Theodora (, ; died 20 February 922) was a humble Greek woman who became Byzantine empress consort by marriage to

Romanos I Lekapenos Romanos I Lakapenos or Lekapenos (; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinisation of names, Latinized as Romanus I Lacapenus or Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for and senior co-ruler of ...

.Adelbert Davids (2002). ''The Empress Theophano: Byzantium and the West at the Turn of the First Millennium''. Cambridge University Press
P. 73

Empress

Nothing is known of her background except for the fact that she was born into a family of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

peasants. She became the mother-in-law to

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

in May or June, 919 with the marriage of the young Emperor to her daughter

Helena Lekapene Helena Lekapene () (c. 910 – 19 September 961) was the empress consort of Constantine VII, known to have acted as his political adviser and '' de facto'' co-regent. She was a daughter of Romanos I LekapenosAnne Commire, Deborah Klezmer (1994). ' ...

. Her husband Romanos was originally the ''Droungarios'' of the Fleet, before rising to become the ''de facto''

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of the Empire after the marriage, when he was proclaimed '' basileopatōr''. In September 920, Romanos was invested as '' kaisar''. On 17 December 920, Romanos was crowned co-emperor and in effect became the senior of the two associate emperors. Theodora was crowned as '' Augusta'' in January 921. She remained in the position until her death a year later.

Status as wife

She is the only wife of Romanos I mentioned in primary sources and is traditionally considered the mother of all his legitimate children. However, there has been some question if she was only his second wife.

Symeon the Metaphrast Symeon or Simeon (died ), distinguished as Symeon Metaphrastes (Latin) or Symeon the Metaphrast (, ''Symeṓn ho Metaphrastḗs''), was a Byzantine writer and official regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day is celebrated ...

identifies a certain magister Niketas as father-in-law of Romanos I. This would presumably make him father to Theodora. However, Niketas is known from other chronicles to be the father of Sophia, wife of Christopher Lekapenos. Christopher was the eldest son of Romanos. The reference is typically ignored as a probable mistake by Symeon. However, "''Familles Byzantines"'' (1975) by Jean-François Vannier interprets the comment to be correct and that both father and son had married daughters of Niketas, which would mean Theodora could not be the mother of Christopher. Her son could not marry her sister. The argument concludes that Christopher is the product of an earlier marriage and Theodora a second wife of Romanos.

Children

Her children with Romanos are: *

Christopher Lekapenos Christopher Lekapenos or Lecapenus (; died August 931) was the eldest son of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos () and co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 921 until his death in 931. Christopher was given the position of (commander of the palace g ...

, co-emperor from 921 to 931, who was married to the ''Augusta'' Sophia and was the father of Maria (renamed Irene), who married

Peter I of Bulgaria Peter I (; ; died 30 January 970) was the emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 27 May 927 to 969. Facing Bogomilism and rebellions by his brothers and also by Časlav Klonimirović early on in his reign, Peter secured more success later in life; he ...

; Christopher's son Michael Lekapenos may have been associated as co-emperor by his grandfather. *

Stephen Lekapenos Stephen Lekapenos or Lecapenus (; died 18 April 963) was the second son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his younger brother Constantine, he deposed Romanos I in December 944, but ...

, co-emperor from 924 to 945, died 963. *

Constantine Lekapenos Constantine Lekapenos or Lecapenus () was the third son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his elder brother Stephen, he deposed Romanos I in December 944, but was overthrown and exiled by the c ...

, co-emperor from 924 to 945, died 946. * Theophylaktos Lekapenos, patriarch of Constantinople from 933 to 956. *

, who married Emperor

. * Agatha Lekapene, who married

Romanos Argyros Romanos III Argyros (; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos, was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death in 1034. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople when the dying Constantine ...

; their grandson was Emperor

Romanos III Argyros Romanos III Argyros (; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos, was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death in 1034. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople when the dying Constantine ...

References

, - {{Roman empresses, state=collapsed 9th-century births 922 deaths Macedonian dynasty 10th-century Byzantine empresses 10th-century Greek people Lekapenos family Augustae Burials at Myrelaion Monastery (Constantinople) Mothers of Byzantine emperors