Theodora (wife of Theophilos)

Common card · No. 385407

Theodora (Greek: Θεοδώρα; c. 815 – c. 867), sometimes called Theodora the Armenian or Theodora the Blessed, was Byzantine empress as the wife of Byzantine emperor Theophilos from 830 to 842. Following Theophilos's death, the widowed Theodora acted as regent for the couple's young son, Michael III, until her son deposed her in 856. In 830, Theodora married Theophilos, becoming Byzantine empress consort and giving birth to seven children. Theodora, as an iconophile, held contrasting beliefs from her iconoclast husband during a period of intense conflict over the veneration of religious images. Nevertheless, while on his deathbed in 842, Theophilos named Theodora as regent for their then-two-year-old son Michael III. Theophilos designated a selection of advisors to assist the empress regent, most notably the logothete and eunuch Theoktistos, who would become one of Theodora's closest confidantes. Throughout her son's minority, Theodora proved an able regent over the empire. Though her rule...

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