Theophanu

In Greek: Θεοφανώ.

Events

Date of Birth: probably about 959-960.

Place of Birth: unknown.

The estimated date is given by Wolf (KT p. 6).

Date of Death: 15 June 991.

Place of Death: Nijmegen.

The date and place are given by Wolf (KT p. 34) and by Barone. Althoff (p. 367) gives 15 May 991.

Place of Burial: Köln St Pantaleon.

The place is given by Helmut Fußbroich (KT pp. 295-299).

Relationships

Father: uncertain.

Mother: uncertain.

The most widely accepted hypothesis is that Theophanu’s parents were Konstantinos Skleros and his wife Sofia Phokaina. Seibert, for example, gives this, as do Wolf and MacLean. The PmbZO notes that contemporary researchers generally support this filiation. Wangerin regards the arguments as being persuasive, but not definitive.

Neptis of: Ioannes Tzimiskes, Byzantine Emperor.

In her marriage certificate, Theophanu is called "Theophanu, Iohannis Constantinopolitani imperatoris neptim clarissimam." The term neptis would normally mean that Theophanu was Ioannes’s niece, grand-niece, or his granddaughter. Sometimes it had a wider meaning. In this case, niece is most likely. (Konstantinos Skleros was the brother of Ioannes's first wife, so his daughter would count as a neptis in Byzantine usage. There are other possibilities, which are currently thought to be much less likely.)

Spouse: Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor. Married 14 April 972.

This relationship is given by Barone, by Seibert, by Glocker (pp. 158-160), and by the PmbZO. Their marriage certificate exists.

Children:

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. Most information below comes from Barone.)

Sophie (October 975 - January 1039). Abbess of Gandersheim.

Adelheid (977 - 1045), Abbess of Quedlinburg.

Mathilde (Summer 978 - 4 December 1025) married Ezzo, count palatine in Lotharingia.

A son died in infancy in 979.

Otto III (980 - January 1002), Holy Roman Emperor, married the widow of Crescentius Nomentanus, senator of Rome.

References

Althoff, Gerd. Adels- und Königsfamilien im Spiegel ihrer Memorialüberlieferung: Studieren zum Totengedenken der Billunger und Ottonen. (München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1984).

Barone, Giulia. "Theophanu" in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani volume 95 (2019).

Glocker, Winfrid. Die Verwandten der Ottonen und ihre Bedeutung in der Politik: Studien zur Familienpolitik und zur Genealogie des Sächsischen Kaiserhauses (Böhlau Verlag: Köln, 1989).

Kaiserin Theophanu: Prinzessin aus der Fremde -- des Westreichs Große Kaiserin (Gunther Wolf ed.) (Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 1991).

Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Claudia Ludwig; Beate Zielke, and Thomas Pratsch. Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften [consulted 2 February 2018]. “Theophanu”, Personenkennziffer 28127

MacLean, Simon. Ottonian Queenship. (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Seibert, Hubertus. “Otto II”, in Neue Deutsche Biographie 19 (1998), S. 660-662 [Onlinefassung].

Wangerin, Laura. "Empress Theophanu, Sanctity, and Memory in Early Medieval Saxony" in Central European History 47 (2014), 716-736.