THEODORA - the Most Powerful Woman in Byzantine History

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articlemostwanted - The Byzantine empress Theodora was the other half of the emperor Justinian I (reigned 527- 565) and most likely the most powerful lady in Byzantine history. Her intelligence and political acumen made her Justinian's most relied on adviser and enabled her to use the power and influence of her office to promote spiritual and social policies that favoured her interests.

Little is understood of Theodora's early life, but a mix of the main variation with that found in the extremely coloured Secret History of Procopius of Caesarea probably supplies the very best explanation. Her daddy was a bear keeper at the Hippodrome (circus) in Constantinople. She became a starlet while still young, leading an unconventional life that included bring to life a minimum of one child out of wedlock. For a time, she made her living as a wool spinner. When Justinian met her, she had actually been converted to monophysitism, a nonorthodox teaching. Drawn in by her appeal and intelligence, he made her his girlfriend, raised her to the rank of patrician, and in 525 wed her. When Justinian succeeded to the throne in 527, she was proclaimed Augusta.

lemari asam adv.- Theodora worked out considerable impact, and though she was never ever coregent, her remarkable intelligence and deft handling of political affairs caused many to believe that it was she, rather than Justinian, who ruled Byzantium. Her name is mentioned in nearly all the laws passed throughout that period. She got foreign envoys and referred international rulers, functions normally reserved for the emperor. Her impact in political affairs was decisive, as shown in the Nika revolt of January 532. The two political factions in Constantinople, cry and the Greens, united in their opposition to the federal government and established a competing emperor. Justinian's advisors urged him to run away, however Theodora encouraged him to stay and conserve his empire, whereupon Justinian's basic, Belisarius, rounded up the rioters into the Hippodrome and cut them to pieces.

Theodora is kept in mind as one of the first rulers to acknowledge the rights of ladies, passing stringent laws to prohibit the traffic in young girls and modifying the divorce laws to give higher benefits to females. She spent much of her reign attempting to alleviate the laws against the monophysites. Though she succeeded in ending their persecution in 533, she never ever prospered in changing Justinian's religious policy from its emphasis on orthodoxy and relationship with Rome.

The best-known representation of Theodora is the mosaic picture in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. Her death, potentially from cancer or gangrene, was an extreme
blow to Justinian. Her significance in Byzantine political life is revealed by the truth that little significant legislation dates from the duration between her death and that of Justinian (565).

source: britannica