Theodora II of Diadochia

Theodora the Great or Theodora II of Diadochia (Greek: Θεοδώρα II) (c. 1282– 22 February 1348), was the Empress Regnant of Diadochia from 1308 to 1348, who presided over the apex of the Diadochian Golden Age.

Early life and accession to the throne

Theodora was born in 1282 to George III, Emperor of Diadochia, and his second wife Maria of Kolchida, a daughter of the king of Kolchida.

During Theodora's younger years her father was off fighting the Sixth Diadochian Crusade abroad and at home he was fighting rebellious nobles who wished to depose him in favor of his mentally ill cousin Alexios. In 1299 when Theodora was only about 17 years, her father left Diadochia on campaign, to not only restore the Eastern Mediterranean to the Orthodox faith but to also liberate Egypt and Alexandria from Muslim hands, because it holds significance has the place where Alexander the Great died. The Imperial Family is believed to be descended from Alexander the Great. The nobles took this as the perfect opportunity to rebel against the monarch and impose their will on him and place a more useful and obedient emperor on the throne.

The revolt made some progress even threatening the capital, Atlantis, forcing the Imperial family to flee north to Elláda. People in Elláda are to this very day staunchly loyal to the Imperial Family and all that comes with that. The teenage Theodora fled with her mother, sisters, and many other members of the Imperial family, including her paternal grandmother, aunts, cousins, and their servants and staff.

In 1300, George III and his general Manuel Skleros had landed on the huge island of Thálassa and begin christianizing the area and the natives. With all the successes in Thálassa, Emperor George III returned to Diadochia in triumph, one year before the crusade was over to crush the revolt to the joy of the general populace. George III dealt cruelly with the rebels, having executed some 200 leading nobles involved in the revolt. George III had his cousin Alexius blinded and castrated as a way to move him from the line of succession. In 1302 George III crowned his daughter co-ruler.

Early rule and troubled first marriage

Theodora was co-ruler with her father for six years until is death in 1308 when she became the sole monarch being crowned at the Koimíseos Cathedral in Alexandretta. Theodora inherited a strong and centralized state but the nobles still resented her father and his unpopular policies. Despite there already being at least four other women who ruled the empire prior to Theodora becoming Empress there was much opposition to her succession due to her gender; because of this many people questioned her right to rule without a husband has co-ruler or Emperor de-facto.

Theodora in the early years of her reign counted on her influential aunt Roxana, and the Patriarch Cosmas II of Atlantis. After Cosmas II's death in 1315 the new Patriarch Michael II of Atlantis became one of Theodora's most important and powerful supporters.

Theodora was forced to make some concessions to the Diadochian nobility, (1) she had to dismiss her father's appointees, (2) she had to marry their choice of a husband (her first husband), (3) The patriarch was awarded for his loyalty. In the first year of her reign, the nobles and the army both demanded that Theodora marry in order to have a leader for the army, and for the most important task of providing a royal heir, a male heir.

After much deliberation the nobles decided on Demetrius of Alania, an Alanian prince who had lived for years with the nomadic Koumánoi people. After the Patriarch and her aunt both approved the choice, the Alanian Prince was conducted to Diadochia to marry the Empress in 1309. Demetrius was quite a competent army leader but his relationship with his wife was bad from the start. The very important fact that Demetrius favored men and often shared his bed with men did not help the Imperial Couple's marriage.

By 1311 Theodora became more assertive of her rights as Empress regnant and the real power in the palace. In early 1328 the old Patriarch Theodosius I died and Theodora made some political maneuvers to ensure that her loyal supporter Basil III of Atlantis was made the new Patriarch, while also expanding her own powerbase and elevatting the nobles loyal to the crown and her to high positions at the Imperial Court of Diadochia. This was to be the second Patriarch of a total of twelve Patriarchs during her reign. The strained relations between Theodora and her husband Demetrius came to a head in 1311, when Theodora caught him in bed, with not one man, but two men, engaging in sexual acts of sodomy.

Second marriage

In 1311 a furious Thoeodora demanded that the council of nobles approve of her immediate divorce from Demetrius who was accused of excessive drunkenness, allowing himself to be sodomized by men, among other things.

In 1315 Theodora married a husband of her choice, Prince George of Kolchida, from her mother's country. In 1332 several nobles rallied behind Demetrius in rebellion in an effort to block the growing power of Empress Theodora. Theodora's new husband a far more capable military general then Demetrius ever was crushed the revolt. Theodora awarded George with the status of Emperor-consort. Theodora and George had ten children including George IV of Diadochia (born 1316) and Roxana II of Diadochia (1319).

Foreign policies and militarism

Muslim vassal states

With the consolidation of her power, Empress Theodora II continued and revived the expansionist and militaristic policies of her father, grandfather and great grandfather, bringing the empire to new hights in the process. With the support of her beloved husband George of Kolchida, Patriarch Basil III, and the many, now loyal noble families Theodora II ruled almost absolutely. From the early 1320s onward the Diadochian empire increasingly became involved in the affairs of its neighboring kingdoms both muslim and christian. Theodora used her influence and wealth to support rival local princes of Shirwan, effectivly reducing the power of the Shah of Shirwan and making the kingdom a tributary state of the empire of Diadochia.

In 1334, Empress Theodora II and her husband, George of Kolchida led a huge army 100,000 troops over the border with Persis besiging and pillaging, many cities including, Ani (former capital of Amnion), Naxouána, Tigrana, Tauris, Kaspia. The Palmyrene campaign of 1334-1336 was the most important military action of Theodora II's reign. The military campaigns of Theodora II reached their peak when the Empress's armies captured the Shahanshah of Persis, imprisoning him and assuming his title.

Christian patroness

Throughout Theodora's long reign, the Diadochian Empire asserted its traditional role as a protector of the Christians in the Diadochian Isles, further expanding that protection to Christians in the middle east, assuming the role of the Byzantine empire in the middle east. Diadochian christian missionaries were active throughout the Diadochian isles, as well as in the middle east, Asia, eastern Europe, and Africa. By the end of Theodora II's reign, there were hundreds of Diadochian expatriate monastic communities scattered throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Theodora II supported churches in lands all over the Diadochian Isles.

The Diadochian Imperial court was primarily concerned with the protection of the Diadochian monastic centers in the Holy Land. By the 14th century, twenty five Diadochian monasteries were listed in and around Jerusalem. Unlike most christian pilgrims, Diadochian pilgrims were allowed a free passage into the city of Jerusalem with their banners unfurled. The wealth of Theodora II was so great that she even outbid the Byzantine emperor, John V Palaiologos in her efforts to obtain the relics of the True Cross, offering over 800,000 gold pieces.

Golden age

A medieval zenith

By the end of Empress Theodora II's reign, the Diadochian empire had reached the zenith of its power and prestige in the middle ages. This golden age would not have been possible if not for Theodora's father, grandfather, great grandfather who helped save and rejuvenate the empire from near destruction. In 1321 Theodora II's husband succeeded their uncle as King of Kolchida. In 1342 after many years of marriage George of Kolchida died, and Theodora II inherited the kingdom of Kolchida, being related to the royal house of Kolchida on by blood and marriage.

Theodora's title has Empress of Diadochia was:

"By the Grace of God, Her Orthodox Majesty, Theodora II, Faithful Empress of the Romans, Empress and Autocrat of all the Diadochians, Ampchazíans, Kartvelians, Kakhetians (Kolchida) Albanians, and Amnions; Shirwanshah and Shahanshah of Persis, Empress of all the East and West, Queen of the Greeks, Glory of the World and Faith"

During the reign of Theodora II the empire experienced untold wealth and properity. The Diadochian empire was so wealthy during Theodora's reign that foreigners believed that the streets of Atlantis were paved with gold, and that peasants were like nobles, the nobles like princes, and the princes like kings.

Culture

With the great prosperity of Theodora's reign came a flourishing of Diadochian culture that enshrined christian morals and traditions. This culture trend of Diadochia culminated in Nicholas Psellos' epic poem The Knight in the Lion's Skin (Greek:Ο Ιππότης στο Λέων, δέρματος O Ippóti̱s sto Léo̱n dérmatos), which celebrates the ideals of an Age of Chivalry in the Diadochian Empire.