Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records, its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Armenian, Coptic and many other writing systems; the Greek language holds an important place in the history of Christianity. Greek is the language in which many of the foundational texts in science astronomy and logic and Western philosophy, such as the Platonic dialogues and the works of Aristotle, are composed. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, the study of the Greek texts and society of antiquity constitutes the discipline of Classics. During antiquity, Greek was a spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world, West Asia and many places beyond.
It would become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire and develop into Medieval Greek. In its modern form, Greek is the official language in two countries and Cyprus, a recognised minority language in seven other countries, is one of the 24 official languages of the European Union; the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Italy, Albania and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or earlier; the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages; the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods: Proto-Greek: the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek.
The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age. Mycenaean Greek: the language of the Mycenaean civilisation, it is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards. Ancient Greek: in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation, it was known throughout the Roman Empire. Ancient Greek fell into disuse in western Europe in the Middle Ages, but remained in use in the Byzantine world and was reintroduced to the rest of Europe with the Fall of Constantinople and Greek migration to western Europe. Koine Greek: The fusion of Ionian with Attic, the dialect of Athens, began the process that resulted in the creation of the first common Greek dialect, which became a lingua franca across the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Koine Greek can be traced within the armies and conquered territories of Alexander the Great and after the Hellenistic colonization of the known world, it was spoken from Egypt to the fringes of India.
After the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can be traced through Koine Greek, because the Apostles used this form of the language to spread Christianity, it is known as Hellenistic Greek, New Testament Greek, sometimes Biblical Greek because it was the original language of the New Testament and the Old Testament was translated into the same language via the Septuagint. Medieval Greek known as Byzantine Greek: the continuation of Koine Greek, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Medieval Greek is a cover phrase for a whole continuum of different speech and writing styles, ranging from vernacular continuations of spoken Koine that were approaching Modern Greek in many respects, to learned forms imitating classical Attic. Much of the written Greek, used as the official language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine.
Modern Greek: Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period, as early as the 11th century. It is the language used by the modern Greeks, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia: the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki, the vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, Katharevousa, meaning'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek, developed in the early 19th century and was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, having incorporated features of Katharevousa and giving birth to Standard Modern Greek, used today for all official purposes and in education; the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is emphasised.
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Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus. According to Strabo, the river Parthenius formed the western limit of the region, it was bounded on the east by the Halys river; the name Paphlagonia is derived in the legends from a son of Phineus. The greater part of Paphlagonia is a rugged mountainous country, but it contains fertile valleys and produces a great abundance of hazelnuts and fruit – plums and pears; the mountains are clothed with dense forests, conspicuous for the quantity of boxwood that they furnish. Hence, its coasts were occupied by Greeks from an early period. Among these, the flourishing city of Sinope, founded from Miletus about 630 BC, stood pre-eminent. Amastris, a few miles east of the Parthenius river, became important under the rule of the Macedonian monarchs; the most considerable towns of the interior were Gangra – in ancient times the capital of the Paphlagonian kings, afterwards called Germanicopolis, situated near the frontier of Galatia – and Pompeiopolis, in the valley of the Amnias river, near extensive mines of the mineral called by Strabo sandarake exported from Sinope.
The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient nations of Anatolia and listed among the allies of the Trojans in the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC or 1250 BC, where their king Pylaemenes and his son Harpalion perished. According to Homer and Livy, a group of Paphlagonians, called the Enetoi in Greek, were expelled from their homeland during a revolution. With a group of defeated Trojans under the leadership of the Trojan prince Antenor, they emigrated to the northern end of the Adriatic coast and merged with indigenous Euganei giving the name Venetia to the area they settled. In the time of the Hittites, Paphlagonia was inhabited by the Kashka people, whose exact ethnic relation to the Paphlagonians is uncertain, it seems that they were related to the people of the adjoining country, who were speakers of one of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages. Their language would appear, from Strabo's testimony. Paphlagonians were mentioned by Herodotus among the peoples conquered by Croesus, they sent an important contingent to the army of Xerxes in 480 BC.
Xenophon speaks of them as being governed by a prince of their own, without any reference to the neighboring satraps, a freedom due to the nature of their country, with its lofty mountain ranges and difficult passes. All these rulers appear to have borne the name Pylaimenes as a sign that they claimed descent from the chieftain of that name who figures in the Iliad as leader of the Paphlagonians. At a period, Paphlagonia passed under the control of the Macedonian kings, after the death of Alexander the Great, it was assigned, together with Cappadocia and Mysia, to Eumenes. However, it continued to be governed by native princes until it was absorbed by the encroaching power of Pontus; the rulers of that dynasty became masters of the greater part of Paphlagonia as early as the reign of Mithridates Ctistes, but it was not until 183 BC that Pharnaces reduced the Greek city of Sinope under their control. From that time, the whole province was incorporated into the kingdom of Pontus until the fall of Mithridates.
Pompey united the coastal districts of Paphlagonia, along with the greater part of Pontus, with the Roman province of Bithynia, but left the interior of the country under the native princes, until the dynasty became extinct and the whole country was incorporated into the Roman Empire. The name was still retained by geographers, though its boundaries are not distinctly defined by the geographer Claudius Ptolemy. Paphlagonia reappeared as a separate province in the 5th century AD. In the 7th century it became part of the theme of Opsikion, of the Bucellarian Theme, before being split off c. 820 to form a separate province once again. Artoxares eunuch, envoy of Persian kings Artaxerxes I and Darius II Diogenes of Sinope Greek philosopher, one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Alexander of Abonoteichus called Alexander the Paphlagonian, or the false prophet Alexander Saint Philaretos Theodora wife of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus John Mauropous Greek poet and author Michael IV the Paphlagonian Eumenes of Cardia Ancient regions of Anatolia List of rulers of Paphlagonia Adriatic Veneti Bartin Paphlagonia sdu.dk/halys A Geographical and Historical Description of Asia Minor by John Anthony Cramer Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed..
"Paphlagonia". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20. Cambridge University Press
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person, first in a line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive, by contrast, is someone, first in line to inherit a title but who can be displaced by the birth of a more eligible heir. Today these terms most describe heirs to hereditary titles or offices when only inheritable by a single person. Most monarchies refer to the heir apparent of their thrones with the descriptive term of crown prince but these heirs may be accorded with a more specific substantive title, such as Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, Duke of Brabant in Belgium, Prince of Asturias in Spain, or Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. In France the title was le Dauphin, in Imperial Russia; the term is used metaphorically to indicate an "anointed" successor to any position of power, e.g. a political or corporate leader. This article describes the term heir apparent in a hereditary system regulated by laws of primogeniture—as opposed to cases where a monarch has a say in naming the heir.
In a hereditary system governed by some form of primogeniture, an heir apparent is identifiable as the person whose position as first in the line of succession to a title or office is secure, regardless of future births. An heir presumptive, by contrast, can always be "bumped down" in the succession by the birth of somebody more related in a legal sense to the current title-holder; the clearest example occurs in the case of a holder of a hereditary title, one that can only be inherited by a single person, with no children. If at any time he were to produce children, they rank ahead of whatever more "distant" relative had been heir presumptive. Many legal systems assume childbirth is always possible regardless of health. In such circumstances a person may be, in a practical sense, the heir apparent but still speaking, heir presumptive. Indeed, when Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle King William IV, the wording of the proclamation gave as a caveat:...saving the rights of any issue of his late Majesty King William IV, which may be born of his late Majesty's consort.
This provided for the possibility that William's wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, was pregnant at the moment of his death, since such a posthumous child, regardless of its sex, would have displaced Victoria from the throne. Adelaide was 44 at the time, so pregnancy was possible if unlikely. Daughters may inherit titles that descend according to male-preference primogeniture, but only in default of sons; that is, both female and male offspring have the right to a place somewhere in the order of succession, but when it comes to what that place is, a female will rank behind her brothers regardless of their ages or her age. Thus even an only daughter will not be heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, though younger, would assume that position. Hence, she is an heir presumptive. For example, Queen Elizabeth II was heir presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son. In a system of absolute primogeniture that disregards gender, female heirs apparent occur.
As succession to titles, positions, or offices in the past most favoured males than females, females considered to be an heir apparent were rare. Absolute primogeniture was not practised by any modern monarchy for succession to their thrones until the late twentieth century with Sweden being the first to adopt absolute primogeniture in 1980 and other Western European monarchies following suit. Since the adoption of absolute primogeniture by contemporary Western European monarchies, examples of female heirs apparent include: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is heir apparent to her father, Victoria herself has a female heir apparent in her oldest child, Princess Estelle. Victoria was not heir apparent from birth, but gained the status in 1980 following a change in the Swedish Act of Succession, her younger brother Carl Philip was thus heir apparent for a few months. In 2015, pursuant to the 2011 Perth Agreement, the Commonwealth realms changed the rules of succession to the 16 thrones of Elizabeth II to absolute primogeniture, except for male heirs born before the Perth Agreement.
The effects are not to be felt for many years. But in legal systems that apply male-preference primogeniture, female heirs apparent are by no means impossible: if a male heir apparent dies leaving no sons but at least one daughter the eldest daughter would replace her father as heir apparent to whatever throne or title is concerned, but only when it has become clear that the widow of the deceased is not pregnant; as the representative of her father's line she would assume a place ahead of any more distant relatives. Such a situation has not to date occurred with the British throne.
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman Empire, of the Byzantine Empire, of the brief Crusader state known as the Latin Empire, until falling to the Ottoman Empire. It was reinaugurated in 324 from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, dedicated on 11 May 330; the city was located in what is now the core of modern Istanbul. From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe; the city was famed for its architectural masterpieces, such as the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Hagia Sophia, which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the sacred Imperial Palace where the Emperors lived, the Galata Tower, the Hippodrome, the Golden Gate of the Land Walls, the opulent aristocratic palaces lining the arcaded avenues and squares. The University of Constantinople was founded in the fifth century and contained numerous artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453, including its vast Imperial Library which contained the remnants of the Library of Alexandria and had over 100,000 volumes of ancient texts.
It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times as the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and as the guardian of Christendom's holiest relics such as the Crown of Thorns and the True Cross. Constantinople was famed for its complex defences; the first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, surrounded the city on both land and sea fronts. In the 5th century, the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius under the child emperor Theodosius II undertook the construction of the Theodosian Walls, which consisted of a double wall lying about 2 kilometres to the west of the first wall and a moat with palisades in front; this formidable complex of defences was one of the most sophisticated of Antiquity. The city was built intentionally to rival Rome, it was claimed that several elevations within its walls matched the'seven hills' of Rome; because it was located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara the land area that needed defensive walls was reduced, this helped it to present an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces and towers, the result of the prosperity it achieved from being the gateway between two continents and two seas.
Although besieged on numerous occasions by various armies, the defences of Constantinople proved impregnable for nearly nine hundred years. In 1204, the armies of the Fourth Crusade took and devastated the city, its inhabitants lived several decades under Latin misrule. In 1261 the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos liberated the city, after the restoration under the Palaiologos dynasty, enjoyed a partial recovery. With the advent of the Ottoman Empire in 1299, the Byzantine Empire began to lose territories and the city began to lose population. By the early 15th century, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to just Constantinople and its environs, along with Morea in Greece, making it an enclave inside the Ottoman Empire. According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, the first known name of a settlement on the site of Constantinople was Lygos, a settlement of Thracian origin founded between the 13th and 11th centuries BC; the site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus.
The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the Latin Byzantium, are not clear, though some suggest it is of Thraco-Illyrian origin. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas; the Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men and Antes, though this was more just a play on the word Byzantion. The city was renamed Augusta Antonina in the early 3rd century AD by the Emperor Septimius Severus, who razed the city to the ground in 196 for supporting a rival contender in the civil war and had it rebuilt in honour of his son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, popularly known as Caracalla; the name appears to have been forgotten and abandoned, the city reverted to Byzantium/Byzantion after either the assassination of Caracalla in 217 or, at the latest, the fall of the Severan dynasty in 235. Byzantium took on the name of Kōnstantinoupolis after its refoundation under Roman emperor Constantine I, who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330 and designated his new capital as Nova Roma'New Rome'.
During this time, the city was called'Second Rome','Eastern Rome', Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the sole remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, its wealth and influence grew, the city came to have a multitude of nicknames; as the largest and wealthiest city in Europe during the 4th–13th centuries and a centre of culture and education of the Mediterranean basin, Constantinople came to be known by prestigious titles such as Basileuousa and Megalopol
Public domain
The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable; the works of William Shakespeare and Beethoven, most early silent films, are in the public domain either by virtue of their having been created before copyright existed, or by their copyright term having expired. Some works are not covered by copyright, are therefore in the public domain—among them the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes, all computer software created prior to 1974. Other works are dedicated by their authors to the public domain; the term public domain is not applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, in which case use of the work is referred to as "under license" or "with permission". As rights vary by country and jurisdiction, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another; some rights depend on registrations on a country-by-country basis, the absence of registration in a particular country, if required, gives rise to public-domain status for a work in that country.
The term public domain may be interchangeably used with other imprecise or undefined terms such as the "public sphere" or "commons", including concepts such as the "commons of the mind", the "intellectual commons", the "information commons". Although the term "domain" did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the concept "can be traced back to the ancient Roman Law, as a preset system included in the property right system." The Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined "many things that cannot be owned" as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as things not yet appropriated; the term res communes was defined as "things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air and ocean." The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, the term res universitatis meant things that were owned by the municipalities of Rome. When looking at it from a historical perspective, one could say the construction of the idea of "public domain" sprouted from the concepts of res communes, res publicae, res universitatis in early Roman law.
When the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by French jurists in the 18th century. Instead of "public domain", they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law; the phrase "fall in the public domain" can be traced to mid-19th century France to describe the end of copyright term. The French poet Alfred de Vigny equated the expiration of copyright with a work falling "into the sink hole of public domain" and if the public domain receives any attention from intellectual property lawyers it is still treated as little more than that, left when intellectual property rights, such as copyright and trademarks, expire or are abandoned. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a, "little coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain." Copyright law differs by country, the American legal scholar Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being "different sizes at different times in different countries".
Definitions of the boundaries of the public domain in relation to copyright, or intellectual property more regard the public domain as a negative space. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the term public domain and equates the public domain to public property and works in copyright to private property. However, the usage of the term public domain can be more granular, including for example uses of works in copyright permitted by copyright exceptions; such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair-use rights and limitation on ownership. A conceptual definition comes from Lange, who focused on what the public domain should be: "it should be a place of sanctuary for individual creative expression, a sanctuary conferring affirmative protection against the forces of private appropriation that threatened such expression". Patterson and Lindberg described the public domain not as a "territory", but rather as a concept: "here are certain materials – the air we breathe, rain, life, thoughts, ideas, numbers – not subject to private ownership.
The materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival." The term public domain may be interchangeably used with other imprecise or undefined terms such as the "public sphere" or "commons", including concepts such as the "commons of the mind", the "intellectual commons", the "information commons". A public-domain book is a book with no copyright, a book, created without a license, or a book where its copyrights expired or have been forfeited. In most countries the term of protection of copyright lasts until January first, 70 years after the death of the latest living author; the longest copyright term is in Mexico, which has life plus 100 years for all deaths since July 1928. A notable exception is the United States, where every book and tale published prior to 1924 is in the public domain.
Macedonian dynasty
The Macedonian dynasty ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greatest expanse since the Muslim conquests, the Macedonian Renaissance in letters and arts began; the dynasty was named after its founder, Basil I the Macedonian who came from the Theme of Macedonia which at the time was part of Thrace. Claims have been made for the dynasty's founder being of Armenian, Slavic, or indeed "Armeno-Slavonic" descent. Hence, the dynasty is referred to by as the Armenian Dynasty by several scholars, such as George Bournoutian and Mack Chahin. Zachary Chitwood suggests it is the term Macedonian dynasty is "something of a misnomer" because of Basil I's Armenian origin; the author of the only dedicated biography of Basil I in English has concluded that it is impossible to be certain what the ethnic origins of the emperor were, though Basil was reliant on the support of Armenians in prominent positions within the Byzantine Empire.
Basil I the Macedonian – married the Varangian Eudokia Ingerina, mistress of Michael III. Deposed by his sons and entered monastery Romanos II the Purple-born – son of Constantine VII Nikephoros II Phokas – successful general, married Romanos II's widow, regent for Basil; the Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. Obolensky, Dimitri; the Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. London: Cardinal. Ostrogorsky, George. History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Runciman, Steven; the Emperor Romanus Lecapenus and His Reign: A Study of Tenth-Century Byzantium. Cambridge University Press. Stephenson, Paul. Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204. Cambridge University Press. Stephenson, Paul; the Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thurn, Hans, ed.. Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis historiarum. Berlin-New York: De Gruyter
Theodora Porphyrogenita (11th century)
Theodora Porphyrogenita was a Byzantine Empress born into the Macedonian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire for two hundred years. She was co-empress with her sister Zoë for two months in 1042. After the deaths of her sister in 1050 and her brother-in-law Constantine IX in 1055, she ruled as sole empress regnant from 11 January 1055 to 31 August 1056. Theodora spent most of her life in the imperial gynaeceum before becoming empress, her life was entwined with that of her older sister Zoë. In 1028 their father Constantine VIII attempted to extend the dynasty by marrying Theodora to the urban prefect of Constantinople, Romanos Argyros. Theodora refused, Zoë was married to him instead. Zoë persuaded Romanos to keep her sister watched. After two foiled plots, Theodora was exiled to an island monastery in the Sea of Marmara. Twelve years the people of Constantinople rose against Michael V, Zoë's adopted son, insisted that Theodora return to rule alongside her sister. After 65 days Zoë married again to Constantine IX.
Theodora retired to a convent after the death of Zoë. When Constantine IX died, the seventy-four-year-old Theodora returned to the throne, in the teeth of fierce opposition from court officials and military claimants. For eighteen months she was a strong empress before being struck down by a sudden illness and dying on 31 August 1056 aged seventy-six, she was the last ruler of the Macedonian line. Theodora was the third and youngest daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII and Helena, daughter of Alypius, she was Porphyrogenita, "born into the purple". Her father became co-emperor in 962 and sole emperor upon the death of his brother Basil II in 1025, his reign as sole emperor lasted less than three years, from 15 December 1025 to 15 November 1028. As an eligible imperial princess, Theodora was considered as a possible bride for the Holy Roman Emperor in the west, Otto III in 996. However, she was overlooked in favour of her sister Zoë. Otto III died. Basil II prevented his nieces from marrying any of the Byzantine nobility, calculating that such a marriage would have given their husbands a claim on the imperial throne.
As women, Theodora and Zoë were unable to exercise any state authority. Theodora lived a life of virtual obscurity in the imperial gynaeceum. Intelligent and possessing a strong and austere character, Theodora defied by sole emperor Constantine by refusing to marry the man her father had chosen to succeed him, Romanos Argyros, stating that Romanos was married – his wife having become a nun to allow Romanos to marry into the imperial family. Theodora further claimed that since Romanos and she were third cousins, it was too close a blood relationship for marriage to occur. Constantine VIII chose Theodora's sister. Zoë married Romanos three days. With the accession of Romanos, Theodora prudently retreated back into the gynaeceum, with its daily religious routines. Still, Zoë persuaded her husband to appoint one of his own men as the chief of Theodora's household, with orders to spy on her. Shortly afterwards, Theodora was accused of plotting to marry Presian of Bulgaria and usurp the throne with him.
Presian was sent to a monastery. In 1031 she was implicated in a similar conspiracy, this time with Constantine Diogenes, the Archon of Sirmium. Theodora was forcibly confined in the monastery of Petrion. During a visit, Zoë compelled her sister to take Holy Orders. Theodora remained there for the next eleven years, as Zoë managed the empire with her husbands Romanos III and, after his death, Michael IV. With Michael IV's death in December 1041, Zoë adopted Michael's nephew, crowned as Michael V. Although he promised to respect Zoë, he promptly banished her to a monastery on the Princes' Islands on charges of attempted regicide; this treatment of the legitimate heir to the Macedonian Dynasty caused a popular uprising in Constantinople, on 19 April 1042, the people dethroned Michael V in support of not only Zoë, but Theodora as well. Michael V, desperate to keep his throne brought Zoë back from Princes' Island and displayed her to the people, but the population rejected his proposal that he continue to rule alongside Zoë.
Key members of the court decided that flighty Zoë needed a co-ruler, backed the people's demand that it should be Theodora. A delegation, headed by the patrician Constantine Cabasilas, went to the monastery at Petrion to convince Theodora to become co-empress. Theodora, accustomed to a life of religious contemplation, rejected their pleas out of hand, fled to the convent chapel to seek sanctuary. Constantine and his retinue pursued her, forcibly dragged her out and exchanged her monastic clothes for imperial ones. At an assembly at Hagia Sophia, the people escorted the now furious Theodora and proclaimed her empress with Zoë. After crowning Theodora, the mob stormed the palace. Zoë assumed power and tried to force Theodora back to her monastery, but the Senate and the people demanded that the two sisters should jointly reign; as her first act Theodora was called upon to deal with Michael V. Zoë, weak and manipulated, wanted to pardon and free Michael, but Theodora was far more strict, she guaranteed Michael's safety before ordering that he be blinded and spend the rest of his life as a monk.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 359–360.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the