The Empress Euphrosyne

Yesterday's post mentioned the desperate and failed attempt of Constantine VI to get a male heir. His legitimate daughter, however, went on to sit on a throne in Constantinople.

Euphrosyne was born c. 790 to Constantine and his first wife, Maria of Amnia. Constantine divorced Maria and sent her and his daughters to a convent so that he could marry his mother's lady-in-waiting, the teenage Theodote. Constantine succumbed to a palace coup arranged by his own mother. Maria never left the convent, but Euphrosyne had a grander life ahead of her. To understand, we have to introduce the man she married.

Michael II (770 - 829) started his career as a soldier, a companion of a man who rose to be emperor himself (in 813), Leo V the Armenian. Michael actually helped Leo overthrow the previous emperor, Michael I Rhangabe. Leo, in an act of ingratitude years later, decided that his friend was too accomplished at managing palace coups, and sentenced Michael to death. Michael therefore managed to arrange a conspiracy and had Leo assassinated at Christmas in 820.

Michael then took the throne, but spent the first few years dealing with revolt of another military commander, Thomas the Slav. Having finally put down the revolt, he decided he had to shore up his reputation as a fit emperor. He had originally married Thekla, the daughter of a general, by whom he had a son. Sadly, Thekla died c.823.

Michael decided that he could enhance his legitimacy as emperor by marrying into the family of a previous emperor. The ideal candidate was Euphrosyne, in her early 30s and completely devoid of any romantic entanglements since she had been raised in a convent. She was brought to court, married to the emperor, and became empress. (They are pictured above from a later German history text.)

They had no children. When Michael II died on 2 October 829 (kidney failure is deemed to be the cause), his son Theophilos was only 16/17, so Euphrosyne aided him in the early years. She arranged a "bride show" (as her grandmother Irene had done for Euphrosyne's father). Michael chose the teenage Theodora the Armenian from the line-up by handing her a golden apple.

With this step-motherly duty done, Euphrosyne decided to return to the convent. She stayed in touch with the doings of the court and her step-son, however. When rumor reached Constantinople that Theophilos had been killed during a campaign in Anatolia, senior officials began to pick a successor without waiting to confirm the rumor. Euphrosyne sent a letter to Theophilos urging him to return at once. He did; the rumor was false. Michael Synkellos (c. 760 – 4 January 846), who later was made a saint, records that while he was imprisoned Euphrosyne offered him food and drink. That is the last we hear of her in any written record.

This is the second time in a few days that we have heard mention of a "bride show." Tomorrow I'll tell you about Michael's bride show, and the one that got away (probably wisely).

Iconoclasm

The word "iconoclast" today usually denotes someone who challenges tradition, but the origin of the word was in the religiously and politically charged world of Constantinople in the Early Middle Ages.

To be honest, "iconoclast" (a destroyer of religious images belonging to his own culture) and its opposite, "iconodule" or "iconophile," were terms created much later by historians to describe the iconomachia (war of icons) of the late 8th and early 9th centuries in the Byzantine Empire.

Each side had its arguments, of course. The iconoclasts invoked the third of Moses 10 Commandments against "making graven images." They argued that any proper image had to be made from the same substance as the original, and therefore wood and stone were not appropriate to portray flesh. The only substance available to represent Christ was the Eucharist, which had been decreed to be Christ's flesh. Also, images were incapable of representing Christ's divinity as well as his humanity. Images had been condemned in churches by the Synod of Elvira in 305, because they might distract people from the true reason for being in church.

The iconodules had their own reasons. Once God incarnated as Jesus, representations of the divine on Earth became justified. God did tell Moses to add cherubim to the Ark. Although idols might be false, icons represented important real people and things. Also, there were miracles associated with icons, attesting to divine approval.

There were two periods, called the First Iconoclasm—from 726-787, begun by Emperor Leo III when he replaced an image of Christ with a cross at the entrance to the palace—and the Second Iconoclasm—in 814-842, when Emperor Leo V thought his military failures were the result of displeasing God. Leo III's major opponent was the venerable St. John of Damascus. Leo V had to contend with the prolific pen of St. Theodore of Stoudios.

Iconoclasm was largely an Eastern Christian conflict. Western Christianity never became seriously concerned with it, to the delight of art historians.