The Tale of Theophano
Misjudged, defamed, heartbroken
Born in poverty
orn in grace
Born in War-time
With an enchanting face
The tale I narrate
Might restore my reputation in place
This is the tale of a common girl,
Who fell in love with an uncommon boy
And what a boy indeed!
Charming, sensible, strong…
And what a love indeed!
Wild, unruly, passionate…
And thus my suffering begins,
For the boy was the prince,
The heir to the throne,
Who caught my heart alone
and I was a poor girl
But no rules were set in stone!
Married for the first time.
Love was the sole intent
I filled my heart with joy.
with life I was content
But the ephemeral veil of happiness
Never lasts too long
Reality hit me hard
When the emperor was gone!
From a poor girl
To a lover
To a Wife
To an empress
I climbed so fast
I couldn’t catch my breath
Barely holding my dress
I was blamed for the emperors death!
Such treacherous words were spoken
Beyond the rules of law
The people had me consecrated
As a conniving palace flaw!
But rejoiced my heart again,
I was blessed with little paws ❤
Brief was the period of my youth
Brief was the period of my love
Brief was the period of my marriage
Brief was the period of my rule
The emperor was dead again
And I was widowed and heartbroken!
Nikephorous Phokas rose to throne
The great Phokas
The crude Phokas
The tactless Phokas
Mighty conqueror of all!
Had me tied to him
Without causing a brawl
Married for the second time
Married for protection
A loveless marriage
A heartless marriage
A homeless marriage
A marriage of compromise
A marriage of convenience
Is this the tragedy love befalls?
There was another who I admired
Silently whose company I desired
My heart jumped like a newborn fawn
When I talked to the charming John
But John had bad intentions,
He charmed me into his will
He had Phokas killed!
and for conspiring with John
I am blamed still!
Story:
Theophano was born to a tavern keeper in the 10th century in the Byzantine Empire. She married Romanus II, the heir apparent to the Byzantine throne. When the then Emperor Constantine VII died, she quickly rose to power from a poor girl with no family name which was undesirable to many. She was blamed for poisoning the Emperor Constantine and to have too much sway over Romanus II. Some texts also blame her for killing her husband Romanus II. After the death of Romanus II, Nikephoros II Phokas rose to power who was a military general with a lot of victories to his name. It was inline with the old Roman tradition of giving the throne to the best contender. However, the legitimate heir of the Byzantine empire, Romanus II’s son was still an infant. To protect her child and the legacy his father, she married the new emperor, Nikephorous Phokas. Phokas was not in the least interested in his new bride and establishing a household or governing the empire. What he enjoyed was conquest and was rightly famous for the same. More often than not, Theophano found herself alone, while her husband waged wars for the empire. In either case, the crude, gruff military general was a disastrous mismatch of a character for the beautiful, delicate Theophano. Soon her lonely heart fell in love again with John I Tzimiskes, who was charming, and extremely good-looking.
However John had a different intention. He wanted to rise to power and had Phokas killed in his sleep. Theophano was blamed again for conspiring with Tzmiskes to kill the third emperor. After successful accession of the throne, Tzimiskes had Theophano exiled to prevent further threat to his rule.
Throughout her adult married life, Theophano was blamed and misjudged for one thing or another. Her list of offenses included falling in love with the charming prince, staying by his side during his reign, protecting her children from infanticide, and losing her heart again to the wrong person. These offenses were translated in public eye as being an upstart, power hungry, conniving, conspiring woman who had the ability to kill several times for power alone.
History remembers Theophano in a bad light. A woman who was unruly and wild. A gold digging social climber who could not be tamed. The bias against the woman is very evident from the fact that her second husband, Phokas, is remembered as a great military general. However, Phokas was responsible for a lot of diplomatic errors during his reign. The final blow to Theophanos reputation comes from the epitaph of Phokas which reads,
‘Here lies the conqueror of all but one woman’
References:
1. Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization — Lars Brownworth (Link)
2. Byzantium and the Rights of Women— Jonathan Harris (Link)
