Theophilos
813 – 842 · Generation XX · Emperor (r. 829–842) · Amorian
Theophilos (AD 813 – 842). Emperor (r. 829–842). Married Theodora around AD 830. Son of Michael II and Thekla; iconoclast. Raised and schooled in the imperial household, he took the field himself from 831 against the Abbasids in Asia Minor and the Aghlabids in Sicily, winning victories that did not last; the caliph al-Mu'tasim's answer culminated in the humiliating sack of Amorion, his dynasty's ancestral home, in 838. He built and restored extensively, kept the learned John the Grammarian close, and for all his wars admired Arabic culture and improved relations with the caliph. He also drew the Principality of Serbia under nominal overlordship against their common Bulgarian enemy. Defeat hardened his religious policy, and he persecuted clergy who defied it — yet the record remembers him also as a just ruler, a keen builder and administrator.
One of 3 people of Amorian (770–867) in this archive. A short house from Amorium, under which the icons were restored.
Line of descent: Bardanes Tourkos → Thekla → Theophilos.
Parents
- Michael II (770 – 829)
- Thekla (775 – 823)
Partners
- Married Theodora II (815 – 867) in 830 — 3 children together
Children
- Michael III (840 – 867)
- Thekla (831 – ?)
- Constantine (833 – 835)
Life
- 813 — Born
- 830 — Married Theodora
- 842 — Died