Theophanu the Elder

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Theophanu (Latin form, Middle Greek Θεοφανώ Theophano , also Theophania; * around 941 ; † 976 ) was a Byzantine empress.

Theophanu was born around the year 941, the daughter of a pub owner named Krateros. In 957 she became the wife of the future emperor Romanos II. In 959 she is said to have instigated her husband to poison his father Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus . After his death on March 15, 963, his only twenty-two-year-old widow ruled initially as the guardian of their underage sons Basil II and Constantine VIII , although the eunuch Joseph Bringas actually held the political reins in his hands.

Because of the weakness of their position, Theophanu decided to base their reign on the most capable general of the empire: General Nikephoros Phokas , who was called "the pale death of the Saracens" because of his successes in the east. Only after an internal power struggle with the leading minister Joseph Bringas was Nikephoros able to move into Constantinople on August 16, 963. Theophanu married the new emperor on September 20, soon after he ascended the throne.

During a conspiracy initiated by Theophanu, Nikephorus II was murdered in December 969 by General Tzimiskes, who then ascended the imperial throne as John I. A planned marriage between Theophanus and the usurper failed due to the resistance of the patriarch Polyeuktus of Constantinople . In November 971, Johannes married Theodora, another member of the former imperial family, to legitimize himself as emperor, and had Theophanu banished to a remote monastery. Theophanu the Elder died in 976 at the age of 35 on the island of Prinkipo .

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SURNAME Theophanu the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Theophanu; Theophano; Theophania; Θεοφανώ
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine empress
DATE OF BIRTH around 941
DATE OF DEATH after 969