Theodora Empress Of The Byzantine Empire Research Paper

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Theodora; Empress of the Byzantine Empire
Shae Pugh
March 28, 2014

Shae Pugh
Mr. Michael Thensted
History 1163, 402
8 April 2014
Empress Theodora of the Byznatine Empire
Theodora was the empress of the Byzantine Empire. She was married to Justinian. They both had similar ideas about how to rule an empire. But what is her past? What do we know about Theodora? What even was the Byznatine Empire? After learning about this empire and the empress, I am very interested in learning more about this unique ruler. Her past and her views on women’s rights are very extraordinary traits of an Empress at this time in history.
While Rome was being ramp sacked from Germanic and other barbaric groups, the imperial power shifted to the eastern part of the Roman Empire, where the center city was Byzantium (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 354, 2009). Between 324 and 330 BCE, Constantine the Great became emperor and rebuilt the city and renamed it after himself (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 354, 2009). After Constantine died, power shifted to Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora in 527 BCE (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 354, 2009).
Theodora’s story starts with a distinctive start. Her father was a bear trainer that worked in the Hippodrome in Constantinople and she grew up in the entertainment spotlight (Craig/Graham/Kagan/Ozment /Turner, 355, 2009). She was a mime and when she was older, she became an actress (Koeller, 1996). So, she not only lived in a circus, she also became a child star. Who would not want her childhood? But, back in that day, an actress was not a highly looked upon career for a women, therefore the term ‘actress’ was interchanged with ‘prostitute’ (Koeller, 1996). So, it might not have been the best...

... middle of paper ...

...hristians and the Monophysites (Koeller, 1996). Even though Theodora died, the empowerment she gave to women of the Byzantine Empire will live on forever.
Empress Theodora is a truly inspiring woman. I knew from the lectures in my World Civilization I class that she empowered the Byzantine women, but I had no clue how much she did for them. From the humble childhood working in a circus to becoming a stong empress of an entire empire, Theodora never forgot where she came from. She used her past as a tool to help women that were in the positions that she was at one time in. The gorgeous churches she built, the beneficial laws that were passed during her reign, and the many decrees she passed emphatically affected the people of Constantinople and the whole empire. Not just the women, but all citizens of the Byzantine Empire were positively affected by Empress Theodora

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