Women's History Writer. Jone Johnson Lewis is a women's history writer who has been involved with the women's movement since the late s. She is a former faculty member of the Humanist Institute.
Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Lewis, Jone Johnson. Biography of Empress Theodora, Byzantine Feminist. Biography of Justinian I, Emperor of Byzantine.
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We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. After quelling the revolt, Theodora and Justinian confronted the destruction of important monuments in Constantinople, including the original Hagia Sophia. The couple rebuilt the basilica, which was rededicated in It was the largest church of the period and later became one of the greatest examples of Byzantine architecture.
During her time as empress, Theodora fought for the persecuted. She attended to the rights of prostitutes in particular by closing brothels, creating protective safe houses, and passing laws to prohibit forced prostitution. In addition, she passed laws that expanded the rights of women in divorce cases and abolished a law that had allowed women to be killed for committing adultery.
Finally, she strove to protect the persecuted Monophysites, building houses of worship that served as refuges. He also fought for the Monophysites, despite his own conflicting orthodox beliefs. This mosaic portrays Theodora and Justinian in full imperial regalia and sets the color scheme of gold, green, and purple for both the plate and the runner.
The imagery is a symmetrical abstract butterfly form, each wing stretching to the edge of the plate. The symmetry of the image echoes a basilica plan, with a colonnade of Roman arches in the upper quadrants of the wings.
A mosaic-like halo is embroidered on the runner, the plate resting in its center, which references the halo in the Ravenna mosaic and associates Theodora with both her imperial reign and her religious work.
Procopius of Caesarea b. Anecdota The Secret History , c. Cameron, Averil. Procopius and the Sixth Century. There are hints that she was involved in poisoning, torture and forced marriage, and while she did a great deal to help women and girls in difficulty, she had rather less time for women of higher standing — attacking any who threatened her position, including the empress Euphemia. There are so many questions in Theodora's story.
Was she a spy or a saint, a slut or a theatrical genius? What actually happened with the geese on stage at the hippodrome? Was Macedonia her friend or her lover? Theodora is the kind of hero you couldn't make up without being accused of overdoing it, and yet you can't tell her story without making a lot of it up. A perfect balance for fiction. Theodora: the empress from the brothel. Actress, prostitute and empress of Rome — Theodora's life is perfect for fiction.
The empress Theodora and her courtiers depicted in a mosaic in San Vitale, Ravenna. The woman was the empress Theodora and although I had never seen her before, she has come to dominate my working life Theodora lived in an era of huge changes in the church, language and statehood.
Topics Women Fiction History books features. Reuse this content. She had proven herself a great statesman and a worthy partner in power. No one was more aware of that fact than Justinian. Far from arousing in him any sense of jealously, her resolute action only deepened his respect and love for her. Throughout the remainder of her life, she was Justinian's active assistant in all matters of importance.
She was not a dark power behind the throne, but shared openly in both the decision-making and the glory of her husband's reign. Her name appeared linked with his upon church walls and over the gates of citadels. Even in the mosaics that decorated the apartments of the Sacred Palace, writes Diehl, "Justinian had in like manner associated Theodora with him in connection with his military triumphs and the brightest glories of his reign.
They transformed it into the most splendid city in the world, so much so that Europeans during the Middle Ages referred to it as simply "The City. Justinian and Theodora built more that 25 churches and convents in Constantinople. The greatest of them, and indeed the greatest church in all of Christendom prior to the building of St. Peter's in Rome, was the Hegia Sophia, rebuilt by the imperial couple.
With its great dome, feet in diameter, and decorated in rich marbles and mosaics, it dazzled visitors for centuries. One European churchman who visited Constantinople during the high Middle Ages recorded that upon entering the Hegia Sophia he felt as if he had died and entered heaven itself.
Both Justinian and Theodora recognized the importance of religious issues. Complex theological issues dominated the lives of even the common people. They were inseparable from the important political issues of the day. Hence Justinian, who wanted to reconquer the Latin West, stoutly defended the orthodox position in such theological debates as those concerning the nature of Christ.
To do so won support among the Christians in the ruins of the old Roman Empire in the West. But it also tended to alienate the Christians in the eastern provinces of the Empire who were attracted to the Monophysite heresy.
Monophysitism held that Christ had but one nature, a composite divine-human one. The orthodox position, as defined by the Council of Chalcedon in , was that Jesus Christ was at the same time both fully human and fully divine. While Justinian might use the carrot-and-stick approach to combat Monophysitism, Theodora championed their cause both openly and in secret.
No doubt her own convictions, which went back to her conversion under Monophysite influence, were behind her efforts to secure religious tolerance for Monophysitism. But she was motivated also by her belief that the strength of the Empire was in the Middle East.
Monophysitism was especially strong in the eastern provinces along the frontier with the revived Persian Empire.
To grant toleration to them would be to strengthen and further the unity of the Empire where it faced a powerful enemy. But it also would undermine Justinian's dream of reuniting the old Roman Empire. In her efforts to help the Monophysites, Theodora influenced the election of popes, provided refuge within the apartments of her palace for Monophysite leaders, and openly established a Monophysite monastery in Sycae, directly across the Golden Horn from Constantinople.
By such efforts, Theodora was able to keep alive the fire of the Monophysite heresy in the eastern provinces of the Empire. When Theodora died of cancer on June 28, , her body was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, one of the splendid churches she and Justinian had built in Constantinople.
Her death was a great loss to Justinian. It is tempting to see, as some have, the decline of imperial fortunes during the latter years of Justinian's reign as the result of his loss of her counsel. But that would be unfair to Justinian's own genius. Nevertheless, he cherished her memory, as later Queen Victoria did that of her dear Prince Albert.
In his latter years, Justinian was in the habit of swearing in the name of Theodora. Those who wished to win his favor learned the importance of reminding him of her virtues. How much she meant to him personally was evident in an incident which occurred on August 11, Following a campaign against the Huns, Justinian was making a triumphal entry into Constantinople.
The official record states that "as the procession passed before the Church of the Holy Apostles it halted while the emperor went in to offer a prayer and light candles before Theodora's tomb.
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