1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Theodora became the sole empress of the Byzantine 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: Empire on January eleventh, ten fifty five. That was nine 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy years ago today, at least theoretically, depending 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: on calendars, that happened after the death of Emperor Constantine 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: the ninth. Constantine had been married to Theodora's sister Zoe, 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: and they had previously been co empresses. Our episode on 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: Zoe and Theodora is Today's Saturday classic that originally came 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: out on March third, twenty twenty one. 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 2: So enjoy. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 12 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Frye. So our show has been skewing 14 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 2: a little bit more for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries lately, 15 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 2: including something we've just recorded that's coming out after this one. 16 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 2: So when I picked today's topic, I wanted to just 17 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 2: break a little farther out of that, and I have 18 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 2: had Byzantine Empresses Zoe and Theodora on my list for ages. 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 2: They went through a whole series of twists and turns 20 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 2: in eleventh century Constantinople, and over the course of almost 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 2: thirty years. Sometimes Zoe ruled alongside one of her husbands, 22 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 2: sometimes she and Theodora ruled together, and then in the 23 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 2: end Theodora ruled alone. All of that happened against a 24 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 2: backdrop of a lot of distrust and intrigue and possibly 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 2: some murder. A note on the names before we get started. 26 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 2: Pretty much all the English language sources on this use 27 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 2: Anglicized rather than Greek names. That's what folks will probably 28 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 2: find if they go looking for more information in English 29 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 2: on this, including in scholarly work. So for the sake 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 2: of clarity, even though that's a little weird to me, 31 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: we're going to stick with that convention rather than trying 32 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 2: to translate all the names back into Greek. 33 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,399 Speaker 1: Right, and we are also going to give a little 34 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: bit of context first, both about the available sources for 35 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: this episode and the imperial dynasty that Zoe and Theodora 36 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: were part of. There are always challenges when it comes 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: to researching historical figures from this long ago. Documentation obviously 38 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: is pretty scarce. We have had so many conversations on 39 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: the show about the oldest surviving records of a person, 40 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: or even records about them having been written decades or 41 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: even centuries after the fact, or the oldest surviving written 42 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: record being a copy of something that was written much earlier, 43 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: but we don't have the original for comparison because it 44 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: hasn't survived, so we don't know if that copy is accurate, 45 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: or how many iterations it may have gone through, or 46 00:02:54,840 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: even just editorial flare or interpretation. In some cultures we 47 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: do have a sense of how history was preserved through 48 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: an oral tradition, but often there are just a lot 49 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: of unanswered questions about how later accounts reflect something that 50 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: happened way before. So Zoe and Theodora come with a 51 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: slightly different challenge than the one that we are usually 52 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: talking about, with things from this long ago. The most 53 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: detailed record of their lives and their rule is the 54 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: chronographia of Mikhael Pilosh. Silash lived from about ten eighteen 55 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: to ten eighty two, and he was a writer, a 56 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: political advisor, and a government official before eventually becoming a monk. 57 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: His chronicle documents events that he actually lived through and 58 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: in some cases witnessed. Although it does start with things 59 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: that happened when he was a baby, and did not 60 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: have a personal memory of Silash met Zoe and Theodora. 61 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: Multiple times, Theodora frequently invited him to leave his monastery 62 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: and come visit her in the palace. Although it was 63 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: written shortly after the things it documents, the Chronographia is 64 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: not really a straightforward presentation of people and events. Its 65 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: writing style is often very poetic and dramatic. In places, 66 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: it reads like a novel or a memoir. Sometimes Slash 67 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: describes things that happened behind closed doors with no one 68 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: there to witness and report on them. His personal opinions 69 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: are often very apparent, and in places entire paragraphs are 70 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: about himself instead of his purported subjects. Sometimes he also 71 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: gives ages and dates that contradict official records of the time. 72 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 2: He really has some parts that are just like, I'm 73 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 2: going to talk about myself for a minute. Enough about you, 74 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 2: how about how I feel about you? So. The Chronographia 75 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 2: also follows literary tropes that were common during the Byzantine era. 76 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 2: The emperors and empresses or usually described as physically flawlessly beautiful, 77 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 2: which was pretty much the standard way to describe royalty, 78 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 2: and the depictions of women are often stereotyped. So for example, 79 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 2: here is how he describes Zoe after one of her 80 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 2: husband's confined her to the women's quarters in the palace 81 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 2: under guard. 82 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: Quote. 83 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 2: Anyway, she avoided the despicable feminine trait of talkativeness, and 84 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 2: there were no emotional outbursts. So it is not entirely 85 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 2: clear whether his criticisms of Zoe and Theodora reflect their 86 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 2: actual behavior or if they are more drawn from the 87 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 2: sexist stereotypes of the day. 88 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: As we noted at the top of the show, Zoe 89 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: and Theodora were empresses during the eleventh century in the 90 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern 91 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: Roman Empire, was established in the fourth century after Diocletian 92 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: divided the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western portions, each 93 00:05:58,880 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: with its own rulers. 94 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 2: Constantine the First became the emperor of the Eastern portion 95 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 2: and established Constantinople as its capital. Today it is Istanbul, Turkey, 96 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 2: and it was built on the site of the ancient 97 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 2: city of Byzantium. The term Byzantine Empire comes from this 98 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 2: ancient city, although that term was not coined until around 99 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:25,600 Speaker 2: the sixteenth century. People living in this empire did not 100 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 2: typically describe it as Byzantine. They only even use the 101 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 2: word Byzantium pretty rarely. They generally referred to themselves as Romans, 102 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 2: while people in the Western Roman Empire were more likely 103 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 2: to refer to them as Greek and to call the 104 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 2: empire the Empire of Constantinople or New Rome. So within 105 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 2: the field of Byzantine history, there is starting to be 106 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 2: some discussion about whether to move away from this terminology 107 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,799 Speaker 2: and into something that is more accurate. Still in motion, 108 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 2: still in motion, like pretty new conversation from I mean, 109 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 2: I'm not a Byzantine historian, but as I understand it, 110 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 2: this is a pretty new conversation just about the whole 111 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 2: field and how to approach it and how to kind 112 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 2: of unload some of the Westernized baggage, which like the 113 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 2: naming convention of Anglicized names, is also part of So 114 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 2: this empire had started to decline by the ninth century, 115 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 2: when Emperor Basil the First came to power. This started 116 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 2: a new imperial dynasty known as the Macedonian dynasty because 117 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 2: Basil had been born to a peasant family in Macedonia. 118 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 2: The Byzantine Empire at least in theory was an elective monarchy, 119 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 2: but Basil took steps to establish a dynastic line that 120 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 2: would be passed down through his descendants for generations. Although 121 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 2: this line of succession was interrupted by various usurpations and rifts, 122 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 2: the Macedonian dynasty ruled the Empire for almost two hundred years. 123 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 2: The Macedonian dynasty is described is ushering in the Byzantine 124 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 2: Golden Age, marked by a period of literary and artistic flourishing, 125 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 2: as well as an expansion of the empire's territory. And 126 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 2: this expansion wasn't just about extending the empire's political influence. 127 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 2: It was also about spreading Christianity. The Bulgarians, Serbs, and 128 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 2: rus all converted to Christianity during this phase of the 129 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 2: Byzantine Empire. 130 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: Zoe and Theodora came to power five generations after Basil 131 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,559 Speaker 1: the First at the end of this imperial dynasty. They 132 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: were the daughters of Constantine the eighth and his wife Helena, 133 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: and nieces of Constantine's brother, Basil the second. Basil and 134 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: Constantine were sons of the emperor Romanus the Second. They 135 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: were named co emperors in the year nine sixty. They 136 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: were both still children then. Depending on which account you 137 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: are looking at, Basil was either three or five, and 138 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: his younger brother, Constantine was either a baby or a toddler. 139 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: Their father was still living when they were named as 140 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: his successors, but then when Ramanus died in nine sixty three, 141 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: it kicked off a period of instability. At first, Basil 142 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: and Constantine's mother, Theofano, acted as their regent, but then 143 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: she married a general named Nicophorus Phocus. This was one 144 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: of many apparently unhappy marriages in this story. He was 145 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: an accomplished general, but deeply unpopular as a ruler. He 146 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: was ultimately assassinated in nine sixty nine, and Theofano was 147 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: implicated in his death, along with another general, John Simisk's. 148 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,359 Speaker 1: John Simiskis took the throne and banished Theofano to a monastery. 149 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 1: He then reigned until his death in nine seventy six. 150 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 2: Although Basil the Second and Constantine the eighth technically came 151 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 2: into power as co emperors, at that point, Basil was 152 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 2: seen as the far better choice to lead. He was 153 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 2: described as thoughtful and intelligent, while his brother was more 154 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 2: interested in maintaining a life of luxury than actually ruling. 155 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 2: As we said earlier, Basil was the older of the two, 156 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 2: and even so he was just barely considered to be 157 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 2: an adult. So all the parties involved generally agreed that 158 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 2: Basil would take the lead and his brother Constantine would 159 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 2: be co emperor pretty much in name only. 160 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: As emperor, Basil faced a series of revolts launched by 161 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: other claimants to the throne, some of whom were close 162 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: enough to the Macedonian dynastic line that they might have 163 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 1: been able to gain some acceptance if they actually succeeded. 164 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: It wasn't until nine eighty nine, thirteen years after coming 165 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,439 Speaker 1: to power, that Basil's forces defeated the last of them. 166 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: This Byzantine victory came with the aid of Vladimir, the 167 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 1: Great Grand Prince of Kiev, so itccounts. 168 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 2: Very somewhat in their details on this, but it was 169 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 2: all connected to a political and religious agreement in which 170 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 2: Vladimir married Basil and Constantine's sister Anna, and as part 171 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 2: of the marriage negotiations, also agreed to convert to Christianity. 172 00:10:58,040 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 2: We also have an episode of this in the art, 173 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 2: but if you go check it out, be aware that 174 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 2: most of this region was described at the time as Russia, 175 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 2: but today it's Ukraine. 176 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: During his fifty year reign, Basil implemented land reforms, forcing 177 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,079 Speaker 1: wealthy families to return land that had been seized from 178 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,559 Speaker 1: the peasantry. Of the course of decades, he expanded the 179 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: Byzantine Empire's territory and consolidated its influence in territory that 180 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: had already held. He was nicknamed Basil the Bulgar Slayer 181 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: after his conquest of Bulgaria. 182 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 2: Basil also hoped to form an alliance with the Holy 183 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 2: Roman Empire, which at the time encompassed a lot of 184 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 2: central Europe and what's now northern Italy. And that is 185 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,719 Speaker 2: where we finally get back to Zoe, so we will 186 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 2: turn our attention to her after a quick sponsor break. 187 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 2: We have only mentioned two of them so far, but 188 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 2: Byzantine Emperor Constantine the eighth and his wife Helena had 189 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 2: three daughters. The oldest, Eudokia, had become a nun. According 190 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 2: to Psilash, this was because she had been scarred by 191 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 2: an illness. That illness was probably smallpox. The middle daughter, Zoe, 192 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 2: was born around nine seventy eight, and the youngest, Theodora, 193 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 2: was born around nine eighty one. Zoe and Theodora were 194 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 2: both known by the honorific Porfirogenita, or born in the Purple, 195 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 2: which was used for the daughters of emperors born during 196 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 2: their reign. Emperor's sons had the corresponding title of Porphyrogenitus. 197 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: Basil the second's plan to create an alliance between the 198 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: Eastern Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire involved a 199 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: marriage between his niece Zoe and Holy Roman Emperor Auto 200 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,959 Speaker 1: the third. This arrangement was made in the year one 201 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: thousand and one, so Zoe would have been about twenty three. 202 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: She was described as being exceptionally beautiful, although, as we 203 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: noted earlier, Byzantine royalty were generally all was described this way. 204 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: But the alliance would have brought together two massive political powers. 205 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: But when Zoe arrived in Bari in southern Italy to 206 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: be married, having sailed there from Constantinople, it turned out 207 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: that Otto had died suddenly of a fever at the 208 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: age of only twenty one. Had he survived, though this 209 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: probably would have been a tumultuous marriage, Otto actually died 210 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: after fleeing a rebellion and losing control of the imperial city. 211 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: Zoe returned to Constantinople, and she largely disappeared from the 212 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: historical record until Basil the Second's death in ten twenty five. 213 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: Over the course of his reign, Basil had become more 214 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: and more sober and reserved, and in his last years 215 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,359 Speaker 1: he was described as having an almost monk like austerity. 216 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: He had never married, so his brother Zoe and Theodora's father, 217 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: Constantine the eighth, followed him on the throne. Although Constantine 218 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: had the three daughters that we already mentioned, he a 219 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: Soo had no male heir. He became ill in ten 220 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:05,959 Speaker 1: twenty eight at the age of seventy, and on his 221 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: deathbed he appointed his relative Romanos Argyris, who was the 222 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,599 Speaker 1: eparch of the city of Constantinople, to be his successor, 223 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: and he also arranged a marriage between Romanos and Zoe. 224 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: Although Romanos was a relative, he wasn't within the Macedonian 225 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: line of succession, so according to silash In Romanos's mind, 226 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: this was the start of a new ruling dynasty. He 227 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: would be its founder and it would carry on through 228 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: his descendants. If that was the case, though there was 229 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: a big flaw in his plan. Zoe was fifty, making 230 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: it sort of unlikely that he was going to be 231 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: able to father any children with her. Silash describes the 232 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: couple trying all kinds of fertility treatments and charms in 233 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: an attempt to conceive an air. This really seems to 234 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: have driven a wedge between Zoe and her husband. Each 235 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: of them took lovers. 236 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 2: Romanus also cut Zoe off from the royal treasury and 237 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 2: put her on a strict allowance, which infuriated her. In 238 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 2: some accounts, Zoe also became really jealous of her sister, 239 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 2: who had at one point been considered as Romanos's bride, 240 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 2: and other accounts her advisors were the ones who suggested 241 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 2: that her sister might be a threat to her. Either way, 242 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 2: Theodora was confined to the women's quarters in the palace 243 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 2: and then eventually sent to a monastery, and some accounts 244 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 2: Zoe also cut her sister's hair into a tonsure. Silash 245 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 2: also describes Romanos as an ineffective ruler, overconfident in his 246 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 2: knowledge of both letters and military tactics, and this led 247 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 2: him to make all kinds of strategic blenders that he 248 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 2: tried to pay for by raising taxes. But then he 249 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 2: also spent a lot of money trying to build churches 250 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 2: and monasteries. Unlike Basil the Second, he didn't get in 251 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 2: the way of big landowners, once again trying to take 252 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 2: over land from the peasantry, which pushed the empire toward 253 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 2: a more feudal existence. The Byzantine army, commanded by Romanos himself, 254 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 2: suffered a humiliating and expensive defeat at the Battle of 255 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 2: Azzaz in ten thirty. Zoe's lover during all of this 256 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 2: was Michael, brother of John the Orfanotrophus, who had been 257 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 2: a prominent eunuch in the court of Basil's second. Michael 258 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 2: was in his twenties and Zoe was in her fifties, 259 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,360 Speaker 2: and Romanos seems to have known about this relationship but 260 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 2: pretty much ignored it, possibly because he thought that trying 261 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 2: to put a stop to it would just lead Zoe 262 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 2: to take other lovers instead. Michael also had epilepsy, and 263 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 2: the Cronographia describes Romanos as feeling sorry for him ignoring. 264 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 2: This relationship did not work out for Romanos, though multiple 265 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 2: accounts either suggest or flat out state that Zoe and 266 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 2: Michael conspired to slowly poison him. Then in ten thirty four, 267 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 2: he either drowned or was drowned in his bath while 268 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 2: preparing for the next day's Good Friday observances. Silash has 269 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 2: a riveting account of his body servants holding him under 270 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 2: the water. 271 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,160 Speaker 1: Nice that we don't know actually happened. 272 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, Zoe put her influence as empress to work to 273 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 2: marry her lover Michael and place him on the imperial throne. 274 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 2: But just like her late husband's decision to ignore that 275 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 2: affair had not really worked out for him, Zoe's efforts 276 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 2: to establish Michael as emperor, Michael the fourth did not 277 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 2: work out for her. He seems to have concluded that 278 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 2: a woman who would allegedly conspire with her lover to 279 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 2: poison her husband might get a new lover and do 280 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 2: that again. So he confined Zoe to the women's quarters 281 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 2: and dismissed all of her loyal eunuchs and ladies in waiting, 282 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 2: and then replaced them all with people of his own. 283 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 2: Choosing Michael the fourth was not particularly popular As an emperor. 284 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 2: He raised taxes and required that they paid in currency, 285 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 2: which was a change and a hardship for people who 286 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 2: had access to goods but not money. This led to 287 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 2: an uprising in ten forty and that fed into a 288 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 2: revolt by the Bulgar people against Byzantine rule in general, 289 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 2: with the rebels taking over multiple cities in laying siege 290 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 2: to Thessalonica. During all of this, Michael had recurring and 291 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 2: sometimes serious illnesses. It's not clear whether this was a 292 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 2: complication of his epilepsy or something else. His brother, John 293 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 2: the Orfino Trophos, convinced him to name their sister's son, 294 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 2: who was also named Michael, just to confuse things as 295 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 2: Caesar or co emperor, to help take some of the 296 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 2: pressure off of. 297 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: Him, So two Michaels at this point ruling at least 298 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 1: in name. Yes. 299 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 2: One of the things that was a little frustrating about 300 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 2: this episode is how many of the same names were 301 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 2: used by different people, not just spread apart, but like 302 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 2: within a couple of generations, So like there's a lot 303 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 2: of having to crosscheck. Was this the same theo Fano, Yes, 304 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 2: different Michael No, no, no. But there were some barriers 305 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 2: to the younger Michael getting any kind of support in 306 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 2: this plan. Although his mother was the sister of both 307 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 2: the Emperor Michael four and John the Orfana Trophos, he 308 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 2: was of common birth. His father was a Cauker. To 309 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 2: try to give the younger Michael a clearer connection to 310 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 2: the imperial throne, John suggested that Zoe adopt him as 311 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 2: her son. This would bolster his legitimacy as caesar, both 312 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 2: because of his adopted mother being the Empress and because 313 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:30,919 Speaker 2: at this point she was pretty popular. She was an 314 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 2: emperor's daughter, born in the Purple and the niece of 315 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 2: another emperor, and she was also generous with the royal treasury, 316 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 2: at least when the Emperor let her have access to it. 317 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 2: The elder Michael became seriously ill in ten forty one, 318 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 2: and between that illness and his military failures, he rapidly 319 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 2: lost support. He tried to hang on to the throne 320 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 2: for as long as he could, including planning military expeditions 321 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 2: to Bulgaria. That was something that his physicians and advisers 322 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 2: suspected that he just wouldn't not survive. Ultimately, he was 323 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 2: either forced off the throne or chose to retire to 324 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,640 Speaker 2: a monastery. John the Orfino Trophos was imprisoned and then 325 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:12,199 Speaker 2: later blinded. 326 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: So Michael's nephew Michael, followed him as emperor, becoming Michael 327 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: the Fifth. And if you're thinking right about now. Hey, 328 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: it seems like there's a pattern here, and he's probably 329 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: not going to act very grateful for Zoe's help in 330 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: getting him on the throne. Spoiler alert, You're exactly right, 331 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that after a sponsor break. 332 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 2: Even though Michael the Fifth's acceptance as emperor was really 333 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 2: only possible thanks to Zoe agreeing to adopt him and 334 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 2: publicly supporting him, once he was on the throne, he 335 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,439 Speaker 2: banished her to a monastery and started spreading rumors that 336 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 2: she had been plotting to kill him. And although there 337 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 2: are some source that conclude that Zoe really was involved 338 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 2: in the poisoning of her first husband, Romano so or 339 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 2: at least that it was possible that she had been, 340 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:13,199 Speaker 2: they also generally agree that this whole accusation by you know, 341 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 2: the younger Michael, now Michael the fifth, like that was 342 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 2: just baseless. 343 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 1: As word spread about Zoe's treatment, the people of Constantinople 344 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: were outraged. In the words of slosh Quote, the indignation, 345 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: in fact was universal, and all were ready to lay 346 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: down their lives for Zoe. Michael's father, being of common 347 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,439 Speaker 1: birth made the whole thing particularly insulting. Quote. How was 348 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: it this low born fellow dared to raise a hand 349 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: against a woman of such lineage. 350 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: When people learned that Zoe had been banished to a monastery, 351 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 2: an armed mob attacked the palace and started tearing down 352 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,920 Speaker 2: royal buildings. Zoe was retrieved from the monastery to give 353 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 2: a public appearance alongside Michael the Fifth, still dressed in 354 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 2: her nun's habit, but this did not appease the mob. 355 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 2: They did not want Zoe the nun. They wanted Zoe 356 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 2: the Empress. 357 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 1: Also, the people of Constantinople had not forgotten about Zoe's sister, Theodora, 358 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: who had spent at least the previous ten years in 359 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: a monastery. When they couldn't restore Zoe to the throne, 360 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,639 Speaker 1: they went to Theodora's monastery, brought her out of it, 361 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: and proclaimed her to be the empress. This did not 362 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: settle all the unrest, though, and in April of ten 363 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: forty two, Emperor Michael the fifth fled the palace. According 364 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: to the Chronographia, his relationship with his uncles had become 365 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: increasingly contentious, and he'd had all of them castrated, with 366 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: the exception of his uncle Constantine, who he had promoted 367 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: to Noblissimus, and in the wake of the mob's attack 368 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: on the palace, both Michael the fifth and his uncle 369 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: Constantine were exiled and blinded. And with that there were 370 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: two empresses, Zoe and Theodora, both of whom had popular support, 371 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: even though a lot of people didn't think it was 372 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: quite proper for a woman to be empress without a husband. 373 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: The empresses dismissed everyone who had been involved with Zoe's banishment, 374 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: and they kept the people they thought were loyal, but 375 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,720 Speaker 1: otherwise they did not appoint new counselors for a while. 376 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 1: Here's how the Chronographia describes them. Quote the elder Zoe 377 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: was the quicker to understand ideas, but slower to give 378 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,360 Speaker 1: them utterance. With Theodora, on the other hand. 379 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 2: It was just the reverse in both respects, for she 380 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 2: did not readily show her innermost thoughts, but once she 381 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 2: had embarked on a conversation, she would chatter away with 382 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,679 Speaker 2: an expert and lively tongue. Zoe was a woman of 383 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 2: passionate interests, prepared with equal enthusiasm for both alternatives death 384 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 2: or life. I mean in that she reminded me of 385 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 2: sea waves now lifting a ship high and then plunging 386 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 2: it down to the depths. Such characteristics were certainly not 387 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,360 Speaker 2: found in Theodora. In fact, she had a calm disposition, 388 00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 2: and in one way, if I may put it so, 389 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 2: so a dull one. Zoe was open handed, the sort 390 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 2: of woman who could exhaust a sea teeming with gold 391 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 2: dust in one day. The other counted her staters when 392 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,640 Speaker 2: she gave away money, partly, no doubt, because her limited 393 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 2: resources forbade any reckless spending, and partly because inherently she 394 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 2: was more self controlled in this manner. 395 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 1: I can't help but think about Zoe and her perfumes 396 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: also being associated with poisons. He also described Zoe as 397 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,959 Speaker 1: very pious and not enjoying the typically feminine tasks like 398 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 1: spinning and working on a loom, but really enjoying again 399 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: that thing that I just referenced, making perfumes and having 400 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,640 Speaker 1: a laboratory set up in her rooms for that purpose. 401 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 2: When it comes to talking about their leadership, though, so 402 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:49,880 Speaker 2: Lash is not quite as flattering. I mean, I would 403 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 2: call that earlier thing that I read kind of flattering 404 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 2: but also sometimes a little tempered. But when it came 405 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,160 Speaker 2: to talking about their rule, he wrote quote to put 406 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 2: it quite candidly, for my present purpose is not to 407 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 2: compose a eulogy, but to write an accurate history. Neither 408 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 2: of them was fitted by temperament to govern. They neither 409 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,919 Speaker 2: knew how to administer, nor were they capable of serious 410 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,920 Speaker 2: argument on the subject of politics. For the most part, 411 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 2: they confused the trifles of the harem with important matters 412 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 2: of state. Even the very trait of the elder sister, 413 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 2: which is commended among many folk today, namely her ungrudging liberality, 414 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 2: dispensed very widely over a long period of time. Even 415 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,880 Speaker 2: this trait, although it was no doubt satisfactory to those 416 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 2: who enjoyed it because of the benefits they received from her, 417 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 2: was after all the sole cause, in the first place, 418 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 2: of the universal corruption and of the reduction of Roman 419 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,919 Speaker 2: fortunes to their lowest ebb. 420 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: Zoe and Theodora ruled together from April to June of 421 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: ten forty two, And as we said earlier, while they 422 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: both seem to have been beloved, there wasn't ever present 423 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: since that it was simply wrong for them to be 424 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: on the throne without a man. So to solidify their position, 425 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: Zoe married again, this time to Constantine Monomachos. He was 426 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: a wealthy aristocrat who had a reputation for being a womanizer, 427 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: but he also had experiencing government. He also had his 428 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: own connection to the dynasty, although it was a somewhat 429 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: distant one. He was related to Zoe's late first husband, Romanos, 430 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:31,360 Speaker 1: and he, in this marriage became Emperor Constantine the ninth. Zoe, Theodora, 431 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:35,199 Speaker 1: and Constantine all ruled together, but getting married did not 432 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: really do much to avert scandal as it had been intended. 433 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,960 Speaker 1: Constantine had a lover named Sclorina, and that by itself 434 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: would not have raised too many eyebrows, especially if he 435 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,640 Speaker 1: had kept her in his own house without being too 436 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: showy about it and without being too extravagant and public, 437 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: and any gifts that he might give to her. He 438 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 1: did not do that, though he moved her into the 439 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: palace and essentially treated her as though she were his wife, 440 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,919 Speaker 1: giving her the title of Augusta and having the staff 441 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: refer to her as Empress. That's not problematic at all. 442 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,439 Speaker 1: According to the Chronographia, Zoe, who at this point was 443 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: in her sixties, actually didn't really object to this. Scleriina 444 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: seems to have wanted to stay in the Empress's good graces, 445 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:23,119 Speaker 1: gifting them things that they particularly loved. For Zoe that 446 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: was sweet herbs, and for Theodora it was Persian coins, 447 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:30,360 Speaker 1: which she collected. But in ten forty four Scleriina, who 448 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: had asthma and had been experiencing chest pains, died suddenly. 449 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,679 Speaker 2: Constantine, who it seems Zoe chose as a husband in 450 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,639 Speaker 2: part because of his administrative experience, turned out to be 451 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 2: pretty lavish in his spending and also delegated most of 452 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 2: the actual work of governing to other people. Just spent 453 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,959 Speaker 2: money really freely from the royal treasury and did not 454 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 2: do a lot of the management work himself. He also 455 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 2: ordered the execution of John the Orfanotrophos, who had already 456 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 2: been exiled. He fought off a revolt led by a 457 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,679 Speaker 2: soldier named Maniases, and the empire also had to defend 458 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 2: itself against a Russian fleet which attacked in retaliation for 459 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:12,879 Speaker 2: the death of Ascidian noble, who was killed in a 460 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 2: brawl in Constantinople. Then there was another attempted usurpation, complete 461 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 2: with the false rumor that Constantine was actually dead. That 462 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 2: rumor was helped along by the fact that he did 463 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 2: have some kind of recurring serious illness. 464 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 1: Toward the end of her life, Zoe put more and 465 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,920 Speaker 1: more of the day to day administration of the empire 466 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: in Constantine's hands, which he, of course then delegated. Then, 467 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: after a short and intense illness, she died in ten 468 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: point fifty at the age estimated to be about seventy two. 469 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: Constantine was described as being heartbroken after her passing, and 470 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: he died five years later. That left Theodora as the 471 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: last of the Macedonian dynasty and Slasha's words quote she 472 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: herself appointed her officials, dispensed justice from her throne with 473 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: due solemnity, exercised her vote in the courts of law, 474 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: issued decrees, sometimes in writing, sometimes by word of mouth. 475 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: She gave orders, and her manner did not always show 476 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: consideration for the feelings of her subjects, for she was 477 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: sometimes more than a little abrupt. But Silash also says 478 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: that she didn't trust her own judgment, relying too much 479 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: on the opinions of other people and appointing a man 480 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: who was quote completely lacking in political temperament as the 481 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: head of her administration. And this doesn't come up in 482 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: the accounts of Zoe and Theodora personally, but it was 483 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: a big enough historical moment that it seems weird not 484 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: to mention it. In ten fifty four, the Pope Leo 485 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: the ninth excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Serrelarius, from 486 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: the Roman Catholic Church, and the patriarch excommunicated the pope 487 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: in turn. This became known as the Schism of ten 488 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,080 Speaker 1: fifty four or the East West Schism, which was the 489 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 1: the final split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox 490 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: Churches after years of growing tension. So that was toward 491 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:08,959 Speaker 1: the end of Theodore's life. She never married. 492 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 2: She died on August thirty first, ten fifty six, at 493 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 2: the age of about seventy five. She named a civil 494 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 2: servant as her successor, and he became Michael the sixth Stratiotkos. 495 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: This was the start of another period of chaos. Michael 496 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: six was overthrown in a military rebellion in ten fifty seven, 497 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: and then there was an abdication a general who took 498 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: the throne, only to be captured by the Turks and 499 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: replaced with a puppet ruler, and then yet another military revolt, 500 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: the Byzantine Empire was finally conquered by the Ottoman Empire 501 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: in fourteen fifty three. Yeah, like four hundred more years 502 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: passed between that sum up of things that immediately followed 503 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,840 Speaker 1: this last Michael and the end of the empire. There's 504 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: a mosaic of Zoe and the Hya Sophia in Istanbul. 505 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: It bears the inscription Zoe the most Pious Augusta. It's 506 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:06,360 Speaker 1: also possible that Zoe and Theodora are depicted in medallions 507 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: in the Kakuli Triptych, which is a poison a depiction 508 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: of the Virgin Mary. The figures in that are not 509 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 1: specifically named, but one of these medallions depicts two empresses 510 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,320 Speaker 1: together with the Virgin Mary, possibly being blessed or crowned, 511 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: and it's actually the only known depiction of two empresses 512 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: together with the Virgin Mary. And all of Byzantine art, 513 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: that is the kind of roller coaster of Zoe and 514 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: Theodora with uh with some question marks about the the 515 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: accounts in some cases, yes, and who poisoned whom? 516 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 2: And did? Did did anyone drown accidentally or were they 517 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 2: purposefully drowned? So many, so many potential murders and assassinations 518 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 2: in this story. Thanks so much for joining us on 519 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 2: this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 520 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 2: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 521 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 2: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 522 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.