brothels to the Imperial Crown (500-548)

If in our last post we have discussed about the religious and political events that marked the life of Irene of Athens, today we will turn our eyes another remarkable Byzantine Empress, Theodora. Whilst we have observed that in the next centuries a marriage between a royal and a commoner has caused great scandal, making history in most cases, when we look at the background to some of these empresses, it is rather intriguing to see they were commoners with difficult lives who managed to get to the highest position of the society they were part of.

Theodora is no exception to these cases. As the empress consort of the Byzantine Emperor, she actively promoted laws that helped women and instigated the cult to Monophysitism, besides helping to strenghten the empire authority which was already marked by corruption. In days where society was made by men and to men, a woman in power as Theodora was usually seen with suspicious and fear. Specifically, because she was a prostitute in her origins, men as Procopius would describe her in not the best terms. So who was this Empress as ruler, wife and woman? It's what we will see next.

What is known about Theodora's early life is that her father was a bear-keeper of a hippodrome in Constantinople and her mother was likely an actress before that. She was probably born around the year 500 and had two sisters, a younger whose is unknown, and another, the eldest being named Camito, whose talent as singer made her famous. Also, when she was five:

"her father died (...) and her mother married another animal-keepr. When he failed to land her dead husband's job, she rehearsed her three little girls in arm movements and the silent gestures of supplication that would have been recognized by theatre audiences of the time. Then, she dressed them up and took them to the hippodrome--a vast complex, housing a capacity crowd of 30, 000 men--to formally request a job for their new stepfather. The wish was granted and Theodora went to become an actress, dancer, mime artist, comedian."

This profession which she performed in stages, however, eventually led most of the actresses to prostitution. Around the age of 14, Theodora already had given birth to a child, whose information we have none of it, but we presume that, like her sister Comito who was mistress to many men, "both had several abortions." Four years later, she would quit being actress as she was mistress to Hecebolus, governor of what today is known as Libya.

"When they broke up, not long afterwards, she joined an ascetic community in the desert near Alexandria, experiencing a religious conversion to a branch of early Christianity, Monophysitism, that was then under attack by the Roman state. The division between those who believed, with the state, that Christ was both fully human and fully divine in one, and those who, as Theodora did, believed His divinity was the prime force, raged on throughout Theodora's life."

She would remain a devout to Monophysitism for all her life, supporting this cult even when she became empress. And by the time she converted and gave up the life she was having until then, it's when she was acquainted to Justinian. He, who was born Flavius Peterus Sabbatius, was a farmer adopted by his uncle, the Emperor Justin I, once he was childless. Justinian was the heir of the Roman Emperor and took part of his council. History tells that he:

"Justinian was a farmer's son from present-day Serbia who travelled to Constantinople at the age of 11 to work for his uncle Justin, and help in his rise to power and eventual elevation to the throne. Justinian had a strong legal mind (his codifying of Roman law remains a part of legal training today), and had one law changed to raise Theodora's status, and another created to allow her to marry, something that former actresses could not legally do at the time. They married against the wishes of Justinian's aunt, the empress Euphemia, herself an ex-slave and concubine, who saw her own origins echoed a little too obviously in Theodora's. When Justin died and Justinian became emperor in 527, "Theodora-from-the-Brothel" was empress of Rome."

One of the most formidable episodes during the reign of Justinian happened when two political rivais, the Blues and the Greens, started a riot that, at first, the emperor could not resolve and had seen no other solution but to flee away. There's a speech where Theodora encourages him to stay, underlining "the significance of someone who died as a ruler instead of living as an exile or in hiding, reportedly saying 'royal purple is the noblest shroud'."

Impressive as she was, though criticized for the harsh way Justinian responded successfully to the riots, Theodora was respected by her husband not only for her beauty but for her wit. They often shared similar views concerning politics, diverging, perhaps, only in religious matters. Even there, Justinian was only tolerant to the Monophysitism because of his consort's belief. It's said that she was called his "partner in my deliberations". Theodora held court, had "her own official entourage and her own imperial seal."

Her involvement in politics was very important to advocate on behalf of the women's rights. It is thankful to her actions that forced prostitution was forbidden, being "known  for buying girls who had been sold into prostitution, freeing them, and providing for their future." Brothels were closed, and those who earned money with prostitution were repelled. A convent named Metanoia (Repentance) was created for ex-prostitutes.

"She also expanded the rights of women in divorce and property ownership, instituted the death penalty for rape, forbade exposure of unwanted infants, gave mothers some guardianship rights over their children, and forbade the killing of a wife who committed adultery. Procopius wrote that she was naturally inclined to assist women in misfortune. After Theodora's death, "little effective legislation was passed by Justinian"."

"As empress, she worked on the paper On Pimps, an attempt to stop pimps making their money from prostitutes. Well aware of the impossibility of marriage and a safe life for such women, she set up a house where they could live in peace. Theodora worked for women's marriage and dowry rights, anti-rape legislation, and was supportive of the many young girls who were sold into sexual slavery for the price of a pair of sandals. Her laws banished brothel-keepers from Constantinople and from all the major cities of the empire."

As a woman in a male world, Theodora left her marks though those are hardly being spoken in most gender discussions. Her personality is seen as commanding, persuasive, strong willed and opinionated. To men as Procopius, already mentioned before as the historian of the empire who described Theodora's supposedly sexual escapes and attempted to difame her name and sex, whose belief tended to see women below to men in social ranks, this was a natural absurd.

"[He] (...) greatly disapproved of Theodora's personality and background- she was smart and ruthless, and in her early life a prostitute and actress- blaming her for political and financial upheaval. Foss describes her as "less than saintly". Procopius's notorious account of Theodora in his 'Secret History' shows extreme dislike for her character; he, and Byzantine society in general, evaluated her former occupations as very near the bottom of the 'hierarchy of the arts'. Procopius writes that Theodora was secretive and unfaithful, yet this characterization can be attributed mostly to his own personal bias against her."

Another historian, John Malalas (c.490-c.570),

"only mentions Theodora three times: once as "the pious Theodora" who stopped brothel-keepers from enlisting unwilling young girls as prostitutes: second, to relate that while on a trip to Pythion, she was found "giving generously to the churches": and lastly to report her death. Although Malalas does not describe Theodora sexually, he does not shy away from graphic sexual descriptions of others whom he accuses "of living immorally in matters of the flesh"."

The controversy surrounding Theodora both as prostitute and later as Empress brings an interesting comparison to Mary Magdalene, due to her piety and penitent character she expressed especially after her conversion to Monophysitism. Yet, it must not be forgotten she too was a woman of her days, specially when rivalries with the former empress, her husband's aunt, is mentioned. With her flaws or not, Theodora was a royal of great importance and her death, at the age of 48, left the empire mourning her free-spirit.

Bibliography:

https://www.thoughtco.com/empress-theodora-facts-3529665

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/rulers/justinian-i-and-theodora-i.html

https://www.mcgill.ca/classics/files/classics/2004-09.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century)

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/10/theodora-empress-from-the-brothel

http://www.ancient.eu/article/603/

http://fascinatinghistory.blogspot.com.br/2005/05/theodora-ad-500-548-whore-who-became_01.html

Irene of Athens:The Ruthless Byzantine East Roman Empress (752-803)

In order to celebrate the Internation Women's Day, this week we will bring to the discussion some of the stories concerning royal women whose controversial figures were in the centre of studies and discussion for some long time. Also, to open the posts of this year, certainly later than planned, we begin with the Byzantine Empress Irene of Athens and how important she was to the Orthodox Eastern Church. 

Born in Athens of a Greek noble family, between the years of 750 and 755, little is known regarding Irene Sarantapechaina's life before ascending to the Byzantine throne. In some bibliographies here consulted, it's said that she was orphan under the charge of an uncle. What can be said with some degree of certainty is that around the year of 769 she was brought to the Constantinople court of Constantine V where she was soon married off to his heir, Leo IV. What can be said regarding Irene is what she's mostly famous for: being the responsible for the veneration of icons. As we can see next:

"Her main achievement during her reign was the settling of the Iconoclastic Controversy. Her predecessors had denounced and destroyed icons, were the living pictures of the saints, and Mary and Christ. The emperor had taken the Jewish and Muslim stance that these icons were idols. She was responsible for the eventual most important festival known as the Feast of Orthodoxy, which is still celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church."

In between the issue concerning the restauration of the icons, Irene was also in the midst of a struggle for power with her son when he became Constantine VI at age nine, after Leo IV died. In spite of the rumours that he was poisoned under her commands, Irene became Empress-Regent on behalf of her son and soon worked to have an alliance with Charlemagne by arranging a betrothal between his daughter and Constantine, but this would be later called off against his wishes. Amidst the relationship mother and son that worsened with time, there were other complications to the hungry for power Irene. The late Emperor Leo IV had four half-brothers who, upon his death, soon sought his crown. Rebellions like these were stopped by Irene's forces repetedly until she had them into priesthood, so that way their claims would be invalid.

Following the "clash over veneration of icons, a patriarch, Tarasius, was appointed in 784, on condition that veneration of images be reestablished. To that end, a council was convened in 786, which ended up disbanded when it was disrupted by forces backed by Irene's son Constantine. Another meeting was assembled in Nicae in 787. The decision of the council was to end the banning of image veneration, while clarifying that the worship itself was to the Divine Being, not to the images."

This mended the relationship with Rome only briefly as they came to a mutual agreement to such religious matters.

Where politics were now concerned, opposition between Constantine and his mother grew, as she refused to give his son power, even the countless times he was manipulated by her to do as her will. After all, "in 788, Irene held a bride show to select a bride for her son. Of the thirteen possibilites, she selected Maria of Amnia", daughter of a wealthy Greek official. The match displeased Constantine VI, as he much preferred to have been married to the daughter of Charlemagne. However, not soon Maria gave him two daughters, he divorced her and married his mistress. Maria and the princesses were exiled and though one is said to have died at an early age, the other lived with Maria in a monastery, but, unlike her mother, had not taken the veil and married against Maria's wishes. 

The second marriage involved Constantine VI in a complicated relationship with the Church which helped Irene consolidate her position as Empress. No matter if Constantine had been already in prison and rescued back, he started to lose supporters. As it's perceptible in the next paragraph:

"(...) When Constantine grew up, Irene refused to hand over power to him, and instead put him in prison. Even when Constantine was rescued and put in power, in 792 he ended up letting his mother have the power again. (...)"

"In 797, a conspiracy led by Irene to regain power for herself succeded. Constantine tried to flee but was captured and returned to Constantinople, where, on the orders of Irene, he was blinded by his eyes being gouged out. That he died shortly after is assumed by some; in other accounts, he and Theodote retired to private life. During Theodote's life, their residence became a monastery. Theodote and Constantine had two sons; one was born in 796 and died in May of 797. The other was born after his father was deposed, and apparently died young."

Once her son was heireless and Constantine VI himself was removed from her path from one way or another, Irene of Athens became the first Empress of such a vast empire alone. But precisely because she was a female that the Pope was quick to respond it by investing Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in a coronation in Rome, following the Frankish law that forbade any woman to reign solely, unless she was a consort. 

In spite of this, Irene was recognized within her territories as Byzantine Empress and often she "took the male title Basileus (Emperor) in preference to the usual offical status of Empress. Since she could not claim dynastic connections to the emperor she had deposed, she put her own portrait on both the obverse and reverse of her."

What happened next was of no good to Irene, though. Even with all the ruthless that had given her power to depose her son and reign herself alone, little by little she started losing supporters. Firstly, she was already unpopular between the army, which was a supporter of her late son the emperor, and the fact she was surrounded by eunuchs did not help her cause; the invasions of outsiders enemies, as arabs, were possibly a consequence of this as we may see following the paragraph below:

"Another victory by the Arabs reduced Irene's support among the government leaders. In 803, the officials in government rebelled against Irene. Technically, the throne was not hereditary, and the leaders of government had to elect the emperor. This time, she was replaced on the throne by Nikephoros, a finance minister."

Another cause of her fall was the approach between the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne to the Byzantine Empress, who, in turn, was considering to accept his proposal of marriage. If she had accepted it, this would be an union of two empires that had not been since the fall of the Roman Empire. 

"This situation was forced to a conclusion when Charlemagne proposed to marry Irene. The union would have brought East and West together for the first time in centuries. Irene was happy to accept, but no self-respecting Byzantine wanted to see a Frankish emperor on the throne, and so the ministers had to act now."

In response to these events that tensed these later years of Irene's reign, she was deposed and sent to exile. She would die the next year. Nowadays, Irene is best remembered as St Irene, whose day is still celebrated. Some sources claim her popularity in between the common folk, despite her intriguing manners to hold power and manage the whole iconoclasm issue. Whether be the case, controversial or not, Irene of Athens was not a typical medieval woman and she certainly held her ambitions too high to be the expected quiet christian lady of her days. Being so, for better or worse, she led the path to the next generation of sole queens and empresses the world would yet meet.

Bibliography:

http://web.clark.edu/afisher/HIST252/Women%20in%20the%20Byzantine%20Empire.pdf 

http://quatr.us/medieval/history/byzantine/irene.htm#topbar

https://www.thoughtco.com/alexius-comnenus-profile-1788347

http://www.rapiddiffusion.com/history/real-life-game-thrones-empress-irene-part-1/

http://www.rapiddiffusion.com/history/real-life-game-thrones-empress-irene-part-2/

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/irene-of-athens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_of_Athens