Theophano
Dates: 956? - June 15, 991Occupation: Western empress, consort of Otto II, regent for their son Otto III
Also known as: Theophanu, Theophana
Theophano, a Byzantine princess, perhaps the daughter of the Byzantine Empress Theophano and Byzantine Emperor Romanus II, married Otto II ("Rufus") in 972. The marriage had been negotiated as part of a treaty between John Tzmisces, ruling for the princes who were Theophano's brothers, and Otto I. Otto I died the next year.
When Otto II died in 984, his son, Otto III, succeeded him, though he was only three years old. Theophano, as the child's mother, was in control until 991. In 984 the Duke of Bavaria (Henry "the Quarrelsome") kidnapped Otto III, but was forced to turn him over to Theophano and her mother-in-law Adelaide.
Adelaide ruled for Otto III after Theophano died in 991. (Otto III also married a Theophano, also of Byzantium.)
This Theophano's sister, Anna, married Vladimir I of Russia.
Also on this site
- Adelaide - her mother-in-law (mother of Otto II)
- Theophano - her mother (according to most)
- Mathilda - mother of Otto I
- Women of the 10th Century
- Medieval and Renaissance Women's History
- Medieval and Renaissance Queens, Empresses and Female Rulers
- Europe - Women's History
Print Bibliography
- Top Picks: Books About Women in the 10th Century
- Adelbert Davids. The Empress Theophano: Byzantium and the West at the Turn of the First Millennium. 2002.
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Text copyright 1999-2006 © Jone Johnson Lewis.
