Hormisdas before hormisdas had entered the priesthood. Theodora paperback david potter oxford university press. November 15 as for the renowned empress theodora, she was from paphlagonia and was the daughter of a certain marinus, the commander of a military regiment. Potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and. Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly. Their reign was the most celebrated in byzantine history, bringing wealth, prestige. Theodora is said to have worked as a prostitute and performed on the stage in constantinople. Theodora was the daughter of the sebastokrator john petraliphas, governor of thessaly and macedonia. Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and engaging narrative of theodora\s life. Theodora became empress of the byzantine empire during the 6 th century ad. Actress, empress, saint by david potter, 2015 online. Theodora book las vegasclark county library district. Ruthlessly criticized and reviled by her contemporaries, theodora, the beautiful wife of emperor justinian, began her life as the daughter of a bearkeeper and rose to be justinians partner in politics as well as in life, ruling from 527 to 548. Partner of justinian ebook written by james allan evans.
Theodora book chicago public library bibliocommons. Duffys retelling of the true story of a woman 500548 who rose from lowly beginnings to become empress of the byzantine empire is lively and dramatic. The depiction of empress theodora in our john, lord chamberlain mysteries is based on her character as described in contemporary historian procopius secret history. Her intelligence and political acumen made her justinians most trusted adviser and enabled her to use the power and influence of. Because of her intelligence and political savvy, she was justinians most trusted adviser and used her influence to promote religious and social policies in line with her interests.
Actress, empress, saint oxford university press, 2015, historian david potter. Raised in a family of circus performers in constantinople, she later caught the attention of the future. So it may come as something of a surprise that joining the haloed ranks is the ambitious, resolute, and oftentimes controversial, byzantine empress theodora c 497548. Actress, empress, saint women in antiquity two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of san vitale in ravenna, depict the sixthcentury emperor justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, theodora 497548. In this book, james allan evans provides a scholarly, yet highly accessible. The first that i ever came across empress theodora was when i was a sophomore in high school, and we read her speech from procopiuss history of the wars, where she is said to persuade her husband to stay rather than fleeing by saying, purple is a noble shroud. Despite very humble beginnings, theodora rose to become empress of the byzantine. Silverius was a subdeacon when the ostrogothic king theodahad. Click download or read online button to get theodora empress of byzantium book now. At constantinople later the turkish istanbul, under the rule of the emperor anastasius, the extremes of. She stayed with him for almost four years before returning to constantinople. She was born at servia sometime between 1210 and 1216, and married michael ii komnenos doukas, the ruler of epirus and thessaly shortly after his accession in 1231, while still a. When we consider the pious lives of saints, images of selfsacrificing martyrs come to mind, devout adherents passionately immolating themselves for a higher cause.
By some accounts trained as a child acrobat, her father died mauled by one of. However, history has not been favourable to her because she has garnered much negative criticism because of procopius, a writer writing works about his times. She became empress upon justinians accession in 527 and was one of his chief advisers. When theodora was 16, she accompanied a syrian official called hecebolus to the libyan pentapolis, as he was appointed as governor of that province. Rising from a humble background and overcoming the prejudices of her somewhat disreputable early career as an actress, theodora would marry justinian r.
Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and engaging narrative of theodora s life. Theodora empress of byzantium download ebook pdf, epub. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while. Kirkus duffys passion for her heroine, the charismatic theodora, is evident on every page. Actress, empress, whore is a sexy, captivating novel that resurrects an extraordinary, littleknown figure from the dusty pages of history. Empress of byzantium is a very comprehensive biography of empress theodora. Actress, empress, saint david potters biography of the empress theodora brings to life a powerful woman previously much maligned by the writer procopius. Actress, empress, saint women in antiquity reprint by potter, david isbn. Procopius is the only primary source about theodora. Actress, empress, saint women in antiquity theodora. Theodora was born into the lowest class of byzantine society, the daughter of a bearkeeper for the circus. Theodora reigned as empress of the byzantine empire alongside her husband, emperor justinian i, from 527 ce until her death in 548 ce.
Saint theodora the empress of byzantium aged byzantine. Takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium. Actress, empress, saint, renowned historian david potter provides a fresh new account of her fascinating life and times. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Financial times roman historian procopius publicly praised theodora of constantinople for her pietywhile secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her. Theodora was the daughter of a bear trainer and a dancer and an actress. Her intelligence and political acumen made her justinians most trusted adviser and enabled her to use. Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and engaging narrative of theodoras life. She was the wife of justinian i, one of the most notable byzantine emperors.
Empress theodora was one of the most powerful women in the byzantine empire. Actress, empress, saint by david stone potter goodreads. To be an empress in byzantium was to understand where power really lay, and some. Along with her spouse, theodora is a saint in the eastern orthodox church. D s potter two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of san vitale in ravenna, depict the sixthcentury emperor justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, theodora 497548. Theodora was by no means born into power though she rose into it, which was an extremely rare phenomenon in ancient ruling classes. Theodora was an eastern roman empress by marriage to emperor justinian. Saint theodora the empress of byzantium byzantine icon. A fascinating portrait of a woman who rose from professional courtesan to influential advisor and empress. Read the fulltext online edition of the empress theodora.
Theodora the empress greek orthodox archdiocese of america. The empress theodora at the colosseum by jeanjoseph benjaminconstant, 18451902 wikimedia. An excellently readable biography of sixthcentury byzantine empress theodora, who began her life as the daughter of an actress and the bearmaster of one of byzantiums factions, became an actress herself, bore a daughter out of wedlock to a wealthy man, left or was abandoned by him. Financial timesroman historian procopius publicly praised theodora of constantinople for her pietywhile secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her. Holy monastery dormition of theotokos, parnitha commemorates on. Actress, empress, saint, renowned historian david potter provides a new account of the life and times of this important historical figure. Along with her husband, she is a saint in the orthodox church, commemorated on november 14 life. Penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries. David potter is to be warmly congratulated on having written a book that offers a. As empress, theodora used her position and influence to institute reforms within the empire, in particular those that promoted the status of women. In fact, theodora harbored a pretty questionable past. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. How a poverty stricken prostitute became an empress.
Justinian i ruled the byzantine empire from 527 to 565, and once married to him, theodora was in effect coruler and thus in a position help the downtrodden in various waysand. Books go search best sellers gift ideas new releases deals store. If we could have asked theodora, would she have said whore or empress was the harder job. Empress theodora, who transformed the world by peter brown. Actress, empress, saint by david potter oxford university press, 2015. Publishers weekly aug 8, 2011 duffys seductive retelling of the story of the legendary empress theodora will delight historical fiction fans.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. He penetrates the highly biased writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft the most authoritative and engaging biography of theodora to date. Theodora actress, empress, saint david potter women in antiquity. Kontakion of empress theodora plagal of the fourth tone. This fascinating portrait will intrigue all readers with an interest in ancient and womens history. Saint silverius, born, frosinone, campania italydied dec. The righteous theodora was the wife of emperor theophilus the iconoclast during the middle of the ninth century.
Along with her spouse, theodora is a saint in the eastern orthodox church, commemorated on 14 november. A fascinating book which offers an intimate look into the life of saint theodora and byzantium. Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone. This book is a gripping, longoverdue biography of one of the most intriguing and powerful female figures of western history. She was a strong iconodule who after the death of her husband overrode his iconoclastic policies to finally restore veneration of icons in the eastern roman empire.
Thanks to the writings of procopius and other detractors, the byzantine empress theodora c. Because i did not know much about her, it was fascinating how she rose up from humble beginnings to become an empress of the byzantine empire. With her glorification as a saint the church remembers her role in this restoration. Theodora, famously an actress and concubine, married the emperor justinian, and had a profound effect on the politics and laws of early byzantium.
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