The Empress Theophano

[David B. Boles]

I know this is reviving an old thread, and we are not likely to arrive
at a consensus on the parentage of Theophano, who married Otto II
of Germany in 972. Nevertheless I am curious whether chronology has
been a factor in the arguments pro and con her putative father
Romanus II. I have two sources which give Romanus' birth year as
939 or 940, and it has been claimed that his second wife Theophano
was the mother of the German Empress. How likely is it that the second
marriage of a man b. 939/40 would produce a marriageable daughter
by 972?

Dave Boles (bol...@rpi.edu)

[Paul M. Gifford]

In article <4j83am$j...@goya.its.rpi.edu> bol...@goya.its.rpi.edu (David B. Boles) writes:
>From: bol...@goya.its.rpi.edu (David B. Boles)
>Subject: The Empress Theophano
>Date: 26 Mar 1996 01:37:10 -0500

This may not help, but I have the _Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium_ with me and
here is the entry concerning her (3: 2065):

Theophano (Lat. Theophanu), wife of the German emporer Otto II (973-83); born
ca.955, died Nimwegen 15 June 991. Her grant of dowry from Otto II specifies
that she was a niece of Emp. John I Tzimiskes, but M. Uhlirz attempted to show
that she was descended from the Lekapenoi. F. Dölger refuted this theory
(HistJb 62-69 [1942-49] 649-58). Apparently because she was not a
porphyrogennete, some in Otto I's court opposed her marriage to Otto II, but
the wedding and coronation occurred at St. Peter's, Rome, 14 Apr. 972.
Theophano bore Otto II daughters and a son, the future Otto III. Under her
influence, Otto II revived the title Romanorum imperator augustus; he also
undertook an attack on the Saracen invaders of southern Italy because such
action was appropriate for an emporer. As regent for Otto III, Theophano
stressed her imperial rank. ...

The bibliography cites: W. Ohnsorge, _Ost-Rom und der Westen_ (Darmstadt,
1983) 128-206; M. Uhlirz, "Zu dem Mitkaisertum der Ottonen: Theophanu
coimperatrix," BZ 50 (1957)) 382-89. K. Ciggaar, "The Empress Theophano,"
_Byzantium and the Low Countries in the Tenth Century (Hernen, 1985), 33-77.

BZ = Byzantinische Zeitschrift.
HisJb = Historisches Jahrbuch

The article on Theophano, wife of Romanos II, says nothing about her being the
mother. It says she married Romanos about 956. If Theophano was born in 957,
she would have been 14 or 15, which would have been fine chronologically, I
suppose. But the articles avoid making any guesses.

Paul Gifford