Thekla (sister of Michael III.)

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Thekla (right) with her brother Michael III. on the lapel of a solidus of her mother Theodora II.

Thekla ( Middle Greek Θέκλα , * probably around 822/23; † after 867 in Constantinople ) was a Byzantine princess.

Life

Thekla was probably the eldest daughter of the emperor Theophilus and the Theodora . She had four sisters (Anna, Anastasia, Pulcheria, Maria) and two brothers, the late Constantine and the future Emperor Michael III.

When Theophilos died in 842, she became co-empress alongside her mother and appears as such on coins together with her younger brother . In fact, however, the eunuch Theoktistus ran the affairs of state. There are different traditions about the fate of Theklas after Theodora's disempowerment in late 855 / early 856 by Kaisar Bardas . It seems certain that at the latest in 858 she entered the Gastria monastery in Constantinople together with her sisters Anna, Anastasia and Pulcheria (Maria had died around 840). Thekla is said to have still lived there when her brother was killed in 867 by his successor Basil I (whose lover she is said to have been according to some sources).

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personal data
SURNAME Thekla
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Θέκλα (Middle Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine princess, sister of Michael III.
DATE OF BIRTH at 822
DATE OF DEATH after 867
Place of death Constantinople