Thekla

831 – ? · Generation XXI · Regent

Thekla (b. AD 831). Regent. Co-empress 842–856 with mother Theodora and brother Michael III; briefly Basil I's mistress. Presented by contemporary sources as the eldest child of Theophilos and Theodora, she was named after her grandmother and, though her father was a committed iconoclast, was secretly taught to venerate icons by her mother and step-grandmother. In the 830s she and two sisters received an honorific imperial title, and shortly before his death Theophilos sought to betroth her to the Carolingian heir Louis II — a match that died with him. Under her mother’s regency she appeared on coins larger than the boy Michael and on a seal as an emperor of the Romans, probably as insurance for the dynasty. After Michael took sole power in 856 she was eventually confined in the convent of Gastria. By the disputed account of Symeon Logothete, she later became Basil’s mistress, and after taking another lover was beaten and stripped of her wealth. She was buried at Gastria with her mother.

Line of descent: Bardanes Tourkos → Thekla → Theophilos → Thekla.

Parents

Theophilos (813 – 842)
Theodora II (815 – 867)

Siblings

Constantine (833 – 835)
Michael III (840 – 867)