Theodora (senatrix)
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Theodora (also Teodora) (c. 870 – 916) was a senatrix<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Theodora, a Byzantine princess, was married to Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum, of the incredibly powerful Theophylact family.<ref name=":0" /> Theophylact I was appointed both commander of the Roman militia and head of the papal chapel.<ref name=":0" /> The couple shared effective rulership of Rome between 905 and her death in 916.
As heads of the most powerful family in Rome, Theodora and her husband held great sway over the papacy.<ref name=":0" /> Theodora was rumoured to have been a lover of Pope John X, and she supported his papal candidacy.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0" />
With her husband Theophylact I, Theodora had at least three children: Marozia, Theodora II, and Sergia.<ref name=":1" />
Her daughter, Marozia, was the alleged lover of Pope Sergius III, and mother of Pope John XI.<ref name=":0" /> The latter, according to Liutprand of Cremona and the Liber Pontificalis, was fathered by Sergius.<ref name="Abbott 2010">Template:Cite book</ref> However, the annalist Flodoard (c. 894–966), a direct contemporary of Theodora's, says John XI was the brother of Count Alberic II of Spoleto. Because Alberic II was Marozia's son by her husband Count Alberic I of Spoleto, John was likely the son of Marozia and Alberic I.
Theodora was characterized by the aforementioned Liutprand as a "shameless whore ... [who] exercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man".<ref name=McCabe>Template:Cite book</ref> Liutprand, a bishop of Cremona, was known to his contemporaries and modern historians as being unfair to adversaries.
General bibliographyEdit
- E. Dümmler, Auxilius u. Vulgarius. Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte des Papsttums im Anfange des zehnten Jahrhunderts, Leipzig 1866, pp. 12–26;
- P. Fedele, Ricerche per la storia di Roma e del papato al secolo X, in "Archivio della Società Romana di Storia Patria", 33, 1910, pp. 177–247; 34, 1911, pp. 75–115 e 393–423;
- L. Duchesne, Serge III. et Jean XI., in "Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire", 33 (1913), pp. 25–64
- Ferdinand Gregorovius, Storia di Roma nel medioevo, New Compton Editori Srl, Roma 1972
- Lexikon des Mittelalters, München 2002
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